Tuesday, December 8th, 2009 at 9:00 am  |  67 responses

Allen Iverson is Back; Now What?

by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

Everyone seems to be in agreement that A.I.’s return to the City of Brotherly Love last night meant … something.

The stage was set up for him perfectly: a sold out arena, arguably louder than it’s ever been, his former team on the other side of the court, every last detail of the evening mined for significance, and all of the hoops universe’s eyes on this one game.

For a guy who has barely seen the basketball court this season, Allen played fairly well. 11 points, 6 assists, and five boards in 37 minutes of action.

Though the surging Denver Nuggets played a large role in determining the outcome of the game, it did not take too long for everyone to remember just how bad of a team Philly is. Allen Iverson’s addition to the mix is no miracle cure, no matter how badly the fans in Philadelphia may want it to be.

There’s no telling how much more (positive) drama Iverson can help create for the home team. And who knows if the large crowds will continue to come out once the novelty wears off, and people begin to wonder if it’s worth paying to watch a 5-16 team?

For now, the fans and city are in high spirits. Their diminutive hero is back where he belongs. To hold their interest, though, Iverson has a massive task ahead of him.

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  • http://allanzuss@yahoo.com Mendel

    JUKAI. AMEN!!!!

  • tavoris

    @ Teddy-the Sixers have HORRIBLE spacing out there, and that hurts Brand and Dalembert offensively. Hopefully AI can help with that (Kapono finding his J would help 2)

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    He blew out his Achilles.
    Billups did what he needed to do. Take over.
    And Iverson has always been bad on defense. He wasn’t any worselast night, and he was actually trying on defensive rotations.

  • Shem

    The sixers are just a bad team, they have no pg rotation, elton brand is getting PAID for playing bad and samuel dalembert is just plain stupid. As for Iggy and Young, they re good players but young and not consistent. Iverson doesn’t have much help or should I say Iggy doesn’t have much help

  • M-Blog

    ELTON BRAND IS A BUM..He is too damn slow and has too much chicken grease on his hands ..Why do he drop the ball so much? DAMN.Yes I agree the Sixers STARTED folding once AI was benched ..

  • http://www.manutd.com Z

    i thought AI played well. he’ll get more assertive with a few games under his belt. quite frankly, the nugs are just a better team, with or without AI.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    Iverson looks way out of rhythm, which took a lot of his aggressive nature away from the game. The 6ers are obviously a better team with Iverson. But I gotta say something about how much faster Lawson was then Iverson. I mean I know AI is outta shape, but Lawson made him look YMCA slow a few times

  • http://slamonline.com tealish

    Cosign on Brand looking lost. The big fella simply is not comfortable out there. I don’t know whether his injury from 2007 is still affecting him, but he looks straight up hesitant and nervous with and without the ball. Damn he used to be as consistent as Duncan…

  • Blaze

    First of the man is the answer. The Sixers could have a good team if the could get Brand da ball, Iggy is doin his thing but where was he in the 4th. That whole defense aspect the man made the all defensive team b4.He gettin his legs back n he is the best person on the team otha than Iggy making there own shot. AI is a plus for them offensively and defensively but its up to the organization to make it a a good season whe Lou Williams comeback but i do see them in the playoffs

  • Robb

    Now the Sixers will continue losing but more people will watch!

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    I’m just glad he’s back. He’s getting minutes… everyone is happy.

  • http://minusthebars.blogspot.com don

    Allen Iverson return to The city of Brotherly Love makes sense, although I cannot see it being of any significance to the team. The 76ers are a horrible team.

    Period.

    It might sell a few more tickets. That’s about it.

  • http://slamonline.com NUPE

    It will be interesting to see how the team plays when AI is back in shape. But I’m not sure how much better they are with AI than without. They may win 5-10 more games than they would have without him, and I expect that he’ll have one or two 40 pt games that will remind everyone just how good he has been and can be. I don’t expect him to be the AI from just 3-5 years ago, but his solid performance being out of game-shape shows he’s far from out of gas.

  • tavoris

    Brand looks to be moving & jumping really well. But when every defensive player is inside the 3 point line (because outside of Kapono, nobody on the Sixers is an legit outside threat), he has VERY LITTLE room to operate from the mid-post.

  • http://gg aurelio f. garcia

    iverson is the best…. iverson is the number one player here in the philippines…. you gonna make it baby…. go go go go ogo go…. iverson will bring you tothe playoffs.

  • http://gg iggy.

    yeah… iverson is the greatest player ive ever seen…. i love watching nba because of allen iverson…. he made spectacular shots despite his small size.. that awesome…..

  • http://gg mike

    when i started watching nba, iverson is my idol… he is the reason why im watching nba…. when he is not playing i hate watching nba anymore!!!! but for now im so happy my idol got back… your the here in the philippinesss….. your number one here … we love you…

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