No no no no no!!! Iverson is not underappreciated. If anything he is overrated. He is exactly the type of players that i dislike and are terrible overrated (http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=240240). He just shoots a lot and of course he scores a lot of points, but any player can score a lot of points if they are allowed to shoot as much as Iverson was. In his second highest scoring year he had a FG of 0.398. If you miss that much you shouldn't shoot that much. I hate this argument, If the reason that Iverson shot a low percentage was because he was small and if he was bigger he would have shot a higher percentage than he shouldn't shoot that much, since apparently he is just to small to be a efficient scorer. People always say, he was great especially since he was so small. Who cares how big he is, the only thing that matters if he was a great player, and Iverson just wasn't that. He didn't deserve his MVP. He wasn't a good defensive player, he gambled for steals, but that does not make you a good defensive player. His teams were not that terrible. especially for EC teams. They were great defensively. And the eastern conference was pathetic, using Carters Raptors as an example that it wasn't that bad is just not a strong argument.
Iverson's game was only good for a solo star--himself. He cannot mesh well with another great player. That's why he never won a championship. The year he went to the Finals, the Eastern conference was one of the worst in league history. Everybody knew the real finals was the WCF.
Never liked AI. Next! Obligatory: <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/eGDBR2L5kzI?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
You said AI would be half as good in this era of basketball. Does that mean prime Brooks would be twice as good if he switched situations with Iverson? What about Jordan? Would he be legendary in this era?
Right. Why I added "Real Point Guard", instead of him being a chucker pseudo-PG by name. Good for Eric Snow's career, so he could play PG alongside Iverson. Iverson actually had some decent playmaking skills too. He could pass, he just....didnt prefer it. I think that era shows how much Michael Jordan's presence positively influenced league image beforehand. After Jordan's 98 retirement, there weren't that much MAINSTREAM relatable superstar players. Especially the marquee guard/wing players after Jordan they tried to be "hip hop" unique image while still wanting all the endorsements, fame and Jordan-like entitlements. An unfavorable primadonna vibe. I think after the 2004 US Team led by Iverson/Stephon Marbury got beat in the Olympics for the first time with pros, then Steve Nash went into hyper mode bringing back the ghosts of John Stockton past, thats when that Iso-era fell out of favor. There's still ball dominant players and chuckers now but they don't get the keys to the franchise much anymore.
he's broke. if he couldn't hold on to any of the previous $154 million, how do you think he's going to handle the "pittance" he's going to receive in the future? it is sad though. as for the basketball AI, he's most definitely is overrated. calling him a ball hog is an understatement. i would imagine being his teammate was a grind. i hated having players like him on my team. they would just dribble down the court and chuck. then when they finally pass the ball, they have the gall to get pissed when you don't make a shot.
Since I grew up in that era of basketball-the early 00s, it is funny looking back. The And1 stuff was just insanely popular, and for whatever reason, with no affiliation to it, AI was seen as the face of street basketball. You're absolutely right. The iso players of that era, Marbury, Francis, Redd, Arenas. Just an insane amount of volume and iso players during that time.
As a coach, I would never want to have dude on my team. That style of basketball works, but it's not my cup of tea. I guess when Eric Snow is your starting PG, Aaron McKie is considered a scoring threat and Tyrone Hill is your PF, you have to find offense somewhere.... I enjoyed watching Stevie and Cuttino break guys down off the dribble, but we also had awesome role players and team morale with that group. Iverson, to me, is the best street baller to ever play in the NBA. He could not change a game without having the ball in his hands, much like Carmelo and that is why they were somewhat successful together. I don't know if he's a broke, but I don't wish unhappiness on anyone (except George Zimmerman ). So, I hope he saved a little until he he hits that trust fund that will pay him when he's 45ish.
Calvin Murphy was better small player than AI. I'll just repeat what everyone else said, AI was a low percentage chucker. Check out the advanced stats and per 36 of AI compared to Murphy. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/murphca01.html http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/i/iversal01.html
Pretty sure he is not broke. Pretty sure he has a certain amount coming to him every year and a certain lump sum coming to him at a certain age.
As someone who went to A LOT of Sixers games during AI's prime, all I can say is you really had to sit courtside to have a true appreciation for the kind of player he was. You really don't get a sense for how BIG pro basketball players are until you've seen them up close, and what AI was able to do at his size, night after night, playing 42 minutes a game was pretty incredible. Even throwing out his size disadvantage, you have to consider how difficult it is to do what he did when he was the focus of the opposing team's defense and was isolating in the half court every play. No, it wasn't pretty, but it's what needed to be done with that supporting cast. I won't necessarily say that he's underrated, but I do think he is under appreciated to some degree.
TS% Baron Davis - .502 Allen Iverson - .518 Tracy Mcgrady - .519 Richard Hamilton - .525 Michael Finley - .527 Vince Carter - .538 Michael Jordan - .569 I agree the man was a chucker, but he averaged almost 7 apg throughout his 20 year career, and his shooting TS% wasn't as terrible as you make it out to be, especially for someone at that size, who played that many minutes, who was relied upon that heavily, and who too that many shots. There was actually a 5 season stretch where the Sixers only had 4 guys scoring in double figures, one of them being Eric Snow. Their team was butt.
I hate when people say he took a team of trash teammates to the Finals. Dikembe Mutumbo was the most important player on that 2001 Sixers team, by far, not Iverson.
