Allen Iverson ESPN 2006-07 Evaluation and 2007-08 Outlook

From ESPN, here is the Allen Iverson 2006-07 evaluation and the 2007-08 outlook. Look for a Nuggets 1 response, probably within 24 hours.

ALLEN IVERSON ESPN EVALUATION & OUTLOOK

2006-07 season: Iverson showed unusual restraint immediately after joining the Nuggets. The Answer averaged a career-low 18.9 field-goal attempts per game after the trade, nearly six a game less than he was taking in Philly, but his assist numbers stayed the same. Then the playoffs started and all that went out the window. Iverson overdribbled into one contested jumper after another, taking more than 20 shots in every game but making only 36.8 percent as the Spurs knocked out Denver in five games.

One hopes that Iverson will learn from this. In Philadelphia he developed the instinct to do it himself when things got tough, because he sure as heck wasn't getting much help from other sources. But on this team, he's the No. 2 threat, and all those one-on-five forays were just keeping the ball out of Carmelo Anthony's hands.

Despite taking markedly fewer shots in Denver, he didn't make a higher percentage -- which is odd, since removing all the high-difficulty hoists at the end of the clock that he took in Philly should have had a salutary effect on his shooting percentage.

Iverson turned 31 before last season, and his results indicated he may be starting to slip. Iverson's player efficiency rating dropped more than six points from the previous season, one of the biggest dips in the league, and although some of that could be expected based on the jump in PER he'd had a year earlier, nobody foresaw a drop of that magnitude. Only six players saw their mark drop more than Iverson, and none were anywhere near his universe as a player.

The last three star guards to have a drop of his magnitude were Kevin Johnson in 1997-98, Penny Hardaway in 1997-98, and Stephon Marbury in 2005-06. None of them bounced back, so this may be the new normal for Iverson. If so, that's still a heck of a player, but he'll need to tone it down a lot offensively and defer to Anthony more regularly.

Scouting report: Iverson is one of the quickest and fastest players to play the game, something that allows him to penetrate defenses almost at will. The book is to force him to go left, where he's more likely to pull up for jumpers rather than go all the way to the basket and draw fouls or make layups. The crackdown on carrying last season hurt him a bit, but he remains as good as anyone at creating offense at the end of the shot clock.

Iverson isn't nearly as good from outside as he is on the drive, and he still tends to shoot too many 3-pointers. He's improved as a passer in recent seasons though, and it's possible he'll see as much or more time at the point as he does at shooting guard.

Defensively, Iverson is great in the passing lanes but his tendency to gamble often compromises the defense. Despite his quickness he's a mediocre on-ball defender and rarely gets in good help position. His main trick is to try to draw push-off calls by snapping his head back after brushing arms with an opponent, but he only gets the whistle about once very three flops (and no, I didn't track this stat specifically, but thanks for asking).

2007-08 outlook: Based on what's happened to other quick guard in their 30s, and on how Iverson's numbers decline a year ago, it's quite possible we're looking at a new phase in his career. He's still a deadly scorer and a terror in transition, but he's more likely to end up with a PER in the high teens and a scoring average in the low 20s. The key is whether he's ready to make that adjustment -- the way he handled the regular season says yes, but his playoff performance indicates it might be a fight.

Most similar at age: Tim Hardaway