Allen Iverson, in his own words yesterday, on his practice habits:
"If I can't practice, I can't practice. If I'm hurt, I'm hurt. I mean, it's as simple as that. It ain't about that. It isn't. It's not about that at all. You know what I'm saying. I mean... But it's easy to talk about. It's easy to sum it up when we just talk about practice. We're sitting here... I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we're in here talking about practice. I mean, listen, we're talking about practice. Not a game. Not a game. Not a game. We're talking about practice. Not a game. Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game like it's my last. Not the game. We're talking about practice, man. I mean how silly is that. And we're talking about practice.
"I know I'm supposed to be there. I know I'm supposed to lead by example. I know that and I'm not shoving it aside, you know, like it don't mean anything. I know it's important. I do, I honestly do. But we're talking about practice, man. What are we talking about? Practice? We're talking about practice, man? [Laughter] We're talking about practice. We're talking about practice. We ain't talking about the game. We're talking about practice, man. When you come in the arena and you see me play... you see me play, don't you?"
Reporter: "Absolutely."
Iverson: "You see me give everything I got, right?"
Reporter: "Absolutely."
Iverson: "But we're talking about practice right now."
Reporter: "But it's an issue that you're..."
Iverson: "We're talking about..."
Reporter: "It's an issue raised."
Iverson: "Man, look, I hear you. It's funny to me, too. It's strange to me, too. But we're talking about practice, man. We're not even talking about the game. The actual game. When it matters. We're talking about practice."
Thank god for XM radio. If I didn't have it, I would have spent all day listening to the Philly sports talk station and you know they weren't talking about the Phillies.
Even on the Kornheiser show, they spent most of the day talking about this. Of course, TK seemed to come down on the side of his former camp director, Larry Brown. The best part was Bob Ryan talking about "the culture of the hood."
Then I can write a washing bill in Babylonic cuneiform, And tell you every detail of Caractacus's uniform; In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral, I am the very model of a modern Major-General.
Oh yeah Allen, you got it all figured out, buddy...You've won plenty of championships in your illustrious career to adopt this attitude (What's that?? None you say??)
I guess MJ, Larry, and Magic just never figured out that practice is ultimately unneccesary, cause they were three of the hardest practice workers of all time. They've only got, what, 14 championships between them? What do they know? Who needs team chemistry when you shoot 75% of the team's shots anyways?
What a joke the NBA is becoming...
"I'm more confused than Scott Hall in a parking lot" - Joshua Grutman
As a lifelong 76ers fan, I love watching Iverson play. Sometimes, honestly, I think he wills that team to victory. For cryin' out loud, last year they had three key players with broken feet (Mckie, Snow, Lynch), Iverson had too many injuries to mention (arm, ribs, shoulder), and they still made it to the finals.
It's time for Larry Brown to go. Seriously. Think about this: he prefers Derrick Coleman -- Derrick Coleman -- to Allen Iverson! What do people expect from Iverson? Check out the eight-man rotation the Sixers used this year: Iverson, Snow, Mckie, Mutombo, Harpring, Coleman, Blount, and Claxton. Not another scorer among the bunch! Sure, Mckie, Snow, and Coleman can have some decent nights. But they don't have a consistent second option. The Sixers have a lot of third and fourth options, but not a second. Look at all the teams left in the playoffs: for every Nowitzki there's a Finley, for every Pierce there's a Walker, for every Shaq there's a Kobe. Even Jerry Stackhouse has Corliss Williamson -- Williamson averages more per 48 minutes than Stack does! So you wonder why Iverson shoots sub-40%. He's the only guy who can score... and every team in the league knows it. Iverson has five guys coming at him on almost every play!
If Larry Brown is such a genius, why didn't he take Nowitzki or Pierce instead of Larry Hughes in 1998 (Hughes - 8, Pierce - 9, Nowitzki - 10). Why didn't Larry bring in any scoring help for Iverson? Why did Larry Brown eliminate half of the roster from last year's Eastern Conference Champions. Consider this, the Sixers started 10-0 in 2000. And only three players are left from that group, Snow, Mckie, and Iverson!
Lay off Iverson. He's the reason the Sixers are competitive. Without A.I., it's back to the lottery. If the guy's hurt -- which Iverson always is -- he's not going to risk further injury by practicing at 110%. Seems pretty obvious to me.
I give AI a pass because the guy plays 100 miles an hour every night. Yes he blows off practice because he has to be ready for games. Hes a guy barely six feet tall that is the number one option on his team. Even the great ones like Jordan, Bird and Magic could take a night off if they needed to. Allen cant, if hes not on the floor at full speed the Sixers dont go anywhere. I love AI, he could complain more if he wanted to, hes plays hurt every night carrying the Sixers on his back with no help while people reap praise on Kobe, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. Its a shame because AI's career isnt going to last as long as it should because the injuries will catch up with him. Give him a break, at least he doesnt drag ass on the floor.
You know youre old when you try to convince some kid that was born in the freakin 80's that Samus Aran could whip Lara Croft's cave dwelling ass. Honestly, has there ever been a cooler weapon in the history of video games than the Screw Attack?
Just a thought, why is he hurt all the time? Sometimes that is not accidental. Maybe he doesn't work hard enough in the off-season (or during the season for that matter) to be in the best shape he possibly can. Guys who don't get hurt a lot usually have something in common, they work their asses off in the off-season to stay in premium shape. Maybe that is where the frustration for Larry Brown is coming from. Sure Iverson brings it on game night, but what about the rest of the nights of the year? Is Iverson really doing all he can do to be the best he can be? Yes, it is commendable that Iverson plays hurt. But wouldn't a healthy Iverson be more helpful to the team?
If i remember correctly iverson has some good conditioning routine.... but when you play 5 on 1 as he does you cant avoid getting hurt... so it's amazing he plays as good as he does.
Cardinals 15W 19L (as of 5-9) Even if we get our starters back will that help?
If Iverson is just a man like us, he might realize that when you are the highest paid player on a team, you get the credit when your team wins, and you shoulder a lot of the blame when your team loses. I say get used to it and get a grip. What a damn baby. I never liked him before, and I've developed a new level of loathing for him after this one. Bleh.
He also repeatedly expressed his extreme loyalty to Brown, saying that Brown is his man, he's the pit bull in Brown's yard, they would rise or fall together, etc. Although his feelings about practice are unfortunate, it would be out of context to spin his remarks, as a whole, as non-team-oriented. It would also be out of context to spin his remarks, as a whole, as unfunny or unentertaining :-)
If Larry Brown is such a genius, why didn't he take Nowitzki or Pierce instead of Larry Hughes in 1998 (Hughes - 8, Pierce - 9, Nowitzki - 10). Why didn't Larry bring in any scoring help for Iverson? Why did Larry Brown eliminate half of the roster from last year's Eastern Conference Champions. Consider this, the Sixers started 10-0 in 2000. And only three players are left from that group, Snow, Mckie, and Iverson!
Wow, can you imagine Pierce or Nowitzki on a team with Iverson? I'm with Iverson on this, ONLY if he is doing conditioning when the team is practicing. If he's chillin' at the crib with the homies or eating Cheetos on the sideline during practice, then that's a problem.
Maybe he should practice more so he'll learn how to shoot the goddamn ball!
He shot 39.8% this season! 39.8%!!!!!!!!!!!!
I bet if he worked as hard during the offseason and during practice as he does in the games, he wouldn't get hurt as much.
Compare these similar players (courtesy nba.com)
AI - 6' 165 26 years old 22 games missed John Stockton - 6'1 185 40 years old 0 games missed Jason Terry 6'2 176 21 years old 4 games missed Kenny Anderson - 6'1 168 31 years old 6 games missed
So using the excuse that Iverson gets hurt because he is so much smaller isn't going to fly. If he cared about making himself better instead of bitching about having to practice, we wouldn't be having these conversations.
BTW, if Iverson shot just 47% this season (2% better than McGrady) on 2 pointers he would have averaged 36 points per game!
50% - 37 ppg or even Stockton's 52% - 38.1 ppg
PRACTICE?!?! Iverson doesn't need any practice! Sure...
I think the argument here is that every game it's 5 on 1 against Iverson. Everybody tries to stop him, because they can ignore the rest of the team. Therefore he gets beat up more, and has a poor shooting percentage. Now I'm just taking that from what's been said in the forum, I'm not an NBA fan, so I don't know if Iverson is regularly pounded by the opposing teams.
-Jag
"You gotta hate somebody before this is over. Them, me, it doesn't matter."
"Hate, who do I hate? You tell me."
"Who do you love?"
-Wintermute to Case in William Gibson's Neuromancer
I tell you what that Stockton example is a damn good one. Stockton's ass is always getting creamed in the lane and he's about the same size and twice the age. As far as I know Stockton is a regular practice guy, and I don't think he's missed more than a handful of games his whole career.
In a follow-up to this thread I posted on Christmas Eve last year, the Memphis Grizzlies have now waived 31-year-old, former three-time All-Star point guard Steve Francis. He did not appear in a game with the team, nor did he even travel with them.