August 29, 2004

What?!? Allen Iverson, in a positive light?: With all the (bad) press he gets, it's quite interesting to read an article like this. Love em or hate em, I think I'll give him some props. I enjoyed this article.

posted by Punkrockrat to other at 11:34 PM - 12 comments

The single greatest acheivement of these Olypmics has been to make me feel sorry for Allen Iverson. Don't worry. It won't last.

posted by dzot at 08:20 AM on August 30, 2004

Good point, dzot. Agreed ;)

posted by Punkrockrat at 10:23 AM on August 30, 2004

You know, I did a total 180 on Iverson when the 76er's made the finals against the Lakers. How hard he plays, the hits that he takes as a little guy, and his maturity. We have watched him grow up right before our eyes. Remember the bowling alley incident at Georgetown? That was our introduction to him. I believe he is worthy of our respect.

posted by vito90 at 11:44 AM on August 30, 2004

The bowling alley incident was during his high school days. For what it's worth...

posted by 86 at 12:01 PM on August 30, 2004

Of course, if he passed once in a while or got a decent jumper going, he wouldn't have to go inside and get beat to hell. Play smarter, not harder kinda thing. Did he grow up before our eyes last week? Surely it wasn't before the pistol brandishing incident? Before running his only shot at a title to Detroit? Before "Practice, we're talkin about practice"? Before refusing to play off the bench? I'm not seeing this maturity at all. I beleive he is worthy of no respect. If he were to show some toward others, that would be a step in the right direction. Sorry, not drinking the NBA-ESPN Kool-Aid on this one.

posted by pivo at 01:13 PM on August 30, 2004

if he passed once in a while You want to guess where AI ranked in assists/game last year pivo?

posted by Mike McD at 02:35 PM on August 30, 2004

Well he didn't, technically with his 48 games played, but would have been tied for 7th. Though at 6.8 he was over a point over his career average. Want to guess where he ranked on turnovers per game?

posted by pivo at 06:28 PM on August 30, 2004

Well all I know is he plays damn hard and never takes a night off. Does he look satisfied with a loss? Never. And I love his game, the guy's my size for crying out loud. If you can't respect the obvious guts and heart in his game than I just can't respect your judgement. It's flawed.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 07:28 PM on August 30, 2004

I didn't really mention his game other than saying I think he should play smarter as a bit of an aside. I actually admire his game and tenacity, I just feel he could be so much better. I was addressing respecting the man. I gave my thoughs on that and stated I did not. I cannot respect your disrespect of my non-respect for the man based on your respect for his game argument. It missed the point.

posted by pivo at 08:34 PM on August 30, 2004

I think using the same word more than four times in the same sentence is disrespectful.

posted by jmd82 at 12:36 AM on August 31, 2004

Pivo, I understand your point perfectly. Iverson is not an 'efficient' player. A 30pts/game scorer who shoots 40% is obviously much less valuable than a 30pts/game scorer who shoots 50%. Unfortunately, Iverson is the former. As a huge Iverson fan I've always wished he would improve his shooting but I'm resigned to the fact that as good as Iverson is, he has limitations. Of course we all wish that he had Steve Nash's jump shoot, I'm just not convinced he could get there no matter how much he practiced. And my point is that saying 'he doesn't pass' is an unfair criticism. There are legit criticisms, that's not one (which I don't think should be too contreversial). p.s. IMO, I forgive the shooting because he's simply been the most exciting player in the NBA to watch for 8-9 years ... just for the joy he's brought to the game.

posted by Mike McD at 12:48 PM on August 31, 2004

I forgive the shooting because he's hardly the worst shooter in a league of horrible shooters and he (out of all of them) makes up for it with a relentless attack. Geez, I wish Chris Bosh could hit threes at 45% - it would make him a better player. He should do that... Not exactly a fair critique.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 12:54 PM on August 31, 2004

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