Allen Iverson getting some love from Coach Michael Curry

So it seems funny that so many fans are suddenly all over Joe Dumars case about the Allen Iverson trade. It is actually pretty rare in sports for both teams to get quality star players in any trade.

In this case Joe D gets a trading A+.

How can this be, you ask? Haven’t they lost a ton of games since AI rode into town, you ask?

Well, it can be and yes they have lost more than they usually seem to lose.

But consider the benefits of this trade.

The transition Dumars so boldly made in dumping Billups and his $36.3 million stretching out through 2010-11 was as shrewd and forward-thinking as it gets in this what-have-you-done-for-me-yesterday league. Clearing cap space by acquiring a huge expiring contract — in Iverson’s case, $21.9 million — is a tried-and-true rebuilding tactic. When the expiring contract is attached to Theo Ratliff, Joe Smith or some other fading veteran, the case can easily be made to fans reaching deep into their pockets that it’s the right move for the future.

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Now did you really think Detroit was going to win it all this year with an aging Billups? Haven’t you noticed how he failed to produce big in the last two playoffs? No knock on Chauncey, but his better days have come and gone. Denver gets a nice boost from Chauncey, because he settles them down and calmly spreads the ball around. That was not going to help the aging Piston starters.

By the way, have you seen AI play with the Piston backups? Amir, Maxiell, Afflalo, and new starter Stuckey, can fly up the floor and blend in better with the attacking Iverson.

Hey, if the experiment fails, AI and Rasheed Wallace will be sent packing and two new young stars will be in their place.

Trading A+.

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Rodney Stuckey can fly past you, but is he ready to pilot the Pistons to victory?

Chauncey Billups was traded for Allen Iverson. Chauncey was on the decline. He no longer dominated in the playoffs and often left the team stagnant. Don’t get me wrong, he was a Piston warrior, but they were not going to win it all with Billups.

AI will share time with Stuckey and bring more speed and penetration to the offense. This will allow more players to play, like Afflalo, Amir, and Maxiell with an up tempo style.

Is AI the answer? Probably not, but change was needed and Chauncey was from Denver. Joe D cut a deal that seems to benefit both teams.

he’s the guy who has averaged more than 40 minutes a game during his NBA career.

And he says he’s ready if the Pistons want him to revert to his old playing style.

“Yeah, that’s just the competitive nature that I have,” said Iverson, 33. “That’s just inside me. I want to be the guy with the ball. I want to be the guy making the decision. But that’s just not the case anymore, and I have to adjust.

“I don’t have a problem with it. I think the bigger picture is winning a championship.”

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Philly is involved in that transition from making the playoffs to being consistently good and challenging to go farther in the playoffs.

EB is not the answer for the 76er’s but he is an important piece to the puzzle.

Philadelphia is still searching for that leader on the court and depending on leadership from the coach. Someone has to rise up and lead with their play. That was the importance of Billups to the Pistons. The 76ers need to find their Billups.

Detroit now belongs to Tayshaun and Stuckey. This will be an experiment due to the fact that neither player has an outgoing personality, a personality to get the team to follow them. This could be where the relentless play of Allen Iverson will fill that void until those players can take over.
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Ever see a trade in the NBA that benefits both teams?

Hmm, Iverson for Billups!

Denver is better with Chauncey controlling the pace, reducing turnovers and making clutch shots and free throws.

Detroit finally has found the explosiveness to go along with their great defense and half court consistency.

This has moved Detroit up to slot 5 in the ESPN power rankings from slot 9.

We figure Detroit can live with its 3-3 start to the Iverson era after going to L.A. and knocking the Lakers from the ranks of the unbeaten. But check back after this week’s back-to-back games against Cleveland and Boston.
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Denver has moved to slot 6 from last week’s slot 12.

Victory in Boston, a 5-1 start to the Billups era and now a move into the top 10, blemished only by a loss to the hottest team in the league at Cleveland? Sounds like the Nuggets are your U.S. Army Team of the Week.

stay tuned to see if these two teams can hold it together.

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Allen Iverson is a Piston

Years ago the Pistons tried to trade for Allen Iverson when he played for the Philadelphia 76ers.

Now finally they got it done trading Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson.

Nuggets executive Mark Warkentien also spoke with the AP about the trade: “Two teams had one common problem, or challenge. I think the Pistons looked at (Rodney) Stuckey and saw him as the point guard of tomorrow, and you have an All-Star in Chauncey who was in his way. We’re just thrilled with the way J.R. (Smith) is progressing, and he had a Hall of Famer in front of him. You understand the motivation of both teams.”

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That is the obvious stuff, but why did these teams make this trade?

Some say that the Joe Dumars experiment of having no superstars ultimately failed.

What the Pistons were attempting was nothing less than a paradigm shift in the NBA, like taking a NASCAR track in a Prius.

Joe Dumars built his roster by seeing value where others saw risk. The core players consisted of a point guard who had already been with four other teams (Chauncey Billups), a guy seen as unfit to play alongside Michael Jordan in Washington (Richard Hamilton), a very limited offensive player on his third team (Ben Wallace), a late first-round draft pick (Tayshaun Prince) and a volatile, technical-happy head case (Rasheed Wallace).

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Nonsense. All those conference finals were just illusion? The NBA Title was just make believe? Come on. The experiment worked and worked beyond all of our expectations.

No, it seems more likely that both teams are seeking to retool. There was no room for both a Carmelo Anthony and an Allen Iverson on the same court at the same time. That is way too much offense and way too little defense to win any NBA Titles.

For the Pistons, they get to pick up some instant offense on a team that often went stagnant the last couple of years and if it does not work out the Pistons can just let Iverson go, because he is in the last year of his contract. Remember Rasheed Wallace is also in the last year of his contract.

For the Allen Iverson skeptics out there, it all goes back to a theory of mine. When players get up in sports years the desire to win exceeds the desire to pile up stats. Allen is finally on a team that is favored to win.
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Ben Gordon decides a one year contract is like having a birthday

Ben Gordon has signed an offer he said he would never sign.

”I’m definitely not taking it,” Gordon told New York media Aug. 15. ”I’ve already expressed that to them. I mean, that’s not an option.”

It turned out to be Gordon’s only option. His agent, Raymond Brothers, failed to find a sign-and-trade deal or offer sheet from another team after Gordon became a restricted free agent July 1, and negotiations with the Bulls never came close to a long-term deal.

Some signs suggested trade talks with the Miami Heat were revisited the last few days. But by Wednesday, the Bulls had pulled what was believed to be a six-year contract worth about $58 million that Gordon had shunned since July.
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It appears Gordon is rolling the dice on this one. He turns down a multi-year 50 million dollar deal to stay with the Bulls, which is the team he says he wants to play for and instead takes a one year deal for 6.4 million bucks.

After the one year, Ben Gordon is an unrestricted free agent. In the meantime, he cannot even be traded without his permission.

So fast forward a year when Ben is on the open market. Hmm, he scores a lot, but is kind of small for a shooting guard and not really a point guard and can’t really check most guards, so who is going to want him? Yeah, he did lead the Bulls in scoring for 3 straight years, but that is because their guards struggle to score.

Now the Bulls are bringing in Derrick Rose to share time with Kirk Hinrich and Larry Hughes. That means fewer shots for Ben and that means…well, you take it from there. 50 million bucks, wow!

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