Allen Iverson?

[RustShack]

I wish the Cavs would have signed him!

[Mastashake]

IMO Allen Iverson was one of the top 5 best guards to ever play the game if you base it off of sheer talent. He's only SIX FOOT TALL! If he were 6'8" like Kobe just imagine how much better he would have been with how talented he was. Almost every shot he took was contested by someone a half a foot taller than him. And watching him drive was great, because he hit the basket not by trying to go over everyone, but by finding an open space from underneath. You can disagree but in a league where height is so important I wholeheartedly think this is true.

That being said, it doesn't deserve a spot this year. Sorry AI, but you don't. Let the new kids start playing.

And you're right about the fan voting. If Jordan decided to play ONE game this year as some washed up has-been he'd get voted in.

[blaise]

Originally Posted by Mastashake

IMO Allen Iverson was one of the top 5 best guards to ever play the game if you base it off of sheer talent. He's only SIX FOOT TALL! If he were 6'8" like Kobe just imagine how much better he would have been with how talented he was. Almost every shot he took was contested by someone a half a foot taller than him. And watching him drive was great, because he hit the basket not by trying to go over everyone, but by finding an open space from underneath. You can disagree but in a league where height is so important I wholeheartedly think this is true.

That being said, it doesn't deserve a spot this year. Sorry AI, but you don't. Let the new kids start playing.

And you're right about the fan voting. If Jordan decided to play ONE game this year as some washed up has-been he'd get voted in.

I get that, but at the same time he isn't 6'8". Height advantage is part of the game. I used to watch him a lot when I lived in PA, and I honestly wanted to like him because I had moved from DC and he played at Georgetown, but I just thought the Sixers were boring to watch and he was a big reason why. He made great plays but it was too much isolation basketball.

[Mastashake]

Originally Posted by blaise

I get that, but at the same time he isn't 6'8". Height advantage is part of the game. I used to watch him a lot when I lived in PA, and I honestly wanted to like him because I had moved from DC and he played at Georgetown, but I just thought the Sixers were boring to watch and he was a big reason why. He made great plays but it was too much isolation basketball.

That's why I said at pure talent. Not in actual production, but in talent, he was one of the best.

And AI had NO help on that team at all. It was isolation basketball, because who was he going to give the ball to to score... Aaron McKie?

[blaise]

Originally Posted by Mastashake

That's why I said at pure talent. Not in actual production, but in talent, he was one of the best.

And AI had NO help on that team at all. It was isolation basketball, because who was he going to give the ball to to score... Aaron McKie?

I understand the pure talent thing, but I just get tired of that because the fact is it's a big man's game. Not that his production was lacking though, the dude could score.
And I understand he didn't have much in Philly, but I honestly don't know if he would have changed his game even if he had more. I just can't see him playing all that differently. And for whatever reason it just wasn't a lot of fun to watch back then. And that maybe was a product of the NBA back then. There was a lot of that isolation basketball going on back then it seems, league wide. So we'll never know what could have happened if he had been on a quality team that ran up and down.
Don't get me wrong, he's a great player. A definite hall of famer, a top 50 player, just not that fun to watch for me.