Changing of the Guard

When Allen Iverson first came to the Nuggets I was ecstatic. The Nuggets were consistently making the playoffs for years but had yet to break into the elite of the Western Conference (and thus, the NBA). They couldn’t even win a first round series. A.I. gave Nuggets fans hope. It actually looked like management was in the business of trying to make this team a winner, doing whatever it takes to provide George Karl with the talent he needs to win. The Nuggets then had the two top scorers in the league (statistically, at the time), what else could they possibly need?

A.I. and Carmelo coexisted well for awhile. They were saying all the right things, Iverson even looked like he was fine with deferring to Melo and being content with setting his teammates up with good opportunities to score. Of course that all fell to the wayside eventually and showed why games aren’t played on paper. The Nuggets scored a ton of points, they just forgot to play defense. In their haste to get up the court on offense, they gave up plays going the other way and just looked like they were willing to push on offense and survive on D.

I think part of the problem stemmed from the fact that Carmelo was still a very young guy and he was trying to mature without a positive role model and with the knowledge that he was the best player on an NBA team full of athletes but not necessarily role players. The team had an identity but that identity was that of a team with a bunch of shoot first players (J.R., AC, Melo, A.I., K-Mart, etc…) and one guy willing to play real defense all the time (Camby). The team’s most popular players, J.R. Smith and Linas Kleiza, were the only two guys (with the exception of a healthy Nene) who were willing to put everything they had on both sides of the floor. The problem was that the Nuggets had to go with a guard tandem of A.I. and Anthony Carter because A.I. couldn’t be trusted to run the offense and AC was the Nuggets’ best option at the point. Nothing against AC who is a pretty solid defender but he has his own problems with shot selection. Where was J.R.’s playing opportunities? A.I. needs 40 minutes a night to be happy and the thought of J.R. or A.I. running the point side by side is somewhat frightening.

Basically A.I. is a great scorer but needs the right mix of players to succeed. He has an abundance of talent and even had some success in Philly, leading them to the NBA Finals twice. He was the unquestioned alpha dog on those teams but those teams were systematically taken apart in the finals because they knew he was the team’s only real option. Stop him, stop the 76ers. A.I. is a perfect nickname for Iverson because he is like a computer game in a lot of ways. He hoists up 40 shots a game, never uses the entire clock, and is always looking for the exciting play. On defense, he goes for aggressive steals which puts him out of position at times and makes him a liability as he ages.

The Nuggets pulled off a brilliant trade earlier in the year to ship A.I. off to Detroit for Chauncey Billups (other players were involved but this was essentially a point guard swap). The prodigal son returned and I couldn’t have been more excited. Chauncey grew up in Colorado, attending the University of Colorado, and played for the Nuggest early in his career. Since that time, he cemented himself as one of the premier points in the league, a guy who was content with setting teammates up but was also deadly from the arc and could score when he needed to. At one point in his career he was known as “Mr. Big Shot” because of his ability to make a bucket when his team needed it the most.

The Nugs now have the 4th best record in the West (28-15) despite being without Carmelo (one of the top 10 players in the league) for 10 games. Chauncey has played like a champion with or without Carmelo and has elevated the play of everyone around him, offensively and defensively. This team should get a home playoff series this year and they have a legitimate shot of earning the 2 seed in the West. Meanwhile the Pistons are currently in 5^th place in a strong Eastern conference at 23-17. Trouble is already brewing though as the current starting lineup is not championship caliber and the coaching staff wants to make a change. Allen Iverson will not accept a 6^th man role so it has been announced that Rip Hamilton will be coming off the bench. We have seen from the Manu Ginobili experiment that a 6th man of that caliber can be a valuable ingredient to a championship team. It provides for a change of pace without a drop in talent. A.I.’s ego won’t allow for it so Rip will have to start games on the bench. Rip was a key ingredient on a gritty Pistons team that has a title belt. How he responds and how the fans will ultimately respond to the chemistry change should be watched closely.

-PSon