1) Iverson will likely increase attendence. People will pay to see Iverson play. This will help the financial situation at MSG

2) Iverson and Nate are basically the same player. Adding Iverson at a reasonable salary allows you to package Nate with some of our albatross contracts and maybe let us get two big free agents next year.

Now, I don’t know what his addition will mean in wins and losses, but it can’t be much worse right now. He could be a distraction and take minutes away from developing players, but I think the upside beats the downside.

No, the issue is not just yours, many people have said the same. You make a very fair point. And I do hope my response did not read like I am a high and mighty know it all–clearly I don’t know it all, I’m not mighty and I don’t get high ahem anymore ahem .

I admit the stat comparison is full of flaws. I just dont have much else to go on and i’d rather we talk about numbers–even a small sample size–than not. I acknowleded several times that it is a very narrow comparison, but again its all we have.

Really, i only wanted people to understand that the 2004-05 Allen Iverson wont be walking through that door. And i think Allen’s numbers from the last two seasons plus his age should confirm that.

I do appreciate the feedback being a junior contributor to this site its the only way I’ll improve.

GAx,

“Thomas B busted this one out(thanks for doing that, btw).”

I try. We got a game tonight lets close the books on this discussion barring a contract offer to AI shall we?

Of course Jordan Hill is #31….

I meant cold blooded, not cold hearted… was searching for that saying in my mind and couldn’t find it.

I completely agree that Iverson has been vastly overrated on his career. He had the tools to be a great player, but it didn’t really happen despite popular opinion. However, my whole point is exactly that this should not be a referendum on how good Iverson’s been over his career.

I am trying to look only at this particular situation. Iverson is no longer a $20 mill per player, he’s probably looking at 1-3 mill to finish the season. The Knicks are not a good team and have been desperate for good PG play this season, they don’t have the option of Andre Miller or Chauncey Billups over Iverson: it’s Duhon vs. Iverson. They have an open roster spot. Right there I think you have enough to at least consider the move.
The reason I am for giving it a shot (and, mind you, I am not saying he will come in and be All-NBA or even that it will work out at all) is precisely that his best NBA season was in 07-08. I am trying to look past the PER (not sure I’ve used PER once, at least not since the beginning of the discussion). His WP48 in 07-08 was above average. I don’t know if he can repeat that, and I don’t know what Duhon’s WP48 is so far this season. The Knicks team has some similarities to the Nuggets’ offense Iverson helped to an 11th place ranking in 07-08: fast pace, versatile young wing scorer as top scoring option, cold hearted young scoring guard(s) off bench, athletic bigs. I really doubt the Knicks can finish 11th (even from here on out, ignoring the first 10 games), but I thought they could be a top 15 offense entering this season… The defense has been about as good as I would have expected (which means bad), and I don’t think Iverson will hurt on that side of the ball.

My argument is just that I would take Iverson over Duhon as my starting PG in tonight’s game. I sort of agree with those who say give it a few days, no one else is going to sign him. The only downside is that it becomes a “will they sign him or not” media circus and hypes up the arrival if they do sign him or makes passing him up more memorable if he signs elsewhere and contributes. The Knicks need a shot in the arm right now, not a distraction. So, I would make a decision quickly if I were Walshtoni, and if it’s no you can always keep the door a little open.

“He probably had his finest season in the league two years ago and that Nuggets team won just 50 games, had just the 11th best pythagorean, and got blown out in the playoffs.”

The Knicks are about 1/2 the team that Nuggets team was… They need talent, in any form. Wilson Chandler and Larry Hughes combine for 22 FGAs/game for this squad. Harrington takes almost 16. It’s reasonable to expect someone who was a major cog on that Nuggets team to help this 1-9, 26th in offensive efficiency, 25th in defensive efficiency, 28th in Pythagorean W-L, and 4th in Pace Knicks team…

He cites a source in the front office who says the odds are around 50-50 right now. Another source says it’s a given and that a big play is imminent.

“He would be signed for just this season, and he could be cut at the first sign of trouble.”

http://bit.ly/23eW5M

Ted – I agree that 3 games is an inappropriate sample size. However, other than that, I am shocked you are so gung ho about this idea. Here is a post from Neil Paine of Basketball Reference on Iverson. This gives a much better account of the stats

http://www.basketball-reference.com/blog/?p=3202

I don’t want to have a referendum on how good Iverson has been as a basketball player. But anyone who looks past his PER and his scoring totals (and many of you probably should) has good reason to doubt whether he was ever a true star player in this league in terms of production rather than perception.

He has a career offensive rating of just 105, a career ts% of 52%, and no great strength anywhere else in the box score. He has never been in the top 5 in the league in Win Shares. He is one of the highest scoring and most celebrated offensive stars in league history, but he has never played a full season on a top 10 offense in his NBA career. Let me say that again,

Allen Iverson has never played a full season on a top ten offense

Until recently, his defensive -/+ performance was below average. And every team he has left has improved. I am not even going to bring up the Wages of Wins perspective, you all can read Malcolm Gladwell on Iverson if you like.

Point being, I don’t want to be a hardliner. but I would like to leaven the Iverson adulation on this board of late with the fact that there is nothing statistically special about Iverson. He probably had his finest season in the league two years ago and that Nuggets team won just 50 games, had just the 11th best pythagorean, and got blown out in the playoffs.

It’s not a step forward to sign Iverson, and if it’s not a step forward it’s a step back….