Billy King: “Allen never made the people around him better”
While I can understand after spending 10 seasons in the front office that former Sixers GM Billy King has a thing or two to say about Allen Iverson, but this just seems to be putting the future first ballot Hall of Famer on blast. Definitely not the kind of endorsement you want from your former boss when you’re currently unemployed:
“Allen never made the people around him better in the first place, because it’s always about Allen,” King told the Observer. “Everything is about Allen, and it can’t all be about Allen at this point in his career. He’s no longer that intimidating figure who can just blow by everybody. So he’s got to do other things, and I’m not sure he will.”
King believes Iverson is so conditioned to a certain mindset that it’s too late, at 34, for him to re-invent himself.
“(Iverson’s) personality is to say, ‘I can still do this. I can take all the shots and stay out late and do everything I did in my 20s,’” King described. “He needs to get to the foul line (to be effective) and if that doesn’t work, he’ll be very quick to yell at the referees for not giving him calls.”
I would have to disagree with King though, and say that Iverson would make the people around him better. While it might not show up in the stat sheet quite the same way as playing alongside Steve Nash or Jason Kidd, Iverson was able to make Eric Snow look like a legit NBA starting point guard for years.
Regardless of what team he ends up on, do you think Iverson will be a positive impact on the team?
Source: The Charlotte Observer
August 28th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
S-SiN says:
yeah. and made george lynch and tyrone hill look like a force in the front court.
August 28th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
NTstateOFmind says:
one of the few smart things Billy King has ever said
August 28th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
BiG ShoT BoB says:
Hell maybe King knows somehting about him we don’t. I never imagined Iverson to act like this so late in his career but maybe that’s why he’s still unemployed. With that said if I was a GM I’d hire Allen in a heart beat. Off the top of my head theres at least 5 to 6 startng guards he’s light years better than.
August 28th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
LaMont says:
It is not Iverson’s responsibility to make the other players better. It is the responsibility of said player and the coaching staff. Coaches are the ones to work on developing the skills needed by the players and coming up with a system that utilizes the strengths of a player and minimizes their weaknesses. After all, wasn’t Larry Brown supposed to be the teacher, the one who gets players to play the right way. How about the other players putting in the work that Iverson did to get as good as he was? He took them to the Finals and even won a road game in those Finals, how much more could he have done for the other guys. He can’t shoot the ball for them, he can’t defend their man for them…maybe Billy King should have put better talent around him.
August 28th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Maynard says:
Everyone knows the guy is flawed, and he wouldn’t work on a lot of teams, but Iverson took a team with virtually no other scoring to the Finals. You simply can’t discount that. Hard to say what King’s agenda is here.
August 28th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Jam says:
I don’t think you know more about basketball than Billy King. If he says AI did not make people around him better, i think AI did not make people around him better.
August 28th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
nerditry says:
@Maynard: And that’s the difference, you can’t balance an otherwise good team with Iverson on it. The only team that could have gotten to the Finals was one where Iverson was the primary, secondary and tertiary scoring option and everyone else was a solid defender. Allen didn’t have to worry about his man beating him to the basket with Ty Hill and Mutombo there.
Billy is speaking the truth here. Iverson never matured, he just became an older version of the same guy from 96. Kobe made himself into a different player as he got older. Just as effective (if not moreso), but did the things that he was able to do and scaled back on those he couldn’t.
August 28th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
POPPI GEE says:
That is just throwing dude under the bus. While there is “some” legitimacy to his words, it seems as he is trying to make his words law …and they ain’t.
Iverson is always going to be a perception player. For instance Jerome James isn’t really looked at as anything but horrible so that is census is pretty much law. For Iverson though, you will have to many on different sides of the coin.
For me he has made players better and still can be a valuable “starting” member of a squad. I feel some players you come to a team that are around to build, and some players like Iverson you build around.
August 28th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Dee says:
sounds like something he got something personal aganist AI to me
August 28th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Celts Fan says:
@LaMont - it’s called passing and court vision. That’s what makes teammates better. That’s why he’s stuck being a midget 2 guard, because no one wants their pg taking 20 shots per game. King’s dead on here, but yes, like many other people said, he could’ve done his job MUCH better (Hellen Keller could’ve too. God Billy King sucked…)
August 28th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
TheNatural says:
WOW! Billy King drafted & traded for a bunch a num-nuts and expected them to flourish with A.I.?! He made Aaron Mckie a somebody, Got Mutumbo to the finals, helped Larry Hughes get a huge payday, also kept the Nuggets steady in ‘07 when Carmelo went Floyd Mayweather on the Knicks.
True there has only been few moments when he was able to be the true PG and dish the ball. But he’s a incredible player. If you know you can drop 25-35 a night majority of the time if “given the chance to” why won”t you?! Kobe gets called a ball hog at times but let him rip off 50 to 60 everyday for a week and its magical. But A.I. wants to run the show (which he can) drop a little 27 3 reb 6ast 2 to game and he gets the bad end of the stick because he doesn’t make others better.
There is no way Kobe made those chumps better. Its a great core. Riddle me this which squad would you take…Gasol, Odom, Fisher, & Bynum compared to Geiger, Lynch, Mckie, Snow in their prime?! Or Melo, Camby, Atkins, Klezia…or Hamilton, Wallace, McDyess, and whomever in Detroit… I rest my case.
August 28th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Simon says:
George Lynch is still gettin’ paid with the Genotism commericial! If it wasn’t for Allen Iverson we would have never gotten to see Lynch’s acting skills!
August 28th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Chicagorilla says:
@LaMount, you’re a fucking Idiot. King was not saying AI is supposed to make them better by being them, all that asshole had to do was pass to them when they were WIDE OPEN. Instead he took shots.
August 28th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Chicagorilla says:
@the Natural
You are Naturally also a fucking idiot like your friend LaMont. any moment now The real Tyrone should be posting something about AI being the greatest player ever because he’s a 6ft scorer.
August 28th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
TheNatural says:
@Chicagorilla…are you serious?! Even in a pick up game at rucker would you dish it to a wide open Eric snow?!
August 28th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Celts Fan says:
@The Natural - since when does Floyd Mayweather get into slap fights?
also, he didn’t do ANYTHING for Hughes. It was a good year on the Wizards that got him overpaid by Cleveland.
Let’s be real too, AI’s run off more than a few teammates by not being able to play nice. That’s why he’s a nightmare. Nerdirty hit it DEAD ON in #6.
August 28th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Pathological Lier says:
Billy Queen should just keep his comments to himself
August 28th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
high release says:
“He needs to get to the foul line (to be effective) and if that doesn’t work, he’ll be very quick to yell at the referees for not giving him calls.”
Exactly. And the refs, for one reason or another, bowed to this in the 2001 conference finals. Wonder why.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Celts Fan says:
@The Natural - I wouldn’t want Snow taking shots, but Snow was a damn good defensive PG in his day and a decent distributor. You know why they had to get/play him (and didn’t care that he couldn’t shoot?) CUZ AI TOOK EVERY SHOT, NEVER PASSED, AND COULDN’T/WOULDN’T PLAY POINT LIKE A NORMAL PERSON.
Know why his teams never did anything other than the 1 year they went to the Finals? Cuz he’s a matchup NIGHTMARE for his own team on D. Ya, he may get 2 steals per, but he’s also getting OWNED by his guy, who normally had about 4 inches and 30 pounds on him to do whatever he wanted with. That was worth it for a solid decade, but at this point, if he won’t adapt, he needs to just call it a career.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
TheNatural says:
A.I. is one of the greatest players. If he’s a SG why does he have to make others better?! Thats the PG job to pass to the best/open player. If A.I. can create his own shot and get buckets you know you’ll keep him on the floor at all times. Its obvious you don’t know ish about B_ball.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
jay says:
first off…if i were a gm..i would give ai a shot..the fact the grizzles are interested..they need to sell tix and they are hurting for money..he would bring people to the seats and not just when kb, bron and wade come to town. i kinda worry by dec that at his age they are so far out of it by xmas ..will he be bored and be a locker room cancer..that is the only draw back. he was kinda problems in detroit but i will throw that out that it was a bad fit all the way around!
August 28th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
MBE18 says:
It has got to be something personal!!!
August 28th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
LaMont says:
@Chicagorilla,
Yeah i’m a fucking idiot, as in the idiot fucking your mom’s, your girl, and your freak nasty cousin. Passing the ball to a teammate doesn’t make him better if he doesn’t have the talent or motivation to work on his game so that he can be an effective offensive option. And Iverson does pass the ball, those quick to point out his assist totals need to realize that in order for him to get an assist the person he passes to has to make the shot.
@Celts Fan,
Heard your mom is a Milf so she can get it too but same thing as I told the Chitown assclown, you cna have Barbara Wawa court vision (that’s 20/20) and pass the ball out the wazoo but if you rman can’t put it in the ocean you’re not making him better. what will make him better is putting in the work before and after practice, during the offseason, to become a more effective option on the offensive end. and oh yeah how’d that Stephon thing work out baby?
So in closing to any other talking that “passing makes your teammates better” talk; the regular season games is for winning not giving jabronis time to fix they broke jumper or try NBA2K moves in real life. they need to hit the gym in the offseason and stay after practice with the coaches to work on that shit. Peace fam.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
MoxWestCoastRep says:
Wow…. Sad but true
August 28th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
Chicagorilla says:
@The Natural
Stop defending this guy. Seriously, I’m so happy his career is done with and guys with similar talent like Louis Williams and Brandon Jennings should learn from this. I think Jennings will but L.Williams and Bayless are done after this season.
I just watched Iverson play his first regular season pro game on NBAtv (pretty cool how they are showing everyone’s first game, you guys should check it out) and Iverson scored 30pts by ball hogging. Sure it looked cool and I even saw him full court check Elliot Perry a couple times which was impressive, but he also ignored Jerry Stackhouse (who was runner up for ROTY the previous season scoring nearly 20ppg),Derrick Coleman (who was still in decent shape at the time) and Clearance Weatherspoon (who avg 20ppg a couple seasons before that).
Those guys were not happy either. Take a look at their faces as Iverson launched shot after shot.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
TheNatural says:
So is he to blame for the Only offense A.I. in the late 90s early 2000s? He carried the team. Name one player to carry a team LIKE THAT to the playoffs year in & out.
True he is not the same player he was lets say 01 and I do believe he needs to change his game a lot to adapt to todays game but when you throw him under the bus for your shortcomings (Mr.King) thats f’ed up all around.
Just because this year was a down year for A.I. (which wasn”t his fault at all) people wanna bandwagon and dump him. Its unfortunate but alot of people should pay respect. Billups is a great PG it took him manys years but he is a great PG. A.I. got traded in to a flawed watered down situation. I still don’t understand that trade. They knew what they were gettin” but didn’t let him play his way.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Celts Fan says:
@The Natural - I get your point, but our point is that, at 5′10″, the only reason he’s been stuck playing the 2 and being a nightmare defensively for his own team is cuz he can’t/won’t do the things needed of a PG (even a scoring/combo PG like Jameer or Mo.) Kobe’s a 2 also and finds a way to get his teammates easy looks (and yes, that was painful to type anything positive about that bottom-lip jutting mongaloid.) I lived in Philly for 5 years during his absolute apex. He was the best show in town BY FAR and I loved watching him play, but it doesn’t change the fact that he was given a special set of circumstances/offensive “system” to run his team. This was perfectly fine as he was cementing his status as a top 50 all time player (though he still didn’t make guys better,) but now, he thinks he can/should still do that and won’t adapt.
If he’d accept a 6th man role on a contendor, they’d be renaming the 6th man trophy after him within 5 years. Instead, it seems like he’s destined to end up playing out his last year(s) on a bad team doing things his way, defiant til the end. Legacies are something for the media to worry about; most athletes don’t care too too much about theirs, but it just doesn’t seem like a fitting end for a man who, in his prime, was an absolute force of nature.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
LaMont says:
yeah i’m back , we all agree that AI is not a 1 but a two correct? if we all agree on that then do we all agree that it is the point guard as the floor general, coach on the floor who is responsible for setting up his teammates to where they can be effective within the offensive scheme? If so then we all have to agree that the responsibility of making his teammates better even if it comes down to passing and court vision (which it doesn’t) does not fall on AI. Taht’s my time fols thanks for coming out get home safe God Bless and good night.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Ian says:
lamont and natural you guys are wrong its the best player job to make teammates better.
natural
got mutombo to the finals?? wasnt mutombo the one that made that team decent? grabbing all those iverson misses. and ONE decent playoff run is all the man had. hell doc , me , austin , doug and lakeshow coulda made at least the east finals those years.
philly stayed the same when he left, denver got better when he left , detroit got worse when he came in and now no one wants him.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Chicagorilla says:
@Lamont,
Oh shit, you are the real Tyrone. You clearly are the asshole on the basketball court that has no game at all and can never come to play on the grown men court with the real ball players. You come decked out in your Jordan or Iverson gear from head to toe fresh off the footlocker rack, with about 47 headbands and arm bands. with the look of the legit Jagaloon who has to play with the grade school kids on the far court because everyone on the real court wants to whip your ass for calling offensive fouls and palming violations.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
Promoman says:
Billy King’s right. Iverson’s been like that his whole career and everybody took up for him. Nobody’s drinking Iverson’s kool-aid anymore.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
LaMont says:
@ Ian,
who makes the best player better? how did he get to be the best player? i can pass you the ball all day long but if you have no moves , a broke jumper you gonna stay having no moves and a broke jumper until you put the work in and regular season games is not the time to be doing that. you need to do it before and after practice and in the offseason with the coaches, that’s what coaches are for. Iverson can’t coach a center because he is not a center and may not be familiar with a center’s role. and he wasn’t necessarily their best player, best scorer yes bu tnot best player, Aaron Mckie had a better all around game than Iverson, he could dribble, pass, shoot decent, not great but decent and he was a much better defender. don’t confuse best scorer with best player as the media has trained many to do. and why is everyone giving coaches a free pass, i thought it was their job to make players better.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Chicagorilla says:
@LaMont
The reason why he needs to make them better even as a SG is because that Jackass always has the ball just the same as a PG. If you are the man on the team and continue to hold the ball only to get your own shot, then you are not helping the team. You are helping yourself.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Promoman says:
Anyway, if it wasn’t for Snow running the offense instead of Iverson, Iverson wouldn’t have gotten that MVP.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
mellmeister_straightfromShaolin says:
Billy King should just shut his pie hole…
Checking out all the A.I. Videos, with King giving out comments about A.I. back in the days, he was praising A.I. for his scoring, which is also the same reason they had eric snow in the same back court as he’s in. A.I. is born to shoot the lights out. it’s Snow’s responsibility to distribute the ball. A.I. made all of those players relevant, and it’s the same reason why they took off all those players who wants a piece of the ball off him because Iverson wants the offense by himself, the only problem he’s having now which hasn’t registered in A.I.’s mind is that he’s getting old, and should start riding shotgun with another scorer, let’s just say D-Wade…
What happened in Detroit was Detroit’s problem, not his… bfore you take on a player, they scout them first, they know that A.I. needs the ball to create opportunities to himself, unlike Rip Hamilton that can’t create jack shit (ala Allan Houston).
A.I. should take his show to NY where he’d be the Primary Scorer in an open court game that i know he’d love to play.
or Charlotte, atleast he’d still be the star there.
Gotta give him love, because all those moves you’re seeing from PGs of today, came from him.
show a li’l respect the answer,
a player no matter how good he is, can only flourish on a system he’s accustomed to.
just like Pau in Memphis before he got traded. he can score but it didn’t matter, ‘coz dude can’t carry a team on his own.
Or like how Kobe can’t exist without a good big man by his side. he’d get his points, but championship? i don’t think so.
Or how Pierce didn’t Matter before KG and Jesus, ‘coz he can’t be the only threat in his team. he needs others to take the gorilla off his back.
The one who epitomized hip-hop in the NBA. The Swagger, The Heart of a Warrior, all that defines him.
That’s why it’s sad to know that nobody nabbed him yet.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
TheNatural says:
Its just foul. To bust his hump for 82 games (give or take) given 110% to a lousy team that always seem to give you lames. A washed up Webber? A should”ve been better Stackhouse? A about to retire D.Coleman? Seriously? These guys are in the NBA!!! Not the anually summer league at your community park or your 4on4 company league. Kats would kill to be in their position. If you asked me he added years to these kats careers. I would love to be a SF with a suspect jumper, weak handle, and off centered post moves while collectin’ 5-6 mil a year with 7.6 Pts 6Reb 3ast averages.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Ian says:
lamont
thank u then for proving my point if you are considering mckey the sixers best player in iversons prime then man is no superstar like many like to call him. and chicagorilla is right if you cant get your teammates open shots and easy layups dont hog the damn ball.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Ian says:
mellmeister
i gotta give u a big GOH with the gasol comment he got those scrubs homecourt in the playoffs and tell me who was memphis second best player?
August 28th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Rafa23 says:
Billy king never made the sixers better!!! lmao
but seriously, it hurts to say that, but he is right to some degree. but i really dont know what his agenda is. he could’ve said it different, not sounding that bad.
@ian
I think the sixers had an even better record with theo ratliff that season than with mutombo, but i agree with you that they would’nt have made the finals without him.
and this coming from a … theo ratliff fan? jesus, that shit gets embarassing sometimes.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
mellmeister_straightfromShaolin says:
@26 The Natural
“Name one player to carry a team LIKE THAT to the playoffs year in & out.”
LeBron James!!!!!!!!!
Hehehehe!
August 28th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Steve Gomez 10a-3p on Hot 104.7 Modesto, Ca says:
Aron are you seriously saying King is putting AI on blast?? Really?? Putting someone on “blast” is when you put something out there about someone we didn’t already know.
EVRYTHING King said we already knew. And so does every GM. That’s why he is out of work. Not for something King says in August. STOP making excuses for this guy.
He said himself that he’s gonna come back this year and play like “the AI of the mid 90’s”. Which means “I still want to be the 1st, second, and third option on offense”. If he’d stop thinking this is 2001 and say something like “I just want to help a team win” or “I can be 6th man of the year” he might have a job.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Ian says:
RAFA
LOL
even i cant bring myself to post that theo line.
and this coming from a spurs fan (that one is true).
August 28th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
George W Kush Sr says:
So Billy King says AI didn’t make other players better.
Billy King put together a starting 5 of Snow, McKie, Lynch and Mutombo for Allen Iverson. After reading the names of 3 of the 4 starters he gave AI, nobody even gives a flying fuck who was on the bench. AI took that bullshit team to the Finals, let King keep his job a lot longer than he should have, and now he’s blasting AI?
Who da fuck hired King since he got fired? NOBODY.
That dude didn’t make any team better, King is just being a bitch
August 28th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
TheNatural says:
WOW! Thank you…George W. Kush!!! I can rest now.
Only issue with A.I. now is he is 34 and its a young guys league. I believe it would be a perfect situation to go to Charlotte or Memphis to add a kick to their teams.
A.I. is great. No one can do it alone.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Celtics10 says:
King comment has some truth to it, but, King needs to be real AI impact came from the way he played the game, leaving it all on the floor, thats how he carried that 01 team to the finals an beat LA in LA with a Prime shaq an Kobe at the top of there games as a duo, when the whole sports world was predicting sweep. King just throwin salt a little, maybe if he got AI some more help things would be different right now.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
nobs6669 says:
after 2001 season. have u ever heard d name of snow, lynch, mckie, geiger,tyrone hill, theo ratliff, todd mcCulloch a very relevant player other by their trade. all iverson hater i’m a fucking basketball asshole i you could tell me 1 great season of the above mention guy. have a great year after 2001 season
August 28th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
nobs6669 says:
after 2001 season. have u ever heard d name of snow, lynch, mckie, geiger,tyrone hill, theo ratliff, todd mcCulloch a very relevant player other by their trade. all iverson hater i’m a fucking basketball asshole i you could tell me 1 great season of the above mention guy. have a great year after 2001 season.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Scott says:
I thin Lamont and the Natural are a little confused about making players around them better. Simply passing the ball does not make teammates better.
Passing a player the ball when they are in a position to fail (ie in a double team or big man at mid court where he is bound to turn it over)does nothing to make them better BUT getting them the ball when they are in a position to score (ie hitting a shooter up in his sweet spot or hitting a big man up in transition where all he has to do is flush the ball) helps make them better
August 28th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
nobs6669 says:
plus a young tim thomas, and his half flight brother larry hughes whom nobody ever recognize after thier draft day
August 28th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
nobs6669 says:
plus a young tim thomas, and his half flight brother larry hughes whom nobody ever recognize after thier draft day.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
K Dizzle says:
This ain’t news…..at all.
A.I. never really made anybody better offensively cuz the lineup was full of defensive studs who had to cover for his defiencies. Very few superstars actually make their teammates better. You gotta do that on your own. Durin the 3 year stretch where AI averaged 32 and 7, I still don’t remember Snow hittin a jumpshot or Lynch & Ratliff showin anything that resembled an offensive move. Even the all time greats didn’t really “make their teammates better” I say that to say this. With players like KG, Lebron, Magic, Bird, Mike, Kobe, they got smarter with experience and learned to pass outta double teams and find the open man by readin the defense, but that’s where it ends. It was up to Paxson and Kerr to hit those wide open looks. It was up to McHale and Parrish and DJ to create their shots when Bird found them. Same this past season with Gasol and Fisher hittin the big shots.
This ain’t news. AI always been a score first, score second, pass when I feel like it guard. Larry Brown was just smart enough to realize this and make sure that the rest of the squad made up for AI’s style. I ain’t hear King talkin this shit when AI was in his prime, keepin him employed. Now dude is 34 and on the tailend of his career and King wanna spew trash. Weak
August 28th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
mellmeister_straightfromShaolin says:
@38 lan…
you have a point that he was able to bring the grizz to the playoffs but…
he brought the grizzlies when the west wasn’t that stacked yet.
August 28th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
LaMont says:
@ chitownassclown,
i get down old school cutting through the park on my way home from school style, i ‘ll bust your ass in a pair of jeans , polo shirt and reebok classics, i don’t call fouls when a cat hacks me i put ‘em in the basket, and yeah a palm is a violation cause it creates an unfair advantage fo rthe offensive players what the fuck you don’t call travel either who you playin gwith Jerry’s kids?
@ Ian & assclown,
if iverson is hoggin gthe ball and bringing the offense to a standstill it falls on the pg to get the ball and run the offense and if that fails it falls back on the coach to get control. also if he gets the ball and cats just stand and watch why not shoot they gotta move without the ball (coaching), getting people easy buckets is primarily the job of the pg ( i will admit every player needs to pass to the open man when they have the ball in their hands), philly needed AI to do what he did and the coaching staff didn’t do their job. Melo still got his shots when they played together in Denver (say HUH?)
@ Scott,
I think you’re confused, you can’t pass to a player being double teamed because that is an illegal defense. if i pass to a player and he doesn’t react accordingly to the double team not my fault (coaching). someone just dunking doesn’t make them better either because what happens when they get pushed away from the basket, what if the guy doesn’t have a sweet spot or the defense forces him from that spot? you have to be a threat from all areas (coaching and working in the offseason). Meditate on this, larry brown told trevor ariza not to shoot when they were with the knicks, what is the worst part of trevors game his shooting but he has improved by what shooting, so if you have acoach telling a guy not to shoot he’s not going to be a threat which helps the defense (coaching) and if i know the guys not looking to shoot o rbe aggressive why pass him the ball where he can possibly turn it over it is better for AI to do his thing.
Ulitmately it is the coaches responsibility to make the other players better because part of that is getting your best player or best scorer or dominant ball handler to run your system and as larry always says play the right way. everyone is syainf yeah AI should have made his teammates better but who was trying to help AI become better? and if you gonna say larry brown keep you rmouth shut and just act like you did.
August 28th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
control says:
Chitownrilla (illa illa illa) is correct.
All the other AI haters are correct.
Billy King is correct.
I am correct when I say that AI ain’t shit. Almost everything people give him props for isn’t something that is due to him doing anything other than being stupid.
AI jockslurpers always say “he’s a tough guy, he always goes up against the bigs and he’s just so small, he’s fearless and has heart!”. Wrong, he is just stupid. If you are under 6′ and weigh less than 150lbs and you keep flying into guys who are 7′ and 300lbs, you are a fucking sadomasochist, or retarded. That ain’t heart, that ain’t fearless, that’s just stupid.
AI jockslurpers always say “he’s one of the best scorers in the history of scoring a basketball!”. Wrong, he is stupid because he jacks low % shots when being double, triple or quadruple teamed. Over his career he has probably jacked more ill advised shots than the entire Spurs team has. In one year he can put up as many bad shots as “Bad Porn” can in his entire career.
AI jockslurpers always say “AI is great defensively, he has a shit tun of steals!”. Wrong, he is a horrible defensive player. Every steal he gets costs the team 3-5 points in plays where he MISSED getting the steal because all he does is gamble. Even if you convert every single one of his 2 steals a game into a 3 point play, he still gives up more points than the team gets. Guy is a HORRIBLE 1on1 defender, Shawn Livingston could beast him in the post (a week after that knee accident).
AI dick riders should really take an honest look at the fucker, don’t admire him just because you are a weakass midget like he is, don’t admire him just because you are a selfish ‘gangster’ like he is, don’t admire him at all, because there really isn’t anything to admire.
August 28th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Sccob says:
I dunno. Billy King may have a point.
August 28th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Chicagorilla says:
LMAO@control, tell us how you really feel
@K-dizzle
here is my response to what you wrote.
This ain’t news AI always been a score first, score second, pass when I feel like it guard<— (THAT’S THE KIND OF PLAYER YOU THINK OTHER GOOD PLAYERS WANT TO BE AROUND HUH?).
Larry Brown was just smart enough to realize this and make sure that the rest of the squad made up for AI’s style(REALLY? SEEMED LIKE BROWN HATED EVERY MOMENT OF HIS TIME IN PHILLY. THAT’S LIKE WATCHING A CHICK TAKE A 12INCH COCK WITH A SMILE ON A PORNO AND TRUELY BELIEVE SHE WANTS THAT GUYS MAN JUICE ON HER FACE AT THE END… NEWS FLASH KDIZZLE BOTH LARRY AND THE PORN CHICK DO IT FOR THE MONEY)
I ain’t hear King talkin this shit when AI was in his prime, keepin him employed.(A.I. MAY BE THE VERY REASON KING IS UNEMPLOYED NOW. NO SUPERSTAR WOULD’VE ENJOYED PLAYING WITH A.I., Now dude is 34 and on the tailend of his career and King wanna spew trash. Weak
August 28th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Clutch says:
I agree he doesn’t make the players around him better. for example look at Iggy, or Webber, or Detriot etc. In his 20s he could get away with this by being such a force as a scorer.
At 34 and no longer an elite player thats not going to work and that is why he doesn’t have a job.
August 28th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
doc says:
Billy aint said nothing wrong.Thats the mans legacy right now.Yeah he was the star of our 01 team that went to the chip but them players to all you cats that dont really know the ins and outs of this basketball thing was just as important to AI during that run as he was to them.AI was able to get MVP because Snow kept the floor balanced with his floor play as much as you possibly can with AI.And he did it while locking down whoever was the best scorer out the 1 or 2 spot everynight so AI wouldnt get worked over.Aaron was a certified do everything player off the bench from sticking every open shot to making the right pass or clamping the hot guard everynight as proved by his 6th man of the year trophy i see in his living room.Lynch and Hill were defensive kingpins who both equaled out to Big Ben in his nobodies scoring years.Tum Tum was Big Ben that year as proved by the Defensive Player of the Year trophy.Raja Bell came off the bench and hit big shots while clamping down on D.And what made that team so good was anytime them so called bums had to take a shot in a clutch situation -it went in.Now top all them players off with Larry Brown one of the goats of coaching who cursed AI the fuck out when he needed it and molded that unit into one like Voltron for 48 everynight win or lose and you got more than a one man team.i had a dam family pass from Aaron and went to EVERY game when I didnt have a game and they just knew how to win.AI is a all time great player due to the fact he can score a lot of points and looked good doing it.He’s basically the next gen Nique.
August 28th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
Child, Please says:
First-ballot Hall of Famer? Now THAT is funny.
August 28th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Russ says:
billy king…talking about making anything ‘better’. and we care because? if it wasn’t for isah thomas he may very well be the worst gm in nba history. there is a reason he is unemployed as well
August 28th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
K Dizzle says:
@ control
“AI jockslurpers always say “he’s a tough guy, he always goes up against the bigs and he’s just so small, he’s fearless and has heart!”. Wrong, he is just stupid. If you are under 6′ and weigh less than 150lbs and you keep flying into guys who are 7′ and 300lbs, you are a fucking sadomasochist, or retarded. That ain’t heart, that ain’t fearless, that’s just stupid.”
Vince Carter appreciates your support. Rippin a dude for playin hard and thru injury is like bitin the hand that feeds you…
@ Chi-rilla
Thanks for the analysis. Unfortunately, blamin everything involved with the Sixers franchise on Iverson is pretty weak. Other players? Brown’s coaching? Billy King not havin a job? Please stop. King knew what he had and if you can’t bring in players to complement your star, then you a shitty gm. point blank.I understand it’s easy to hate when players are past their prime and say crazy junk like dude was never shit is straight comedy. Sixers hoops is broken into 4 eras: Wilt, Dr. J, Sir Charles and BubbaChuck. All Hall of Famers so I appreciate the AI hate now that the dude is strugglin. Point is, I didn’t hear jack from anybody just 2 seasons ago, but one bad season on a junk Pistons team and now all this? lol ok…
August 28th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
Maynard says:
@nerditry: Point taken. I still think that one man simply cannot take a team to the finals, and though I don’t discount their contributions within the structure of what they were trying to do, I believe he elevated that team. But your points about the way they utilized him are valid, as is the fact that he never really modified the way he played or grew in terms of repertoire as time went on.
Still, why now, for King? Isn’t it just piling on?
August 28th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
Hakim says:
The propaganda machine has to be given a round of applause for thoroughly programming the American public on the issue of Iverson. I wonder how many of these A.I. haters still place their teeth under the pillow in hopes that the tooth fairy will magically appear.
Billy King was a cancer to the Sixers. Pat Croce was the glue that helped keep management together. After Croce left, Billy got rid of all the Philly defensive players (Lynch for Jamal Mashburn who never played one game for the 76ers, Mutombo for Todd MaCulloch, Tyrone Hill, and eventually Snow for Kevin Ollie and McKie for nothing).
As a result, the Sixers began a demise, not because of Iverson, but because of poor management BILLY!!
Billy King comments are irrelevant. Had King kept the nucleus of that Eastern Conference championship team, they would have continued to be a force in the East.
Contrary to the propaganda, Iverson is still one of the best players on the planet. He is in the elite company of Jordan and Chamberlain as a career scorer because he can play at a high level.
The media has never been comfortable with the image of Iverson. He’s never had the clean cut image that NBA’s brass want to project. Michael Jordan was Jackie Robinson and Iverson is akin to Satchel Paige. He’s rough around the edges. His image is one that was crafted, by his impoverished and tough upbringing. It’s one that many that grew up in similar circumstances can relate to. It’s why he’s been able to play through adversity.
So why would they want to dismantle the character of Iverson you ask?? I think you already no the Answer!
August 28th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
Shama says:
I would usually trust a GM’s comment on a player, but not one who paid close to 150 million for Kyle Korver, Sam Dalembert, and Chris Webber.
August 29th, 2009 at 12:10 am
layton says:
Billy King as a GM made Isiah Thomas look like Jerry West.
Yes, Iverson is tough to build around, but Iverson bringing Philly to the playoffs year after year was probably the only reason why Billy King stayed employed for so long.
His comments are too personal to be taken seriously. These guys never seemed to like eachother at all. Billy King surrounded Iverson with overpaid players and Iverson failed to win a title for the Sixers. They both “failed” at their jobs.
August 29th, 2009 at 1:14 am
kevin k says:
you know i had to come into this discussion after reading so many retarded comments.
Iverson never passed? he took all the shots?? wtf have you been watching???????????????
yea AI never made anyone better when his starting 5 was eric snow, george lynch, old derrick coleman and keith van horn and deke. Deke was the only one respectable. his 6th man was Aaron Mckie. AI lead his team to the NBA finals and Aaron Mckie was taking about 12-15 shots per game. You guys who said,” Oh it was eric snow that held the team together…” you freaking serious? he would have been a bench warmer if he was playing for any other team.
Yea Ai never made anyone better when King brought in washed-up Mashburn, Todd Mcculloh, 40 year old Tyrone Hill and Kenny Thomas. Where are they now? Where are all the players that AI played with now?? Yea it’s AI’s fault that King overpaid some scrub named Korver, Dalembert, and No-knees Webber.
You freaking haters hating on AI now saying oh the East was washed up when he went to the finals… Kidd’s record is 0-8 in the Finals and he had much better talent than AI. Can you imagine if AI had pre-surgery K-mart over Tyrone Hill and Keith Van Horn??? Ai was 1-4 but every single game against the Lakers were close and AI was carrying the freaking team.
I could go on and write a bible length but imma stop now you dumb haters.
August 30th, 2009 at 11:55 am
doc says:
@kevink-DC was long gone that Finals year pimp.Get your history right before calling cats dumb when you saying shit thats just wrong.@layton-I dont know what years you was watching because we wasnt shit for about 3 good years before we shipped his non conforming ass out of town with Billy King.Because BOTH of them jokers was FUCKING UP.So what AI yall favorite little scorer ever hes aint no fucking winner.Hes a stat producer.
August 30th, 2009 at 11:58 am
doc says:
Thats why nobody want his ass now.But yeah yall know what yall talking about because you seen AI 6 times a year on TNT or some shit and he scored 35 so hes the one.Best scorer with Mike and Wilt?Are u fucking crazy.Do u know they both average more with like 10 percent better shooting.Not to mention Kobe.If he so good then sign his ass to yall local winterleague because it look like he gonna be free.
August 30th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
doc says:
Mash was a salary dump we knew he wasnt playing.Todd Mac was a hell of a backup but his feet aint hold up so he had to retire.Ty Hill was a beast,and Kenny Thomas was a bad signing.And we traded for Webb didnt sign him.And basically all the shit you said was bullshit anyway because Pat Croce brought everybody you stated in except for Kenny Thomas and C-Webb.So I think u the retard kevio.
August 30th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Ransom says:
Ive been reading through these responses and there seems to be a common missconception,that being that if a team has a good record, that the best play made his teamates better. that is not the case especially not with Allen Iverson. We all agree that the bunch of dudes that made it to the NBA finals with him was rag-tag at best. But, when Iverson got better teammates, even when he was still in his prime success was harder to come by. For example, a team of Iverson, Dalambert, Igguodala, Chris Webber, kyle korver and willie green pre-injury is more talented than iverson, snow, lynch, hill…etc. However look at the results. In fact most of the post finals-run teams were more talented, but without larry brown. and without a system tailor made for iverson to answer and defer to no one. In this players case, the variable was coach, larry brown minimized his weaknesses while brining the most out of his teammates. Look at what Iverson was able to do with a loaded Nuggets team. Melo is a future HOF plaer, JR smith is talented, Martin is solid, camby was league leader in blocks…and they lost in the first round, pretty badly i may add. That is the most talended roster Iverson has dealt with thus far in his career, and look what happened as soon as he left? Wester conference finals. Why? because billups makes his team better. Iverson does not, and never has.
August 31st, 2009 at 1:21 pm
SagJism says:
@70, Totally agree and also look at what he did to the pistons in the same timeframe. AI = good player, horrible teammate.
August 31st, 2009 at 3:48 pm
David says:
Lamont I agree. Players should make their own individual selves better. They shouldn’t rely on someone else to do all the hard work for them. I wonder how many of Billy King’s colleagues are improving in the front office because of him. None probably. They came with a certain set of skills and must enhance them on their own. Who is he making better? That making a teammate better and leadership quality is Bullshit. It is too subjective and not objective meaning it is too hard to measure and keep score. Its about an opinion. Its just an excuse to use when one is looking for a weakness.
September 3rd, 2009 at 2:12 pm
lg says:
If Billy King really thought that why didn’t he try to trade him for someone who could make his teammates better?
September 3rd, 2009 at 3:53 pm
Chicagorilla says:
@72,
Lamont, we know that’s you or one of your friends.