Fast Break: For the Record, Iverson Did Play Both Guard Positions at Once in Denver and That is Why The Nuggets' Offense Didn't Work Correctly

Anyone, insider or not, can now use Mr. Hollinger's data base at ESPN (though you still can not find his player efficiency rating formulas there). So why don't we compare Iverson the 2-guard to the designated 1-guards (point guards) of the NBA from the 2007-08 season. The assist rate is the percentage of the time a player's possession ends with an assist.

ASSIST RATE
Allen Iverson, DEN 21.4
Chris Paul, NOR 35.7
Chauncey Billups, DET 30.1
Steve Nash, PHO 39.7
Deron Williams, UTH 35.3
Jose Calderon, TOR 43.4
T.J. Ford, IND 31.5
Tony Parker, SAS 23.2
Baron Davis, LAC 24.3
Andre Miller, PHI 27.2
Jason Terry, DAL 18.1
Devin Harris, NJN 27.2
Mo Williams, MIL 26.1
Louis Williams, PHI 20.1
Jason Kidd, DAL 41.6
Rajon Rondo, BOS 29.5
Jameer Nelson, ORL 32.1
Sam Cassell, BOS 23.6
Jordan Farmar, LAL 22.5
Nate Robinson, NYK 17.9
Earl Watson, OKC 35.0
Mike Bibby, ATL 27.5
Kyle Lowry, MEM 25.3
Keyon Dooling, NJN 18.9
Raymond Felton, CHA 30.1
Chris Quinn, MIA 27.4
Stephon Marbury, NYK 23.7
Roger Mason, SAS 16.1
Derek Fisher, LAL 20.1
Antonio Daniels, WAS 34.9
Beno Udrih, SAC 23.5
Rafer Alston, HOU 25.5
Ronald Murray, IND 22.6
Kirk Hinrich, CHI 30.8
Aaron Brooks, HOU 23.0
Eddie House, BOS 19.6
Carlos Arroyo, ORL 31.8
Anthony Carter, DEN 37.8
Randy Foye, MIN 22.4
Jason Williams, MIA 31.2
Jamaal Tinsley, IND 33.9
Marcus Banks, MIA 20.0
Mike Conley, MEM 27.5
Dan Dickau, LAC 30.8
Ronnie Price, UTH 23.7
Travis Diener, IND 32.7
Steve Blake, POR 34.6
Marko Jaric, MEM 29.9
Jannero Pargo, NOR 19.7
Tyronn Lue, MIL 20.1
Daniel Gibson, CLE 19.8
Brevin Knight, UTH 42.5
Luke Ridnour, OKC 33.1
Damon Jones, CLE 23.5
Anthony Johnson, ORL 36.4
Chris Duhon, NYK 36.9
Marcus Williams, GSW 26.5
Javaris Crittenton, MEM 13.3
Sebastian Telfair, MIN 33.2
Earl Boykins, CHA 28.7
Quincy Douby, SAC 11.3
Jacque Vaughn, SAS 29.9
Sergio Rodriguez, POR 31.6
Damon Stoudamire, SAS 27.6
Royal Ivey, PHI 24.1
Darrell Armstrong, NJN 30.8
Mike James, NOR 14.7
Jason Hart, LAC 27.4
Acie Law, ATL 26.5
Smush Parker, LAC 25.9
Jeff McInnis, CHA 39.4

So from this you can see that Iverson, while playing shooting guard, and while ordered by George Karl to shoot as often as he wanted, made an assist as often as did the lessor assisting point guards! For example, look at Baron Davis and Tony Parker, just ever so slightly ahead of Iverson in assisting. If you just wished on a star for Iverson to be the point guard he would probably move ahead of Davis and Parker, laugh out loud.

If you made Allen Iverson responsible and accountable for assisting, then obviously the percentage of his possessions ending in assists would go up from 21.4. By how much, we will soon know as a result of the Detroit Pistons being aware of the hidden Iverson controversy that I have been reporting about for many moons.

At a rock bottom minimum, and assuming due to bad habits that Iverson would not do much of anything differently after being instructed to be the 1-guard for his team, his assist percentage would most likely go to about 25%. (It would go at least that high simply because of how often the designated point guard brings the ball up.) Depending on how much he was persuaded, and how much he was able to shake the bad habit of sometimes ignoring the open man, his assist percentage would, conservatively, go up to between 25% and about 30%. Theoretically, but not likely and not at all necessary for success, it would go higher than 30%.

An Iverson assist ratio of roughly 30% would have been perfect for the Nuggets, whereas the 21.4% was not enough, given how often Iverson was marginalizing the actual point guard, who was usually Anthony Carter. To a lessor extent in fact, Iverson as the 2-guard marginalized all of the other players, for that matter, as Iverson haters are fond of pointing out and exaggerating.

So what would you have to do to make Iverson, at the least, a point guard who is average with respect to assisting, among the starting point guards of the NBA? Most likely, you could simply strongly request it and it would be done. You know, simply asking can often do wonders. Why so many people have mental blocks on this subject is bewildering to say the least. It would seem that those who claim Iverson would not change anything if his position were changed are thinking that Iverson is some kind of alien who does not understand English.

Notice that the Raptors have the ultimate assisting point guard in Juan Calderon, even better in the basic assisting role than are Steve Nash, Chauncey Billups, Chris Paul, and Deron Williams.
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