http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4323159
a few questions regarding this article.....
do you believe wade when he says he would welcome AI or was he just being politically correct and nice? they play the same position--this would be worst than him being at detroit because at least he and hamilton were not the same player so you could possibly entertain playing them together although it did not work out....with wade and AI they are the SAME DUDE essentially with one being older and shorter.
do you think AI can play in memphis? would he like what the city of memphis offers (maybe he doesn't care) and could he and mayo co-exist....they are the EXACT same player---more similar in height than he and wade.
another interesting thing is how these guys go from making $20M for like 4-5 yrs and then down to under $5M....people don't understand but this is how athletes go broke....some guys do not PROPERLY anticipate aging and the lowered salary....if he is living off bills accumulating to $14M, he was doing more than fine the last 4 years but what happens when you still have that lifestyle and your pay dips....i think this is why alot of boxers get in trouble money-wise....as a beginner they go from $10k-50,000k purses per fight for the first 3 years they make a name for themselves, then during their peak and pay-per view status they earn 1-20M purses, and then they get old (lose 4 fights in a row) and back down to $500K-1M (with that being linked moreso to name recognition than talent).....that's why alot of those guys can never truly walk away (BILLs)....you see similar things in other sports but not as badly because your salary has some long-termness to it....i.e. latrell sprewell. spree thought for some reason at his age he should have gotten more than $2M offer to play when the year before he was getting $17M from the knicks....so he retired and was broke shortly thereafter.....hopefully guys are getting smarter....every time something like this happens....i think regardless of what the media and public says these guys take note....the celts want to offer marbury the minimum i think around $2M and he is like you know what, "i may take my skills overseas." the dude has a jet to pay for i believe....
all in all i find it interesting that AI's value is now < $5M. it is also interesting that people keep trying to fit him into a PG role....i love AI's game----AT SG. the olympic team, early philly, denver, detroit, even georgetown showed you that he is not a true PG (when you think about it, marbury is a better distributor than he is) so why do folks keep trying.
actually who would be a good fit for iverson.....i think teams with true PGs (if you have any scoring at the either guard position i don't know if iverson at this point helps you)---philly, suns maybe, dallas maybe, toronto maybe. ANOTHER PROBLEM IS PLAYING AN UNDERSIZED SG ON D.
Monday, July 13, 2009
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http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3241444
ReplyDeletesome specifics around spree's situation...
The problem is that for AI to be effective, you have to build your team around him. Basically, you need AI, a couple of spot up shooters, plus a bunch of rebounding/defensive role players. Your bigs can't clog the paint or demand postups. Basically, it's give the ball to Iverson and get out of the way on offense. The rest of the team has to be happy getting a spot up jumper here and there. This is what he had in Philly. He drove out other scorers in Stackhouse, Larry Hughes, Tim Thomas, etc. Other than that situation, you are wasting your time bringing him in.
ReplyDeleteNo one is willing to build around him at his age. Philly was a perfect storm, but it wasn't enough against a balanced team like the Lakers who beat them 4-1. Should have been 4-0, but AI got hot in OT. Frankly, they only got to the Finals because the East was whack at that time.
The reality is that you can't win with Iverson. He has to be the best player on your team and you have to build a team around him that let's him shoot 30+ times a game (at 40%). He can't play PG. He is a liability on D (don't give me that he gets a lot of steals BS... that is gambling, not defense). Anyway, all in all he is overrated. Might go down as the only hall of famer that you never had a chance to win with. Much like TO is the only HOF with bad hands and Drexler is the only HOF that couldn't dribble without looking at the ball.
Memphis would be stupid to bring him in. Let OJ, Rudy, and Baby Gasol develop...
see i don't think it is as bad as you make it sound...i think AI can be like an elder stackhouse on the right team....i think it could have worked in denver if the team had played an onunce of D. obviously it is easy to play with ppl that never want the big shot like kidd. but i think iverson needs to realize where he is in his career. basically iverson is not the player he used to be so if he is the best player on your team you are done...he needs to be your 2-3 best player thus deferring to the number one and that is where reality and coaching comes in....this is why he had some success in denver where it was somewhat obvious that the first option was melo...ppl say that denver was a disaster because on paper they did better with chauncey...ppl forget nene was hurt alot, there was no birdman and overall the east (the celts were banged up) and west (san anton and utah was banged up this past season and NO played out of this world that year) were stronger last year.
ReplyDeletebasically i know it sounds hard but iverson needs to realize what he is NOW similar to finley and stackhouse....he isn't as bad as these guys but my point is these guys once were close to all-world and re-invented themselves in old age....iverson needs to do the same and perhaps embrace a jason terry, lamar odom like role. memphis needs to pack seats so i can see why they would enteratin this. mayo, AI, rudy, marc is nice starting point....if AI is willing to give up a couple more shots a game and as the veteran mentor the youngsters....i know it sounds crazy but if he wants to play more than just this year coming up he has to do this...i still think he has 3 more years in him before he is "jordan with the wizards". if he wants to be the MAN i PROBABLY would not sign him for this year when he obvioulsy still has alot left. iverson could win if he is your 2nd or definitely 3rd best player on your team. for instance if he went to suns (or philly) and they were still able to run the offense thru amare (andre and then elton) first, i think the suns (philly) could be number 5-6 (3-4) in the west (east). it is up to iverson; problem is he has shown most ppl that he is what they say he is so until he proves otherwise....
there are plenty of hall of famers that never had a chance to win....utah were not beating the bulls, sonics were not beating the bulls, the pacers were not beating the lakers....
malone, payton, miller were all good but with them being the best player on their respective teams they had no chance just like iverson and his bums....bron (melo, CP58) is heading down the same path but bron is good...
it's not your fault if the competition puts together a better run (garnett, allen, and pierce were this 2 yrs ago)....
I agree that is what he needs to do... but AI ain't that dude. He's selfish, like most great players. Some dudes just can't play that support role. Look at MJ... dude was bumming it up in Washington, but in his mind he was still the greatest. He still wanted to take the big shot and he still tried to dunk on fools even though he would get hung or swatted. Could MJ have played the Michael Finley role? Hell no! Same with Iverson. Kobe will be in the same boat in 5 years.
ReplyDeleteI think there is a chance that Iverson could take a lesser role on a good team. In every All Star game he always ran point and proved he has the skill for it he just wouldn't do it on his own team. Maybe if you put him on a team with 1/2 players he respects and he knows are better than him (Rip Hamilton and Rasheed are not those guys) maybe it works.
ReplyDeleteI am an AI fan, but this is a big risk for any team. I can't believe that AI is in money trouble. He has made way too much money over the past 12 years. If he hasn't planned for retirement that's a serious problem.
i hope AI is doing well financially; i was just pointing out that i think it is hard to properly manage your money in athletics because from your peak to old age your salary could be cut by 60% easy....alot of people look at broke athletes and say how could you be so stupid...there is some truth to that but overall spending and saving is relative.
ReplyDeleteAI is talking to the clips now....they have baron at PG and eric gordon at SG and they said that before signing him they want to converse with him, look him straight in eye, and see how feels coming off the bench....
personally i think AI is overall skill wise better than both of those guys. but i understand why they would want to do this....baron davis although a scoring threat is a better point and eric is their young good talent they want to groom....so will he be happy in this role....gino is better than the guys that start over him, odom is better, jason terry is better but these guys embrace coming off the bench....can iverson do the same? Ace says no....you and i HOPE he can.