Allen Iverson was a great player for the Sixers, he brought my favorite team back from the depths of obscurity, he put the Sixers on his back and took them to the NBA Finals in 2001. I appreciate everything the guy has done for this team and I admire his toughness, talent and unbelievable desire to win. For all of those reasons and more, I hope someone signs him, and does it quickly. I just hope it isn't the Sixers.
I want Iverson to be signed because I'd really hate to see the guy forced out of the league or worse (forced overseas). He gave a lot to this game, and I wouldn't doubt that he has more to give still. There are teams out there that he can help, I firmly believe that.
I want him to sign quickly so I can stop seeing pleas for him to come back to Philly. They're popping up more on more frequently, on blogs, message boards, comment threads and Twitter. I want him to sign with someone else for one simple reason, this team needs to move forward, not back.
Would Iverson help in the short-term? I don't know. I think there's a chance he's going to have a massive chip on his shoulder this season. If he has anything left in the tank, he could go out and score 30 points a game. I don't think that's what the Sixers need, but who knows, maybe he'd flourish in the Princeton offense and his numbers would look more like his first full season in Denver than his numbers from last year in Detroit. It's certainly possible. He'd also undoubtedly help ticket sales, which isn't a bad thing, although I don't think it's even on the top-ten list of critical items in my mind, I'm sure it's important to Comcast.
But what then? What if the Sixers did bring Iverson back for one final run, then where would the franchise be this time next year? To keep AI happy, he's going to have to play at least 30 minutes a game, probably more. If he's playing more than 30 minutes, you can guarantee he's taking at least 17 shots, probably more. That also guarantees that Lou Williams and Jrue Holiday won't get much burn. It'll be another year without fully testing out Lou to see if he's capable of living up to that contract. It'll mean pushing Jrue's development back another season. It'll probably mean less touches for Thad, Iguodala, Speights and maybe Brand as well (all more efficient scorers than Iverson at this point of his career.)
I'd say the odds of Iverson coming back to the Sixers at this point are hovering somewhere below 5%. I don't think the franchise wants to go back down that road, but when season ticket sales aren't what you'd call strong and the economy is still tanking, I just don't want that quick fix dangling out there. Pro-Iverson arguments can be made, even intelligent ones, and one of those arguments could easily take the form of a press release after the signing. I just don't want it to come to that. Someone out there could use a guy like Iverson, just pull the trigger already and let this guy go out on his own terms. The next time I want to see Iverson in a Sixers' jersey is the day he's inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Iverson wouldn't help this team. Lou Williams already is Iverson essentially, just in limited doses.
Speaking of Lou, I saw him at the gas station yesterday filling up his Benz. We actually have the exact same make and model car. Just kidding. First time I was ever that close to a ball player. I wish it was just about any other Sixer, but I'll take it. I now know for sure that Lou Williams has a couple inches on me.
so, did you say hello and give him some tips?
So you think he's a legit 6'2"?
Dean,
He was talking to someone. I would have had to outright approached him and interrupt his conversation, so I let him be. I probably dropped the ball on it.
Brian,
He looked taller than most people who claim to be 6'2". I'm about as 6 foot as people get meaning many say I'm taller. I was looking up at him legitly. I think 6-2 1/4 would be my guess.
I haven't read a single legitimate suggestion that Iverson would be back in Philadelphia, the way it ended, so publicly and poorly, I think it would be a really unlikely thing...Iverson's comments this offseason have also indicated that 'bench' isn't something he's willing to accept either...I know brian says he can see a valid argument being made for the return of Iverson, but I haven't seen one from any of the fans clamoring for it that makes basketball sense for the long term success of this team. One could be made for nostalgia (how'd that work out with mo cheeks) attendance (check out the attendance the last few years of Iverson, and he ain't as good now as he was then), but I don't see a valid on the court championship building explanation anyone can make. Iverson is a unique player who needs a specific roster to maximize his strengths (and minimize his glaring weaknesses), you don't bring him in to be that final piece, even in his prime he's the piece you build around.
Bringing him back would just be a bad idea all around as I see it and hopefully the sixers don't listen to the fans like the phillies used to do.
Let him go back to Charlotte with Larry Brown...
You know, Charlotte may be a really good fit for him.
That's what people have been saying all summer, but with Johnson trying to position that team for sale who knows if they'll take that kind of risk.
It's a shame because as I understand it from various reports, Charlotte truly is a strong NBA town but Shinn just pissed them off so much it would take a lot to turn them around and Johnson has run that team poorly since day one.
A cheap one-year deal may pay for itself in attendance, which would raise the value of the team, one would think.
Problem is that Iverson's Q rating is probably lower than it ever has been...the detroit thing was a debacle on so many levels...and this off season he's still being seen as more of a petulant brat and child with his refusal to consider a bench position.
You know better than anyone that if he scores 25+ a game this season the MSM will be all over him again.
Yea but AI himself said that if he can't start he would rather end his career then come of the bench. If he would come off the bench then he would demand more minutes then some of the starters
I think he'd probably start there. If Felton re-signs, probably Felton and Iverson at the guards w/ Augustin, Gerald Henderson and Raja Bell providing depth. If Felton leaves, it's less crowded, and the starters are kind of undersized in Augustin and Iverson.
Iverson is the sole person I credit for making me the fan I am today. Oddly enough, he really helped me appreciate the game, just by watching him & rooting for him.
I would love to see him come back. That being said, I would cringe to see him come back as a starter. If he agreed to come off the bench, I'd be constantly worried he wouldn't be happy & anxiously fearing a blow-up.
I feel like he had a triumphant return to the city when he was with the Nuggets, we all love him & appreciate what he did. I think we all just want the best for him, but we all know the best for him is not going to come from the Sixers.
if this doesn't choke you up, you're not a philly fan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYmObmEY6cY
Simmons linked to that a few weeks back. Emotional stuff.
And that''s what I see most from people who want Iverson back on the sixers, it's emotional, it' not based on any kind of rational thought or anything.
oh i don't want him back on the sixers. it would be completely detrimental to their progress at this point. i just want to see him exit the league on his own terms, not the way things are shaping up this offseason. i think there are a few teams (ie charlotte) that he can help. basically i just want to see him go out on a positive note.
If he no longer finds a place in the NBA it will be because of his 'own terms' - his own terms is how he played his entire career so far - his refusal to support a teams winning by coming off the bench if a team asked him - that's his own terms...
Eh. This past season was the only time he was ever asked to come off the bench, and admittedly he didn't handle it well, although neither did Rip. That team was just a joke, with a joke for a coach. I don't know how much of his season in Detroit you can pin on him. Now if he goes somewhere this season and insists on starting, etc. then fine, I'll buy that argument.
I believe he compared coming off a bench to hell or said it was the worst pain in his life, or some such hyperbolic nonsense.
I wonder whether he can help any team. At this point he's so inefficient that he's a lot like today's T-Mac, he takes 15 shots a game away from other, more effective players and your team's shooting percentages go way down.
The greater point is that even in 2001 - he was a pretty inefficient player -he's always been an inefficient player.
1.22 points/shot isn't terrible. His eFG was low, but his TS% was decent. It was probably his second-best season, statistically, behind his first full year in Denver.
But the reality is that without Iverson, we would've struggled to score 85 a game in 2001. So he did help us, though not as much as a Kobe would have.
I will say this one thing: This current team would probably beat any of Iverson's old Sixers teams. Bringing back Iverson could be very interesting...
you think they'd beat the '00-'01 team? that's crazy.
With todays rules or 01 rules?
good question. he dominated before the hand checking was scaled back, which leads me to believe it wouldn't matter.
Hmm. This is a really good question. W/ today's rules Iverson would be really, really tough to stop. I'd definitely put Iguodala on him and look to double as much as possible. I still think he'd score 35/game and win at least 2 all on his own in a 7-game series.
This team definitely has more offensive weapons, but we don't really know what they're going to do. They have the personnel to be just as good defensively, I think, but we don't know if the coaching is up to the task.
I'd probably take the 01 team right now, really not sure what we have in the coaching staff/players at this point for 09/10.
I think the point was that if you put Iverson on this team, his supporting cast would be better than it was in 01. I don't think that's really debatable. Iguodala's better than anyone on that team, as is Brand. And that team was just as bad from three as the 08-09 Sixers. Of course, signing Iverson now isn't getting you the 01 version.
The as-projected 2009-10 Philadelphia 76ers, with Allen Iverson starting at PG, would be - in terms of talent - better than any Sixers team that Iverson ever played on.
If both teams were coached by Larry Brown, the '09-10 team would ROAST the 2000-01 team, IMO.
With Brown coaching the 2000-01 team and Jordan coaching the 2009-10 team, the 2000-01 team would probably find a way to win ugly.
While I agree that it probably does not make sense to go down memory lane for one more season, I still think that AI would BLOW AWAY Lou at the point. If I had ANY confidence that AI could come in and be a good soldier (i.e. watch other people take big shots in the guts of the game and not get pizzed off), I would be all for signing him for one year. I just don't think he could do it.