It seems like the crossover guards from the late 90's early 00's are all seeing very humble ends to there career. Especially considering how they all had such glamourous beginings to there careers. Stephon Marbury Steve Francis and now the great Allen Iverson
Don't pick on guards. The commonality is players whose games are based more on athletic prowess and speed than skill.
I wonder if Gilbert will Join that group as well. If Jennings is not careful he may fall into the same trap.
What's the two main similarities among the three names mentioned? 1. All-World Talent 2. Very little basketball IQ It's a dangerous concoction. I'd welcome anyone that wants to debate on #2
And strangely outside of Iverson's lone 2001 season, their teams have never really done much in playoffs, collectively. In fact, I would venture to say each team got better after they left. A.I. ------------------- 76ers Nuggets Pistons (in a sense) Marbury ------------------- Timberwolves Nets Suns Francis ------------------- Rockets
Francis and Marbury were overrated even in their prime. Allen Iverson I'm persuaded was much more than just a stat-padder.
I think Marbury and Francis were a product of the isolation era. When the NBA allowed zone defense both fell off. Iverson is a HoFer and shouldnt even be mentioned in the same sentence as starbury and franchise
Thank you! If Iverson was free of tattoos and cornrows I'm sure his abilities wouldn't be discredited. Throughout his career he has averaged 27 pts 2.2 stl 6.2 ast 3.7 rebs. He does avg 3.6 TO and shot 43%, but consider the load he had to carry in Philly. He may be your typical rags to riches story, but the guy possesses a tremendous amount of heart. He brought it every game, offense and defense. He was more than just a "crossover guard" he was a hard-nosed basketball player. I know he is being selfish by not wanting to come off the bench but I just wish the Allen Iverson bashing would stop.
AI was as much a product of the isolation era as those guys. In fact, he's the biggest ISO-culprit of all. Stabury and the Franchise don't take 27 attempts a game with a sub .40% FG.The only difference is he landed with a great coach (Larry B). Rudy T was pretty good but his Xs and Os leave a lot to be desired IMHO. The real culprit for the downfall of guys like these are the rule changes. Since hand checking were disallowed guys like AI whose greatest skill is penetrating into the paint became obselete. Shooting became more valuable than a deadly crossover, and unfortunately these guys didn't work on their games at all. As a result the league passed them by.
why did you say that the 76ers got better after Iverson left, they reached the NBA finals, with Iverson one season. The other teams and the other players I agree they got better, but not the Sixers, they got worse.
Change to zone defense, then the NBA started to crack down on carrying more. Which of course was about limiting obvious carrying on the streetball style crossovers those guys would do. They cut down on the iso guard play, then ironically encourage guard play again with the no-hand checking rules.
What do you mean they are a dead breed? The league is filled with drive first shoot last gaurds. Parker, Rondo, Rose, Wade, Paul to an extent, soon to be Wall, Rubio, etc.
Don't underestimate the IQ. Both basketball and in general, all three of these clearly lacked both. Give someone like that insane basketball skills and you can bet on the ego being the driving force. They all could just not play in a team, whether because their ego didn't want them to or they just did not have the ability to remember how to run plays.
