Fast Break: I Want to Bury the Iverson Can't... Crowd Once and For All

You know what, though? If you are a really, really serious basketball person, you need to look at the cousin of points per assist, which is shots per assist. Since Iverson was much more controlled and accurate by the time he was in his 11th and 12th years in the League, his shooting percentage went up:

IVERSON SHOOTING %
96-97 0.416
97-98 0.461
98-99 0.412
99-00 0.421
00-01 0.420
01-02 0.398
02-03 0.414
03-04 0.387
04-05 0.424
05-06 0.447
06-07 0.413 Sixers
06-07 0.454 Nuggets
07-08 0.458

Now go on to:

IVERSON SHOTS PER ASSIST
96-97 2.65
97-98 2.85
98-99 4.74
99-00 5.28
00-01 5.58
01-02 5.04
02-03 4.27
03-04 3.47
04-05 3.05
05-06 3.42
06-07 3.36 Sixers
06-07 2.64 Nuggets
07-08 2.66

Now the plot has thickened and yours truly has to think things out yet again and make a modification or two.

What happened when Iverson went to Denver is that although the Nuggets did not tell Iverson to change anything, he did in fact change some things:

1 He was a much more accurate shooter than he was in Philadelphia. Whether he was a more what's best for the team as a whole shooter, though, is a separate question and is what is really the issue behind the Nuggets mess.
2. He did in fact return all the way back to his rookie year when he was still a point guard, in terms of shots per assist. He reduced his shots per assist very substantially as soon as he arrived in Denver, and by a greater amount than can be explained only by the Carmelo Anthony factor. The only reason points per assist, from the previous post, were still higher than they were when he was a point guard in Philadelphia in 1996-97, was that he was making more shots in Denver!
3. Although Iverson was not told to reduce shooting in favor of assisting, he did so anyway, but only to a limited extent, once the fact that the Sixers had no one remotely like Carmelo Anthony on their team is taken into account. So he did it voluntarily, and only when he was in the mood. Apparently he thought it might be the right thing to do, but since no one told him to do it, he only did it when he was in the mood to do it, which was not all the time.

In my own reports I have for some games described Iverson as modifying his game some from Philadelphia, but only when he was in the mood. Now I know exactly why I was saying that all those times, laugh out loud.

So getting back to the Pistons, what does the Pistons' objective have to be?

I'd say they need to set the objective at 2.35 shots per assist or lower, because:

1. This is the Pistons we are talking about, not some scrub team.
2. This is a much older Allen Iverson we are talking about, not some 21 year old who has been scoring most of the points on his teams lately.
3. Denver did not get their offensive efficiency up to as high as they needed to get it with Iverson's shots per assist at 2.65, so you need to be 10-15% or more less than that or you will be too much like Denver and, trust me, you do not want to ever be too much like Denver.

And, as already stated, you set the points per assist objective at 3.00 or lower.

You need to achieve both. If Iverson's shooting percentage goes down again, you can allow the shots per assist target to go up again; I would not under any circumstances raise it above 2.60.

The Bottom Line:

1. Pistons want an Iverson shots per assist number of 2.35 or less, unless his shooting percentage goes way down, for example, from .455, to about .415, in which case they might get away with, at most, 2.60.
2. Pistons want an Iverson points per assist number of 3.00 or less. If his shooting percentage goes way down, for example, from .455 to about .415, you would reduce that to as low as 2.50.

We will be watching and seeing, from how the Pistons work Iverson on to their team, if the "Iverson can't..." crowd can be proven wrong once and for all.

Actually the "Iverson can't..." crowd has already been proven wrong to a limited extent, and by sheer accident. I just discovered that Iverson already reduced his shots per assist for the Nuggets, even though management didn't tell him to do that no less. Kind of goes against all the raving and ranting about "Iverson has to get his," or "Iverson is a shooter and scorer and not much else," and "Iverson does not have the mentality of a point guard," don't you think? I ask the "Iverson can't..." crowd, why would a maniac like that cut back on his shooting when he was not even asked?

But that's small potatoes compared with the proof that will be coming my way from the Pistons, with any luck at all. I want to bury the Iverson haters for good.