Sorry that I have been MIA for a while on the blog; we just moved and, wow, is a new place a ton of work. Anyway, as things are settling down, it’s time to weigh in on one of two athletes that have ever received “unconditional sports love” from me. Allen Iverson can do absolutely no wrong for me because of what I perceive as a complete and total genuineness and stark, human honesty. Plus, as Doogan so perfectly expressed, the fact that one of my biggest complaints about professional athletes is that they don’t care–they don’t care about winning and they don’t care about fans. NOTHING can be further from the truth about Iverson. Yes, he has his faults, but goddammit, the man cares.
Okay, I’m getting off track (which I often do, especially when there’s a chance to express my love of AI), but what I’m going to try to do here is present a litany of questions surrounding the Sixers (re)signing of Iverson in a way that covers all sides. I won’t try and hide my partiality, but I will try and present all the sides–at least all those that I can see.
Why did the Sixers (re)sign Allen Iverson?
As happy as I am to see him back, and as great as his years here were, no one should be naive in thinking that this was purely a basketball decision. In fact, if you gave Ed Stefanski and Ed Snider truth serum, you may even hear them say that any basketball effects (positive or negative) had no impact whatsoever on this decision. This was a business decision. The Sixers were next-to-last in the league in attendance, and there was no end to that apathy in sight. Now, they have ticket lines out the door. This was a really easy decision for the Sixers, as a business. And, for the rest of the discussion, let us leave the business out of it (if we can) because I would be kidding myself if I thought I was qualified, in any way, to comment on the business of professional sports.
Does this help the Sixers on the court?
This, obviously, remains to be seen, but I think it does. It is certainly not without potentially significant ramifications (which we will get to in a minute), but as far as positives, from a basketball standpoint, I think they are a better team now than they were last week, especially because…
Would they have made this move if Lou Williams was still healthy?
Maybe.
Would it have been a good move, basketball-wise, if Williams was still healthy?
Probably not. Definitely not in the long-term (more on that in a minute), but I don’t even know if it would have made sense in the short-term. The injury to Williams opened up a spot for Iverson…in fact, I would even argue that it opened up a need for Iverson. They are not going to move Iggy to the #1 (clearly), and Willie Green, well, stinks to put it bluntly. And Jrue Holliday, as much as I think he’ll be a player, if clearly not ready to start–he’s probably not even ready to give you 18-20 minutes in the Association yet. So, without Williams, the Sixers need Iverson just to field a legitimate team night in and night out.
So…what happens when Williams comes back?
Interesting question. I don’t really know. I can’t imagine that Iverson doesn’t finish the season with the Sixers, and it’s almost as hard to imagine him being a reserve either. And, if Williams recovers fully in two months or so, he has to be out there because he’s young and has already proven that he’s a solid NBA scorer at the One. So, where does that leave this Sixers team when he’s healthy? Even if you could justify playing both Williams and Iverson on the floor together in the backcourt (questionable), what does that do to Iguodala–do you give him yet another chance to play the Three, even though he’s failed time and time again? And, even if you justified that, do you just bench Thaddeus Young, who has a shot (albeit an outside one) at being a star in this league? Or, do you bench Elton Brand and all that money? Or can you possibly compete with a tiny, Don Nelson-type lineup of Williams, Iverson, Iguodala, Young, and Brand? Any of these options presents pretty major deficiencies on the defensive/rebounding end. So, it should be real interesting to see whether you ever see Iverson, Williams, and Iguodala on the floor together. And, if not, whose minutes are then cut.
Yes, all those problems may be legit, but is this team really that much different from the 2001 team that was the “perfect fit” for Iverson?
Yes. Yes, it is. That team had a bonafied pass-first point guard (Eric Snow), who could guard bigger players. I like Williams on the defensive end, but he’s only 6’1″, 175 pounds, and he’s clearly not pass-first. That team also had great defenders and rebounders that knew that their role was to get Iverson the ball. Is there anything in Iguodala’s game that even resembles George Lynch? Is Elton Brand really that defeated that he can play the role of Theo Ratliff/Tyrone Hill? Oh, and that Iverson
Are there any similarities? Is there any reason to think that this could click?
Not really to the first question (other than the fact that Sammy Dalembert is a good shot-blocker with no offensive game–kind of like a homeless man’s Dikembe Mutombo). But, yes, to the second question. Call me crazy, but I think this can (key word: “can”) work. I’m not saying I would bet my last dollar on this being a playoff team, but am I totally crazy to look at this roster and see a playoff team in the top-heavy Eastern Conference? You mean to tell me that a team with the two AIs, Lou Williams, the power forward formerly known as Elton Brand, and Thaddeus Young isn’t at least on par with the likes of Milwaukee, Detroit, Charlotte, Toronto, Chicago, and Washington. And, aren’t they definitively better than the likes of the Knicks, the Pacers, and the Nets? It may come down to a game or two either way that takes them from out of the playoffs to as high as a #6 seed. And, with a veteran leader, like Iverson in the fold, maybe they get those extra wins?
Is making the playoffs a good thing for the Sixers right now?
I’m not sure. On the one hand, I think it’s pretty apparent that Iguodala cannot be the best player on a title contender. I think it’s also pretty apparent that Elton Brand is, well, a shell of his once great self. Therefore, this team is not a few tweaks away from title contention. They need a “face of the franchise,” and when you need one of those, you need to either hit the free agent lottery (no chance with the contracts of Brand and Iguodala) or get a lottery pick (i.e. don’t make the playoffs). But…on the other hand, there are some nice pieces here (Williams, Young, Speights, etc.) who may benefit in the long run from any playoff experience they could garner because in the NBA, more so than any other sport, the playoffs are a completely different animal that need to be experienced in order to find future success. So, it’s unsure whether or not it is “better” for the Sixers franchise to make or miss the playoffs this year, considering there is next to no chance that they would be anything higher than a #6 seed, and there is just as slim a chance of them beating a Cleveland, a Boston, an Orlando, or probably even an Atlanta in a playoff series.
What are the potential short-term negatives of Iverson on the Sixers?
Honestly, until Williams comes back, I don’t see any. Once Williams comes back (if he comes back fully healthy), then there will be some major decisions to make, when it comes to the lineup and playing time. And, if AI’s PT is cut, how will he react? That is always a question. But, we’re still two months from a healthy Williams, so it’s pretty fair to say that the Sixers are a better team with Iverson on this roster. There are only two ways that it could blow up, in the short-term: (i) if Iguodala takes it as a slight and starts to sulk and moan and just get fed up with everything (certainly possible), or (ii) if Iverson is such a ridiculously square peg in the ridiculously round hole that is Eddie Jordan’s Princeton-style offense and it becomes a complete circus of an offense, then they could obviously lose a lot of games. But, in reality, without him they are probably going to lose a lot of games, and as we’ve stated before, is that really so bad for the future of the franchise?
What are the potential long-term negatives of Iverson on the Sixers?
There are several. One, as we touched on before, is that maybe they need to blow this thing up and lose 60 games and get a top-5 pick in order to compete again. But, is this year’s draft class really going to be that good? Unless they land #1 (John Wall), there may not be a franchise-changer to be had. The other, and possibly more significant, long-term effect could be from the developmental standpoint, though this concern has been tempered, again, by the Williams injury. I think Williams would be the only guy on the team who is “still developing” that may lose out on that development with Iverson here, and he’s hurt. Holliday is not ready to play, so his development is coming in practice, so maybe it’s even good to have Iverson there, so he can learn to guard a savvy veteran who still has a lot of moves. Iggy, Dalembert, Kapono, probably Willie Green, and obviously Elton Brand are pretty much fully developed from a basketball standpoint (which is kind of depressing). So, then we’re basically looking at what Iverson’s presence does to the development of four guys: Thaddeus Young, Maureese Speights, Jason Smith, and Rodney Carney. None of them are losing PT because of Iverson because they all are either big twos, threes, or fours. You can argue that Young and Speights are going to lose half-court touches because of Iverson, and that’s probably true, but they are also probably going to have opportunities that Iverson creates that wouldn’t have been created if the ball was dominated by Iggy or even Williams. I think it could help these guys because they are all, in some way, “energy” guys and Iverson is the ultimate play-your-heart-out-on-every-possession guy. Yes, he has bad practice ethics, but I’d like to think that Carney and Smith are smart enough to know that Iverson is not a “practice role model,” and that Young and Speights are talented enough to make their own ways. So, I think the “developmental” argument for not bringing in Iverson can be quite overstated by some in the media.
So, should the Sixers have done it?
Here is where my attempt at impartiality takes a real turn for the worse. ABSOLUTELY, they should have done it. And, let me try to say this without just going back to the “I love the guy, so yes” argument. They need to sell tickets in order to compete. It sucks, but it’s true. Yes, there is a salary cap, and yes, they have a strong NBA presence and aren’t in jeopardy of leaving town, but the NBA does not create the brand revenue of the NFL, so every team has to somewhat produce their own revenue in order to compete, even with a rather rigid salary cap in place. It’s just that simple. Iverson is going to produce massive revenue (and may just win them some games), which should enable them to continue to compete. The Brand Contract aside, this team is somewhat well-constructed, and I trust Ed Stefanski to do what needs to be done to return this team to contention. He didn’t want to do this, from a “basketball perspective,” but he was convinced because of the increasingly blurred distinction between “basketball” and “business.” They are intertwined in all of today’s professional sports leagues, to ignore that is foolish.
Am I happy to see AI back wearing a red, white, and blue #3?
Abso-f’ing-lutely!
Have to admit, I’m intrigued by the potential lineup of Williams, Iverson, Iguodala, Young, Brand. Not that I think it would win many games, but it would definitely be fun to watch.
I know I’m the king of picking on Willie Green. But how about when Williams comes back we just completely bench Green? With him out of the picture, there’s enough guard minutes to spread around between Williams, Iverson, Iggy, and Holiday.
I watched John Wall for about two minutes before I started picturing him in a Sixer uniform. More on that to come in a post in a few days or so.
The more this Wall guy plays, the more it will be completely obvious that the Sixers will need to get their ping-pong ball picked first to get him, but that would be AWESOME because he is the real deal (I’ve got more on that upcoming, as well, with the annual BSB college hoops preview extravanganza–a little late this year).
You’re right on both your Sixer points, as well, a Williams-Iverson-Iggy-Young-Brand lineup would be REALLY fun to watch. And, I don’t think that Jordan is totally beholden to the Princeton thing, so maybe he should study some Don Nelson tapes and run that kind of offense.
And, about Green (and, yes, it is totally piling on now), he’s done, in my eyes. I think with the emergence of Williams, Green is rendered just about useless, with or without Iverson, but especially now that he’s here. Even though I said that PT is not the answer for Holliday, I would still say that every minute Green plays should be another minute for Holliday. And, Green’s ATOCIOUS contract is not helping them work around Brand and Iggy, either. Hopefully, Green’s terrible contract is the last really crippling remnant of Billy King.