| It's The Economy, Stupid! Or Why Iverson Didn't Prosper in Detroit |
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| Written by Lee Eric Smith |
| Monday, 14 September 2009 18:22 |
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RealGM: Flagrant - Iverson's Reality What I found particularly interesting is this little tidbit, which explains two approaches to using Iverson that Detroit could have used: Iverson’s inclusion on the Pistons roster meant that the team’s system would either have to adapt to Iverson or that he wouldn’t have his proper place on the roster. Seeing as there was no point in adapting a system to meet the needs of a 33-year old six-foot guard who was clearly a one-year rental, the team would have already had to be suitable for him.
Therefore, the first option hinges entirely on Detroit mimicking Iverson’s far more positive experiences in Philadelphia in Denver. In each place, he had a dominant shot-blocker behind him, which is utterly crucial because Iverson’s defense is at its best when he’s gambling for steals. More bluntly, having a shot-blocker turns Iverson from a subpar defender into a disruptive force. In Philadelphia, Iverson had Theo Ratliff and then Dikembe Mutombo. In Denver, he had Marcus Camby. In Detroit, there was no such player. Had there been one, the team probably wouldn’t have bothered trading Billups, so Iverson couldn’t have possibly found a good place in Detroit. So Iverson was doomed as a Piston, a poor fit on a team that, knowing he would be a poor fit, traded for his contract rather than for his talents.
The thing that jumps out at me is: Isn't Hasheem Thabeet supposed to block shots and be a defensive anchor? Suddenly an Iverson-Thabeet tandem off the bench sounds pretty interesting . . . Then, Yahoo Sports has this nugget that A.I. has hinted about being lied to in Detroit. He thought he was coming in to be the team leader, but the core there was mad about Chauncey getting traded, so they already didn't like A.I.
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Ran across this fascinating read about Iverson's stopover in Detroit, and why he didn't succeed there. Comes down to this: Joe Dumars acquired Iverson for his expiring contract, not for his talent. It's a good read, take a peek:
Comments
My thing is that if he can establish himself as a defensive stalwart, he'll earn his pay while his offensive game improves. Defense and rebounding is more about effort than skill, so that's something that he can work on immediately. As I've said elsewhere, Dwight Howard made his name during his first few years as a defender/shot blocker. His offensive game is still coming around.
For the record, with all the scorers we have on the team, I do expect Hasheem to be able to get some easy baskets -- on alley oops, chippies and putbacks. Zach, Rudy, OJ and of course, Iverson, are all capable of drawing double teams away from the basket.
If he can finish, Thabeet could do OK offensively, as long as he doesn't have to create his own shot. I think we have several players who can get Thabeet some easy shots. I just hope he doesn't do like Darko did, and try to lay the ball in when he could just as easily dunk it. . . .