e.g.

I POST:

stapler

YOU COULD REPLY WITH:

office supplies

Then it continues on.

OK, the starting word is:

TOMATO

If you play on the perimeter with Iverson, you tend to find yourself with a lot of wide open shots.

Eric Snow.
Aaron McKie.
Kyle Korver.
Steve Blake.
Linas Kleiza.

All of those perimeter players (with the exception of Korver playing on Utah) were far more efficient basketball players with Iverson than they ever came close to being without.

The kind of stuff that happened with Walter Hermann tonight is the kind of stuff Iverson has done throughout his career. He draws double coverage and finds his guy that the double came off of.

Interior players who thrive with Iverson need to be able to catch well and finish quickly. In other words, Maxiell and McDyess will thrive with Iverson, while Kwame won’t. The tragedy of Iverson’s tenure in Denver is that he never got to play with a healthy Nene, who is the perfect kind of interior player for him.

Iverson has never played on a team with guys nearly as good as the Pistons. See if you don’t love him in March more than you do today. I understand your attachment to Chauncey - you did win a title with him - but you and Rip both need to move past it.

It’s no coincidence that Iverson almost always has the best +/- of anyone on his team. When he’s on the court, his team plays better. And that’s really the only statistic that matters.

Before last year, everyone said KG wasn’t able to “better his teammates” either…

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“Even if they pull it together and get on the same page Piston fans shouldn’t get too attached to Allen Iverson. Joe isn’t going to resign him. What would be the point of the trade if he did?”

I’d put the odds of Iverson being back next year at better than 50/50.

He’ll sign for the MLE wherever he plays next year, and why not do it in Detroit? Same for Rasheed.

If both guys sign one year deals for the MLE, Dumars gets $26m in additional cap space for 2009 alone. That’s the point of the trade. (Well, giving Detroit a free shot at winning a title this year - a shot they didn’t have with Chauncey - is the other point of the trade…)

Allen is a defensive liability on the ball.

Always has been, and always will. His off-ball defense makes him a net neutral on that end of the court, but like Steve Nash, he needs help on his man at times.

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And he won’t play his best defense on the second night of a back-to-back after player 40+ min.

Curry must keep AI’s minutes low. And Rasheed’s too. Look at how Boston manages the minutes of their over 30 gang.

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I’d love to see Bynum get more minutes.

And while I’d theoretically like to see Stuckey get more minutes too, the snapshot of his game I’ve seen since the Iverson trade doesn’t encourage me. He brings as many defensive problems on the ball as Iverson does, and his offensive game is inconsistent.

But maybe it’s just been a bad stretch for him. And in any case, we’ll need Stuckey, Bynum, and Afflalo ready for springtime in any case, so rest AI and play ‘em.

—–

This team is short a big man and a three point shooting guard.

Maybe McDyess can fill the big man slot. Maybe one of the kids can knock down 3’s. If so, we can take Boston.