Strange mix in Memphis

Allen Iverson won't play tonight for Memphis when the Grizzlies visit American Airlines Center. But he'll probably be available when the regular season starts later this month. He's fighting a hamstring tear. The arrival of Iverson and Zach Randolph in Memphis is really interesting. It's a young team building around O.J. Mayo, Rudy Gay, Marc Gasol and Darrell Arthur. They also hope rookie Hasheem Thabeet and point guard Mike Conley develop into cornerstones. But surrounding them with Iverson and Randolph is weird. Great scorers, both players have been known to have a bit of a knucklehead quotient. Not bad guys by any stretch. Just a little crazy at times. "With youth, you got to put some veterans around them,'' Jason Terry said of the Grizz. "Those guys obviously put up some big numbers in the league for a while and they're going to look at those guys to be leaders on that team.'' --Eddie Sefko