[Chron]Rockets guards see eye to AI

PHILADELPHIA — Kyle Lowry was there so many nights, like so many others who had made their way down Broad Street to see the Allen Iverson legend for themselves.

Lowry watched Iverson and imagined himself on that floor, not only making it as a 6-0 NBA guard, but thriving.

For the first time tonight, Lowry will face Iverson in Philadelphia, with Iverson in his third game of his second tour with the 76ers. The game, Lowry said, will be no different for him. But his and Iverson's return to Philadelphia were enough to think of all those nights.
A scoring machine

“Growing up, watching a guy like that, being from Philly and watching what he did for the city, you idolize him,” Lowry said. “I have an appreciation for what he has done for the city. He brought a different liveliness for the city, a different love of basketball to the city, a different passion for the game, a different culture and attitude towards the NBA.

“For a small guy like me and Aaron (Brooks), you have to say ‘thanks.' Smaller guards weren't really high- profile like that. For him to go as the No. 1 pick was pretty impressive. For a guy that is 6-feet, barely, to be the No. 1 pick, and is going to be a Hall of Famer, gives hope to all the smaller guards in the NBA.”

While Lowry was in the arena, Brooks was across the country in Seattle, also watching and finding reason to believe. Brooks might have seen even more in common with Iverson, coming closer to Iverson's explosive quickness and scoring touch.

Brooks has not been at that level as a scorer, but he does believe Iverson showed that teams can win with a small scorer. Iverson has not scored to his standards in his return.

Playing his first two games against two of his former teams, Denver and Detroit, nearly three years to the day after he left Philadelphia, Iverson has averaged 11 points, hitting 33.3 percent of his shots. He played three games with the Memphis Grizzlies, averaging 12.3 points and making 57.7 percent of his shots before he was released.

The 2001 MVP, Iverson has averaged 27 points and 6.2 assists in 13 NBA seasons, averaging more than 30 in five seasons and leading the NBA in scoring four times, topped by 2005-06 when he averaged 33 points per game.
Move over, Magic

“He was about my height,” said Brooks, who is shorter than the 6-0 he's listed. “He showed that little guys can play in this league, again.

“It was Calvin Murphy, then it went to Magic Johnson. This is a new wave of small guards coming back. Everybody wanted a big guard when Magic came. They thought the big guard was the way to go. I guess AI brought the small guard back.

“He's one of the first that scored and won. He's a winner. I didn't look at him as a scoring point guard or anything. He did what he did for his team to win. He got his team to the Finals. That's what mattered.”

When Iverson led the Sixers to the 2001 NBA Finals, Lowry was there. He has gone against Iverson since, but never in his hometown.

“It's a regular game,” Lowry said. “This is big for the city to have someone like him come back. It's good for their attendance, good for their team.

“It's just another game for the Houston Rockets. It's not like a significant game for me. It's just another game I'm going to try to win. But I do think about all those games. All those playoff games, I was there.”

Tonight, Lowry will be back, likely going against the guard who gave him the inspiration.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/6764541.html