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Andre Iguodala. We all love his high-flying dunks, his flashy passes and the enthusiasm he plays the game with. He's been a fan favorite in Philly since the time he was drafted and has emerged as the go-to guy once since the Iverson deal. The question in my mind and the minds of Sixers fans across the nation is, can THE Philadelphia 76ers win a championship with Andre Iguodala as the franchise player? It's a tough question, but I've searched for some answers.

Iguodala is coming of his best season as a pro. He averaged 19.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists along with 2.1 steals per game and 46% shooting. With those stats, he's in an elite club. Along with Iggy, the only other players to average similar numbers are as follows: LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Baron Davis, Tracy McGrady, Joe Johnson, Vince Carter, Paul Pierce, Brandon Roy, Manu Ginobli and Hedo Turkoglu. Out of those 12 guys, how many do I think can win a team a championship as a number one option? Five, maybe six. Pierce is on the verge of doing it, but he's got two real, real good two and three options (KG and Allen, as if you didn't know). What I got out of this research is, gaudy numbers and statistics don't translate to championships. Not only that, but ONE franchise player cannot lead you to a championship himself, no matter how good he is.

Here's another interesting observation. Is Andre Iguodala on the same level or better than Manu Ginobli? Ginobli has won four rings with the Spurs as the SECOND option. What this tells me is Philly really needs to get a Batman (Elton Brand) to Iguodala's Robin. It could even work as a 1a, 1b type of relationship. That guy, and I have a specific guy in mind (Elton Brand), doesn't have to be a Tim Duncan or a LeBron James. He just has to be a guy to take more of the weight of Iguodala's shoulders than Andre Miller does. Can you imagine a starting lineup of...

PG-Andre Miller
SG-Andre Iguodala
SF-Thad Young
PF-(Elton Brand)
C-Samuel Dalembert

Bench-Lou Will, Reggie Evans, Rodney Carney, (16th pick), Jason Smith

That's a legitimate playoff contender. It has a mixture of young talent and veterans. I know no one is going to like this comparison, but at the time they were a really good team and nearly made the Finals. The 2005-2006 L.A. Clippers with Sam Cassell, Corey Maggette, Cat Mobley, Elton Brand and Chris Kaman. They took a very good Phoenix Suns team to a game 7 in the second round of the playoffs. Good, now that frightening we have that comparison out of the way. I trust the Sixers management and players not to mess up things up, unlike the Clippers.

These questions, this rant, these solutions all point back to one period of time, the first round of the 2007-2008 playoffs. The 2-seed Pistons vs. 7-seed Sixers. No one expected Philly to win, much less put up a fight except for us loyal fans, but they did. However; our supposed go-to guy, our franchise player, our stud, Andre Iguodala left a bad taste in everyone's mouth. 13 points a game on 33% shooting for our star? That can't be right, can it? Well, it is. I know it's his second (technically his first, since the first was with Iverson and Webber) playoff appearance. I know it was against the great defense of the former champion, Detroit Pistons and I know he's only 24 years old, but still, shouldn't he have done a little better? For his sake, let's take a look at other big name player

If he gets one vote for yes.... I wanna know who it is. The one thing this entire board seems to agree on is that Iguodala is NOT a #1 option on a contending team.

The Guilty Party wrote:If he gets one vote for yes.... I wanna know who it is. The one thing this entire board seems to agree on is that Iguodala is NOT a #1 option on a contending team.

I figured that. I just thought I'd bust out some reading material for the off-season other than pre-draft stuff.

I'm the fool who voted yes. As for a number one scoring option? It's possible but not likely, but overall I think he has the potential to be much better on offense than he is. His defense is already at a top level and if you can couple that with a more refined offensive game I think he would be a scary player.

Iguodala doesn't shoot the ball well enough. He's a terrible 3 point shooter and terrible mid range shooter. The fact that he was 5th in the NBA in dunks last season inflates his shooting percentage and scoring average. He's terrible at getting to the basket in the half court and terrible at finishing around the basket unless it is a simple dunk. We have seen that in the playoffs that there aren't nearly as many fastbreak dunk opportunities for Iggy to feast off.

Iggy shot attempt breakdown compared to other players
24% 3 point shot at .329%
47% 2 point shot at .381%
28% inside shot at .690% dunks 141

Rudy Gay
28% 3pt .346%
19% 2pt .438%
28% inside .614% dunks 115

Kevin Martin
28% .403
42% .397
28% .608 dunks 51

Monta Ellis
4% .231%
51% .432
43% .678 dunks 69

Pierce
33% .392
37% .408
29% .613 dunks 16

So statistics actually can support what happens on the court. Iggy stinks, can't you see it? If he's not making an easy dunk he is clearly missing the shot.

SendEm wrote:Iguodala doesn't shoot the ball well enough. He's a terrible 3 point shooter and terrible mid range shooter. The fact that he was 5th in the NBA in dunks last season inflates his shooting percentage and scoring average. He's terrible at getting to the basket in the half court and terrible at finishing around the basket unless it is a simple dunk. We have seen that in the playoffs that there aren't nearly as many fastbreak dunk opportunities for Iggy to feast off.

Iggy shot attempt breakdown compared to other players
24% 3 point shot at .329%
47% 2 point shot at .381%
28% inside shot at .690% dunks 141

Rudy Gay
28% 3pt .346%
19% 2pt .438%
28% inside .614% dunks 115

Kevin Martin
28% .403
42% .397
28% .608 dunks 51

Monta Ellis
4% .231%
51% .432
43% .678 dunks 69

Pierce
33% .392
37% .408
29% .613 dunks 16

So statistics actually can support what happens on the court. Iggy stinks, can't you see it? If he's not making an easy dunk he is clearly missing the shot.

I agree, but again, he's only 24 and you have to admit he had some flashes this season that he can take over a game offensively without getting fast break dunks. He's improved a ton since his rookie year and still has huge upside. He's also the number one option on a team with no shooters, which makes it hard to spread the floor.

I still think he's a second option (as opposed to first) on a championship team though.

Iggy is not a second option on a championship team. If Iggy is a second option on a championship team name 4 championship teams where the second best player is the equivalent to Andre Iguodala.

SendEm wrote:Iggy is not a second option on a championship team. If Iggy is a second option on a championship team name 4 championship teams where the second best player is the equivalent to Andre Iguodala.

I never said Iguodala as of right now, a 24 year old kid can be a second option, but do you honestly think that Iguodala has reached his ceiling? In his prime he will easily be good a good enough second option on a championship team. I think when it's all said and done, he'll be a better second option than Manu was on the Spurs teams. I think he'll be better than Rip Hamilton was on the Pistons championship team.

LOL 24 year old kid?

SendEm wrote:LOL 24 year old kid?

Yes sir. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. I say Iguodala will never be a franchise player, but he most certainly be a good second option on a championship contender/winner.

Better than Richard Hamilton? Iguodala's skill set doesn't translate to having high production as a second option. No winning organization with talented players is going to allow Iggy to shoot so many midrange shots and miss them the way that he does. Iggy's ppg is the most inflated in the entire NBA. But just because he DID average that 19.9ppg people feel as though they can put him in a class with other players that have averaged that amount. Not so, basketball is much more sophisticated than just looking at a player's points, assists, and rebounds. I mean if more people even looked at something as simple as MPG they'll have a clearer understanding that usually 20ppg scored in 32mpg is more meaningful than 20ppg in 40mpg. Those two players normally shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath. But it even goes further beyond just MPG...

Did Send Em create another name and start this thread so he could get his fix of Iggy bashing?

Seriously, it's like someone threw a soft one up for him to knock it out the park.

Second fiddle. Nothing about his game says franchise player.

I dont think Iguodala is a terrible shooter, I think he doesnt know when to shoot. He's terrible at trying to take that extra dribble bc he just loses the open jump shot he had. Instead he tries to get to the rim by bulldosing over guys or trying to pull a ridiculous Kobe Bryant type shot. As long as he LEARNS to play the game right, he wont be a bad 2nd option.

No, he is not a franchise player.He is a very good second option or a third option on a championship team.Is you ask sendem he will tell you that Iggy is not even a Nba player or he is at best the guy from the end of the bench.

However; our supposed go-to guy, our franchise player, our stud, Andre Iguodala left a bad taste in everyone's mouth. 13 points a game on 33% shooting for our star? That can't be right, can it? Well, it is. I know it's his second (technically his first, since the first was with Iverson and Webber) playoff appearance. I know it was against the great defense of the former champion, Detroit Pistons and I know he's only 24 years old, but still, shouldn't he have done a little better?

While I mostly agree with your stance on Iguodala, I think you have to really consider just how good the Pistons are defensively - primarily, Tayshawn Prince. But across the board, that team is very good on D. They brought the Kryptonite to D Howard and made him look like Olawakandi, so you can't always base a player's worth off of one playoff series. Collectively, Detroit plays great team D. That being said, I still don't think Iguodala is our franchise player and agree more with those who think he's a number 2 option - or even number 3 option depending on how Thaddeus turns out next year once we start involving him more in our offense. For that matter, I feel more comfortable when Lou Williams has the ball in his hands, so truth be told, perhaps we don't need a "1st option" if we can accumulate numerous options that all compliment one another correctly.

STChaser

Don't mind the link, but the poll question is somewhat silly.

There is no doubt in the answer, and even as a "non-franchise player" you can be paid 10M next year and not be overpaid.

It's like asking: Do you think Ralph Nader will win the presidential election?

The top 45 players get paid 12M or more (which averages out to 5yr/80M in a 5 year deal with nl 10% NBA raises.). Iguodala will be paid much less than 12M next year, much less than 5yr/80M so the issue of being a franchise player is completely and utterly irrelevant to his contract demands.

It can and has been argued whether guodala is a good player and a valuable one for a winning team. That is worth debating, especially in regards to his contract. However, there is no debate over whether he is a franchise player, and even though he clearly is not one, I still think he is a very valuable player to have on the Sixers, and I hope they can sign him to a reasonable contract.

STChaser wrote:

However; our supposed go-to guy, our franchise player, our stud, Andre Iguodala left a bad taste in everyone's mouth. 13 points a game on 33% shooting for our star? That can't be right, can it? Well, it is. I know it's his second (technically his first, since the first was with Iverson and Webber) playoff appearance. I know it was against the great defense of the former champion, Detroit Pistons and I know he's only 24 years old, but still, shouldn't he have done a little better?

While I mostly agree with your stance on Iguodala, I think you have to really consider just how good the Pistons are defensively - primarily, Tayshawn Prince. But across the board, that team is very good on D. They brought the Kryptonite to D Howard and made him look like Olawakandi, so you can't always base a player's worth off of one playoff series. Collectively, Detroit plays great team D. That being said, I still don't think Iguodala is our franchise player and agree more with those who think he's a number 2 option - or even number 3 option depending on how Thaddeus turns out next year once we start involving him more in our offense. For that matter, I feel more comfortable when Lou Williams has the ball in his hands, so truth be told, perhaps we don't need a "1st option" if we can accumulate numerous options that all compliment one another correctly.

STChaser

Ya, later in my post I gave Iguodala a pass after comparing his numbers to LeBron and Kobe vs. the Pistons.

SendEm wrote:Iguodala doesn't shoot the ball well enough. He's a terrible 3 point shooter and terrible mid range shooter. The fact that he was 5th in the NBA in dunks last season inflates his shooting percentage and scoring average. He's terrible at getting to the basket in the half court and terrible at finishing around the basket unless it is a simple dunk. We have seen that in the playoffs that there aren't nearly as many fastbreak dunk opportunities for Iggy to feast off.

Iggy shot attempt breakdown compared to other players
24% 3 point shot at .329%
47% 2 point shot at .381%
28% inside shot at .690% dunks 141

Rudy Gay
28% 3pt .346%
19% 2pt .438%
28% inside .614% dunks 115

Kevin Martin
28% .403
42% .397
28% .608 dunks 51

Monta Ellis
4% .231%
51% .432
43% .678 dunks 69

Pierce
33% .392
37% .408
29% .613 dunks 16

So statistics actually can support what happens on the court. Iggy stinks, can't you see it? If he's not making an easy dunk he is clearly missing the shot.

enough already. we all know you are a iggy hater. give it a rest