Friday, November 6, 2009
Why Iverson isn't a Clipper
Posted by Chris Herrington on Fri, Nov 6, 2009 at 3:11 PM
Yahoo! Sports' Marc Spears has an interview with Allen Iverson today and also includes this nugget about why Iverson did not sign with the Los Angeles Clippers this summer:
A.I. almost a Clipper?Iverson can ponder what might have been when the Grizzlies visit the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday. Back in July, the Clippers seriously contemplated offering him a one-year contract paying up to $4 million so he could be a “Vinnie Johnson-type” player, a source with knowledge of the talks said. Denver Nuggets assistant Tim Grgurich, who was considered for a job on Mike Dunleavy’s staff over the offseason, also strongly recommended Iverson to the franchise.
The Clippers, however, were concerned about how Iverson’s addition would affect the development of second-year shooting guard Eric Gordon, along with other chemistry issues. The Clippers cooled on the idea after Iverson told Dunleavy in a phone conversation that he would have a serious problem with coming off the bench.
The possibility of signing Iverson became a dead issue once the Clippers acquired guard Sebastian Telfair and swingman Rasual Butler. But had A.I. been fine with coming off the bench, he could very well be with the Clippers now.
There are a couple of bits of relevant news here: One is that the Clippers intended to use Iverson in the "super sub/instant offense" role I've written about. The other is that the Clippers organization clearly discussed this role with Iverson, found out he would not be willing to accept it, and thus did not sign him.
You know it's getting bad when your organization makes the Clippers look professional by comparison. If the Grizzlies had visions of using Iverson in this kind of role — and based on Michael Heisley's public comments published this summer in the Commercial Appeal, that seems to be the case — then why didn't they broach this subject with Iverson in direct terms? And if they didn't have an intent of bringing him off the bench, then why didn't they let Iverson, the team, and everyone else know they intend to start him when he's fully integrated into the team?
Leaving things vague and taking a "we'll see what happens" approach is a recipe for trouble, which should have been apparent from the outset. I've criticized Iverson for his post-game comments after his first appearance, and I think that criticism is warranted. But the real fault here lies with the Grizzlies organization.
Showing 1-5 of 5
Here's what needs to happen to resolve this:
WIN.
I also think the best way to use Iverson is off the bench. But the only way you keep him from squawking about that role is by showing that the team gets results in the win column.
OR . . .
You could put Conley on the bench and dare him to turn into instant offense. Actually, that might not be an all bad thing . . . putting him in a role where his JOB is to be aggressive going to the basket. Yeah, I know that's his job anyway, but you get my point.
Unfortunately, the glaring problem with the team right now is defense, even a little bit. If Iverson is better that OJ or Conley defensively (yeah, right) . . .
It's pretty stupid of Allen to squawk so early in the season, and coming off an injury. Is this his farewell season in the NBA? If so, will he go out on a sour note?
I agree to a point. The other part of this is that AI and his agent should have directly broached this during talks given the history since the Pistons debacle. I am in no way excusing the Grizz if indeed it was not discussed directly, however. But at AI's stage and given that the very idea of playing off the bench is so obviously abhorrent to him, you would imagine he and his people would directly make demands upfront. In any other professional job interview, even those where people are paid $40K a year, job responsibilities are expected to be brought up by the interviewee AND the hiring organization. I won't be excusing AI this time, nope, no way; both he and the Grizz got exactly what they deserved here.
Iverson is simply not good enough at this point to be guaranteed a role.
I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that your next post will be headlined: "Why Iverson isn't a Grizzly"
ha ha -- came back into town and straight into Flyer and Memphis magazine deadlines. Will hopefully finally chime in on all this mess later tonight.
TEAM SITES:
Grizzlies HomeESPN Grizzlies Clubhouse
Grizzlies Message Board
3 Shades of Blue
Official Team Blogs
LEAGUE NEWS/RUMORS:
NBA.comESPN.com
CNN/SI
Fox Sports
CBS Sportsline
Hoops Hype
True Hoop
The Basketball Jones
Ball Don't Lie
Free Darko
STAT/REFERENCE SITES:
Knickerblogger Stats Page82 Games
Database Basketball
Hollinger Stats
Larry Coon's Salary Cap FAQ (Essential)
DRAFT SITES:
Draft ExpressNBADraft.net
MISC. SPORTS SITES:
Gliedman Basketball LeagueBill Simmons
Dave Zirin (Edge of Sports)
DeadSpin.com
Chris Vernon
SITES FOR OTHER TEAMS:
Southwest Division:
Mavs MoneyballDallas Basketball
Dallas Morning News
Jonathan Feigen (Rockets)
Clutch Fans (Rockets)
The Hornets 247
Hornets Hype
At the Hive (Hornets)
Pounding the Rock (Spurs)
48 Minutes of Hell (Spurs)
Northwest Division:
Pickaxe and Roll (Nuggets)TWolves Blog
Canis Hoopus (Wolves)
Bend it Like Bennett (Thunder)
Blazers Edge
Behind the Beat (Blazers)
Rip City Project (Blazers)
Jazz Notes
Pacific Division:
Warriors WorldForum Blue and Gold (Lakers)
Sactown Royalty
Atlantic Division:
CelticsBlogKnickerblogger
Dave D'Alessandro (Nets)
Nets Daily
Raptor Blog
Central Division:
Blog-a-BullBrian Windhorst (Cavs)
Detroit Bad Boys
Cornrows (Pacers)
Pacers Insider
Southeast Division:
Sekou Smith (Hawks)Ira Winderman (Heat)
Orlando Magic Fan
Wizards Insider
Flyer Flashback
Flyer Flashback
To mark the Flyer's 20th anniversary, we're looking back at stories from our first two decades.
THIS WEEK'S ISSUE
Comments (5) RSS