Dave_From_NB wrote: He completely destroyed the chemistry in Detroit, and it's hard to see that they're anything except better with Iverson not in the lineup.
I'm not AI's biggest fan, but geez, why the hell is it considered his fault for ruining the chemistry in Detroit? He replaced the Pistons' best and most important player, Chauncey Billups. Not only this, but the Pistons were a team with deep seated chemistry dependent on the play of guys like Chauncey and Rip, and in comes AI, a much different player, categorically. The only way this would have worked is if Stuckey was actually ready to take over Chauncey's role, and AI was used as a scoring punch off the bench. Not only is Stuckey not ready, but AI was forced into the starting lineup, and Rip, the system dependent player, was used off the bench as an AI type of scoring punch player.
That is not AI's fault. That was inevitable. Not to mention, Chauncey was traded days after Rip Hamilton sign a contract extension presumably under the impression Chauncey would be kept around, too. Not good for team morale.
He doesn't always say the right things, but he has never been Antoine Walker, he has never been overly selfish. He is older and not as physically capable, but is coming off of a season where he posted a career best in TS% (the best statistical measure to judge overall scoring efficiency), likely because for the first time he was playing alongside other truly talented offensive players. The main problem he has always ran into is similar to that of Eddie House and Ben Gordon. His skill set is not suited real well for the PG position, and his lack of height, lack of a great outside shot, and acquired tendency of being the best scorer on his team help work against his prospects of fitting in as anything more than a 6th man on a really good team.
His outside shot might not be as solid as House's and especially Gordon's, but he possesses more overall scoring prowess than the two of em, his passing stats tend to be better, and he offers more defensive tenacity. For what its worth, if I go and adjust two point shooting statistics from last season, adjusting them based on shot quantity and the play of teammates to account for probable defensive attention encountered, I get a top 20 list of...
Jefferson, Al
Stoudemire, Amare
Wade, Dwyane
Ming, Yao
James, LeBron
Anthony, Carmelo
Smith, Craig
Nowitzki, Dirk
Ellis, Monta
Gasol, Pau
Iverson, Allen
Okafor, Emeka
Howard, Dwight
Bosh, Chris
Iguodala, Andre
Bynum, Andrew
Miller, Andre
Deng, Luol
Boozer, Carlos
Williams, Mo
Believe in this type of statistic or not, it doesn't put AI in bad company.
His recent "venting" about coming off the bench was taken way out of proportion. if you read his actual quotes rather than headlines, his frustration was mainly caused by a.) his minutes played, not the fact he was being used off the bench, and b.) the injury which was holding him abck from playing more minutes.
If the C's have trouble landing a top choice or two for the MLE, and AI is willing to play for the MLE (not as far fetched as other FAs out there), I see no reason why he is opposed to a sixth man Eddie House role and he is at least close to a no brainer for us to scoop up.
