Yep, Allen Iverson is Already Upset
by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni
A few weeks ago, I wrote a completely insane season preview for the Memphis Grizzlies. The gist of the piece was that this year was going to be an absolute disaster for the team — well, even moreso than usual — and that Allen Iverson would be one of the main culprits.
Thing is, though, even I didn’t truly believe that things would unravel so quickly in Memphis. And, well, guess what?
The sweat had barely dried off his braids following his first game in a Grizzlies uniform last night, and A.I. was already mad about the amount of playing time he received in the overtime loss to the Kings.
From the AP game story:
After missing the first three games while recovering from a partial right hamstring tear, Iverson played only briefly as a reserve, scoring 11 points in less than 18 minutes. He said he had no problems with his hamstring, but had a big problem with the playing time he got from coach Lionel Hollins.
“Go look at my resume and that will show you that I’m not a sixth man,” Iverson said. “I don’t think it has anything to do with me being selfish. It’s just who I am. I don’t want to change what gave me all the success that I’ve had since I’ve been in this league.”
There are a few more angry quotes here.
Allen Iverson, ladies and germs! I can’t wait to hear how Michael Heisley, Chris Wallace and the rest of the geniuses in that front office end up rationalizing all of this.
This.Shall.Not.End.Well.
what is it that he can do that Mayo can’t do (at this point in their careers!)
DUMB Grizzlies Management.
its just that last year with detroit, spoilt his reputation and confidence because he couldn’t fit into that system.
i guess he should start with mayo
he must get atleast 32-35 MPG
grizzles starting five should be
C. M.gasol
PF. zach randolph(man’s 25-10 for life!)
SF. rudy gay
SG. OJ mayo
PG. allen iverson
and they should play mike conley as the sixth man with ample minutes
actually on paper the grizzles are pretty talented
they have hamed haddidi,hakim warrick to play the 4
jaric n williams as guard
and hasheem as 5
its just that last year he did not fit into detroit’s system
doesnt mean he cant score
he is still who he is
the answer to everyone’s questions they should start him with Mayo at the guard spot
and yeah!
give him minutes!
about 32-25
he’ll average 22-24 a game
along with his regular 3.5 boards and 6 dimes
and what he brings to the court that is most precious
EXPERIENCE!!!
1.He is 34
2.He hasnt wona scoring title in god knows how long
3.this isnt a one season thing with detroit its happening again
4.he is well past his prime he isnt one of the quickest point gaurds anymore that was his trait speed anyone who wants to add more go right ahead
He would be perfect coming of the bench for any contender/there abouts that struggles scoring with their second stringin the game. That way Al would still get to be Al, but in a positive way.
Really dont want him to out like this, he is so much better than that.
Definitely, he should be starting.
Definitely, he has a right to be frustrated.
But it’s been one game, the move here should have been to keep it to himself. Then after a few games if he’s still on the bench, talk to the coach. Closed doors, man, closed doors.
@Darksaber…..:why not in ALBA instead…???? just think about his reaction when he finds that even there he cannot be a starter..!!!! By the way: Iverson cannot be a starter in a top-10 Euroleague team. GUARANTED.
into your head!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Iverson
Mayo
Gay
Randolph
M.Gasol Will be deadly.. just no depth really
Coach sends Iverson to the bench and Iverson fakes a back injury because Iverson has to pad his stats.
I’m not sure why these ‘revelations’ about Curry telling Iverson he wasn’t going to bench him suddenly put Iverson in the clear for faking injuries and not trying to help Detroit in “any role he could” which is what he said at the beginning of the season.
And if that’s all said and done, well, did ANOTHER coach lie to him about his playing time? For chrissakes…
Season is 82 games long. It’s sad that AI felt the need to say this his first game back, but I guess that’s the lesson he learned in Detroit.
I never supported signing in Memphis, I thought Charlotte was a better move, or off the bench for a contender.
Some cats have to have things their way. That’s life.
He’s still my favorite player of the last decade, that ain’t gonna change, and I’m not going to participate in gratuitous bashing.
This was a bad move. Life goes on.
It was a dumb situation to get involved in and he made his bed so now he can lie in it.
IVERSON!!!!! STARBURY!!!!!! IVERSON!!!!! STARBURY!!!!!IVERSON!!!!! STARBURY!!!!!! IVERSON!!!!! STARBURY!!!!!IVERSON!!!!! STARBURY!!!!!! IVERSON!!!!! STARBURY!!!!!IVERSON!!!!! STARBURY!!!!!! IVERSON!!!!! STARBURY!!!!!
PLEASE correct me if I’m wrong, I read that on NBA.com which isn’t always correct. But if it is correct, then Iverson brought the entire thing, and those people who do NO WRONG (such as Tavoris) will have to back down about the whole ‘answering reporters questions’ thing.
Maybe Dale Ellis was answering the question?
@Jukai…….:i prefer an A.I. post to do it ,it is more fitting, a perfect match: bball parody(shoeseller) together with bball rapsody (Euroleague ball )!!!! something like YINGYANG!!!!(google it,)
Getting the entire interview verbatim would quell this.
Also, was that actually you who wrote that 7:12 post?
I TOLD YOU SO I TOLD YOU SO I TOLD YOU SO! As soon as
Iverson signed with Memphis, i told everybody this
team was going to implode, that the guard rotation
would either leave out Conley and hurt the future
or leave out Iverson and hurt the present. I also
said Iverson and OJ couldnt coexsist. I WIN
___
One game does not a prediction-come-true make. Lets
see who’s starting and co-existing in 2 weeks time hey?
tavoris Posted: Nov.3 at 6:57 pm
BETCATS, i don’t kno why he thinks I’m goin anywhere…I have stood by EVERYTHING I’ve said all along(unlike the backpedaling Wayno, the truth-spinning Jukai, and the infamous troll-of-many-names), and have never resorted 2 flaming or name-calling.
-and have never resorted 2 flaming or name-calling.-
I’m not blind either, it makes as much sense to start Iverson and bring OJ off the bench… although OJ IS Memphis’ future.
I mean, this has nothing to do with Iverson’s resume, it shouldn’t, ever. It should do with what is best for the team. If bringing Iverson off the bench is the best for the team, they should bring him off the bench.
I’m not sure if that IS best for the team (honestly OJ can get hot so fast, maybe OJ should come off the bench and AI should start) but I don’t get this ‘resume’ nonsense.
And your points with Manu are pointless. Who cares if he has always been with two all-star caliber players? You don’t think Roy and OJ are better than Iverson at this point? What does STARTING your career have to do with anything, outside of an ego?
If you want to know, I -DO- think Iverson should be playing in crunch time, I think he should be getting 30 minutes a game. I just think he should be doing it coming off the bench. I think 18 minutes or whatever he got was only harmful to the team, but I think it was mostly done because Iverson was a) injured and b) unfamiliar with the system of Memphis.
Jeez.
Iverson can’t play for 40 minutes like he used to, why not let Rudy and OJ score at first, then bring in Allen off the bench and let him go buck wild against the second units. Of COURSE have him in at crunch time because AI is a vet… I just think a bench (not reserve) role is better for Iverson.
And I’ve already admitted my being completely wrong in the Reggie Miller case. Where were you in admitting that perhaps Iverson was more of a whiner in Detroit than you let on with THIS new evidence coming to light?
I still have not read any report that suggests a reporter ASKED Iverson about his bench role… only that Iverson himself brought up the issue when asked about a totally different question.
I’m not going to ‘go over’ to whatever article you’re talking about, you can discuss it here or nowhere.
Mayo does control the tempo, but Mayo also likes to overly control the ball and take a couple of shots to warm himself up. He passes, but it seems more in the Arenas “Oh I don’t have a shot but someone’s open” vein. I know, I know, those basketball beat writers agree with me and even though they’re PAID to write about basketball, they’re always wrong as you pointed out, but really, watch a game or two.
So, guess what Iverson does: control the tempo but also overly control the ball and take a couple of shots to warm himself up.
So if you think putting them together would be more beneficial than trying to play them at different times, you obviously see the world in a different color than me. A far stupider shade of color.
But once again, the point isn’t who is good and who isn’t, the point is who is going to work well with each other.
You wouldn’t understand.
you cannot say allen iverson will do a steve nash and average 17 and 11 because if he could have done that he would have in denver playing all 3 of them together also takes shots away from each of them, while taking precious scoring out of the second unit please tell me i don’t know what im talking about again without a reason. it really helps your cause
1.either iverson comes off the bench but for 26 minutes at the most for both PG and SG duties.
or
2.Relegate Mayo at starting PG while going back to SG and when Ivy rests put Mayo back at SG. Works only IF: 1.Iverson accepts to be dynamic and pass( he done this druing all-star games actually) and move the ball around.
2. Somehow, OJ learns the idea that playing some point will actually help him develop as a player and realizing this will only be a year unless his Jackass owner knows much better. Ivy still can play though his ego doesn’t really know how to and the young grizzlies may learn a thing or two about..scoring.(u guys tell me pls.)
It’s so stupid, it’s like talking to a toddler who knows he is right about how he saw that dinosaurs still exist on one of his sunday morning cartoon shows.
nbk, what have you said that would educate anyone? Ever? tavoris Posted: Nov.4 at 12:03 am
nbk, …….. In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been agreeing with you a lot lately. However, whenever you disagree with me, it’s the same childish ish. so i am only wrong when i disagree with you? hypocrit? brevin knight comment really pushed me over the edge man. i shouldn’t have reread this conversation….i’ll admit this is out of anger but man o’ man please tavoris for the betterment of us all. please stop
your comments back and forth and trying to work out what is
being said/agreed upon disagreed upon. Tavoris, you don’t
really expect me to believe you ‘coached’ Div 1 do you?
As in stood on the side lines and called the plays out type
caoching…? and div 1 under 13 girls??? Sorry it doesn’t
buy you any cred. The question is: Where are the Grizzlies
at if your giving AI 30 mins a game….? Would they care to try
it out? Who knows…to either question.
than the 5.0 apg mark. It’s because he doesn’t really create his
own shot, so he doesn’t draw defenders away from his shooters.
They can stay at home on their own guys…you look at players like
your Nash’s, Parkers and CP3’s they create for themselves which
inturn creates for their team mates. AI is like that, BUT one thing
is particularly different for him, his FG% is just that little bit lower
so it requires more shots for him to get up the numbers he likes…
See he still wants to score 25 a game, that requires ALOT of shots
on it’s own, and that will stifle OJ who needs/wants shots along with
guys like Rudy Gay who is effective and should get looks, along with bigs
like Gasol who should get more plays this season also.
Its just a tough situation whereby the older veterans you WANT to adjust
and sacrifice, wont. AI should have a chat with Lamar Odom, Rasheed Wallace
and see what they try and bring to a team this season.
“Hey, shooter a and shooter b, I want you to go in as guards. That point guard who tries to distribute the ball, he’s no good, you guys both go in and shoot”
“Uh, okay, who should control the ball more?”
“What? Go out and shoot it!”
What in the WORLD was that talk about dinosaurs? Tavoris is definitely in his teenage years. I’ve never seen someone so disgruntled and in near tears about something like this.
PEACE
For this team to be most successful, OJ Mayo or Allen Iverson need to come off the bench and provide some relief bench scoring… as well as alleviate the struggle of the “who shoots when” problem.
If AI really can’t perform off the bench (system player) and the coaches deem that they don’t want to bench OJ because they want to give him minutes, then fine, bring them both up as starters. But if we’re talking about “winning now” (and not building for the future, which is what Memphis really should be doing but I dare not bring the wrath of Iverson fans down upon me any further), then having a bench scoring wing would be the way to succeed.
Dacre: What’s hysterical is that earlier in this mess of an argument, Tavoris said that Mayo was actually a great passer and his assists (lower than Conley’s) shouldn’t matter because it only tells half the story. Now Conley is pathetic because he only averages five assists. In reality, it’s all about what “Tavoris” needs to maintain what he considers “real.” It’s sad.
Tavoris is right about one thing, Iverson is going to get these questions after every game for the rest of his career. Either he learns how to handle that, or he might as well retire.
Conley can’t shoot.
As such, he reduces space for Rudy Gay and Randolph to operate. Besides not being a dependable shooter, regardless of what his percentages say, Conley is passive and isn’t great at getting in the lane. so, he’s not opening up drive and kicks for OJ, he’s not creating opportunites for Rudy Gay, and he makes it easier to double team Randolph.
Conley, right now, is a bench player. A nice bench player, but a bench player.
They should move OJ to the on like he ran at USC. He’s big enough and scrappy enough to handle two guards and he makes excellent decisions in my opinion when he runs the one. He can hit spot up jumpers, he can drive and create, he’s flat out a better point guard than Conley. Iverson is still probably the best two guard on the team despite his decline.
So, if I’m a coach, I put the team that puts the most pressure on the offense on the floor at the same time. This isn’t a veteran team where you don’t want to upset roles. Start the best five and let them do their thing. You bring Conley in to run the one when you want to slide OJ and rest Iverson, or when you jsut want to go with a smaller lineup and let OJ rest. Conley might get his confidence up going against backups since he clearly isn’t equipped right now to handle most starters.
Iverson, with his dribble drives, puts pressure on the opposing team and creates handoffs and dumpoffs to post players who like to hang around the rim. Plus, he creates offensive rebounding opportunities.
There, that’s why you start Iverson and not Conley.
Happy?
Still doesn’t justify him popping off though after one game.
I thought you asked for reasons why Iverson should start over Conley. I provided them.
Iverson is better shooter period, which is what I said. He’s a better creator, which I said, and he’s draws more defensive attention, which I said.
Iverson and Mayo form a backcourt that provides scoring at both the one and two, you don’t have a serious drop off in defense because Mayo is equipped to guard twos.
Iverson creates offensive rebounds. You and I both know that because of his dribble drives and the help required, his teammates see way more offensive rebounding opportunities. Is that a failure of the opposing team? yes it is. Does it happen? Yes it does.
I’m not trying to defend Iverson’s outburst because it was stupid and I think it was a bad decision. However, to act like Iverson doesn’t provide the Grizzlies with a better starting five than Mike Conley is asinine. Sure, he could be effective coming off the bench, but why would the Grizzlies play him there if they have a way to start him and it improves the quality of the team.
I can see the argument that Iverson runs with the second unit and gets all the shots, but I don’t think that maximizes the Grizzlies talent.I haven’t watched many Grizzlies games, but in the ones I’ve seen, they have really solid talent if cats come to play.
But, that’s a big if.
He doesn’t agree, and it’s cool. However, there’s no way to justify that something will NOT work, when they haven’t played together yet. the Detroit’s 6 Conference Finals argument is bogus, because they got their butts handed to them in the last 3 conference finals they appeared in-by 3 different opponents. It’s called “fools gold”
When did this place get so myopic and black and white?
You and I disagree on what would make the team better.
I look at a starting five of Iverson, Mayo, Randolph, Gay and Gasol, and I see no players that any team can take for granted.
I also see a problem with a lot of cats wanting to get their shots.
Personally, I think Mayo’s best shot at greatness is being combo guard. Kind of a more athletic Chauncey Billups. But, I think people want to put him solely a the two because he likes to shoot. Yes, he does like to shoot, but his size makes him more of a problem at the one, and he has way better point guard instincts than somebody like Stuckey.
I like Mayo at the 1 and I think they probably made a mistake in getting Conley.
I agree with a lot of your last comment.
Iverson creates a lot of his own problems. I don’t about most of them, but a lot of them. However, I think that his actions are exacerbated by the role the media slotted him to play early in his career. It’s hard to tell where Iverson’s foibles end and the media machinations begin in my opinion. They are joined at the hip.
Even this recent blowup was a result of reporter saying “Hey, Iverson only played 18 minutes, that might be a story.” I understand that urge, it’s what you’re taught to do, but let’s not pretend that controversy wasn’t the goal of this line of questioning.
It’s besides the point anyway, if SLAM had just posted a article merely reading “Allen Iverson” this comments section would have ended up the same.
Tavoris, there are no more people posting here, but I’m sure you’re checking this every day: what individual questions do you want me to answer for? You’ll write a lot of nothing and if I don’t respond to one specific point, you’ll go apesh*t about it (you’re a great D1 coach, I’m sure!)
So, please feel free to ask away, I’ll answer everything honestly and to the point.
NBK is right about everything he says, pretty much.
I would say Eric Snow was the same player from Michigan State - Forward
The Louis Williams argument can hold some water, but i know there are some people that would argue that Louis Williams is a shooting gaurd in a points body. I don’t see how Iverson made Louis Williams better in 50 games, with maybe 4 minutes together on the court average though, actually you have nothing to back that up. But Williams did get better after Iverson left ill give you that.
This Eric Snow business your pushin Eric Snow was the same pointgaurd from Michigan State forward who are you tryna fool? Iverson didn’t make him better, what Iverson did for Eric Snow was give Eric Snow a player to play with. Their is only a handful of guys in the NBA Eric Snow could have received PT with do to his lack of a shot. And i mean complete lack of a shot. He averaged the same per 36 minute numbers in seattle that he did in philadelphia. And their is no insult to any injury dude, nobody said iverson has never made anyone better, i said point gaurd. I am not taking away what iverson did for melo. but you and tavoris should talk to each other about argument approaches its pretty similar
Steve Blake, Eric Snow and Anthony Carter would all like to have a word with you about Iverson’s ability to make things easier for point guards.
_____________________________
They did try and keep good players from around him though. Coleman, gone, hughes, gone, stackhouse, gone…all the decent players he had were either forced off the team or retired early on. Even Kyle Kover was shipped out (or he may have opted to leave). When he got webber, webber was already over the hill and injured…i mean, damn. The guy should be in Texas, Florida, or New York, possibly even Chicago. I’d rather him be in La, no not that La, the other LA.
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