Back for the First Time
Somebody forgot to tell the Nuggets they were supposed to play the role of the Washington Generals. On a night where the return of Allen Iverson to Philly was supposed to be the feel-good story, it was as if the Nuggets gave the Sixers three quarters to have their “Welcome Home” party before calling the cops and shutting sh*t down. Going on a 22-3 run that turned a game-long deficit into a double-digit lead in the fourth, Chauncey (31 pts, 8 rebs, 8 asts), J.R. Smith and Ty Lawson reminded the Sixers that A.I. alone isn’t enough to fix the backcourt and sent Philly to its 10th straight loss … The pre-game scene was nuts. Wachovia Center was packed with the buzz of a Rocky Balboa fight well before Iverson was introduced to a monster ovation, as he went over to kiss the 76ers logo at midcourt while the crowd challenged the volume of a Michael Jackson concert. Andre Iguodala was still introduced last, but it was almost an afterthought by then … However, in case anybody was wondering whether Iverson would come in and take Iguodala’s spot as the go-to guy, Iguodala responded by going into Takeover mode right away. He got the Sixers started with a steal and breakaway dunk, had some monster dunks and pretty jumpers, then in the last minute of the second quarter, spun past Arron Afflalo on the baseline for a backwards dunk that gave him 18 points in the first half. Iguodala (31 pts, 11-21 FG, 3 stls) even threw in a 90-foot bomb just after the halftime buzzer … Iverson finished with 11 points (4-11 FG), five boards and six assists in 37 minutes. After taking it right to the rim and missing a layup on his first touch, he seemed intent on passing the ball for most of the night — except during a third-quarter sequence when Iguodala was on the bench and Iverson attacked the basket on consecutive possessions, getting himself to the free throw line while Philly was still clinging to a lead and needed a boost. When A.I. scored his first bucket, a tip-in of a Sam Dalembert miss, the building had a collective orgasm … Sixers announcer Ed Pinckney described a “Euro Step” that Chauncey pulled on Iverson one time, and the play-by-play guy said, “A Euro Step?” like Pinckney had just invented the phrase and had no idea what he was talking about. “Yes, a EURO Step,” Ed shot back, putting some extra bass in his voice like, “Don’t ever question me, little man.” … Maybe NBA TV’s Rick Kamla set the tone when he said Iverson has “some of the most expressive eyes in NBA history” — we’ll get out research department on that ASAP — but we found ourselves paying a lot of attention to A.I.’s facial expressions. His “I didn’t touch him” post-foul face looks like somebody who just witnessed a dog get hit by a car right in front of them … Donovan McNabb was in the crowd, so the Sixers sent over their sideline reporter to ask him exactly one question: “I bet you’re here to support the return of Allen Iverson, huh?” You got the impression from McNabb’s half-hearted answer that he might not be A.I.’s biggest fan, probably precisely because of what happened in that interview; Iverson overshadows McNabb in Philly at every turn … Imagine the shock of somebody who tuned into Jazz/Spurs midway through the third quarter and heard Utah’s announcers say, “Uh-oh. (Matt) Bonner’s in.” And they weren’t even being facetious at all. Bonner was lighting up the Jazz in the first half as the Spurs built an eight-point lead, and he kept it up throughout; the Red Rocket finished with a career-high 28 points and helped San Antone withstand another night where Tony Parker and Tim Duncan were the only other ones doing anything … That said, there’s absolutely no reason Bonner should have been the guy taking the potential game-winning shot. Utah was up by one with 10 seconds left after Carlos Boozer (27 pts) had blown a pair of huge free throws, and when the D kept the ball away from Parker on the inbounds. Bonner and Duncan (23 pts, 11 rebs) tried to run a two-man game. But Duncan couldn’t get the ball, and Bonner ended up trying to shake his man off the dribble and threw up some layup-type thing that actually went halfway down the basket before popping out … The actual game-winner came courtesy Deron Williams (17 pts, 11 asts). After Duncan’s free throws gave the Spurs a lead with 28 seconds left, you expected Deron and Boozer to set up a pick-and-pop or something. But Deron just came right down and wasted no time sticking a jumper near the top of the key … Mehmet Okur hit some big shots, but on a critical possession in the fourth quarter he had George Hill posted up Mouse In The House and couldn’t even get a shot off. The Jazz announcers even admitted that Hill was too strong for Okur even though Memo has like 80 pounds on him … Other stat lines from Monday: David Lee had 17 points and 10 boards in a win over the Blazers, while Brandon Roy scored 27 in the loss; and Kevin Durant posted 28 points and James Harden dropped 26 off the bench as OKC beat the Warriors … We’re out like being scared of Bonner …
December 8th, 2009 at 1:12 am
bluv says:
Great to see AI back in Philly. Philly are a better team with him and AI + Iggy might be the combo they were expected to be the first time around.
December 8th, 2009 at 1:13 am
Jewelz says:
SO NO ONE WILL SAY FIRST ANYMORE, and Iguodala had a great game today. Stupid Nuggets ruined Iverson’s Comeback.
December 8th, 2009 at 1:16 am
alex says:
well, AI was enough reason that Chauncy got 31,8,8 and Ty Lawson got 12,6,4. They kept attacking the sixers weakest link on defense. Even when he played with Memphis, Udrih burned him when they played Sactown. The cAnswer has landed in philly.
December 8th, 2009 at 1:34 am
Big Sia says:
Im almost embarrased to say it… but are people sleeping on the Knicks recent wins?
December 8th, 2009 at 1:37 am
the big fundamental says:
Im excited about AI being back in Philly Welcome home AI! you know canada loves you (i was actually hoping raptors would sign you this summer but you belong in a sixers uniform anyway) but i dont know if its because he hasnt played nba caliber basketball in over a month but AI looked extremely slow out there!
but hey i guess that was kind of expected i cant remember the last time ive watched him log some many minutes
December 8th, 2009 at 2:03 am
sans says:
I’m scared of Bonner–Ginger Kids freak me out…
December 8th, 2009 at 2:07 am
porkpiehat says:
A heads up for behind the times announcers who don’t want to suffer the indignity of Ed Pinckney’s verbal bitch slaps- http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-practice-the-euro-step-with-manu-ginobili-271674/.
Or young ballers, too, I suppose.
December 8th, 2009 at 2:15 am
YW says:
AI is back, baby!
December 8th, 2009 at 2:25 am
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
That’s about what I expected for Iverson’s return. A whole lotta love from the crowd, 10-15 points, and another Sixers loss.
December 8th, 2009 at 3:11 am
alf (from melmak) says:
Iverson returning to Philly is such a feel good story. Nice to see it really happening. Stupid Denver for ruining the moment. What is one loss to them anyway?
To those who watched the Utah-San Antonio game, I have three observations. The referees were so much biased in favor of the Spurs, Boozer choked, and Manu is done.
My meal allowance says Harpring makes a good play-by-play analyst on tv for a newbie. Although, nothing still beats the Van Gundy-Jackson combo.
December 8th, 2009 at 3:40 am
fLaVa says:
fuck a.i and his antics.. hes selfish.. hes lucky lou williams went down wit that injury or else he’d never get the spot on the philly roster.
He was selifsh not accepting his role with the grizz… started crying like a baby when he didnt start and complained he wasnt getting touches.. (now u know how ur other teammates felt when u hogged the ball). THEN 3 games later he quit on the team… if he would just chill for a few games and learn the system.. he’d be a starter within 10 games.. HECK he knew he’d come off the bench going into memphis, a young team with loads of potential.
NOW everyone is happy that hes back in philly where it all started but it woulndt be the case if lou williams wasnt hurt.
December 8th, 2009 at 3:41 am
fLaVa says:
grizz owner only signed his ass to sell seats but i guess that didnt work out either..lol
December 8th, 2009 at 3:57 am
sh!tfaced says:
AI is like the anti King Midas, everything he touches turns to shit.
December 8th, 2009 at 3:58 am
sh!tfaced says:
…except for selling seats and jerseys. Still a loser no matter what jersey he dons.
December 8th, 2009 at 5:00 am
oww says:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ-ce8L1Lac
LOOOL mark cuban wtf gets slammed through a table on wwe raw
December 8th, 2009 at 5:20 am
oO says:
Welcome back AI…
December 8th, 2009 at 6:27 am
That's what's up says:
Spurs are 9-9
…exactly where they want to be.
right?
December 8th, 2009 at 6:46 am
KB24 says:
Haha, I had to check out that Mark Cuban and WWE clip. Glad I did. It was hilarious.
Go Lakers!
December 8th, 2009 at 6:47 am
K Dizzle says:
“Bonner was lighting up the Jazz in the first half as the Spurs built an eight-point lead, and he kept it up throughout; the Red Rocket finished with a career-high 28 points and helped San Antone withstand another night where Tony Parker and Tim Duncan were the only other ones doing anything”
Readin this, it sounded like Bonner carried SAS to the win…but he didn’t…….cuz Utah won.
Richard Jefferson was a great pickup…..
December 8th, 2009 at 6:50 am
QQ says:
AI’s a feel good story (kinda), but anyone who expected a win versus the stacked Nuggets is dreaming. Much like half of the Dime staff’s prediction on AI.
December 8th, 2009 at 7:02 am
Guitar Hero says:
So, Knicks winning 4 out of 5 isn’t news?
I thought they were supposed to be really bad.
December 8th, 2009 at 7:47 am
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
@guitar hero
The knicks are really bad but even really bad teams go on hot streaks.
@fLaVa
Thanks, I’m glad somebody said it. I just don’t have enough anger about the Iverson situation but I agree completely.
December 8th, 2009 at 7:58 am
92021SpurMD says:
Defense is a problem in SA, not so much overall, but SA was always known for getting stops when needed. This year, seems every time they need that “one stop”, they don’t get it. On the other side, it also seems that every time they need that “one shot” to fall to really switch momentum, it always seems to go in and out. Case in point, the game against Boston. They had that “one shot” to change momentum like 4 times in the 4th quarter, never fell… if luck changes, SA is gonna be fine.
December 8th, 2009 at 8:42 am
POPPI GEE says:
It ain’t that he did anything ever on purpose to Iverson, but you know somewhere Iverson probably can’t stand Chauncy Billups lol.
First Chauncy has a ring that no matter what A.I. tries he can seem to not get.
Second Iverson is traded for dude and A.I’s team doesn’t have the success that Chauncy’s has and the comparisons game started.
Third A.I. finally gets away from the scenario where he won’t have to keep being compared to Chauncy. So RIGHT when it looks like A.I. is free from Chauncy and his story becomes all feel good as he comes back to the place he started. Who does he have to play against?
Chauncy! LOL. Not only that but Billups just proceeds to lead his team to victory and drop 31. SMH! I’m like couldn’t it have been Melo or someone else. And you know A.I. just couldn’t come in and go all out and drop 40 or 50 like he probably wanted to.
If ever there seemed to be a consistent thorn in A.I’s side it is most def. Chauncy. And again I doubt it’s on purpose but still A.I. got to be like can’t this dude be sick or something dang lol.
Good to see A.I. back!
December 8th, 2009 at 8:58 am
MBE18 says:
What happened To Iverson wearing his Reebok Question’s?
December 8th, 2009 at 8:59 am
Posterboy15 says:
Man I swear some of u guys on here are actin like straight Bithces on here, straight up, this guy is part of a generation that helped grow your fuckin favorite player today with his image and the skills he had brought to the table, no respect for the game or him at all for downing him and talkin mad shit the way yall are, Its so satisfying to see he has remained the same throughout this league and has never changed,u will be the same lame as cats bloggin when he is inducted to the HOF.., He is just as good as KG,Paul Pierce,Ray Allen(Big 3 Who won a ring together),Shaq(who needs to get it together, but still manages to start where ever he goes), Vince Carter(leading scorer on #1 seed in the east and teams go to player in crunchtime), Grant Hill (whos good but way past his prime), Steve Nash, Jason Kidd(20 ast pg’s waitin to happen), Kobe Bryant(enough said),all of those guys are from his era and are starting on championship caliber teams wtf?, y cant he start on a mediocore team and give them boost, the man averaged about 26 ppg 2 years ago, he hasnt fallen that far from grace..AI do your thang man,your time goin to the playoffs, cuz I still believe your that good, regaurdless of wut these WOMEN say on these blogs. Im not even a #1 A.I. fan, just a dude who knows a loves the game of baskteball, and upset that people embelish kickin a man when he’s down..dats wtf’s wrong wit society today…Peace.
December 8th, 2009 at 9:20 am
Chicagorilla says:
So no ones gonna talk about Chauncy doing A.I. like MJ did Bryon Russell? that should be the highlight clip from the game.
Not to mention he got blazed for 31pts and the only thing he could talk about was how happy he was to be home. Not caring about the loss. Not caring about winning a chip.
December 8th, 2009 at 9:24 am
YOUNGFED says:
In regards to AI all I can say is love the player but hate the attitude. He played us (Pistons) so fuk’em.
December 8th, 2009 at 9:56 am
Chicagorilla says:
Matt Bonner drops 28 pts on Carlos boozer and Boozer scores 27, all you hear about on NBATV is how Boozer is “back”. Well getting 28 put on your head by a guy who scores like 9ppg is pretty shitty. Boozer may be one of the worst defenders in the L not to mention he missed TWO clutch freethrows. That’s terrible.
Oh and James Harden is starting to get his engine warm.
December 8th, 2009 at 10:31 am
Chaos says:
@Chicagorilla
Harden is heating up and showing why OKC picked him up. he’s been hitting double digits over the last couple weeks in games they are winning
i hate to say it but A.I. is no longer one of the fastest players in the league and ty lawson proved that. he BLEW by A.I. for a layup and made it look easy as hell but i suspect that A.I., the more time he gets th more comfortable and in shape he will be. he hasnt played in a month and before that played onl two games for the grizz soooo he needs to get in game shape….also, Igoudala needs to start doing what he did last night and punch teams in the mouth b going straight at them. he starts off too slow or defers too much during games to be considered the number one option or go to guy. he needs to go at teams from jump.
December 8th, 2009 at 11:06 am
LakeShow84 says:
Yeah Iverson was all over the place with the bug faces lol..
I think Philly will be alright.. If Iguodala keeps on playing then they have a decent big3.. Iverson, Iguodala and Brand make a good 3.. if Brand and Iverson can rediscover their games.. Brand dont look confident in himself.. he talks like he does but he dont walk like it..
And Philly fans should get used to seeing what we saw last night.. Opposing PG’s MURDERING the backcourt.. sorry but thats why contenders didnt want the man..
And it wont just be points.. they’ll be droppin triple double #’s lol
December 8th, 2009 at 11:50 am
AdvancedMind says:
Funniest thing is if A.I played to win and played a team game then the 6ers would actually be a better team.
That will never happen, hes been a “I” type of player for his whole overratted drawl out fake “THUG LIFE” career.
THE NBA WHERE CARING ABOUT YOURSELF HAPPENS
December 8th, 2009 at 11:55 am
Chicagorilla says:
@Lakeshow,
The crazy thing is, if he (AI) wants to play like a true PG, the philly team he is on now would have a sick playoff run. If he would use his scoring prowess to attract defenders and set up his teammates, that would do wonders for a guy like Dalembert, Green, Iggy and Kapono. Even Elton Brand could use some of that. Thad Young may be hurt by this numbers wise, but if he just slashes and hits his open jumper he’d still be a force. Then the entire team could conserve energy for the defensive end and use their length and athleticism to force TO’s sorta like Miami does with a lesser talent around DWade. If Iverson can put up something like 15pts and 10 asst per, or 18/9, but not just those assist where he is passing to open teammates, but were he creates a lay-up or wide open jumper…oh the possibilities are endless.
But I would venture to say that attempting to create for your team is the more difficult way to go and takes a great deal of true basketball IQ which i wouldn’t bet that AI has. It’s a lot easier to try and figure out how to shoot the ball 25 times a game. That’s a natural thing for any scorer or ball player for that matter. It’s like Chess vs Checkers. And Allen Iverson is the Grand Dragon of Checkers.
December 8th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
jimmy (cawter) says:
Allen iverson aint no point guard. evertime he passes the ball it’s usually just an outlet or to sum guy waiting on the wings to shoot. He is never gonna threat the needle or pass to the open man. I havn’t seen it for over 10 years, it’s not happening now.
Iverson played just like iverson did today, cept for more minutes. 11 pts on 11 shots is as good as he’ll ever be. 76ers will suck. the man just has no defense.
December 8th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Chicagorilla says:
@34, yep, you are right. And that’s the sad part.
December 8th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
LakeShow84 says:
@ ChiTown
If Iverson wouldve played like a tru PG on the Denver team look at how they couldve turned out.. Given Billups provides more Defense but he doesnt step up on Offense unless the game calls for it, rest the time hes a facilitator.. Iverson WONT be a facilitator.. and if he does he’ll do it for ONE game and go on a jacking binge..
But i agree with u.. if he plays right Philly could be a darkhorse team to the ECF.. They have the pieces no doubt.. they still match up best with Orlando.. Boston (Rondo) or Cleveland (Williams) would expose Iverson on D..
December 8th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
JH says:
Bonner’s set shot isn’t the prettiest to watch but he’ll hit it if left open. His drives to the hoop look even more awkward but the Red Rocket showed some fire & effort last night that makes me his newest fan(1 of 113).
As a “past his prime” baller…I hope AI can do his things & continue to motivate a new generation.
December 8th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Bron42 aka Had Springs before Slamball says:
I love how guys like flava are completely riding iverson for being selfish but when rip hamilton bitched about coming off the bench no one had a problem with it. Now elton brand is bitching about coming off the bench, yet dime doesn’t do some 8 page article about that either. Iverson comes in, takes barely any shots, still gets 6 assists and 5 boards and your still crying about him being selfish? now thats a hater if anything. Your talkin like he came and threw up 30 shots first game back. Dude aint play in how long and then goes right up against the nuggets? of course hes not gonna be some lock down defender, he never was but don’t make it like a team with a 8 game losing streak was gonna beat the nuggets without him lol ya’ll are hatin before he even does anything wrong this time.
December 8th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
oww says:
^true @ bron42
December 8th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
D.H. says:
OKC is silently making a strong push for a playoff position. Harden is starting to warm up, Westbrook is not as inconsistent, and KD and Green are playing solid. All they need is a reliable center and lookout.
December 8th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
M-Blog says:
LMAO @Posterboy