Iverson was never the Answer

[EatSleepBreatheGreen]

****. I think the writer is clearly a Detroit Piston fan, and just a "wee" bit ticked off at Iverson. That, and hes probably mad at his own "short"comings too.

LOL @ "At 6-foot, 165 pounds, Iverson had as much of a chance of filling Jordan's Jordans as yours truly being the next Ron Jeremy." Someone needs to get him sum "EX-Tenz" and then maybe He'll write something a little more positive. What an idiot.

[indeedproceed]

****. I think the writer is clearly a Detroit Piston fan, and just a "wee" bit ticked off at Iverson. That, and hes probably mad at his own "short"comings too.

LOL @ "At 6-foot, 165 pounds, Iverson had as much of a chance of filling Jordan's Jordans as yours truly being the next Ron Jeremy." Someone needs to get him sum "EX-Tenz" and then maybe He'll write something a little more positive. What an idiot.

Weird thing is he's a Kansas Star writer. He also grew up in INdianapolis IND. i think his only ax to grind is the # of places that usually link to his articles/# of hits he gets per article. He wants the attention

[Carhole]

AI is the Michael Vick (minus the dog fighting) of the NBA. Singular talents that would give you the best chance of winning paired with any random (4 for basketball or 10 for football) bums. Their individual talents are so unique that they can carry you to wins but they also do not fit into the structure that produces truly great teams.

Talent and marketability they are top notch... but that always spilled over into them being overrated value as players in teams sports. IMO

[liam]

AI is a great player. But you need to play him the right way. What were the Pistons doing before he got there? Choking in the ECF every year. The Pistons wanted to tank this year so they made a trade that didn't fit and now Dumas can let AI take the heat. Dumas messed up this teamby letting Wallace and Billups go and picking Darko in the draft. None of that is AI's fault. AI is a hall of fame player.

Actually, Dumars was right about not resigning Ben Wallace.  He got way overpaid by the Bulls and has been a shell of his former self ever since leaving Detroit.  And the AI trade wasn't to tank, it was to free cap space after this season.  The way the team was constituted going into the season, they weren't going to be able to match up with a healthy Celtics team.  There window had passed.  Dumars made the right move to look towards the future.  Although I doubt he envisioned the team fighting just to make the playoffs after that trade.  AI is a great player and future HOFer, but he's been pretty bad this year, and his unwillingness to come off the bench and pack it in is going to be added to his legacy, which isn't a good thing.

Wallace and Billups were very good fits for Detroit. Wallace did get over paid by Chicago but the same money to play for Detroit wouldn't have been over paying. You have to have the players that fit the system.

[fairweatherfan]

Whitlock is a colossal attention "prostitute" and always has been.  This column is no different.

That said, I do think Iverson has always wanted to win.  No one has ever questioned his effort level on the floor, from game 1 of the regular season to the last game of the playoffs.  This guy is probably legitimately 5'10" and 165 and has spent the past 13 years getting knocked around by much larger men.  I've never seen Allen Iverson shy away from contact, and I've never seen him give up on a game he was playing in.  His heart's always been in the right place, even if his head wasn't.

I think Iverson's problem is he never has mentally gotten past how dominant he always was growing up, and even to a degree in his early NBA career.  That's why he never really grew as a player, and continued to put up the same high-volume, low-efficiency numbers year after year.  And it's definitely why he can't even conceive of being a complementary player at this stage of his career, or any scenario where he's not The Guy.  I hope he has some kind of epiphany after this season and really tries to help out a team that is larger than himself; if he does, he could be a big help to a contender somewhere. 

And I agree - Detroit didn't trade for him to win, it was about cap space from Day 1, and everyone knew it.  The advantage of the move is that Iverson is a big enough name to make it look like it wasn't a salary dump, and hopefully sell some tickets/jerseys.  He's not blameless in the Detroit fiasco, but the team never really had him in their plans.

[EatSleepBreatheGreen]

****. I think the writer is clearly a Detroit Piston fan, and just a "wee" bit ticked off at Iverson. That, and hes probably mad at his own "short"comings too.

LOL @ "At 6-foot, 165 pounds, Iverson had as much of a chance of filling Jordan's Jordans as yours truly being the next Ron Jeremy." Someone needs to get him sum "EX-Tenz" and then maybe He'll write something a little more positive. What an idiot.

Weird thing is he's a Kansas Star writer. He also grew up in INdianapolis IND. i think his only ax to grind is the # of places that usually link to his articles/# of hits he gets per article. He wants the attention

Oh wow, ok. I didnt know all that about the writer. i was just assuming because he sounds so biased. Plus I think my theory is funnier. lol.

[QuinielaBox]

I certainly am no fan of Jason Whitlock but he should stick to football.

If anybody should have the finger pointed at them it would be Joe Dumars who by trading Billups declared that he is pushing the Control-Alt-Delete button to the Pistons. With Sheed and the Question Mark coming off the books, Detriot looks to cut salary and rebuild around another core.

Iverson will show up on another team looking to move up next year, perhaps Indiana, New York, New Jersey, Clippers, Golden State. He is well into the Back Nine of his career.

[xmuscularghandix]

if i was picking from the NBA for a PG and it was Billups and AI, I take Chauncey every time.

[LB3533]

Before Iverson became a Denver Nugget, before Iverson had a legit #2 start next to him, Iverson averaged nearly 25 FGAs (24.7 per game [13342/541]) for 8+ straight seasons for the Philly Sixers.

When Iverson went to the Nuggets he had 1.5 Seasons of the most efficient basketball, late in his worn down career. (Iverson attempted under 19.0 FGA's (18. while in a Denver uniform and bear in mind Denver probably played at a much higher pace than Philly ever did under Larry Brown.)

Iverson 1 "failure" of a season in Detroit should not constitute that he is a "loser" or "non-winner" or that he doesn't care about "winning".

Just because Rip Hamilton was "OK" with coming off the bench doesn't make him a "winner".

[Eja117]

The more I think about it the more I realize that Jason Whitlock saying he had no chance at being the next Ron Jeremy is just loser talk. Whitlock is clearly the real loser here.

If he had just put his mind to it and practiced more then he could have done it.

He was a celebrity 300lb black man. He had serious Ron Jeremy potential but he Whittled it away (new pun: like "pulling a Homer")

Also if he is rolling on the floor laughing his azz off he should thank AI cause that's a lot of azz to laugh away.

And is it just me or do the cameras on SportsReporters have to aim the camera away from John Saunders every time Whitlock says something typically stupid Whilockian that starts with "As a black man..." cause they don't want to catch Saunders rolling his eyes again thinking "they told me last time that he'd never be on this show again. They told me they'd get Stephen Smith if they had to, or even Scoop Jackson. Couldn't they at least get me Keyshaun Johnson or something? How hard can it possibly be to get that guy?"

[ToppersBsktball10]

AI'S pound for pound the best scorer ever. he's always been a warrior. it's michael curry's dumbass fault detriot sucks

[Eja117]

Pound for pound? hmmm. Muggsy? Spud? Boykins? D Stoudamire? Brevin Knight? No I guess you're right

[BASS_THUMPER]

well at that time for Philly he was the answer...they couldnt attempt to answer a question without iverson....

sayin al aint the answer is like sayin paul aint the truth...

nick names are earned in the nba

[BASS_THUMPER]

AI'S pound for pound the best scorer ever. he's always been a warrior. it's michael curry's dumbass fault detriot sucks

see....yall quick to blame the head coach..blame dumars


in the past yall blamed doc for ainge choices..the head coach works with what he is given and billups was the core of motown...take the heart u stop

[LB3533]

Curry has to share some blame too, but Dumars is the one who has botched Detroit's chances of competing this year in the playoffs.