MEMPHIS, TN—Though Allen Iverson has taken an indefinite leave of absence and even threatened to retire because of his current bench role, the Grizzlies organization maintained its stance Wednesday that the 1-7 team has five better players than the four-time NBA scoring champion and 2001 league MVP. "We're really confident about the decision to put Mike Conley, Zach Randolph, Rudy Gay, O.J. Mayo, and Marc Gasol on floor instead of Iverson," general manager Chris Wallace said of his starters, who combined have appeared in 10 fewer NBA All-Star games than the former No. 1 draft pick. "And I can't forget about our sixth man, Marcus Williams. He's been coming off the bench and putting up 4.4 points a game. He wowed us when he scored seven the other night." Wallace added that Iverson, whose 27.0 points-per-game average is the sixth best of all-time, has only 13 years of professional basketball experience compared to the 15 years of the Grizzlies' entire starting lineup.