(H/T: Steve Kays)

PinocchiJoe

Adding on to what Terry Foster wrote in this morning’s Detroit News:

“The Pistons are liars.” Those are harsh words but they come from Allen Iverson’s business manager and high school football coach Gary Moore. He told the Memphis Commercial Appeal that Iverson was promised he would become the leader of the Pistons after a trade that sent Pistons point guard and leader Chauncey Billups to the Denver Nuggets.

Instead Iverson was sent into exile as the Pistons’ season crumbled.

Iverson never grasped the team concept and it seemed as if his new teammates never grasped him as a friend.

“People in Detroit weren’t very truthful to Iverson,” Moore said. “He couldn’t really trust what people had told him.”

I believe that, and I’m about as far as you’ll get from an Allen Iverson apologist.

I was a skeptical hippo the moment the trade went down.  AI wasn’t, isn’t, and never will be a “Piston”.  I think a lot of people knew this.  Joe’s task was to sell this deal to the fans and Iverson alike.

The part about Iverson believing he was the team’s leader clears up for me why AI, despite being newly acquired, was speaking for the team pretty much from day one.

We were told that in addition to the butt load of free agent money the trade would free up that our Pistons’ machine wouldn’t skip a beat out on the court.  It’s apparent now that Joe was simply lubing the deal.

Personally I’m just gald this whole mess is over.  I’m excited to see the new look Pistons and actually wish Iverson well in Memphis.

AI sees his days in Detroit more clearly now

Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press recently had a chance to talk with Allen Iverson at a Southfield T.G.I. Fridays.  Yes, Iverson is still in town but he’s just tying up all his loose ends before embarking on the next chapter of his HOF career.

I wish the article would have had less back story and more insights from Iverson about his Piston tenure.  There were a few notable and candid quotes that I’ll pull from the article though.

AI calls the 5 months he spent here the most ‘miserable’ of his career and that his back injury was legit and not just him bailing on the team.

As for what went wrong here in Detroit he cites ego and also points to the popular assertion that Michael Curry just was not prepared to be an NBA  head coach after a mere one year as an assistant.

I personally was hard on Iverson throughout the season on this blog, but I’d also point out that some of our fan frustrations should be directed towards Joe Dumars for selling us (and Iverson) a bill of goods on the November 3rd trade:

“It was sold to me as we were going to go for it,” Iverson said. “I was told that things had gotten stale around here.

“Now? I don’t know. I think it may have been about the money.”

May have been?  Especially with the way the season turned out it’s safe to say it was all about the money.

For those who might think that there’s any lingering animosities between Rip Hamilton and Iverson over the 6th man saga, that’s not the case.  Check out this AI’s Tweet from a few months back[*]:

we just got to the club…we met up with RIP and Tayshaun

Iverson is currently an unrestricted free agent.  There’s been rumors of interest from teams such as Chicago, Miami, Memphis and a reunion with Larry Brown in Charlotte.  The biggest question mark for the Answer will be is there actually a team out there that can somehow fit him in and be succesful?  But, like here in Detroit Iverson sees himself as a starter or bust.  When asked if he’d take a role as a spark of the bench:

“I don’t know. I think I would retire.”

Pistons.com:

 AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars announced today that guard Allen Iverson will miss the remainder of the season. The all-star guard missed 16 games between February 27 and March 28 after exiting a game at New Orleans with a sore back on February 25.

“After talking with Allen and our medical staff, we feel that resting Allen for the remainder of the season is the best course of action at this time,” said Dumars. “While he has played in our last three games, he is still feeling some discomfort and getting him physically ready to compete at the level he is accustomed to playing this late in the season does not seem possible at this point.”

Wow! Thoughts?

I think the truth is being veiled.  I believe “physically ready” means “mentally ready”.  How is he going to handle other teams offering him roles off the bench as opposed to designing an offense around which is the only way to integrate his game?

“Eighteen minutes, c’mon, man. I can play 18 minutes with my eyes closed, with a 100-pound truck on my back. That’s a bad feeling.“I’m wondering what the rush was to get me back. I mean, for that?”

There’s a lot I wanted to say about Iverson after making this statement, fortunately Chris McCosky hit it out of the park for me:

Rushed him back? He left the team Feb. 26. Hardly anybody saw him again until last week. He didn’t do one single basketball-related exercise for a month. So he comes back, clearly rusty, clearly not in game shape, and he complains about playing 18 minutes on the front end of a back-to-back.

Unbelievable. Then he has the audacity to follow-up his rant by saying he doesn’t want to vent, that he’s trying to stay positive and focus on the big picture. The statement loses credibility when it comes after he’s already vented.

Iverson keeps saying things like, “because of who I am,” and, “a person with my resume and all the things I’ve done.” The issue isn’t what he’s done in the past, it’s what he’s done as a Piston, and that has been not much.

The sooner he realizes that he’s not the same guy, that he’s 33 and out of shape, the better off he will be. He didn’t play horribly Tuesday, but he did what he’s done pretty much all year — make critical mistakes at critical times.

[...]

How many times is Iverson going to dribble into a crowd and either fall down or pass the ball wildly out of bounds? How many free throws is he going to miss? How many different ways can the Pistons junk up their defense to protect him?

[...]So what do they do? Let him go home and rest up for next season or deal with what could be a daily distraction for the next eight games? I vote the former.

Coach Michael Curry said before the game Sunday that he doesn’t expect Wallace to play at Dallas Tuesday or at Houston Wednesday.

“He’s still not able to run,” Curry said. “I won’t say he’s out for that Texas swing, but I doubt he will play.”-DetNews

Also, in the same article Allen Iverson’s back is set to be re-evaluated by his Georgetown physician on Wednesday.

At this point what does it matter?  It still remains to be seen if the Pistons can integrate Iverson in any way, shape, or form to the team.  A few more months and we’ll have a very unceremonious close to the Iverson days (or daze depending how you look at it).

The Pistons might be able to pull off some fun moments in the Playoffs, but for Joe D the real season will start after the Finals and that’s where Iverson has helped the team the most.

Source: Dimemag

“I’m disappointed that the soreness I’m feeling in my back is going to force me to miss two weeks of action. After talking with the doctors at Georgetown yesterday they have told me that treatment and rest is the best course of action right now. Hopefully my back (will) heal and I’m ready to go following this two-week period.

“My goal is to help this team win a championship and I’ve said that from the first day I arrived here in Detroit. I’m going to do whatever it takes to help us achieve our goals as a team regardless if I’m starting or coming off the bench.” – mlive

Well, I’m glad he’s finally come out and addressed the situation.  It be a bit more interesting if he took questions, but this is something.  He’s still saying all the right things

 So it’s a officially a sore back?  Is this the diagnosis he was seeking, and if not for this Georgetown doc would he have sought a 4th or 5th opinion to stay away from the team?  I’m not accusing, just wondering out loud.

ESPN: AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Detroit Pistons guard Allen Iverson will miss the next two weeks with a sore back, the team said Wednesday.

Iverson was evaluated on Wednesday by doctors at Georgetown University in Washington. Doctors there recommended that he suspend basketball-related activities and be re-evaluated after two weeks.

Doctors at Georgetown have been in contact with the team’s medical staff and Iverson will begin treatment upon his return to Detroit on Thursday, the team said.

According to a press release from the team he won’t even be traveling with the team (to prevent stress on his back).  Is that normal?

Personally I’m not too broken up about the news.  I enjoy the way the Pistons have been playing sans The Answer.