The Fall of Allen Iverson
Posted by Phil Partington Categories: Athletes, Editorial, NBA
Allen Iverson may have had the biggest drop-off of any player in recent years. Just a season and a half ago, Iverson was having a superstar season by statistical standards, averaging 26.4 ppg, 7.2 apg, while shooting nearly 46% from the field and nabbing 2.0 spg. The following year, he looked more than human. The season after that nobody wanted him at all. The question on many fans’ minds is what happened to Allen Iverson?
There are a couple of theories that might give indication to Iverson’s recent struggles.
The Ball Hog Theory
Consider that Iverson is a volume shooter. This means that in order to be effective, AI needs to have the offense flow through him and he needs to be able to take a lot of shots. Some players are able to be effective even if they don’t get a lot of touches by moving without the ball, setting up teammates, setting off screen picks, going for offensive rebounds. Allen Iverson is not one of these players. On the Denver Nuggets, he was paired with another player like this in Carmelo Anthony. While the two were able to boost their personal stats, this didn’t really help the team win, as few other players got involved in the offense. When Iverson was traded to the Detroit Pistons, a team that was accustomed to playing “team” basketball, Iverson naturally didn’t fit in with his style of dominating the ball. Therefore, he lost about five minutes of playing time per game and he was never able to adjust to a team that didn’t want to rely solely on his quickness to get baskets. Consider that in Philadelphia, where Iverson had several years of success, the system was basically tailored to him. While the team was built to be a defensive team, the objective was to let him control the offense. That meant, surrounding Iverson with big men who could collect offensive rebounds and sharpshooting wing men who could hit the open shot when the defense collapsed on a penetrating AI. It may not be coincidence that the Denver Nuggets suddenly surged after trading Iverson for Chauncey Billups.
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2009-2010 NBA Central Division Preview
Posted by Phil Partington Categories: Editorial, NBA
The pairing of LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal for the Cleveland Cavaliers is grabbing the headlines for the NBA’s Central Division. Two of the biggest personalities in professional sports should create a Hollywood stir in Cleveland next season. Meanwhile, 2009 Rookie of the Year winner, Derrick Rose, strives to build on an exceptional first year with the Chicago Bulls.
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Cavaliers Advance To NBA Finals
Posted by Milo Taibi Categories: Athletes, Championship, Editorial, NBA
On Saturday night the Cleveland Cavaliers advanced to the NBA finals with a resounding victory over the Detroit Pistons, 98-82. Cleveland rookie Daniel Gibson lead the way, scoring 31 points. Lebron James scored only 20 points, but grabbed 14 rebounds and had nine assists. Gibson attributed some of his game six success to King James himself.
“He told me he was going to make me something special,” Gibson said. “He told me to keep shooting, don’t hesitate. When a guy like that tells you that, you step to it with a lot of confidence and knock it down for him.”
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Magic Coach Brian Hill Fired
Posted by Milo Taibi Categories: Editorial, Front Office, NBA
After being swept in the first round of the NBA playoffs the Orlando Magic has fired their head coach Brian Hill. One of Hill’s flaws were not utilizing the talents of former Detroit Piston Darko Milicic, and JJ Redick who was the 11th pick in the first round of the 2006 NBA draft. It was heavily rumored that Hill had been fired, but those rumors were confirmed as fact today from an official of the club. The Magic had gone 40-42 this season, and over the course of Hill’s coaching career he’s had 298 wins and 315 losses.
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