Covering Himself in Glory
I caught the tipoff of the Nuggets/Sixers game last night on NBA round-up and my first thought was, "those Nuggets unis are totally ill, but they are just NOT A.I.." My man looked right in Sixers black. Powder blue is not his shade.Then in about the first minute of the game, Iverson committed about six turnovers, threw up an airball, and generally brought his tried-and-true offensive approach to the Nuggets system, i.e. - "I run around like a maniac trying to get an open shot for about 20 seconds or so, and then, in the most awkward of moments I dish to someone completely out of position to bail me out with a shot at the buzzer." Oh how this approach has ruled our lives in Philly for a decade now, and much as I loved the man, I can't say I'm going to miss it.
So then I woke up this morning and saw that the lowly Sixers won last night in Denver, and that A.I. got ejected, and that he cried like a bitch to the press before and after the game about everything that crossed his mind. When I read all of that, for the very first time since the trade went down, I thought to myself good riddance.
4 Comments:
First Off, Happy New Years LRG, CI and everybody at No Mas. Love the site, love the gear: keep on doing what you are doing.
The only thing that I agree on you with is that AI does look a little 'Marshmallow-y' in the powder blue. In honor of AI's arrival, I propose that Denver revert back to the 'ghetto-smooth' Alex English/Fat Lever era unis.
LRG, I'm assuming that you are a Phil-ebrity and have a better perspective on Philly sports than I do. But I have to side with Iverson on this one. He actually didn't demand a trade, Billy King and Ed Snider forced him out the door and didn't give AI the proper respect that show your franchise player. So AI had all the right to sound off on them before the game. (besides he was most likely asked a leading question by some reporter who wanted to get a good quote before the game)
Aw son, you GOT to be kidding. Nobody loves his game more than me - I give him HUGE No Mas props for the way he busts his ass on the court. Preseason game, winning or losing by forty, AI is always giving 110% out there.
But the dude has been a major headache for years off the court in just about every way imaginable. Plus, for all his effort, he is not a championship style player anymore. He needs the ball too much, he misses a ton of shots, he doesn't make anyone around him better anymore. Honest to God, I'll take Andre Miller at this point.
And trust me Chief, there will be problems out there between him and Melo and Karl. That is a terrible trio if ever I heard one.
Ok, we also agree that Iverson plays hard.
I just want to say that Billy King is one of the worst GMs in sports.
We can all agree that AI is a unique talent. But never during Iverson's tenure in Philly did Billy King surround AI with another championship calibre player. The best player to play alongside AI was Mutombo (non-existant on offense), a broken down CWebb hardly counts. You can't win a championship with a guy hucking it up 30-40 times a game and committing 10 tunrovers. But the fact is that Iverson is all alone, and this perpetuates the idea that he feels he has to do it all by himself. Whose he gonna pass to? Kyle Kutcher?
What it comes down to is that nobody wanted to see it end this way. Iverson should have retired a Sixer and Billy King and Ed Snider have to take the bulk of the blame for A) not putting a team around AI and B) unceremoniously forcing him out the door. I think AI had the right to sound off about that.
With regards to AI in Denver, I guess we agree on another thing. That will most likely be a disaster.
A.I was a headache off the floor but the guy has the biggest heart in the NBA hands down.
I do believe it's disrespectful to have him unceremoniously removed from the premisses when the guy was fine and able to play.
At the same time, you don't know who to trust. It's he say she say shit at this point.
Nevertheless Kevin McHale and Billy King are the worst GMs in all of Basketball.
The worst Manager in Sports is Sven Goran Eriksson, That man just earned that title for the next ten years to come.
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