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April 19, 2006

Actually, We Are Talking About The Game

I think this actually might be the end of AI in Philly; I am not down with that

Ominous, horrifying, and otherwise unsettling NBA news has been filtering out of Philadelphia since the weekend. It isn’t that the Sixers will be back in the lottery for the second time in three years (that’s actually much better than this team making the playoffs as an eight-seed). It isn’t that GM Billy King remains employed (though that’s fairly disheartening as well). And it isn’t that Mo Cheeks considers this season to be a failure (which it most certainly was). Nope, what’s got me tripped out about the Sixers over the past couple days has been the more-real-than-ever rumblings that Allen Iverson won’t be a Sixer next year.

That was all pretty bad. What went down last night was much worse. As you may have read, it was the Sixers’ final home game of the season, and also Fan Appreciation Night in Philly. While both AI and Chris Webber had begged out of the game (allegedly) with “injuries” (injuries that they definitely would have ignored had the team not already been eliminated from the playoffs), they were expected to be on the bench with the team. Instead, both arrived at the Wachovia Center just minutes before tip-off, to the general dismay of coach Mo Cheeks and GM Billy King. (Click here for the transcript of King’s “profanity-laden” chat with reporters on the subject.)

I’ve long since been against the trading Allen Iverson idea, if only because I just can’t imagine how trading AI will actually make the team better. That is, it’s unlikely you’re going to get stud young players in return, and swapping veterans with another team is destined to disappoint, if only because there are very few people in the NBA that are as fun to watch as AI. And if the Sixers are destined to be also-rans (which, given the state of the roster, they are), I’d rather root for the also-rans with AI rather than the also-rans with [insert collection of stiffs here; as a friend noted the other night, something along the lines of Jeff Hornacek, Tim Perry, and Andrew Lang].

Still, despite the current state of the roster, I still thought there were brief opportunities over the past couple years to quickly get this team back into legit contention, or at least to arm them to win a playoff series in the East. While I’ve long since made my peace with the fact that Rasheed Wallace will never be a Sixer (sigh), I thought there was a deal out there this year that could have completely turned the Sixers around. By this I mean that the Sixers should have mortgaged the farm (= “traded Iguadola + whatever”) to the Pacers for Ron Artest. Alleged lunacy aside, Ron Artest is one of the ten best players in the NBA, and not just because he’s “the only guy who can guard Kobe.” Artest would have instantly made the team 40 percent better on defense, and given them the scoring and courage that they so desperately lacked outside of AI. With Ron Artest, the Sixers could win a playoff series in the East. And they could have been even more fun to watch over the next couple years.

Whether it was fear of a basketball version of the T.O. saga or just an inability to find enough players on the roster to convince Larry Bird to deal, the Sixers didn’t get it done. They spent the rest of the season flirting with a playoff berth (not a good idea anyway, given that they’d just get swept by the Pistons or Heat in Round One), before finally packing it up and heading for the lottery. Generally speaking, the complaints in re: the Sixers were that apart from AI, Webber and Kevin Ollie, no one else was really trying, especially not the young nucleus that was supposed to lead the next generation of this team (Iguadola, Dalembert, Korver). They definitely didn’t play any defense, and didn’t seem terribly interested in winning.

So the Sixers kind of stunk, and they didn’t look like they’d be getting any better any time soon. They certainly wouldn’t be improved enough in any foreseeable future to actually challenge the Pistons, Heat or Cavs (yup, I just said Cavs) in the East, much less deal with the Western Conference. In all likelihood, AI would end his career sans championship. And I was cool with that. As stated, I’d rather root for losers led by AI than losers led by the 2007 version of Jeff Hornacek (Peja? One of the morons from the Knicks?). But I certainly didn’t believe any of this trade-AI talk.

Or, I didn’t believe any of this trade-AI talk until this episode last night. I haven’t listened to WIP quite yet, but given the tone of the local papers this morning, I have a feeling that this might be the inflection point in the AI era. That is, the local blathermonkeys finally have a chance to kill AI, as they can now pin the unforgivable upon him: he has disrespected the fans! You can rip the coach, the media, your teammates, the front office, whomever, but in Philly you absolutely cannot mess with the fans. They do not take rejection well. And the blathermonkeys are framing last night’s episode (“Fan Un-Appreciation Night” read the headlines) in a way that just might turn some of the people on AI. This isn’t our problem, say the blathermonkeys, we have no axe to grind – it’s not our fault that your former favorite cheated YOU, the paying customers.

Ugh.

Never mind the preposterousness of asserting that AI has cheated the fans of Philadelphia (which is ridiculous -– AI has played hurt and had his ass kicked all over the court for the past ten freakin’ years for this city). But the vultures are circling, and they must be satisfied. Since I don’t think that the front office is willing to try My Favorite Idea To Turn The Sixers Around (Make AI the GM! Seriously! How much worse could it get!), I have the uncomfortable feeling that this might actually be the end for Iverson in Philly. And that’s a bummer.

Of course, the real irony here is that this time, it isn't actually about practice. It's about the game. A game that didn't mean anything. A game that certainly meant a lot less than all the other ones where AI left it on the floor this year. But it isn't going to matter. Kind of makes you wish that we were just talkin' 'bout practice:

(I know, I know. Couldn't be helped. Long live Youtube!)

Posted by thatkid at April 19, 2006 1:20 PM under Philly , Sports

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Posted by: pjdinho at April 19, 2006 5:49 PM

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