On Showtime. Fantastic. Better than the hackey 30 for 30 Bill Simmons inspired version.
Cultural icon and great player.
Cultural icon and great player.
Iverson Documentary
- Thread starter MakingLove2BeckyLobo
- Start date
NickleDimer
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i still havent watched and might not. im kind of tired of the AI story. poor kid makes millions, poor kid spends millions. poor kid has nothing left and nothing to offer the world. now that he cant play basketball anymore.
ok so he was a cultural icon but not neccessarily in a good way. he was the anti white authority figure in the NBA. changed the culture of the league in a negative way adding the hood element with long shorts, corn rows and dozens of tattoos and played pretty much however he felt like it on that night. he was not a good teammate and was not coachable. once his talents slipped a little no one wanted anything to do with him cause he was useless to an owner/gm/coach if he couldnt carry a team like he could early in his career.
ok so he was a cultural icon but not neccessarily in a good way. he was the anti white authority figure in the NBA. changed the culture of the league in a negative way adding the hood element with long shorts, corn rows and dozens of tattoos and played pretty much however he felt like it on that night. he was not a good teammate and was not coachable. once his talents slipped a little no one wanted anything to do with him cause he was useless to an owner/gm/coach if he couldnt carry a team like he could early in his career.
NickleDimer
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not a good teammate cause the reports were out there he didnt show up for practices and when he did he was late and didnt participate. he also never worked out or took anything seriously except the games.
NickleDimer
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But isn't that in line with more modern coaching standards? Don't overwork players in practices. Most NBA practices are barely more than a light shoot around, moderate conditioning and a good stretch. I bet old man Larry Brown was working them to death.
i always believed you do what your coach asks you to do. if its go 100% in practice then do it. if its just come to the shoot around and walk through do it. but dont create a distraction for the team but not coming at all or coming late.
NickleDimer
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F*ck that. They had just lost a first round playoff series and Larry Brown blamed it on AI because he didn't practice enough. He's 27 years old, in the midst of being top 10 in drawing fouls for 10 straight years at 160 lbs. He needs to rest his body from that level of beating (and the hangovers).
NickleDimer
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Yes pros don't need to work on fundamental drills, and most of their conditioning work is handled off-the-court, but no team is going to have success without crafting an offense with set plays and scouting the next opponent and working on defending their tendencies.
NickleDimer
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The starting lineup of that 2002 team was AI, Eric Snow, Matt Harpring and 35 year old Coleman and Mutumbo. McKie and Blount off the bench. The previous year, he dragged the sh*ttiest team ever to the Finals and won a game 1 where no one else scored more than 13 points. AI was not the problem there.
AI was a tremendous player, but do you ever think he could have even been better if he cared even a little about his conditioning and practices? maybe his career would have lasted longer, he may have even matured a little along the way by buying into his coaches system and culture.
Great players make their teammates better. Iverson? Hard to make that case. Guys like Magic, Jordan, Bird, LeBron - floor generals that understand coaching and offensive/defensive principles. Iverson's entire game was beating his man off the dribble and getting to the rim / creating his own shot. Not saying he wasn't good at that - one of the best ever. The best player on a team who plays that way will never win a championship.
Dean - exactly. his talent was all offense. he never made anyone better and the Sixers were forced to basically give up on any long term success for one chance in 2001. a shame the lakers were that good. game 1 was the most exciting game i have ever watched. Snow and bell making those runners were incredible. then the AI jumper over Lue. man what a fun year.
NickleDimer
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At what point was AI out of shape? Maybe at the end of his Denver run and after? He led the league in minutes 7 different seasons. "Conditioning" is an old white man term to placate the classic "lazy" stereotype in their heads. Not sure that you can complain about his longevity - he was a thoroughbred for 12 years. Did he buy into as system? Not sure what system you have in place with 35 year old big men and Snow & Harpring in the backcourt. His assist numbers with the sixers rose every year after Larry Brown left town.
NickleDimer
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You were expecting a 5'11", 160 lb lock down defender?
"Never made anyone better" !!!???
How the F are you going to make Eric Snow and old-a$s Dikembe and Coleman better? Jumpshot lessons and personally massage their achy knees?
Jordan seemed to make decent player like John Paxon, Steve Kerr, Horace Grant, Will Purdue etc into better players.
AI was hurt all the time while in philly. maybe adding some muscle would have helped prevent those injuries.
AI was hurt all the time while in philly. maybe adding some muscle would have helped prevent those injuries.
At least he always had good parking when he went out night considering he simply parked in Handicap spots.
NickleDimer
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1) Jordan had Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen at his side. What if AI had a Karl Malone or Ray Allen at his side? Kerr, Grant, Purdue, Pippen, etc. all were just fine when Jordan played baseball and when they moved on to other teams.
2) Generally, adding unneeded weight is not advantageous to speed-dependent players.
new Iverson book with tons of stories that really won't shock anyone. Basically an alcoholic wife beater.
http://deadspin.com/allen-iverson-has-destroyed-the-legacy-of-allen-iverson-1708683536
http://deadspin.com/allen-iverson-has-destroyed-the-legacy-of-allen-iverson-1708683536
NickleDimer
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Let he amongst us who hasn't locked our naked wife out of the house in the winter cast the first stone.
So 5 grand to kill her but he'll pay a million to have someone testify against her? Awesome ghetto accounting right there.
Any benchwarmer recall the SI story about Iverson's mother and Larry Brown's mother? Ann, Iverson's mom, maintained he was conceived without sex
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Very disheartening to hear that AI was drunk when he gave the "practice" rant. I prefer to think that was AI at his most coherent and sober
+1. I was an A.I. lover. Guy brought it every night. He was an horrific human being but I don't watch sports to find the goodness in people.
Yes count me in as someone who was hoping the practice rant was more about righteous indignation than about a drunk incoherently rambling.
NickleDimer
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I like to think that all of his swagger was because he was always drunk. A sober AI would just sit around in sweater vests, pet kittens, while reviewing conservative investment options.
The most interesting "turn of the millenium" CoP athlete bio has yet to be written: Marvin Harrison.
The most interesting "turn of the millenium" CoP athlete bio has yet to be written: Marvin Harrison.
NickleDimer
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I watched it last night, puff piece for AI, looking back dude gave it all on the court, but seems to have been a pretty bad teammate. I wish BT'ers would be open to taking pharmaceutical drugs for these problems.
NickleDimer
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AI was a great basketball player. good great grand. so now what? he is 40 and has no money, is an alcoholic and cant get work. he will be in KOP mall this weekend signing autographs next to Brad Lidge. these guys are used by colleges and the pro leagues. once they are unable to help a team they are pushed aside and are useless. you just hope they have someone looking out for them and their money while playing or have the ability to look out for themselves which AI clearly does not.
its a sad story of a person who had everything but was too stupid to know it. he never improved as a person and will end up on a remembered thread in a few years on benchwarmers 4.6
its a sad story of a person who had everything but was too stupid to know it. he never improved as a person and will end up on a remembered thread in a few years on benchwarmers 4.6