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The AP reports: Allen Iverson apparently chose family and food over practice — and he’ll be fined for it. Iverson was the only player who didn’t show up when the Detroit Pistons worked out on Thanksgiving.
InsideHoops.com editor says: I think practice should be optional on the select few major family-oriented holidays each season. But, naturally that’s the decision of the team/coach, not an individual player.
The New York Knicks recently traded power forward Zach Randolph to the Los Angeles Clippers. Randolph is an excellent scorer and rebounder, but the rest of his game often gets criticized as not being particularly effective. Meanwhile, Philadelphia 76ers power forward Elton Brand has an excellent reputation, though like Randolph, Elton’s teams in the NBA haven’t been particularly successful. The Los Angeles Daily News (Ramona Shelburne) reports:
Zach Randolph seemed generally pleased to be in Los Angeles and playing with the Clippers, despite their woeful start to the season, and even more tumultuous offseason. Asked whether he was comfortable trying to fill the shoes left by Elton Brand, Randolph laughed, then confidently said, “Shoot, he ain’t better than me. He ain’t better than me.” The Clippers certainly could have used Randolph on Monday night. Hornets power forward David West went off for 27 points on 12-of-21 shooting and point guard Chris Paul had a triple-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 17 assists. The loss, and uncertainty surrounding the trade, overshadowed what ended up being a breakout game for Clippers rookie Eric Gordon who scored 25 points in his first career start.
Randolph was playing well with the Knicks this season under new coach Mike D’Antoni. He’ll be worth watching on the Clippers, at least initially to see how he plays alongside the mess of big men (Chris Kaman and Marcus Camby) and star point guard Baron Davis.
The AP reports: It didn’t take long for rookie D.J. Augustin to unseat Raymond Felton as Charlotte’s point guard. Only Felton didn’t lose his starting job, leaving a tiny backcourt that—at least for a night—got the Bobcats out of their offensive funk. Augustin and Felton, each about six-feet tall, combined for 48 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds in their third game starting together, and the Bobcats beat the Philadelphia 76ers 93-84 Monday night to snap a four-game losing streak… Augustin scored 25 points and added a career-high 11 assists. Felton had 23 points and seven rebounds. They combined to shoot 16 for 22 with only six turnovers… Elton Brand had 18 points, but made only 6 of 13 shots and fouled out with under a minute left. He was nowhere near as dominant as he was a night earlier in a win over Golden State that got the Sixers to .500 for the first time. Thaddeus Young was held to six points on 2-of-10 shooting. Andre Iguodala added 17 points for the Sixers, who shot 40 percent and had their two-game winning streak snapped.
The AP reports: Elton Brand had 23 points and 12 rebounds, Andre Iguodala added 15 points and the Philadelphia 76ers moved above .500 for the first time this season with an 89-81 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Sunday… Thaddeus Young contributed 12 points and Samuel Dalembert had 16 rebounds for the Sixers, who improved to 7-6 and snapped a five-game losing streak to the Warriors… Kelenna Azubuike scored 16 while C.J. Watson and Stephen Jackson had 12 apiece for Golden State, which dropped its second in a row. Andris Biedrins and Brandan Wright had 10 apiece.
Last summer, Elton Brand and Baron Davis talked about playing together on the Clippers. So Davis signed on as a free agent. Brand, however, didn’t re-sign with the team, and jumped ship to the Philadelphia 76ers. Davis still isn’t happy about it. The Los Angeles Times (Lisa Dillman) reports on the two players as their two teams are set to play against each other:
So will they hug, exchange pleasantries or even lock eyes before tonight’s game? “I’ve got nothing to say to him,” Davis said on Wednesday. This was in the visitors’ dressing room at Oklahoma City, not long after the Clippers beat the Thunder by 20 points. The mention of Brand quickly wiped away Davis’ smile, especially because he just had been talking about Oklahoma City’s Earl Watson, saying he regards Watson like “a brother.” Davis hasn’t spoken to Brand, and said he doesn’t plan to do so, because the former Clipper recruited Davis to come join him in Los Angeles and then Brand did a quick cut and run, heading East for a bigger bag of money, a five-year deal worth almost $80 million… Clippers Coach Mike Dunleavy has rehashed the turn of events last summer — and is still wanting for answers. “Elton had a great five years here. I loved him,” he said. “There’s a disappointment because you just don’t understand. He and I text messaged and called and never went, either one of us, usually 10 to 15 minutes without calling or returning a text. And then next thing I know it went silent.”
So far, the 76ers are a modest 5-6, the Clippers an awful 2-9. Brand is averaging just 15.8 points on just 43.8% shooting, with 10.5 rebounds, 1.55 blocks and more turnovers than assists. Davis is putting up just 15.5 points (by coincidence, almost the same as Brand) on lousy 36.1% shooting and only 24.6% three-pointers, plus 3.3 rebounds, 8.0 assists and 1.8 steals. Both players will probably raise their shooting percentages in the coming weeks as they and their new teams adjust to each other.
The AP reports: Al Jefferson scored six of his 25 points in the final 3 1/2 minutes to lift Minnesota to a 102-96 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night, snapping an eight-game losing streak… Elton Brand had 19 points and 13 rebounds for Philadelphia, which committed 16 turnovers and missed eight free throws while losing for the first time in four games… Craig Smith scored a season-high 21 points and matched a career best with five assists, and Mike Miller had 10 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Wolves, who won for the first time since the season opener against Sacramento… Andre Miller finished with 20 points and six assists.
The AP reports: The Philadelphia 76ers expended quite a bit of energy in overcoming a 26-point deficit in their victory at Indiana. Yet they still had plenty of pep one night later. Thaddeus Young scored 23 points, Elton Brand and Andre Iguodala added 15 apiece, and the 76ers cruised past the struggling Oklahoma City Thunder, 110-85 on Saturday… Samuel Dalembert contributed 13 points and 16 rebounds for the Sixers, who won their third straight game to even their record at 5-5… Jeff Green scored 21 points and Kevin Durant added 13 for Oklahoma City, which fell to 1-9 and dropped its seventh in a row. Durant, who was the Rookie of the Year last season, shot just 6-of-18. Russell Westbrook also had 13 points and Johan Petro grabbed 12 rebounds.
The AP reports: Philadelphia 76ers coach Maurice Cheeks gave his team a simple yet effective message after the first quarter against Indiana. His players responded Friday night, overcoming a 26-point deficit to beat the Pacers 94-92. “I told them to keep fighting,” Cheeks said following a dismal first quarter, which ended with the Pacers ahead 38-13. “We just hung in there, we didn’t stop.” The 76ers took their coach’s words to heart, tying it at 90 on Andre Iguodala’s free throw with 3:14 left in the fourth quarter. They gained their first lead, 92-90, on Andre Miller’s layup… Thaddeus Young had 25 points and 10 rebounds, Brand added 14 points and 15 rebounds, and Iguodala finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Philadelphia (4-5), which snapped a three-game losing streak against the Pacers… Danny Granger had 18 points, Daniels finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, and T.J. Ford added 12 points and seven assists for Indiana (4-4). The Pacers tried to make sense of the loss.
The Philadelphia Daily News (Paul Vigna) reports: Empty seats have been a chronic problem for the Sixers even before Allen Iverson left town. Now, even off last season’s playoff run and the offseason signing of Elton Brand, those low numbers are creeping back into the picture. Through four games, the Sixers are averaging 12,601 in attendance, ranking them 28th out of 30 NBA teams. That they started by losing five of their first seven hasn’t helped. Neither did that shadow the size of Yao Ming cast by the Phillies and their world championship.
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.