Kate Fagan has a solid piece on Andre Iguodala and the Philly fans'
love/hate relationship with him. We've seen this odd dynamic play out right here on this blog in the comments section for a couple of years now, you all know
where I stand. A couple of interesting quotes from the article after the jump.
These playoffs are probably more important for Iguodala than any other Sixer. He was widely panned, fairly or not, for his performance last year. I think he went above and beyond during the regular season against Detroit to erase that memory from people's minds, but nothing short of a dominating playoff series or two is going to elevate him in the minds of most non-believers.
Here's Coach DiLeo on Iguodala:
"He's the guy that will be the voice of the team," Sixers coach Tony DiLeo said. "He's undervalued around the league. I think when we win, he will get more respect."
And Andre Miller:
"I have no idea," point guard Andre Miller said when asked why Iguodala doesn't receive more respect. "That just comes down to the respect the league has for certain teams, and we don't get that respect."
Miller called Iguodala a "playmaking player."
Personally, I think Iguodala is under-appreciated because people fall in love with points scored and defense isn't easily quantifiable. Should he be the number one option on offense? That depends on your definition. Should the first option on every possession be to get Iguodala a shot? No. Should the first option on every possession be to get the ball in Iguodala's hands? Yes. If you think the definition of a number one is the best player on your team, then Iguodala is obviously already that.
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While I appreciate Iguodala's desire to become "the man" for Philly, I hope he doesn't lose sight of how to effectively win basketball games. His reaction to DiLeo's timeout and his post-game interview give off an impression of T-Mac when they should be more like LeBron. What I mean is that YES, I want the ball in Iguodala's hands, but I don't necessarily want him taking the final shot and I definitely don't want the rest of the team standing around watching him take his man one-on-one.
It looked like Hedo and the Magic knew that Iggy was going to take that final shot no matter what, and played really good defense accordingly. I knew it too: Iggy's actions when the time-out was called gave it away. As a result, the Magic had time to decide how to approach the issue, and while it didn't work I wouldn't exactly say their defense failed. It's good to be emotional at the end of games, but I just hope that it doesn't cloud Iggy's decision-making going forward.
Does anyone else get the feeling that Iggy is the Clyde to LeBron's Jordan? Two players, similar physique and skill set (and lack thereof), one just transcends the game.
Ball in his hands at the end of the game, absolutely. 100% positive he's going to take the shot, not at all. I think the best end-of-game play the sixers ran all season was when Iggy drove the lane, drew 3 defenders and found Miller wide open under the hoop for what should've been a layup for the win. Unfortunately, Miller pump faked then Trenton Hassell blocked the shot from behind.
great points, totally agree.
on the Sixers board of philly.com there is s thread about Iguodala's shots in crunch time, he made several this year but also took a couple of awful shots (at home vs Indy & the last game vs Boston, to make a couple of examples...)
I think he's improved a lot but he's not at Pierce/Billups/R.Allen level
and we have also other pretty reliable options, Miller or even LW, so yes, if is he's double teamed I hope he dishes to the open man instead of forcing it
Ignoudala has known how to 'effectively' contribute to winning basketball games for his entire career.
However, the average fan has no clue what 'effective contribution' means and looks only at points or rebounds or whatever and then says he isn't worth the cash.
The funny thing is that they look at point only. I mean, if they got as far as points and rebounds and assists they'd realize it, right?
I don't think so - it's the herd mentality (fostered by ESPN) - even if he LEADS the team in scoring if he's not about 20 points per game he's just not at that level...the fact that he could average 20/5/5/2 is pretty damn impressive - but too many people listen to the idiots at TNT and ESPN and who they hype - and assume since Iguodala isn't hyped he's just not worth it.
Iguodala is the best ALL AROUND player on the sixers - and i bet if you did a poll of more 'objective' all around rankings - defense, passing, etc....a guy like Iguodala would easily crack the top 20 (i'm being conservative, i think all around he's a top 10 player in the league because he's above average in so many categories)...
I also think part of the reason is that he spent the first part of his caree in a 'shadow' and people already boxed him in - beliefs about atheletes tend to be hard to change.
Jeff Francouer is a perfect example in baseball
Not sure I follow the logic on Frenchy. Is there someone out there who doesn't think he sucks?
Oh yes - many people (ESPN) who still praise the french one still trapped in those first couple months - the 'smarter' community has accepted it but guys like Joe Morgan and Jon Miller who still hold great sway over the 'masses' still ignore that fact that he's terrible.
And don't get me started on the 'greatness' of David Eckstein
Hell - you root for a team whose prospects are so grossly over hyped just because they are 'yankee prospects' it's kind of scary.
It's interesting that you root for one of the most over hyped over covered baseball teams and almost the complete opposite in terms of basketball - whereas I think the eagles fall somewhere in the middle (though donovan takes more grief than praise and he shouldn't i think) - it's a dichotomy i've always found fascinating :)
The over-hyping of Yankee prospects has cooled recently. Hughes, Kennedy and Joba all had unbelievable numbers in the minors. If you check the national top 50 lists, it seems like the days of Hensley Bam-Bam Muelens are behind us.
And, to be fair, when I started rooting for the Yanks, they weren't exactly the Yankees you see today. In fact, the Sixers were just coming off a championship and the Yanks blew.
I think the reason they are cooling off is because of the performance of them recently
Though it's said that hank and hal don't recall how the titles were won - cause right now it's just never going to get done :)
I don't mean to say he isn't capable of making good passing plays at the end of games. I'm just slightly concerned that he gets a bit too much of an adrenaline rush at the end of games during the playoffs and loses sight of what makes him effective. You could tell by his body language that he was going to take that shot in Orlando no matter what and I think Orlando read it and defended it well.
Maybe its just because it was the first game, but it certainly made me nervous that he was so transparent with his emotions/intentions.
Agreed. I'm not a big fan of that iso play. It's less of an issue in that situation than it is if they're down by 1 or 2, but I'd still like to see some kind of a play. Maybe screen and roll?
I think that after Roy's performance last night (even though no one saw it), you'll have a tough time selling people on the whole Iguodala > Roy concept.
Speaking of that last shot, might they have been wiser to have Pietrus guarding him?
Pietrus is useless, apparently.
As for Roy, I saw both games, they'd be down 2-0 right now if Dikembe didn't get hurt, and I've always had a tough time making the Iggy > Roy sales, this doesn't really change anything.
Not so useless anymore, apparently.
Heh. You make mental notes of everything I say, just so you can point out my errors :)
Well no, I just checked back on this thread after the game and there was this comment about Pietrus's uselessness. He isn't the smartest player, of course, but he can defend a little.
hey brian,
do you or anybody know any site that shows the game tonight cause i dont get nbatv and cant watch the game and i got some good feelings tonight i cant miss it
The following shows the sixers-magic game:
http://channelsurfing.net/
http://www.iddaliyim.tr.gg/
try them.
i don't know why anyone wouldn't want the ball in iguodala's hands during crunch time. i maintain that he has been the sixers most clutch player of the last 2 decades. in all his time here iverson never hit as many clutch shots in the closing minutes of games as iguodala has hit this season alone.
that should probably read closing "seconds."
I'll try to look this up, but I think those clutch stats from 82games.com don't even begin to tell the whole story on Iggy's heroics this season.