Except he puts up more boards, assists, steals and blocks than Jackson. He plays more games a year, shoots a better overall FG% and is 6 years younger. Considering the Warriors played at a much much fast pace than the Sixers (almost 15 points a game more), Jackson's 0.2 ppg advantage over AI doesn't mean much. I think a lot of people look at some of those other stats and say "who cares, can he take over a game and lead his team to a championship?" And those are valid questions, too. But 5 rpg, 5 apg, solid steals and blocks all with 20 ppg. I agree, he still needs to grow into that real star type of player, but that type of all-around contribution doesn't just grow on trees. If the 6 years, $80 million contract is true, it seems to be right on market for me. Josh Smith's signing has nothing to do with it. If your neighbor undersold his house by 20%, you'd be pissed, but you would still try and get true fair market value for your property at sale. There are plenty of other players you can point to as more ridiculously paid (Rashard Lewis anyone?). AI and Brand isn't championship quality, but as Louis Williams gets better, as Thaddeus Young gets better, if Marreese Speights pans out (as I think he will), with Miller to be the veteran running the show and some other nice fill-in players (Dalembert, Jason Smith, etc.), it's a team definitely on the rise.
Some of ya'll have no objectivity at all. He was by far the best player on his team, a team that had a pretty good end run for the 1st time in a long time. Yeah he sucked offensively in his 1st playoffs (the Pistons have done that to many fine wings when they keyed on them not name Wade or James), he still helped his team push many people's favorites to 6 games. In terms of shooting, if he is a "bad shooter" (46%FG, 33% 3s, 72%FT), I am not sure what that says about Tmac (42%FG, 29% 3s, 68%FT). Is Tmac a good shooter with horrible shot selection, or just a terrible shooter? Further, many don't get the max salary thing. Max salaries are not just for your all-nba type players. Most any young player who is all-star caliber or close to it will get his max. Also remember the max for a young player is not the max for an older player, for instance Brand is getting 82 mil over 5 years from Phily. Baron Davis passed up a 16.5 mil year with GS. Think of it another way, Iggy will be paid 11 mil next year if accurate, Tmac will be paid double that (over 21 mil). If we want to talk overrated, lets bring up Michael Redd. 16 mil for him or 11 mil for Iggy, I'd rather have Iggy for the same money let alone 5 mil less, I'd give up some shooting/scoring for lightyears better defense & distribution to teammates. Look at others also in the 15 mil club, AK47, Bibby, Gasol, Odom, Rashard, Marion, Kidd, Marbury--yuck!!! Finally, I have no problem bringing up Roy. IMO he, Iggy and Tmac have a lot in common (and despite Tmac shooting the worst I still think overall he is a notch above because he draws more defense). They are multidimesional wings who in addition to scoring can do the point forward thing (now I don't think Iggy has the offensive skills of either in the half court, but he brings a lot better defense). They are somewhat interachangable players who can move freely at the 2 & 3, and can even share 1 responsibilities, depending on what their teammates need them to do. Roy hasn't played SF much because Portland had other SFs who couldn't play SG. Iggy played more SF because Phily had more other guys who were more 2s than 3s. Tmac has played more SG because we have Shane, he used to play more SF with Wesley/Head. It is a credit to these guys that there skill sets allow them to move between positions depending on their teammate on the floor.
JAYZ750, nice post. I was busy writing mine and you addressed a lot of my thoughts. I brought up the Josh Smith thing because I think it shows the degree Atl/Memphis went under market with him. Atlanta was going to probably match a max deal Memphis could offer (5 years about 75 mil, which is less than Atlanta's own max 6/99 mil). When Smith got 58 mil 5 years from Memphis, a no brainer to match. The fact Memphis didn't even offer the 5 year max deal (75 mil) they could have only made Atl's front office smile more. They got Smith lower than they could have expected, and he might not even be pissed about because instead of further tense negotiations with Atl where he might feel he is getting screwed out of some 30 million he got to be wined and dined and then his own home team matched him (showing they did value him). I almost think Memphis and Atl worked together on that one.
So the deal hasn't gone down yet, huh? The Sixers are probably waiting to see if Memphis will sign him to 60 mil first.
JAYZ750 and Desert Scar made some good points. My only real problem with him is that i get the feeling his stats got inflated because he played in such a high octane offense without much talent around him. He never looks dominant when i watch him. He is not a good shooter and shooting percentages don't show that. I could say the same thing about Lebron so...if he can score like that then his outside shot won't matter (until he plays the Pistons or Celtics). I just don't see him and Brand doing much with what they have around them. By committing themselves to both players for so long their basically saying that those two can get it done, i don't see that. I still think Andre Miller was better than him last season.
That's preposterous. Iggy is a shut-down defender, a great rebounder for his position, already a prolific scorer and an athletic freak. Andre Miller is a very solid PG, but Iggy was way superior last season. Oh, and Miller can't shoot worth crap, otherwise he'd be a top-notch PG in this league.
I don't know where you're getting this concept from. The Sixers averaged less points per game last year than the Rockets, and were 9th worst in the league in ppg. I'm sure there are other stats out there that talk about tempo and such, but best quick research I could do, the Rockets averaged 90 possession a game on offense, the Sixers 91....for comparison purposes, the Warriors averaged 99, the Suns 96, Denver 100. Boston averaged 91 a game, too, but they were much more effective...and won the Championship. The Sixers were not a high-octane offense. You could probably even say they were the opposite, relative to an average. You could maybe argue that even with that, AI is more of a full court player than a half court player...which may be true, but who cares? So in an average offense at best, a player whose game is more suited to a high octane pace, still managed to succeed at a high level? That sounds good. Plus, he'll likely get better in the half court as he matures. And while he and Brand probably won't be popping champagne anytime soon, for comparison purposes the year before the Celtics played a little bit faster (92 possessions a game) but were much worse in terms of effectiveness. But Paul Pierce was a constant. Again, the Sixers didn't just add KG and Ray Allen, but a healthy Elton Brand will definitely help the Sixers, a lot.
Maybe i'm getting that phrase wrong (does high octane mean high scoring , i thought it meant up and down the court). When i watched them, it seemed like they were a full court team that just wasn't that good on offense. They performed well when they could get out and run but they didn't score so much because they were terrible in the half court. They usually played Thadeus Young at the 4 and used their athleticism to beat the other team down the court. Last year the Sonics and Pacers averaged pretty high scores and had a pretty high statistical pace...but they didn't seem that fast to me. It seemed more like people were scoring on them so fast that they ended up getting extra possessions out of it. In terms of overall possessions i think the inverse happened with Philly. I thought they were pretty good on D, which slowed the opposing team down, which decreases their possessions. They weren't particularly quick or efficient in the half court, either (which decreases possessions). I see Iggy as a good player who can develop but i just don't see him ever becoming a go to guy. Offensively i just haven't seen anything special from him. Maybe that will change this season.
Say what you will about the market, but $13M/year is market value for a guy who averages 20/5/5 and plays great D.
I have been reading BBS for quite a while now, and i'm always impressed by some of the insight guys here have, and the level of basketball knowledge the have when it comes to behind the scenes work ie agents, gms, ownership etc... Quick question...Is anyone on BBS aspiring to be a sports agent? Just wondering Keep up the good work
