AI in the East w/ a bunch of nobodies = makes the Finals... Yet in the West w/ Melo..

[russwest0]

Struggles to make the WCF...

:roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

[fpliii]

Mutombo was DPOY that season, and was Philly's MVP in that Bucks series.

But yeah, the East generally has sucked over the last decade and a half. Some great defenses each year, but certainly the weaker conference year-in-and-year-out.

[LongLiveTheKing]

Melo in the West goes to the conference Finals and in the east only gets past the first round once and misses the playoffs.

[Cocaine80s]

Melo in the West goes to the conference Finals and in the east only gets past the first round once and misses the playoffs.
this

[dubeta]

Melo in the West goes to the conference Finals and in the east only gets past the first round once and misses the playoffs.

:applause:

Time for OP to abandon thread

[JohnFreeman]

Melo in the West goes to the conference Finals and in the east only gets past the first round once and misses the playoffs.
:oldlol:

[AintNoSunshine]

Might as well use Kobe barely making the Playoffs with a roster with 4 HOFs as example LMFAO

[russwest0]

Melo in the West goes to the conference Finals and in the east only gets past the first round once and misses the playoffs.

He didn't have AI, Camby, Nene, JR, Andre Miller, Steve Blake, Kenyon Martin, and George Karl all in or near their primes in the East.

[Fawker]

Maybe Melo competed with a bunch of somebodies

[Fawker]

I don't know why a ball hog intimidated a team for so long in a weak eastern climate. all the best were out west.

[Magic 32]

http://s29.postimg.org/a8mi6c26v/Mountrushmore.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i2GGmIVRR3k/UHs_rp3zsCI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/Rx87PLoIpCE/s1600/url.png

[deja vu]

You can't have two ballhogs and chuckers on one team. That's a recipe for disaster.

[305Baller]

Melo in the West goes to the conference Finals and in the east only gets past the first round once and misses the playoffs.


this.

http://thechive.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/tumblr_najwurp8oq1tds2vfo1_400.gif

[Fawker]

i could never see Melo conquering the league. he is a sidepiece. but phil over there, i want to see this. i doubt it tho.

[J Shuttlesworth]

Melo in the West goes to the conference Finals and in the east only gets past the first round once and misses the playoffs.
Proof as to why basing an entire team on one player is absolutely retarded, just like the OP

[kurple]

Struggles to make the WCF...

:roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:
AI and Melo didnt make the WCF together

[ArbitraryWater]

http://i.gyazo.com/bb631df7ad7701e31a7506a03dd9b423.png

Iverson sure carried a bunch of nobodies...

Can't believe he sucked for all but 2 games yet his team managed to win even through his chucking

31 FGA on 36% :roll:

This is how Kobe fans would put his play together: 31/5/6...

All you need to know, guys.

[guy]

As bad as the East has been the last 10 years or so it was easily at its worst in the early 00s. There's probably at least 10 teams or so from the East in the past 10 years that were better then the early 00s Sixers and Nets.

[Eric Cartman]

http://i.gyazo.com/bb631df7ad7701e31a7506a03dd9b423.png

Iverson sure carried a bunch of nobodies...

Can't believe he sucked for all but 2 games yet his team managed to win even through his chucking

31 FGA on 36% :roll:

This is how Kobe fans would put his play together: 31/5/6...

All you need to know, guys.

Looking like Kobe in game 7 out there.

[kurple]

http://i.gyazo.com/bb631df7ad7701e31a7506a03dd9b423.png

Iverson sure carried a bunch of nobodies...

Can't believe he sucked for all but 2 games yet his team managed to win even through his chucking

31 FGA on 36% :roll:

This is how Kobe fans would put his play together: 31/5/6...

All you need to know, guys.
please son, watch the games. bball refereneces doesnt prove shit

[Ne 1]

Yeah, the East has been the JV league for awhile now, and people love to point to the Sixers success in 2001 to somehow justify Iverson's career, but the East was as weak as its ever been that year. You had to beat the Pacers (41 win team), Raptors (47 wins) and Bucks (52 wins) to get to the Finals, and even so Mutombo was the MVP of the ECFs vs Milwaukee. Once they faced a real team from the superior Western Conference, they lost in a backdoor sweep. The Eastern Conference only had two other teams that won 50 games that season. Whatever modest success the Sixers enjoyed during the Iverson era was mainly due to Larry Brown's mastermind defensive strategy which made them a top 5 defensive team for a good 3-4 years and the #1 ranked defensive team after they acquired Mutombo in February. There is reason that it all fell apart after Brown left.




Melo in the West goes to the conference Finals and in the east only gets past the first round once and misses the playoffs.


It's not really a coincidence the Nuggets improved after adding Chauncey Billups in place of Iverson.

[ImKobe]

please son, watch the games. bball refereneces doesnt prove shit

This is true tbh... He shot like shit the majority of the time but he got hot in key stretches that won the games. He would play like garbage for 3 straight quarters and miss everything, then go for 20+ pts in the 4th quarter.

[SouBeachTalents]

This is true tbh... He shot like shit the majority of the time but he got hot in key stretches that won the games. He would play like garbage for 3 straight quarters and miss everything, then go for 20+ pts in the 4th quarter.

Proof?

[choppermagic]

Nobodies?

That team had the Coach of the Year, MVP (Ai), Defensive Player of the Year and the Sixth Man of the Year all on the same team.

For comparison, the year before, a similar team would include:

Peak Shaq (MVP)
Alonzo Mourning (DPOY)
ROdney ROgers (6th Man)
Doc Rivers (COY)

and the year after it would be:

Tim Duncan (MVP)
Ben Wallace (DPOY)
Bobby Jackson (6th man)
Pops (COY)

[ArbitraryWater]

please son, watch the games. bball refereneces doesnt prove shit

This isn't about Basketball Reference, this is about Iverson chucking and scoring like shit... This IS what he did.

Like Cartman said, dude Looks like Kobe Game 7 for an entire run out there :roll:


And going hot/cold doesn't make it any better... At least prove it by showing his 4th quarter stats, which can also be found on BR... @ImKobe

Edit: How bad must someone be to score 31 PPG on 31 FGA? How can you shoot 31 FGA and only score 31 PPG as a result?

[Kblaze8855]

Im amazed at times how terrible some of the arguments I read here are.

Iverson had 16, 45, 32, 33, 36, 54, 23, 30, and 52 in 9 games before dude arbitrarily starts listing them...

He drops 52 on 66% shooting....and that game is cut out. What...do you think we dont remember it happening?

He dropped 52 points...with only TWO FREE THROWS....in the playoffs. And it was only his second highest scoring game of the series. But you just happen to start counting when hes held under 25 points back to back for the first time in 6 months? He put up 35, 36, and 34ppg for a 3 month stretch of that year.

You show me 5 playoffs teams in the history of the NBA with a less offensively talented number 2, 3, and 4 scorer than Aaron Mckie, Dikembe Mutombo, and Eric Snow.

Really...

Think on it and get back to me. They may exist. But you arent gonna rattle them off without a lot of thinking.

How many people took a team to the playoffs with less scoring ability out of the second through fourth leading scorers?

Raja Bell(who played 5 games in 2001) aside there were only five 10ppg seasons left in the careers of his entire supporting cast.

And 2 of them were Eric Snow. Mckie had 1. Mutombo 1....Jumaine Jones the other.

Let me say again....

Eric Snow...quite possibly the worst shooter to ever play the position...is the leading post 2001 scorer of Iversons entire real supporting cast.

His 12ppg one year is easily ahead of the rest of that team....most of which were washed up already, never were good to begin with, had hustle but no scoring talent, or would be out of the league in moments.

And Snow had to play 38 minutes a game to get that 12.

The 2001 76ers were profoundly untalented on that side of the ball.

Iverson had to carry a load like few in the history of the game.

And it worked. Better than it should have.

And 15 years later a gang of keyboard analysts are acting like it was something to make fun of.

Larry Brown...Iversons HOF 50 years in the game legendary proponent of playing the right way coach...among the most respected basketball minds of all time.

Told him to keep shooting.

I have a game on tape where hes yelling at him "Be aggressive! Be aggressive! Dont stop...we need you!". I believe its vs the Pacers.

That team was built to keep games close, slow it down, get all the rebounds, and hope AI could score enough to win it for them.

But people in here talking about field goal percentage(and manipulating the data at that) while a guys own coach designed the offense and insisted he keep shooting....


What...hes supposed to be pleasing you?

Or is he supposed to help his team win games?

Anyone acting like he wasnt keeping that team in and winning them games regardless of what he shot is flat out...a ****ing idiot.

Or they were a child at the time.

There are no other options.

Iverson did what he had to do on a team that needed him to score more than arguably any great team has EVER needed its best player to score. And the other team knew they needed him.

Which is why everyone watching him do it was impressed and so many people years later reading box scores act like it was easy.

That guy looked fully prepared to rsk his life for every loose ball, every lazy cross court pass, every layup in traffic and got knocked down, broken, and bruised more than anyone ive ever seen and just kept getting up and handing out 35 in a close win.

I remember that game he missed vs the Bucks in the playoffs...I think im still emotionally fragile from the trauma of watching Eric snow out there trying to fill the void.

Could they win a game without him? Sure. Any 12 NBA players with a good coach could compete vs another nba team. I remember a particularly brutal game he missed when they beat us when we had Ron Mercer and Jamal Crawford. Granted we did win like 15 games that year...but they won...one of the most brutal to watch games of all time. Nothing like watching Marcus Fizer and Fred Hoiberg attack a good defense.

Anyway....the gulf between the respect Iverson had from all levels...fans to coaches...and what he gets on the internet now?

Shit is a travesty.

And it shows that a lot of people talking either dont remember the time or choose to rewrite history to support an opinion held by a small fraction of the basketball world.

Because flat out...credible basketball people...thought Allen Iverson was ****ing amazing.

[Milbuck]

http://i.gyazo.com/bb631df7ad7701e31a7506a03dd9b423.png

Iverson sure carried a bunch of nobodies...

Can't believe he sucked for all but 2 games yet his team managed to win even through his chucking

31 FGA on 36% :roll:

This is how Kobe fans would put his play together: 31/5/6...

All you need to know, guys.
Why exactly did you cut out the first 9 games of that playoff game log? Is it because he put up 36/4/6/3 on 53% TS in that stretch?

[Optimus Prime]

Wow...Kblaze with the straight-up ether. Taking kids who probably never saw AI play to school! :bowdown:

I don't even like AI (I think he's overrated), but the offensive load he had to carry on some of those teams was massive. He left everything on the court and put his small body on the line every game. What AI was able to accomplish being so small and being on some of those...challenged teams is pretty darn impressive.

I mean, come on...Eric Snow, Aaron McKie and Dikembe Mutumbo are your other offensive options on a team that went to the Finals. Really?! :kobe:

[aj1987]

Overrated cancer. I've said this before and I will say it again. Dude is overrated as ****. Won a scoring title while shooting under 40%. Imaging Kobe/LeBron shooting under 40% while taking over 20 shots a game. They would get obliterated.

[VIP2000]

This isn't about Basketball Reference, this is about Iverson chucking and scoring like shit... This IS what he did.

Like Cartman said, dude Looks like Kobe Game 7 for an entire run out there :roll:


And going hot/cold doesn't make it any better... At least prove it by showing his 4th quarter stats, which can also be found on BR... @ImKobe

Edit: How bad must someone be to score 31 PPG on 31 FGA? How can you shoot 31 FGA and only score 31 PPG as a result?

I think Iverson is overrated and as poorly as he shot, that team had no other scoring options. They played good defense, but that 76ers team would be akin to having LeBron, current Andre Miller, Kris Humphries, Joakim Noah, and PJ Tucker going to the Finals in a weak conference.

[oarabbus]

Im amazed at times how terrible some of the arguments I read here are.

Iverson had 16, 45, 32, 33, 36, 54, 23, 30, and 52 in 9 games before dude arbitrarily starts listing them...

He drops 52 on 66% shooting....and that game is cut out. What...do you think we dont remember it happening?

He dropped 52 points...with only TWO FREE THROWS....in the playoffs. And it was only his second highest scoring game of the series. But you just happen to start counting when hes held under 25 points back to back for the first time in 6 months? He put up 35, 36, and 34ppg for a 3 month stretch of that year.

You show me 5 playoffs teams in the history of the NBA with a less offensively talented number 2, 3, and 4 scorer than Aaron Mckie, Dikembe Mutombo, and Eric Snow.

Really...

Think on it and get back to me. They may exist. But you arent gonna rattle them off without a lot of thinking.

How many people took a team to the playoffs with less scoring ability out of the second through fourth leading scorers?

Raja Bell(who played 5 games in 2001) aside there were only five 10ppg seasons left in the careers of his entire supporting cast.

And 2 of them were Eric Snow. Mckie had 1. Mutombo 1....Jumaine Jones the other.

Let me say again....

Eric Snow...quite possibly the worst shooter to ever play the position...is the leading post 2001 scorer of Iversons entire real supporting cast.

His 12ppg one year is easily ahead of the rest of that team....most of which were washed up already, never were good to begin with, had hustle but no scoring talent, or would be out of the league in moments.

And Snow had to play 38 minutes a game to get that 12.

The 2001 76ers were profoundly untalented on that side of the ball.

Iverson had to carry a load like few in the history of the game.

And it worked. Better than it should have.

And 15 years later a gang of keyboard analysts are acting like it was something to make fun of.

Larry Brown...Iversons HOF 50 years in the game legendary proponent of playing the right way coach...among the most respected basketball minds of all time.

Told him to keep shooting.

I have a game on tape where hes yelling at him "Be aggressive! Be aggressive! Dont stop...we need you!". I believe its vs the Pacers.

That team was built to keep games close, slow it down, get all the rebounds, and hope AI could score enough to win it for them.

But people in here talking about field goal percentage(and manipulating the data at that) while a guys own coach designed the offense and insisted he keep shooting....


What...hes supposed to be pleasing you?

Or is he supposed to help his team win games?

Anyone acting like he wasnt keeping that team in and winning them games regardless of what he shot is flat out...a ****ing idiot.

Or they were a child at the time.

There are no other options.

Iverson did what he had to do on a team that needed him to score more than arguably any great team has EVER needed its best player to score. And the other team knew they needed him.

Which is why everyone watching him do it was impressed and so many people years later reading box scores act like it was easy.

That guy looked fully prepared to rsk his life for every loose ball, every lazy cross court pass, every layup in traffic and got knocked down, broken, and bruised more than anyone ive ever seen and just kept getting up and handing out 35 in a close win.

I remember that game he missed vs the Bucks in the playoffs...I think im still emotionally fragile from the trauma of watching Eric snow out there trying to fill the void.

Could they win a game without him? Sure. Any 12 NBA players with a good coach could compete vs another nba team. I remember a particularly brutal game he missed when they beat us when we had Ron Mercer and Jamal Crawford. Granted we did win like 15 games that year...but they won...one of the most brutal to watch games of all time. Nothing like watching Marcus Fizer and Fred Hoiberg attack a good defense.

Anyway....the gulf between the respect Iverson had from all levels...fans to coaches...and what he gets on the internet now?

Shit is a travesty.

And it shows that a lot of people talking either dont remember the time or choose to rewrite history to support an opinion held by a small fraction of the basketball world.

Because flat out...credible basketball people...thought Allen Iverson was ****ing amazing.


Oh dear lawd Kblaze's murder of ArbitraryWater definitely needs to go into the ISH all time slays thread. I've rarely seen someone get dismantled so badly. While also making me respect a player much more.

[VIP2000]

And not that it doesn't still happen today, but GMs back then surrounded superstars with terrible, terrible supporting casts. Especially in the East. Vince Carter, Kevin Garnett and Tracy McGrady made the playoffs perennially with a bunch of nobodies. A team with Paul Pierce, Antoine Walker shooting 38% and a bunch of scrubs almost made the Finals.

[riseagainst]

also remember that Melo had to go through Kobe twice in the playoffs.