It's not surprising that Allen Iverson is going to dominate nearly every headline involving the Memphis Grizzlies this season. Unfortunately, one of the first significant headlines about The Answer is that he is going to be sidelined for at least a couple of weeks after tearing a hamstring prior to the Grizzlies' win over Oklahoma City on Wednesday.
Now, Iverson is getting up there in terms of age, so his body is undoubtedly closer to breaking down than, say, O.J. Mayo's. That being said, the main cause of hamstring injuries is inactivity. When you don't warm up or keep your body in top shape before practice or a game, you risk pulling muscles. Since AI has been out of action for a while after being benched in Detroit, he spent the offseason trying to latch on anywhere he could. If he was so intent on getting a free-agent deal done, you would think he would have been working out in his spare time to keep his conditioning at an appropriate level. Of course, he knows that, so this could just be a freak early-season injury. The Grizzlies can only hope there aren't any lingering effects of this injury as the season progresses.
As far as the team goes, coach Lionel Hollins is returning to teaching the basics. That's kind of scary because it paints the picture that this team can't do the things it takes to win on the high school level, much less in the NBA. No professional player should need to be re-taught the basics of the game. Sure, there is some rust from time to time. The fundamentals can slip away periodically, but when an NBA team has to start from scratch, it doesn't point to many wins on the court. I hope I'm wrong because it's about time for this "3-year plan" to get rolling. Three years late.
Keywords: Allen Iverson, Lionel Hollins, Memphis Grizzlies, O.J. Mayo
