Welcome to the Difficult Life of Lionel Hollins
by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni
As long as Allen Iverson is coming off the bench — as he did yet again last night — things are going to be awkward in the Memphis Grizzlies’ locker room. A.I. is of course used to these sort of things, having partaken in his share of battles over the years.
Lionel Hollins, though, you should probably feel a little sorry for. He’s more of an innocent bystander in this clash, and is being asked by his boss to nevertheless fix the situation. Prior to the game against the Warriors last night (which the Grizz lost), some light was shed on Lionel’s plight.
From the Commercial Appeal:
Iverson, despite his opposition, will play a reserve role for the foreseeable future. Griz coach Lionel Hollins made that clear before the game. Earlier in the day, Hollins received the backing of team owner Michael Heisley, who was thousands of miles away doing business in the Middle East.
“Lionel will handle it,” Heisley said via telephone. “This is a situation that’ll be handled between Lionel and Allen. What Allen said was inappropriate, but I’m not going to make a big deal out of it. Allen expressed his frustration about not playing and I understand that.” It’s no secret that Heisley made the Iverson acquisition happen. But Heisley reiterated Wednesday that he won’t tell Hollins how to coach. “It’s up to the coach to handle these issues,” Heisley said.
For his part, Allen Iverson more or less reiterated his points from a few nights ago — saying he’s still upset about having to face the shame of coming off the bench.
The team owner brought Allen to Memphis, and Michael Heisley made it clear from day one — perhaps not to Iverson — that he’d be coming off the bench. It’s now up to Lionel Hollins to somehow get this message through to his unhappy star.
Wish him luck.
Co-sign B. Osborne.
He shouldn’t have signed with the Grizzlies and they shouldn’t have signed him, but the deal is done and he should be seeing his minutes. 18 and 7 on 8-12 shooting is better than Conley’s (who still is developing and no disrespect to him, he’s talented) 8 and 6 on 3-10 shooting.
But no, Iverson is a chucker who doesn’t pass yet he led his team in assists.
However, as the game last night showed, Iverson is way, WAY better than Conley. It’s not even close.
That said, the Grizzlies have bigger problems. OJ Mayo and Rudy Gay despise each other. Those are their core players, something needs to happen with that.
Early in the game the Grizzlies were balling though, then they just fell apart.
Iverson is on the decline. He can still ball, but he’s become an even more obvious right handed bandit, and he’s lost another step. He can still be effective, but he needs to chill out.
Like I said earlier, the Grizzlies looked good early, then they kind of collapsed. Rudy Gay is unhappy, it’s obvious.
I really think OJ would still get his with AI. I think Rudy Gay is the one with the problem because they haven’t figured out how they want him to get his buckets.
Zach Randolph is straight with AI, so is OJ. But you throw Rudy Gay in there and there are not enough shots for all those guys. Particularly since Gay is playing for a contract.
Which was another stupid decision by the Grizzlies.
The answer is yes, if the person you are talking about is Mike Conley.
If you are going to build for the future, you need to let these young cats see what it feels like to WIN A FEW GAMES behind a battle-tested vet like Allen Iverson, this is not Stephon Marbury we are talking about here, but a former league MVP who took a squad to the Finals that, without AI, might possibly have been lucky to win 25 games that year.
Lionel’s trying to put his foot down and be the big boss and believe me I understand, he is no Kenny Natt but I’m not sure it is appropriate in this instance. I would hate to be a Memphis fan, the Grizz are in a perpetual state of long-term development.
damn hollins
Izzo, you’re missing the point spectacularly.
I also can understand his frustration. Mike freaking Conley is starting in front of him. Now, we all know Iverson wouldn’t like playing behind anybody, that’s for sure. But I have a feeling if he were told to play behind someone who was actually better than him and better for the team, he’ll concede and play from the bench albeit with a chip on his shoulder. (As if that chip is never there)
This is just a bad situation that was never going to work. But in the 0.1% chance that it DOES work, AI is a starter. That much I know.
because we need him here for amazing game recaps and insightful comments.
I’m not buying this ‘training Conley’ nonsense– they must have signed Iverson for more Ws, why else would they sign him?
A.I. came to memphis believing he was going to start”
I find this highly unlikely, since it was noted many times by both the owner of Memphis and the coach that Iverson was coming off the bench. Even if no one told Iverson, does the dude not freaking read newspapers or watch his own team’s press conferences?
If I’ve got Allen Iverson on my team he’s my starting PG. TODAY. You bring more people to games, you get your young guards learning about giving 110% on the court (what they learn about practice and teamsmanship comes at their discretion). I would expect that if AI for this one year, plays as hard in practice as he can (going STRAIGHT at Mike Conley), gets the starting nod by the coach and replicates that in game settings, he will leave a fine exclamation mark on an otherwise amazing career. They’ll win games along the way AND you know what, the coach will probably save his own job in the process.
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