Kings/Grizzlies storylines: Iverson dislikes bench role
In addition to being one of the season’s best games thus far (who knew?), last night’s Sacramento Kings match vs. the Memphis Grizzlies had a lot of different storylines – diplomatic relations, NBA season-high point total, international intrigue, and surprise! Allen Iverson complanis about not wanting to come off the bench!
- So much for the gesture of international peace, after playing in each of the three previous games, Hamed Haddadi of Iran registered his first DNP of the season, in a game against the first Israeli NBA player Omri Casspi. Read into that how you will. Haddadi had previously mentioned that he was open to reaching out to Casspi before the game to shake his hand; I’m not sure if that happened.
- Despite that, Casspi and the Sacramento Kings pull out their first win. In supporting roles to Kevin Martin‘s season-high and NBA-high 48 points, international bench players Casspi (15 pts, 4 rebs, 2blks), Beno Udrih (16 pts, 6 assts), and Andrés Nocioni (13 pts) contribute greatly to the Kings overtime win 127-116.
- On the other side, Grizzly reserve Allen Iverson was productive in his first game with Memphis, recording 11 points on 5-9 shooting in 18 minutes, but was far from relishing his bench role, “I had a problem with my butt sitting on that bench for so long,” Iverson said after the game. I’m not a bench player. I’m not a sixth man,” Iverson said. “Look at my resume and that’ll show I’m not a sixth man. 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. I’m not a sixth man. And that’s that.” Geesh. This is after AI missed the entire preseason and the first three regular-season games.
- Memphis Head Coach Lionel Hollins responds: “(Allen Iverson) hasn’t even been with the team until just a couple of days ago. He’s going to come off the bench. He hasn’t played all preseason, hasn’t played the three regular-season games (leading up to Monday’s loss).” said Hollins. “He only practiced three days in training camp before he got hurt so there’s no way I would trot him out there in a starting role.”
- Rudy Gay will become an unrestricted free-agent after Memphis didn’t come up with an offer that Gay was looking for, a contract worth roughly $50 million over 5 years. “We’ve agreed to not agree,” Gay’s agent, Jeff Austin, told the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “We looked at different ways we might try to get something done and we weren’t able to agree.” Gay will join a crazy free agent class that can include players like LeBron James, Dirk Nowitzki, Shaquille O’Neal, Manu Ginobili, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, and Yao Ming.
- Pau who now? With the loss, the Grizzlies drop to 1-3, but Marc Gasol continues his strong interior play with 16 points and tying a career-high with 16 rebounds. For the season, the 24-year old, 7-0 center from Spain is averging 19.0 points, 12.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.5 blocks.
Pair Mid-century Modern Black Painted Slat BenchesLENCONMOD Store A NICE PAIR OF BLACK PAINTED PETITE SLAT BENCHES-THESE BENCHES ARE IN VERY GOOD VINTAGE CONDITION WITH MINOR WEAR DUE TO AGE. BOTH BENCHES HAVE HAD A NEW COAT OF BLACK PAINT TO FRESHEN THEM UP. THESE BENCHES ARE NOT AN EXACT MATCH, ….
April 6th, 2010 at 5:45 am