Allen Iverson has made a career out of being a big-time scorer (27.7 points per game).
But he’s also always shot a low field goal percentage (career 42.6% and a lousy 31.4% three-pointers).
Typically, when a team shoots under 43% for a game, they tend to lose.
Now, Iverson does make up at least partially for his low shooting percentages by drawing so much defensive attention that opportunities get created for teammates that don’t necesarily show up on a stat-sheet, but still, ideally he’d have taken fewer shots per game over his career and hit around 5-7% more of them.
Last night, the Pistons edged the Warriors 107-102, and Iverson’s vast talents were on display as he scored 23 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and dished an impressive 9 assists. But he shot 8-for-23. The team won in spite of his shooting, not because of it.
When his career eventually winds down, “The Answer” will be known as an awesome offensive force, a super-quick, ultra-tough little scoring guard, but also as a player who took a lot of shots and missed too high a percentage of them.
