I was wrong about Allen Iverson. I gave him too much credit. I bought into his offseason talk about just wanting to play somewhere for the love of the game. When he signed here, I bought his statement that he would do whatever the team needed him to do. His caveat, of course, was that the team had to win games. Four games, and three losses, into the season, we have our first disgruntled Iverson outburst. Iverson now says he is not a bench player, not a sixth man, and he doesn't want to change anything about himself. I'm sure someone has videotape of him saying just the opposite at his introductory press conference, and I would love to see his reaction to viewing that. But we knew this would happen eventually. It's his nature. I am just surprised it has happened so soon. Iverson has played on bad teams before. He just can't fit his ego around the fact that he is not the star in town.
Iverson played 17 minutes on Monday in Sacramento, scoring 11 points in the Grizzlies' 127-116 overtime loss. Once again, the Kings' Kevin Martin lit up the Grizzlies for 48 points. I don't care how good he is, there is no excuse for allowing anyone not named Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, or Michael Jordan to score 48 points against you. Defense is proving to be the Grizzlies' Achilles' heel. They have no problem scoring this season. They just can't keep their opponents from scoring. They are now giving up 115.8 points per game. Even though scoring has been up across the league over the last few years, unless the Grizzlies can consistently score 116, there is no excuse for allowing so many points. Although they are shooting the ball well, they are just not consistent enough offensively to score 116 every night. Interior defense is probably the strongest area for the Grizzlies. Zach Randolph has been impressive. They just need to stop transition and guard the perimeter better.
The Grizzlies have been getting off to good starts this season and did it again on Monday. They led 33-26 after one quarter before faltering in the second and trailing by two at the half. They actually shot well in the third quarter, but still gave away another point.
Randolph led the Grizzlies' balanced scoring attack with another 30-point performance. O.J. Mayo scored 22 while Rudy Gay added 21. Marc Gasol, Mike Conley and Iverson also finished in double figures.
The Grizzlies didn't use their bench much at all outside of Iverson's 17 minutes. By overtime, the starters had to be exhausted. Gasol played 49 minutes, while Mayo and Gay each played over 46 minutes. They are going to need some rest at some point, which means the Grizzlies need to find someone on the bench (that means you, AI) to provide some offense.
The Grizzlies (1-3) are off tonight. They will return to action Wednesday at winless Golden State (0-2).
