The Saga Of Allen Iverson

So I guess it's finally going to end up happening. I've heard this rumor for the past seven years, but due to a hopeless team and a court-side sound bite by the Philadelphia 76ers' organization, Allen Iverson is finally leaving the city he's called home since David Stern announced his name as the first pick in the 1996 NBA Draft ten years ago.

It's not a question of "if" anymore. It's simply a matter of "who" and "when".

The answer to the latter is ASAP, according to Sixers' GM Billy King. Now, it's only a matter of who. And that's a question that at press time brings about a murky "I dunno" from most pundits.

Who can afford him?

According to my sources (AKA ESPN.com and Slamonline.com), King has two offers on the table "ready to go". One can speculate about which deals they are, but The New York Daily News says that at least one of the suitors may be the Golden State Warriors. Reporter Mitch Lawrence says that it could be Baron Davis, Andris Biedrins and a throw-in for Iverson and Steven Hunter, a trade that in my estimation would make sense for both teams. Iverson and Don Nelson? The Warriors may need to invest in a bigger scoreboard.

A couple of other deals were shot down early yesterday, including one that would have sent The Answer to the Bobcats for cap relief and another that involved Corey Maggette and Cuttino Mobley.

The Boston Celtics were reportedly ready to throw four players at the Sixers, but finally came to their senses and realized that no one aging franchise player was worth four budding youngsters with potential.

ESPN writer Chris Broussard made a really interesting trade proposal last night. A.I. for Tracy McGrady, straight up. Talent wise, that trade makes a hell of alot of sense. However, I don't see either side pursuing it for two reasons. First, T-Mac's hurt again, and second, Iverson and Jeff Van Gundy just don't seem like they'd agree on basketball philosophy.

To me, the Warriors deal makes the most sense, both financially and from a basketball standpoint. Yes, Iverson is a one of a kind player, but I think that trade also makes the Sixers a better team, at least right now. B-Diddy is a lot of things, but he definitely isn't one of those players who wants 30 shots a game. Biedrins fills a gap in the middle. On the other side, Iverson has the green light to do whatever the hell he wants (not that he didn't have that right in Philly), and Hunter is a better center for what Nelly is trying to accomplish in the Bay Area.

No matter what happens with Iverson, however, I think it's sad that his chapter in Philadelphia had to end this way. His tenure in the Illadelph was highlighted by a run to the finals in '01 and a couple scoring titles, but he'll be remembered as the guy who took the Artest way out.

It'd be nice to see some comments on this.

Reading a Boxscore Beats Watching a Game

It was only a few weeks ago, but at the BET Hip-Hop Awards' Show, rap mogul Jay-Z made a statement that I not only apply to my life as a student/appliance salesman/poker player, but that wannabe-pundits should apply to a game they might have missed the previous night.

"Men lie, women lie... numbers don't."

God, I love Jigga.

Seriously though, this same principle can be applied to glancing at box scores. Sure, it's only columns of numbers, but those numbers tend to tell a story about what transpired on the court. I mention all of this because I missed the Maryland game (I couldn't find it on TV if it was on at all), and I logged on this morning to look at the results. Conclusions I can make based upon the box score alone:

* The first thing I mentioned from my last post was that Mike Jones needed to come out and look for his shot. Good things tend to happen when Jones starts jacking, and I'd say 18 points on 7-11 shooting is pretty sick.

* I also mentioned Greivis Vasquez needing to play more under control. 16 points on 5-7 shooting is excellent efficiency. Of course, it troubles me that, as a player who handles the ball a ton, he had more assists than turnovers.

* Building upon that, the Terps had 20 assists to 25 turnovers. That in itself shows a little bit of complacency. So does the fact that Maryland was only leading 39-33 at half-time. I don't want to accuse them of looking ahead, but... well, I bet Gary Williams threw out a couple of naughty words at half-time to get them re-focused.

*Very encouraging for Maryland as a team that they held Fordham to 32.8 percent shooting for the game. That confirms two things: 1) an inspired second half defensive effort, and 2) the Rams' struggled to create shots for themselves.

I've been reading box scores for as long as I can remember, and I really think it's the best way to evaluate players and teams. It's great to speculate about potential and raw talent, but truly the box score tells the whole story.

Couldn't last forever...

When I wrote in my last post, I said that it would be next to impossible for the Dallas Mavericks to win 78 straight games. Four games later, they proved me right against the Wizards in a 106-97 loss to the Washington Wizards. Much to my dismay, I have to give the Wiz props for ending the Mavs fantastic run; they shot lights out, and I swore that at some point mid-way through the third quarter they were shooting over 60%. Honestly, it wasn't even like Dallas played horrific defense. Gilbert Arenas did what he usually does except at a higher degree of difficulty, and when Deshawn Stevenson shoots like Rip Hamilton, good things usually happen.

However, I'm not going to give the Wiz all the credit in the world. Jason Terry and Josh Howard combined--and this is not a misprint--COMBINED for nine points. I don't think I've ever seen a game where they both struggled like that. It wasn't like Caron Butler and Stevenson played All-NBA defense either. Neither one of them seemed assertive enough to look for their own shot. Count it as an off-night for the good guys, who seemed really shaken by Monday's loss when they took the court last night. Good to see that they're back playing that stifling defense that all of the sudden I've become accustomed to seeing.

Maryland plays the Fordham University Rams (my father and Smush Parker's alma mater) tonight at the Comcast Center. It's a trap game of sorts, one last tune-up before Maryland's real season officially starts against Boston College on Sunday. But, I can almost guarantee that the Terps will put this one away early for three reasons: 1) it's in front of the nation's most underrated crowd, 2) they're coming off a loss and have had to listen to Gary Williams berate them for the last four days, and 3) the Rams just aren't on the same stratosphere in terms of talent level.

That being said, it will still be an interesting watch (if it's even on television, I haven't checked). This is a good game for Ekene Ibekwe to bounce back after not playing against Illinois and being held virtually in check against the Drinkin', er, Fightin' Irish. I'd also like to see Mike Jones finally become as assertive as the second rated shooting guard behind Lebron James in his high school class should be. And, after praising him in my last blog, I would like to see Greivis Vasquez play more under control. As long as the Terps don't completely look past this potentially dangerous squad (trap game, remember), I see a comfortable 15-20 point win.

Other news and observations from around the world of basketball:

* There have already been three No.1's in college roundball: Florida, Ohio State, and now UCLA. I say this every year, but there's a tremendous amount of parity in college basketball, much more so than in any other sport, except for maybe college football, but that's okay because at least basketball has a playoff system. I know this is a basketball blog, but it just kills me every year how a computer and some ivory tower voters have complete control over who gets to the national championship game. That being said, I really think it should be Towson playing OSU.

*Weird story about Brian Davis and Christian Laettner, former Duke Blue Devils/NBA players ponying up money to buy the Memphis Grizzlies. Without getting into the financial aspect of it (which, believe me, would make no sense if I tried), a couple questions linger in my mind. First, where does Davis get $40 million to put into this venture? Last I recalled he was a marginal player at Duke and played like three games in the NBA (okay, 68). Second, why on earth would anybody want to purchase a team that is ultimately stock in neutral? They've always been good enough to make the playoffs but not even good enough to win a playoff game, and now they have the worst record in the league. That being said, if they win the draft lottery things may change. Could you imagine a Greg Oden/Pau Gasol frontcourt? Scaaary...

* This may be the best article of the day, straight out of the Detroit Free-Press. Hey, try this as a drinking game. Watch an NBA game on ESPN, TNT, or your local team on whatever local channel, and see how many times someone mentions the new ball. Don't worry, you can pass out on my couch.

Until next time, kiddies.