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Volume VII

I’m back this week after a two-week layoff in which I traveled overseas. The big news over the past few days in the NBA is Allen Iverson’s return. In this week’s post I’ll discuss Iverson’s potential impact on the 76ers. If you have feedback you can contact me at jfratyIS@yahoo.com, any and all feedback is welcome…  

The toughest little man of all time. A shooting guard in a point guard’s body. One of the greatest scorers of his generation. The face of the NBA for a period of time. The “Answer”. Allen Iverson is/was referred to as all of those things during his career. But, for the past few years Iverson has been known as the veteran who can’t except a role and still wants to be the superstar of his team. Because of this reason, Iverson hasn’t been able to find a permanent home. Now, though, Iverson returns to his longtime home of Philadelphia to play for the 76ers, and the question does beg to be asked: Can Iverson be effective enough to put the 76ers back in playoff contention?

Iverson has gotten his wish of a starting job, and probably wouldn’t come back if the 76ers hadn’t offered him a starting role. In the press conference in which the 76ers re-introduced Allen Iverson, Iverson was very emotional when speaking about this new chance to prove himself. He was tearing when speaking about how he knows deep down he can still play and that he can help the 76ers win. There’s no doubt in my mind that Iverson can still play. If the 76ers need a good 20 points on a night Iverson can probably provide that without much of a problem. The real problem is that the 76ers don’t know how the rest of the team will react. How will Andre Iguodala feel after becoming the team’s main star, but now having to deal with the Allen Iverson fans coming back out of the shadows in Philly? Iverson had overshadowed Iggy for Iggy’s entire young career until Iguodala finally got the opportunity to become the main option in Philly when Iverson was traded. I wouldn’t be surprised if Iguodala felt a bit of the past come back to him when Iverson was signed.

Iverson will sell tickets in Philadelphia , no doubt. This is his city; the fans love him. The 76ers have to realize that Iverson holds all the cards now. He’s already expressed his wanting to retire in Philly, and the fans are welcoming him back with open arms. If the 76ers try to bring his retirement in early the fans will turn on them. If they try to bring him off the bench, the fans will question why they buy tickets if they can’t see Iverson 35 minutes a night. They need to give way to Iverson’s needs; he’s like a small child -- when he doesn’t have his way you can’t stand him, and when he’s not crying he can make you very happy. They will only reap the benefits of Allen Iverson when he wants to provide his skills.

For the first few weeks they will be lovey-dovey in Philly. After that, it can go one of two ways: Iverson can be very effective while allowing it still to be Andre Iguodala’s team or Iverson can be effective only by taking many shots and trying to be the main option on this team. The giant gorilla sitting in the room is this: when Louis Williams returns, what will the 76ers do? Iverson can’t stay happy without starting, and Williams is the better player right now. He’s been averaging 17.4 PPG, 5.1 APG, 3.5 RPG and 1.7 SPG. Those are some pretty great numbers and I don’t know if Iverson will be able to match that. There will be a big controversy in two months when Williams makes his return.

Before I end this post, I’d like to mention that Chris Paul had an absolutely ridiculous game on Friday night when he returned from injury (severe ankle sprain). He scored 16 points, dished out 15 assists, grabbed 6 rebounds, and had 8 steals. That’s one heck of a stat line. The Hornets started out extremely slow, but went 4-4 without Paul and maybe his return will catapult them back into the contenders in the West. I know that’s a huge stretch but Paul has the potential to have that type of effect.

Submitted 12/06/2009

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