Since everyone is talking about AI…

The Cast 050418

By

The Fillerbuster

FOCUS:

Just a relatively quick one tonight.  I have set up camp on my couch for a few hours of playoff basketball and thought I would share what I have been Thinking about this afternoon.

Disclaimer:  Yes, I am a fan of this guy, but will try and be relatively unbiased when talking about him.

As I sit down to watch the Pelicans and Warriors, and as I thought about every game I have seen throughout the playoffs, I thought about the talent still left.  There are young stars, there are older stars, and there are super teams.  There are multi-dimensional players, spot up shooters, and guards who simply grew a lot in high school (Brow).  There is TALENT though, undeniably.  Now, I could branch this short blog off into how the old days were better, how MJ was better than LeBron, and how the Lakers or Celtics lineups in the early 80’s could literally smoke most of these teams.  But, I won’t.  Let’s talk about AI.

Why AI?  Because I began thinking about how players over the years have carried their team in some cases.  Then, I started thinking about who did it best and who relied on others.  Then, I started thinking about Allen Iverson.

My premise?  If you take every single team that has made it through the gauntlet of the NBA playoffs, I could make a legitimate case that Allen Iverson led the worst team ever to the Finals.  Yes, he was a bit of a ball hog.  Yes, he was cocky.  Yes, he probably should have done things a little differently.  But, remember, there is a list of about 3-4 players EVER to be around the six foot mark and still be able to take over a game, totally with other opposing players literally left helpless with their almost broken ankles.  He was magnificent.  AI is seventh all time in points per game in the NBA.  If he would have fought off the urge to try and rekindle his younger skills, he would have joined MJ and Wilt as the only players to average more than 30 a game for his career (averaged that until he became an afterthought).  He was lightning quick, and had a laser beam shot.  When the quickness was diminished, so was his advantage.  He ended up with tiny 26.66 pts per game after his later years.  Still not too shabby.

But, what about that 2000-2001 team?  It was horrible.  It was a workable .500 team in the NBA with AI in the mix and putting them WAY over the top.  No, they shouldn’t have beaten the Lakers that year, but the fact they GOT there should put him in NBA lore.  I am not putting down his teammates.  They were NBA players and good in their own right.  But, ball hog personality or not, to LIFT them to where they got to was the eighth wonder of the world.

Look at this roster.

Are you KIDDING me?  I would love the roster you show me to dispute this claim.  The closest guy averaged almost TWENTY points less than him.  I would say you could tell me he DID bring them down if he just made the second round or conference finals.  But, he got them farther.  Not only that, he lost to one of the better Finals teams in years.  He went through players like Charles Oakley, Del Curry, Antawn Jamison, Hakeem, and Vince Carter in the conference semi’s (sorry, Mugsy and Morris P.).  He went through players like Glenn Robinson, Michael Redd, Ray Allen, Sam Cassell, and Anthony Mason in the conference finals.  Some of these were HOF’ers.  And, he averaged 32 plus a game and kept his assists at over 6 per game.

Iverson had:

Eric Snow:  PG who couldn’t shoot.

Aaron McKie:  Serviceable at best for his career.

Theo Ratliff:  Mainly a shot blocker.

Dikembe Mutombo:  10 years into career, mind you, and he already was a bigger, slower center in his younger years.

Tyrone Hill:  Exactly.

Jumaine Jones:  Getting the point?

George Lynch:  OK, not a bad guy to have on your side.

Kevin Ollie:  Some of you are probably saying “he played IN the NBA?”

Matt Geiger:  This I would compare to Poison, Winger, and Def Leppard still putting out albums in the 80’s.  OK, not EXACTLY like that, but that comparison made me laugh.  Let’s just say you are allowed to have a slow white guy in the center IF he is surrounded by All Stars…plural.  And, a repetitive bass with an glitzy guitar probably wasn’t going to put down Pearl Jam and Nirvana.

Toni Kukoc:  He obviously wished the MJ comeback would have been more successful.

OK.  That is not everyone, but you get the point. All I am saying is this.  When you watch the NBA Playoffs, and remember the greats, don’t forget to tell your memory that a guy who did NOT win it all…still put on one hell of a show.  He took a bad team all the way to the bitter end.

And this didn’t end with his skill.  He might have been an idiot OFF the court, but ON the court, he would have played until he fell over.  Before those Finals, they showed a picture of his body, and had about 7 items that pointed to his body.  These were injuries that he was fighting through.  And he still averaged almost 42 minutes a game in the postseason that year.  He was absolutely amazing to watch.  What he did as an individual put him near the top, but what he did as a TEAM, let’s not totally forget.

Yes, I know AI (the one some of you thought I would cover) will get bigger until the day they all rebel and Terminator is true and we all die because we yelled at the automated voice when calling Comcast.  The movie will be correct just like Rocky was right when he stressed lifting logs and wheelbarrows, which we now call functional/core workouts.  So, let’s embrace AI, both the robots and The Answer.  One WILL beat the hell out of us, and the other one already did.  Well done, AI.  You were a joy to watch.

Quick Hitters:

• Barry on HBO just had an episode end with…mind BLOWN. You really need to watch this show.
• I think there is something wrong with you if you are not rooting in SOME way for the Golden Knights from Vegas.
• Things like Big Ben raping a chick in a bar didn’t make me happy, I admit, but I will tell you I am PROUD to be a Steelers fan right now after they just converted Shazier’s salary next year to a signing bonus. They didn’t have to do this.  They did it just because they wanted to take care of their boy.  No, it doesn’t help their salary cap hit, and there is no advantage to doing this financially for the team.
• Jason Witten won’t be a first ballot HOF’er out of respect for the system and contenders on the board, but he will go the second year deservedly.
• Since that was probably the ONLY time Steph Curry will come off the bench, his first three pointer was pretty sweet. A couple of fancy dribbles and passes later, you realized that, super team or not, he is pretty fun to watch.
• Tom Wilson getting suspended was deserved and a shame. Him knocking out a contender’s player for the rest of the way is downright depressing.
• I really don’t understand why the Swedish couple is IN the Dos Equis commercial.
• So, without going into my personal list of jokes, you are telling me the cheerleader squad which gets press on going topless…was the SKINS????????????????
• The fact that Canada Dry just NOW figured to combine their old as hell drink with lemonade shows internal breakdown about as much as the raisin companies taking so long to put chocolate on their product.
• I could see us saying Brad Stevens and new Suns hire Igor Koskokov are two of the best coaches in the NBA about 4 years from now.
• James Paxton throws 16 K’s and loses. He should probably go grab some drinks in Toronto right about now.
• To make you sadder about your frivolous life (like mine), not only is LeBron possibly the greatest player ever but ALSO smart in business. His $6 mil investment in Liverpool soccer is now at $32 mil.
• If you haven’t heard the For Hims radio commercial about baldness, then you haven’t truly lived.
• Who said you need to win a Super Bowl? Matt Ryan will now be the first NFL player to make $30 mil a year.  I think they should have paid him $28.3 mil (do you GET that joke?).
• Peter King is leaving SI after 29 years. Man, I will miss reading the MMQB site on Monday mornings…errrr….after work.
• I am kind of shallow, and my favorite part of our new house is this. You open the fridge door to see a normal fridge.  But, if you need some ketchup or mustard, you just press a button while opening the door and the SHELVES DETACH!!!!!!!!!  The condiments are right in front of you.  I LOVE it.
• I think people who don’t watch Family Guy have their own issues, and I was watching an episode the other night and I almost fell off the bed when they did:
  • Cosby Show theme song with what we know now
  • Alternative ending to Back to the Future where Marty decides to say the hell with it with the future and go bang Lorraine.
• Ate brunch at Sassafras (won’t be near my new house) and THIS is what I call a brunch.
• Can’t find the picture. Just there and order the breakfast mac and cheese, the Pimento cheese grits, and the fried chicken egg.
• Never mind.  I found it.
• Lindsey has her side job as the sip and paint thing. She never believes me that her paintings, although not WHY she did this, are GOOD.  Tell me you wouldn’t buy this for your house wall.
• Finally, the only thing I find funnier than a person JOGGING on Colfax Avenue is a tourist couple asking someone to take their PICTURE on Colfax. This is hilarious.

Links to save you time in life:

That’s it for today.  Hope you enjoyed or are at least more informed.  Will I blog again?  That is a CLOWN question, bro.  Peace.