Empty the Bench

By Brian Spencer

On paper, Monday night’s matchup between the Sacramento Kings and Memphis Grizzlies didn’t exactly strike me as a game I needed to watch. Sure, there was the “much-anticipated” debut of Allen Iverson in a Grizzlies uniform, but other than that, it looked like two young, mostly bad teams were set for 48 minutes of sloppy basketball highlighted by the occasional, and certainly not without merit, highlight-reel dunk from a guy like Memphis’ Rudy Gay or OJ Mayo, or Sacramento’s Jason Thompson or Tyreke Evans.

Kings fans who made the trip to Arco Arena for their team’s home opener, and those watching at home on the NBA League Pass (which is still on free preview, by the way, and still available for $20 off the regular price), ended up with a significantly richer return on their time investment.

This game had it all, including:

– Allen Iverson checking into the game late in the first quarter for the first time as a Memphis Grizzlie, thereby marking his debut as the NBA’s Most Depressing Player of the Year. It almost took him longer to score (he finished with 11 points on 5-9 shooting in about 17 minutes) than it did for him to start popping off to the media about how unhappy he is coming off the bench. You totally didn’t see this coming, did you? A few snippets from what almost amounts to a postgame rant… after one game.

“I had a problem with my butt from sitting on the bench so long,” Iverson said. “That’s the only thing I had a problem with. I’m not a reserve basketball player. I’ve never been a reserve all my life and I’m not going to start looking at myself as a reserve. That’s something for the media to talk about. It’s only a big issue when the media talks about it. The subject never came up in my career until everything happened in Detroit. No one talked about me being a sub or anything like that until last year.”

“I went to the bench and told my teammates that I didn’t think they knew I was in the game. They didn’t. They didn’t even think I was in the game and that was a bad thing. I was like, ‘Man, I was wide-open.’ Obviously, [the Kings] didn’t think I was in the game because someone big ended up on me. I guess [the Grizzlies] got used to me sitting so long that I didn’t even get in the game. If we’re winning, I can play 10 minutes and I’m happy. When we’re losing, that’s when I trip out.”

So, in other words, get used to AI tripping out this season. Good times in Memphis, as usual.

Kevin Martin Photo Credit: Icon SMI

- Kevin Martin, the Kings’ would-be franchise player, hanging 48 on the Grizzlies’ disinterested and disengaged defense. That established a new all-time Kings high for points scored in a home opener. Good for him. We’re not huge fans, and think Martin is somewhat of a one-dimensional talent–think Michael Redd–but he always keeps quiet and goes about his business in relative NBA anonymity for a team going nowhere, and I have a lot of respect for that. Maybe AI should give him a call.

Marc Gasol dominates, Spencer Hawes isn’t a stiff, and Kings fans get an A after the break….

- Second-year Grizzlies center Marc Gasol continuing to channel his injured brother Pau in totaling 16 points, 16 boards, 3 assists, 2 blocks, and 1 steal. Through four games, the seven-foot Spainard is looking like a breakout candidate and has essentially rendered rookie Hasheem Thabeet, the second-overall pick in this year’s draft, obsolete. Gasol is averaging 19 points (64% FG), 12.3 boards, 2.3 assists, 1.5 blocks, 1 steal, and 85% from the free-throw line on 8 attempts per. I don’t know that he can keep this up, but those are All-Star numbers, folks.

- Seven-footer Spencer Hawes dishing out 7 assists, including a bullet to a cutting Beno “Oodrick” Udrih for the tying layup that sent the game into overtime. Hawes, now in his third pro season after being taken 10th overall in the 2007 Draft, did everything (and more) the team envisioned him doing. With Thompson in foul trouble and “starting center” Sean May ineffective again, Hawes came off the bench to log just under 44 minutes, finishing with 21 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 blocks, and just 1 turnover.

- Zach Randolph doing his best I’m Going to Get Mine Magic Show for Memphis, wherein he posts dominant fantasy stats (30 points, 16 boards) in a losing cause. As he walked to the bench after fouling out in overtime, you got the feeling he was probably thinking that all in all, it was a pretty good night.

- In a few weeks, most NBA fans won’t think much about the result of their team’s home opener, win or lose. But if anything, it’s a nice psychological boost for those fans who care to tune in as soon as the season begins, especially for a struggling franchise like Sacramento. Give it up for the Kings fans who came out to this one. They were into it, especially during the fourth quarter when the game really started heating up and lead went back and forth.

With about 1 minute left in regulation, everybody got on their feet and and cheered as loudly as they could, egging their team on to vanquish their unworthy foe and give them something to go home and feel good about in what’s probably going to be a long, long season in Sactown. And though it took longer than it should have, they got what they came for, a high-scoring 127-116 overtime win.

Everybody went home happy. And they deserved to. That was a great fucking game.