New-look Grizzlies seem assured

[La Bomba]

Allen Iverson showed up 20 minutes early for Grizzlies Media Day and strolled through the grand lobby at FedExForum with his business manager and right-hand man, Gary Moore. The place was empty, but the hallways that led to the court were blocked by locked gates. Moore got on his cell phone.

 

"Where are we supposed to go?" he asked. "Is there an elevator?"

 

And so the learning process begins for the new-look Grizzlies, who got poked and prodded by reporters and photographers before boarding a bus bound for Birmingham on Monday afternoon. Training camp starts today, which Iverson and his teammates expect to be all about business under coach Lionel Hollins. But there also seems to be some playfulness at work with this team, which hopes to find the right chemistry over the next few weeks.

 

Iverson, the perennial NBA All-Star, and power forward Zach Randolph, the Grizzlies' other key offseason acquisition, sat together on the dais for a joint 20-minute press conference, then Rudy Gay and O.J. Mayo, part of the old guard, did the same.

 

Fielding their first question, Gay turned to Mayo and whispered: "You start, man. I usually close it out."

 

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/sep/29/optimisim-plentiful-for-new-look-grizzlies/