The argument is that AI was his team's only shot-creating option, maybe that's true. But when you're winning games taking 42 shots to score 48 points, my assessment is that the defense of the team is what won the game, because that's BELOW AVERAGE. You're lucky thanks to your defense to pull through. What was impressive about AI was his ability to get his shot off, not his ability to actually make the shot. Which means he's basically pidgeon-holed into a single role - creating shots for himself. He's ultimately scoring 2 points 52% of the time. Now consider this: on average, AVERAGE teams score something like 54% of the time they try to score. So you basically need to defend really well to make it so that you're keeping up with the other team. But then you're asking him to defend elite 2-guards, guys who usually score 55% of the time they try to score. over the course of a game that can lead to runs that extend to 10 point leads.
The problem is you can't look at a players offensive efficency in isolation like that. Personally I think this current AI has slipped and I really don't want him either. So this point is largely academic.
But its patently unfair to look at a teams ONLY scorer say OMG he doesn't score as well as average teams. Of course he doesn't. The defenses he faces all year are geared to stop him. Look what we did to Lebron last year in the playoffs.
Stop treating basketball like baseball. Its not the same at all. You can't just pluck someones statistics out from a TEAM situation and assume it would be replicated on different TEAMS.
Was Mark Blount wracking up rebounds with Walter McCarty beside him at PF. YES. Was that indicative of his true rebounding ability - no. It's a function of being surrounded with poor rebounding teamates.
I think that if you stuck PP or Kobe on those Sixer teams their TS% would take a huge fall as they tried to increase the scoring load. And they would be doing that for the sake of the TEAM.
This is what the voters thought when the NAMED HIM MVP! MVP! Need I repeat that? People like you essentially think they are "smarter" then the rest of the world. Newsflash - your not. AI won the MVP with good reason. He carried a very bad team with an amazing display off offensive basketball.
Was he less efficent then you would like? Sure. Was he inferior to Jordan - heck ya. Would Jerry Stackhouse a player people able to replicate that kind of performance on the Sixers - a different team. Hell no..
Pete