Iverson Watch

[TheNorthCydeRises]

It's going to be very interesting the effect that AI will have on that young Memphis team. I personally think he's going to have a very positive effect on that squad, especially after reading the interview he did with Scoop Jackson.

Iverson basically says that the situation that went down in Detroit, was due to coach Michael Curry teling him that the team would "lay down on him", if he didn't come off the bench.

This was in direct contrast to what Dumars and Co. told him at the time of the Billups - Iverson trade. At that time, Iverson was brought in to "get them over the hump" ( i.e. - not get to the ECF and lose, but win and get to the NBA Finals ).

So when it went down that Iverson was going to the bench, and that his team would basically quit on him if he didn't, he said that he felt that they had lied to him.

It was easily one of the best sports interviews I've ever read. Iverson pulls no punches, and is honest as hell . . even about himself. Scoop did a real good job in bringing all of that out of AI

Which brings us to the Grizzlies . .

This team is going to be REAL INTERESTING this year. Say what you want about the attitudes and stuff, the actual talent on this squad now is pretty impressive.

Now you add Iverson's intensity and leadership abilities to that squad, and you now have a team that could be very disruptive in the NBA. Not saying they're playoff-bound . . but they could damn well be close.

This team has talent across the board now. He's already teling those guys "don't be satisfied with just making the playoffs". If they get off to a decent start, they're going to add a lot of losses to teams across the league.

PG - Conley

G - Mayo

F - Rudy Gay

F - Randolph

C - Marc Gasol

The addition of Randolph itself improves that squad from last year. Say what you want about Zebo ( Randolph ), but the dude can score and rebound from the low block and baseline.

But now, you bring this off the bench?

G - Iverson

F - Arthur

C - Thabeet

Iverson is motivated as hell to prove all of those teams wrong, who passed him up. Arthur is a solid backup F to bring in the game.

The wildcard is Thabeet, because so far, he's been a disappointment. But if he can become merely a defensive presence in the middle, it'll go a long way in helping that squad overall.

This is potentially a top 12 offensive unit. If they can become a top 18 defensive unit, they'll have a shot to win 40 games this season.

But the Iverson Watch starts tonight in Washington.

[MaceCase]

My whole issue with the Iverson experiment down in Memphis is the effect it would have on Mike Conley's development especially after he came on strong in the second half of the season. Conley was finally putting it together as an NBA PG and now I fear Iverson will come in cause him the same issues he had the year before and early in the last season having to battle through other PGs in Lowry, Crittenton and even Mayo before having the former shipped out and the remaining guards roles further set.

They actually are very talented team and will make some noise in that Southwest division but I worry at what cost? Iverson is not the future of that young team, how will his play affect the careers of those young guards especially? I truly hope they don't trade off present success for future contention.

[AHF]

I have never thought about adding Iverson's "leadership" skills as a plus to team success. This is a guy who publicly made fun of the concept of practice and who was happy to see Richard Hamilton go to the bench in Detroit but thought that him being asked to go to the bench was an act of betrayal. Leadership in the NBA is about putting the team first and instilling discipline and work ethic, IMO. I wouldn't be shocked to see Iverson have a good year this year because he will be highly motivated by the embarassment of this offseason, but it is precisely because of his "leadership" skills or lack thereof that he was left to sign with Memphis.

[jy23]

This is actually my hometown team and although I'm not really a fan I still keep up with them, and they just haven't been right since jerry west left. Its been alot of trial and error but it seems like they are finally moving in the right direction.........until they put randolph on the team. I know that he puts up stats but i see him slowing down rudy gay's progress, he was on his way to being an all-star, watch out for that guy. Randolph completely slows an offense down, he's a blackhole on offense. Ball goes in and never comes out, these are young players who were making great strides and the 2 players that they added don't help that. They didn't add role players they added 2 guys who consider themselves bonafide stars. Not a good thing.....we have progressed so much as a team bc we never did anything to mess with the chemistry and development of our young core. I hope they do well but i just don't see it happening with what they've done.

[MaceCase]

Well we're going to have to wait a bit on the Iverson experiment. He partially tore his hamstring and may be out for 3 weeks.