FIVEmag NBA basketball blog » Uncategorized

Sixers offer Allen Iverson Deal

admin — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:36:31 +0000

The Philadelphia 76-ers have offered guard Allen Iverson a non-guaranteed contract for the remainder of this season, according to a source from within the organization.

Head coach Eddie Jordan and team president Ed Stefanski held a meeting with Iverson that lasted 2 hours to discuss the possibility of the 34-year old 10-time All-Star returning to his former team. Both sides stated afterwards that no deal or decision had been made, and that it was nothing but a meeting to talk about the possibility of Iverson’s return to Philly.

However, Iverson still hasn’t agreed to the deal. One can only hope that he will, but knowing Iverson’s history, he may very well view this non-guaranteed contract offer as insulting and pass on the offer. If Allen Iverson has any common sense at all, he will gladly accept and get back on the court on Monday versus one of his former teams, the Denver Nuggets, to whom Iverson was traded in 2006. The Sixers are hopeful to get Iverson’s signature on the dotted line ASAP and to have him on the court on Monday, according to sources close to the matter.

Iverson’s departure from Philly was not a happy one as the former MVP was traded away after 10 seasons with the Sixers. But 3 years should have healed at least some of those wounds. Why wouldn’t he want to go back home to the place where he enjoyed the most success? Why wouldn’t he jump on the chance to possibly end his career on a positive note, wearing the Sixers jersey that made him Allen Iverson?

When Iverson was traded to Denver in 2006, he and Andre Iguodala reportedly parted ways on bad terms, so it would be interesting to see if Iverson is able to accept the fact that it is now Iguodala’s team. Though it is possible Iverson would start while Lou Williams is out injured for the next 30 games approximately, he would most likely be coming off the bench once Williams is healthy.

The offer is for somewhere around $650,000, and of course, non-guaranteed, which means that the money would only be guaranteed if Iverson manages to stay on the roster past January 10th.

Iverson Back to Philly?

admin — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:35:30 +0000

Allen Iverson was convinced he would be offered a contract by the New York Knicks last week, and it certainly did sound as if the Knicks were seriously considering signing the 34-year old guard. When the team decided to pass on Iverson, news quickly broke that The Answer would announce his retirement. Iverson made it known how much he would like to play in Mike D’Antoni’s system. Don’t have to play any defense, shoot it whenever you want–yeah, of course Allen Iverson would love to play for a coach like that.

Then the Knicks fnally recalled the headaches caused by their former #3, Stephon Marbury. Remember him? He was still a Knick last year, though it seems like it was ages ago. After such an experience, why would you even consider bringing in a player like Iverson, whose reputation as a person isn’t much different than Marbury’s? I’m sure most Knicks fans are glad the organization chose to exercise their common sense for once.

When your name is Allen Iverson and your former coaches have to call around the league and beg teams to give you a chance to play because nobody wants you, that is when you probably start realizing it might be time to hang them up and make peace with reality. Worst of all, the reality is that Allen Iverson is the only one to blame for his situation. He could be the best bench player in the league, and potentially help a team to a championship, but his stupidity and ego apparently won’t allow him to think that way. While with the Grizzlies earlier in the season, Iverson was reported to have shouted from the back of the bus “I played for a dumb **** last year and I’m playing for one now!” Would you want something like that on your team?

Well, apparently the Philadelphia 76-ers are one team that is willing to at least think about it. Yes, the Sixers are seriously considering bringing back their former star, whom their traded away to the Nuggets in 2006. Why? First of all, guard Lou Williams is out for 2 months with a broken jaw. Secondly, the Sixers are averaging only 11,000 fans. Allen Iverson would undoubtedly fill the empty seats. Despite everything, Iverson is still loved by Philly fans and they would surely love to have him back.

Coach Eddie Jordan, as well as the management have already commented and confirmed the rumors. Jordan makes no secret of his admiration for Iverson. The Sixers are a boring team to watch right now, and who can blame fans for not wanting to pay hundreds of dollars to watch boring basketball? It’s one thing when you’re a Spurs fan, and you know that your team’s boring type of play could very well bring you a championship at the end of the year, just as it already has numerous times with Duncan and company. But when your team is boring to watch and losing, then it becomes a different story.

So why not? The more I think about it, the more sense it actually makes for the Sixers to sign Iverson. He is familiar with most of the players, he still has a lot left in the tank, and fans would flock to the arena just to watch Iverson play. The only question is if Iverson is willing to accept being a role player. It is Andre Iguodala’s team now, who played with Iverson when it was Iverson’s team. I am not sure if Iverson would be able to accept having to play second fiddle, so to speak, especially considering that it wasn’t that long ago when he played first, second and third in a Sixers uniform.

Trouble in D.C.

admin — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:10:21 +0000

The Washington Wizards were expected to be a much better team than last year, but the year has thus far been nothing but a disappointment. With the hiring of Flip Saunders as the new head coach, and Gilbert Arenas returning from injury, expectations automatically grew from within the organization but also from the fans. Standing at a record of only 3 wins and 9 losses, the first fingers are already being pointed.

When asked about the team’s struggles, Gilbert Arenas explained how some players are failing to make the sacrifices that he has made for the team and that certain guys are just unwilling to adapt. “I think the only person who actually had to sacrifice was me. Everybody else can just play their game”, Arenas said. The Wizards offense of old was certainly much different. Players had all the freedom in the world, and every offensive play was basically an isolation. Saunders does not allow as much of one-on-one play, which Arenas obviously does not like. However, when one looks at Gil’s statistics, it becomes evident that this so-called sacrifice of his is not as big as he makes it out to be. Arenas averaged 20.9 field goal attempts per game during the Eddie Jordan era. His “sacrifice” in shots per game is 1.6, as Agent Zero is averaging 19.3 field goal attempts during the current season. So maybe Arenas should take that pointing finger of his and turn it into his own direction.

Arenas was very blunt about the team’s struggles as he talked about individual players and who is doing what wrong. This basically came down to one player: Caron Butler. Arenas believes that Butler is slowing down the offense because he is not taking the shots that he should take and because Butler is a player who needs isolation plays in order to be effective. Such statements coming from Gilbert Arenas, one of the, if not THE most ball-dominating player in the league, is really quite hilarious to me. His talent is unique, there is no argument about that. However, the same is said of Allen Iverson and he is currently without a job because of his inability to adapt and sacrifice. Arenas is a very similar player to Iverson in that regard. He too needs the ball in his hands at all times and is unable to be effective otherwise. Or at least unwilling to even try. “It is very hard to win with a guy who dominates the basketball so much”, a GM said of Arenas.

Arenas even went as far as to exclude Caron Butler when asked which players were responsible for resolving such matters. “Me and Antawn [Jamison]. That’s our jobs [as captains].” Of course, Caron Butler is one of the three captains with Jamison and Arenas. Never ever have I heard Caron Butler being called anything close to a selfish player, but Arenas of all people seems to think differently. One has to wonder what his definition of a selfish player even is. When being called out by reporters on these strange complaints and claims, Arenas explained that he simply needs Butler to hesitate and dribble less when he gives him the ball. “I just want him to shoot when I pass it to him”, Arenas said.

Arenas and Butler met behind closed doors on Monday, and their feud was resolved, both players stated. My feeling tells me we won’t have to wait long to hear from Agent Zero again on this particular matter.

Iverson Looking for New Team

admin — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:16:52 +0000

Allen Iverson and the Memphis Grizzlies have agreed to part ways and to void their contract. When Iverson left the team last week because of a “family matter”, it was clear AI would in most likelyhood never return to the team. The Grizzlies made it official yesterday, as they waived the guard. Iverson is now free to sign with any team, if he is able to find one that is actually willing to take him.

Iverson has already contacted Charlotte and New York, among other teams, expressing his desire to play for them, but the answers have not been very enthusiastic ones. Larry Brown has a talented group of young players, and he knows adding Iverson would only hurt their development. Cleveland has already said that they have zero interest. Only New York seems to at least want to entertain the idea of signing Iverson. After a 1-10 start, the Knicks are slowly becoming desperate. Allen Iverson would at least bring some excitement to the Garden. The goal for the Knicks is still to make it through the season somehow and to develop their young players. And then to sign LeBron James in the Summer, of course.

I can not imagine any other team besides the Knicks being willing to bring in Iverson. Even they will probably realize that the negatives largely outweigh the positives, and decide to pass. Therefore, I expect The Answer to remain without a team.

Stephen Jackson to Charlotte

admin — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:00:02 +0000

If you complain and annoy enough, they will trade you! It worked out for Stephen Jackson. His demands were finally answered, as the Golden State Warriors and the Charlotte Bobcats completed a trade on Monday that sent Stephen Jackson and Acie Law to the Bobcats, in exchange for Vladimir Radmanovic and Raja Bell.

Golden State was hoping to get much more, but they soon realized that the market value for Jackson was not as they expected. The trade would have happened weeks ago, had the Warriors not demanded that Charlotte includes Boris Diaw in the package, whom they did not want to give up.

Jackson originally wished to be traded to either San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, New York, or Cleveland, but according to sources, Jackson is not disappointed about ending up in Charlotte and is happy to be a Bobcat. Larry Brown certainly has the experience in dealing with difficult personalities. Having coached Allen Iverson, one could say Brown has earned a PhD in the field.

In his debut as a Bobcat on Monday, Jackson played 45 minutes and scored 13 points on 4-14 shooting from the field.

King James Wants NBA To Retire #23

admin — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:54:33 +0000

A basketball player never picks a jersey number randomly. There is always a story behind it. One usually chooses a number in the youth and sticks with it. Whether it is because of a favorite player, or whatever the case may be, there is always a good reason. And if at some point the number one wants to wear is taken, you will try anything and everything to somehow get your number back. If you’re rich enough, like Chris Webber, you can just pay for it. When Webber was traded from Sacramento to Philadelphia in 2004, and his #4 was worn by Andre Iguodala, C-Webb had to trade a brand new Rolex watch for his number. Iguodala has been wearing #9 ever since.

Lebron James wears #23 as a tribute to Michael Jordan, whom he calls the greates player ever. Most would not disagree with LBJ on that topic. After a game in Miami, which His Airness attended, James told reporters that he would like the NBA to retire Jordan’s #23 and that nobody should be allowed to wear the number ever again. James plans to change his number next season, most likely to #6, which he wore as a member of the USA team.

The league has never retired a player’s number. Only individual teams have done so until now. And as much power as Lebron’s word carries in the NBA, I can not imagine that they would listen to the King on this matter. Michael Jordan is arguably the best player who has ever laced them up, no question. But do we really need to retire his #23 league-wide just to validate his greatness? I say NO!

It is a great and humble gesture by Lebron, I will give him that. However, he fails to recognize what this would mean for the game. If you do this for Michael Jordan, then what about Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell? When asked what he thought about Lebron’s suggestion and plans to change to #6, Celtics’ coach Doc Rivers said “he knows who wore #6, right?”. He was referring to the Celtics great Bill Russell, of course.Retiring #23 would be disrespectful to all the other Greats. Michael Jordan has a statue, is mentioned by most of today’s players when asked about their idols, and is called by his former rivals like Larry Bird and Charles Barkley THE GREATEST EVER. There is no need to elevate MJ any higher than he already is!

Iverson Gone from Memphis

admin — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:16:59 +0000

At least for now. Allen Iverson has left the team after receiving permission from Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley to do so. The Grizzlies management is referring to this as a leave of absence due to “a personal matter”. When asked about the situation, Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins stated that he only knew it was indefinite, and granted by the owner, but did not know what the exact reason is. Hard to believe a coach does not know why his player leaves the team barely 2 weeks into the season.

Iverson has been vocal in the media about his unhappiness with coming off the bench, and has once again become a distraction to the team. Players, coaches, and management have obviously been growing more and more frustrated with the situation. Before and after games, the questions are always the same, and never about the actual games. How is Allen Iverson fitting in? Is he becoming a distraction? What do you think of Iverson’s role on the team? Is Iverson going to remain in his current role as a bench player, or is he eventually going to start?

But don’t expect the questions to stop just because Iverson isn’t there as of right now. It should only get worse. We really do not know much about the situation, and it is only natural to wonder what exactly is going on with the Grizzlies. The fans certainly have the right to know what it happening with their team.

While I expected Iverson and the Grizzlies to part ways sometime during the season, I still thought it would take a little longer than 6 games into the season. The organization is calling this a temporary thing, but experts believe that this could very well be it for Iverson in a Grizzlies uniform.

There are no takers for Iverson, so a trade is out of question right now. The only possibilities are a buy-out of Iverson’s 1 year $3 million contract, or if the Grizzlies simply asked him to stay away from the team until they are able to move him.

Iverson Unhappy

admin — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:16:50 +0000

When Allen Iverson became a free agent after a disappointing 2008/2009 season with Detroit, one had to wonder if a team would be willing to take the risk of signing The Answer and everything he brings with him. It is not a risk because of his advanced age and the lost step. There is no doubt that even if he lost another 3 steps, AI would still be one of the better scorers in the league. The risk is Iverson’s reputation and history as a difficult personality. He could not get along with Larry Brown, which was well reported and is still talked about today, ten years later. When the Sixers management brought in Maurice Cheeks, whom Iverson had been lobbying for for years, even then AI found a way to create drama and eventually got his coach fired. The drama continued in Denver. Same story after the trade to Detroit during last season. So you really expected it to be different in Memphis??

Barely a week into the season, Allen Iverson is making headlines again. Not with his play, but with his complaints, of course. After missing the entire preseason and not being able to practice with the team, Iverson started the season coming off the bench. Makes sense, right? You don’t practice, you don’t start. It seems pretty logical. Well, not so much to Allen Iverson. After losing to the Kings on Monday, AI complained about coming off the bench and stated that he was “no 6th man”. We all know his attitude towards practice, and it appearsto be the same today still as Iverson believes he should start despite not practicing for weeks. Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins was not fazed by Iverson’s comments, and continues bringing number 3 off the bench. It will be interesting to watch how this story develops. I for one don’t see Iverson finishing the season in a Grizzlies uniform.

Rajon Rondo Gets Extension

admin — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:12:34 +0000

With the November 2nd deadline for contract extensions approaching fast, it looked as if the Celtics and Rajon Rondo would not be able to come to an agreement. Then suddenly and unexpectedly, news broke that a deal was in place, which would be for 5 years and at least $55 million. When asked about the news after Sunday’s game versus New Orleans, Rondo said “It’s not over yet, I haven’t signed the papers yet”. The deadline is Monday night, and it is only a matter of the 23-year old guard signing his name on the dotted line.

While it should have been a night of positive feelings and happiness for Rajon Rondo, he still found reason to be grumpy after beating the Hornets 97-87. As Chris Paul approached some of Boston’s players to shake hands, Rondo started an unfriendly exchange of words with the Hornets’ guard. The jawing quickly escalated, and Rondo had to be restrained and escorted back into the locker room by security guards. When asked about the incidents later on, both stated that it was nothing more than two competitors trying to gain an edge on the other. This makes no sense, of course, since the incident occurred after the final whistle had blown. But that is what players are coached to say in such situations.

However, it is unclear whether Rondo really started the argument or not. Just the day before the game, one of the Celtics’ players told a reporter confidentially of Rondo’s opinion about Chris Paul. Rondo apparently seems to believe Chris Paul’s impressive stats to be a result of the fact that Paul has the ball in his hands so much throughout the game. Sounds like an argument between high school teenagers, doesn’t it? As childish and stupid as it may sound, it will certainly cause a very interesting next meeting between the two teams.

Who Will It Be, Who Will It Be?!

admin — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:53:56 +0000

It is a little senseless to make any kind of predictions about the new season after less than a week of play behind us, but it is never too early to at least discuss the candidates for individual awards such as the MVP, MIP, Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and 6th Man of the Year.

Candidates for the Most Valuable Player award seem to be obvious. Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Dwight Howard, and Carmello Anthony are on top of my list. Though D-Wade should have another monster season, being on a mediocre team will once again hurt his chances of being named MVP. With such a strong supporting cast in Pau Gasol, Ron Artest and Lamar Odom, Kobe will probably not score as much as he has in the past. I still fully believe Kobe is the best player in the game, but the MVP is an award for the player who is most valuable to his team, and not for the best player in the league. Dwight Howard and the Magic are destined for another great season, but I see Superman finishing just 2nd or 3rd in voting for the award. My pick for NBA MVP 2009/2010 is Lebron James. King James’ stats of 28.4 ppg, 7.6 rpg, and 7.2 apg from his 2008/2009 MVP campaign should stay very similar, and his Cavs are certainly expected to be among the elite and make a deep run into the playoffs.

I have given much thought to the topic of potential Most Improved Player Award candidates, and I can only come up with a few legitimate names. One is Courtney Lee of the New Jersey Nets, who started for Orlando in the 2009 Finals, but was traded to the Nets in the offseason for Vince Carter. Expect him to have another solid season. Eric Gordon of the Clippers had a strong rookie season averaging 16.1 ppg. Much is expected from Gordon in his sophomore year as the starting shooting guard. My pick for NBA Most Improved Player 2009/2010 is Trevor Ariza of the Houston Rockets. His strong 2008/2009 campaign with the Lakers earned Ariza a 5 year, $34 million contract and the investment seems to have been a wise one for the Rockets. Ariza is averaging just over 23.3 ppg thus far. Don’t expect the averages to stay as they are, but somewhere between 15 and 18 ppg is certainly realistic.

My candidates for the Defensive Player of the Year are Dwight Howard, Dwight Howard and Dwight Howard. I expect Superman to easily repeat his feat.

There are some very impressive names coming off the bench this year. Manu Ginobili, Al Harrington, Lamar Odom, and Jason Terry, who was named 6th Man of the Year last season, are my strongest candidates. With a reloaded squad and finally being healthy again, Manu Ginobili is expected to have a strong year for the Spurs and he is my favorite for the 2009/2010 6th Man of the Year award.

This year’s rookie class should be an impressive one. A lot of rookies are coming into the league ready to contribute and be big parts of their team immediately. Brandon Jennings of the Bucks has been very strong as the starting guard, just as Johnny Flynn of the T-Wolves has. Though he has not played a game in the regular season yet due to injury, Blake Griffin still is my pick for Rookie of the Year 2009/20010. Griffin is simply a beast and expect him to quickly rise in the ranks of the league’s top players.

FIVEmag NBA basketball blog » Uncategorized

Sixers offer Allen Iverson Deal

Most Commented Posts

Iverson Back to Philly?

Most Commented Posts

Trouble in D.C.

Most Commented Posts

Iverson Looking for New Team

Most Commented Posts

Stephen Jackson to Charlotte

Most Commented Posts

King James Wants NBA To Retire #23

Most Commented Posts

Iverson Gone from Memphis

Most Commented Posts

Iverson Unhappy

Most Commented Posts

Rajon Rondo Gets Extension

Most Commented Posts

Who Will It Be, Who Will It Be?!

Most Commented Posts