Iverson would have 1 ring at best if he replaced Kobe in the 3-peat years.
Some people act like your average player could win as many rings as Kobe did or more with Shaq as the #1 option. Well one player I know wouldn't win many rings and would probably be lucky to win one ring in general is Allen Iverson..
People take for granted what Kobe did in those 3 peat years. He was arguably or the very best perimeter defender in the league then, He was also capable of closing out games and he also did it in the playoffs as well. Allen Iverson is capable of closing out games as well, but as far as defense goes he doesn't even touch Kobe in that category. Kobe was capable of shutting down team's best perimeter scorer night in and night out, Although he might still be capable of doing that, he doesn't do it anymore very often like he did back then. Back in the days, It was his job to play defense, deny the ball, all that, It's not anymore.
One thing people don't understand is, Allen Iverson and Shaq just would not have mesh well together.
Edit: I don't think people realize that most of the time Shaq would get his numbers but those numbers weren't necessarily helping his team win that way, but that didn't stop the press from calling him a loser who could never win the big one.......how times have changed now. Either way, some of you don't realize how much Kobe's presence managed to impact and help Shaq win a ring.
But as I said Zero and ONE at the most, Iverson would be a terrible fit alongside Shaq, just because of how much both players need the ball. Really, I don't know how some of you can say he would win 2+ with a straight face.
Last edited by RedZiggyZag : 08-18-2009 at 11:11 PM.
Re: Iverson would have 1 ring at best if he replaced Kobe in the 3-peat years.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Allstar24
Correction: Iverson would have 0 rings if he replaced Kobe in the 3-peat years.
In my opinion, Probably. But I'm sure there would be 1 year Shaq absolutely beasts and ends up winning a championship by himself. That's why I said 1 ring at best. People tend to underrate Kobe's values on those 3 Peat teams, oh well. At least he ended up winning one as the leader last season.
Re: Iverson would have 1 ring at best if he replaced Kobe in the 3-peat years.
Iverson never played with anyone who makes it as easy as Shaq does on the perimeter. Imagine Iverson in 1999 one on one against his man every play. He'd average 8 assist (4 just beating his man to the basket and dumping it to Shaq for a dunk).
People aren't looking at this right. You have a guy who can average 30 ppg while being triple teamed who would be all of a sudden one on one every game all game it would be a wrap...along with the most dominant big man of the time and the refs...championship ! A few of them.
Re: Iverson would have 1 ring at best if he replaced Kobe in the 3-peat years.
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Originally Posted by darius15
Kobe wouldn't have taken the 2001 Sixers team to the finals.
Hard to say....The East was at it's weakest. The 76ers team were an incredible defensive team. He would have Deke, who was somewhat of a capable post scorer and was also the DPOY that season and he would have Aaron McKie, the 6th man of the year. He probably would've been able to take them to the Finals.
Re: Iverson would have 1 ring at best if he replaced Kobe in the 3-peat years.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JordanL
People underrating prime Shaq again...
Hm not really, He had one of the most dominant primes in NBA History, however he was not very capable of shouldering a team and winning a championship by himself like Hakeem, Barry and Duncan were capable of doing.
He had too many exploitable areas like Pick n roll defense, FT shooting, etc..... Those were things Kobe managed to make up. There's no question Shaq is a Top 5 Center in NBA History, however there's no guarantee Iverson would've won more than 1 ring if he was Shaq's teammate.
Re: Iverson would have 1 ring at best if he replaced Kobe in the 3-peat years.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RedZiggyZag
Some people act like your average player could win as many rings as Kobe did or more with Shaq as the #1 option. Well one player I know wouldn't win many rings and would probably be lucky to win one ring in general is Allen Iverson..
People take for granted what Kobe did in those 3 peat years. He was arguably or the very best perimeter defender in the league then, He was also capable of closing out games and he also did it in the playoffs as well. Allen Iverson is capable of closing out games as well, but as far as defense goes he doesn't even touch Kobe in that category. Kobe was capable of shutting down team's best perimeter scorer night in and night out, Although he might still be capable of doing that, he doesn't do it anymore very often like he did back then. Back in the days, It was his job to play defense, deny the ball, all that, It's not anymore.
One thing people don't understand is, Allen Iverson and Shaq just would not have mesh well together.
Has it ever occurred to you that Iverson would be a different player with Shaq as his teammate?
Do you know how much pressure he'd have taken away from him?
The defense wouldn't be able to concentrate on him, so his effectiveness would jump along with his assists.
I mean... do you think that he'd be the exact same player? NO he wouldn't.
Re: Iverson would have 1 ring at best if he replaced Kobe in the 3-peat years.
Quote:
Originally Posted by andgar923
Has it ever occurred to you that Iverson would be a different player with Shaq as his teammate?
Do you know how much pressure he'd have taken away from him?
The defense wouldn't be able to concentrate on him, so his effectiveness would jump along with his assists.
I mean... do you think that he'd be the exact same player? NO he wouldn't.
One thing I've learned about Iverson was that he's always been a volume scorer and always will be, Kobe was like that too, No question. However, Kobe has always been a lock-down defender and arguably one of the best perimeter defenders in the league and I cannot say the same for Mr. Allen Iverson.
The defense would be much worse if you replace Iverson with Kobe, offense might be the same but to be honest I definitely trust Kobe more in late game situations and as a closer than Iverson.
Re: Iverson would have 1 ring at best if he replaced Kobe in the 3-peat years.
Quote:
Originally Posted by andgar923
Has it ever occurred to you that Iverson would be a different player with Shaq as his teammate?
Do you know how much pressure he'd have taken away from him?
The defense wouldn't be able to concentrate on him, so his effectiveness would jump along with his assists.
I mean... do you think that he'd be the exact same player? NO he wouldn't.
His assists would jump up 3-4 per game average and his FG% would go up because there would be no more off balance shots over a triple team. It would be heaven for Iverson. Also he would be a Laker during that era so his FTA per game would go up 2-3 because every little ticky tack would be called for him.
Iverson would have 1 ring at best if he replaced Kobe in the 3-peat years.
