| A.I.'s Greatest Season? Authored by Charlie Danoff - January 30, 2008 - 3:23 pm
| Current Featured Columns | | Merry Christmas, Raptors Fans The Raptors might not be playing good basketball right now, but there are plenty of things for Toronto fans to be thankful for this holiday season.
A Melo Behind The SuperstarsCarmelo Anthony has never been one of the league's most efficient offensive players.
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On December 19, 2006, the Sixers, ending his tenure with the only franchise he had ever known, traded Iverson. His half season with the Nuggets was good, but not really notable by his standards. He finally had a teammate whose abilities were somewhat close to his own in Carmelo Anthony, but despite their offensive onslaught, the pair lost to the Spurs in the first round of the playoffs.
It can be tough for star players to adjust to new situations mid-season. MJ didn’t even win the title when he made his first “comeback” midway through the ’94 – ’95 season. With a full off-season under his belt and now meshed with his teammates, Iverson is playing on the best team he’s ever been on.
Amazingly, at 32, after all the pounding he has taken night after night for 11 NBA seasons, sacrificing life and limb for the game, and everything else he’s accomplished, Iverson is currently in the midst of the best season of his career.
No, he is not scoring as much. He remains one of the league’s top scorers, but the 26.9 PPG he currently averages is below his career average and far below his personal best of 33 PPG in ’05 – ‘ 06. And he’s not rebounding quite as much either. He still grabs three a game which is fine, but below his amazingly high, considering his frame and that he plays a game with the world’s tallest people, 4.9 rebounds per contest he averaged as a 23 year old. The rest of his game is about on par, his steals are still high at 2.1 per game, and he dishes out 6.8 assists nightly.
What has changed is that Iverson has finally evolved his game to respond to what has been his sharpest criticism, his inefficient shooting. There have been countless Philly losses that were attributable to a 4 for 22 Iverson shooting performance. For all of his heart, he has probably shot a little too much, to the point of hurting his team’s in his career. It is the natural response, given how he escaped his childhood by his own will alone, and that he has never really had good teammates.
As he and Kobe Bryant have proven over the years, no matter how much one player scores, they will no team will win a title riding just one horse.
And, Iverson’s circumstances have changed. Playing with Melo, Marcus Camby, Kenyan Martin and others, he is finally surrounded by people he can trust to make big shots. On this team he does not have to shoulder the load, like he did on that ’01 Sixers Finals team.
And you know what? Iverson’s realized all this. His field goal attempts per game are below his rookie year, and he’s become more efficient than ever in his scoring. He always did an amazing job of getting to the line, but this year he is even better.
For his career, he averages .41 free throw attempts per field goal attempt. That is to say, for every 100 shots he chucks up, he goes to the line 41 times. He is one of the best at this every year in the NBA, and this year he is better than he ever has been before. Currently he averages .52 free throw attempts per field goal.
Given his lowered field goal attempts, he’s still figuring a way to get his points, but he’s no longer doing so at the expense of his teammates. To make it even better, his True Shooting % is the highest of his career, at .564.
Iverson is currently ranked 16th by RealGM's season FIC with 703 and he has a per 40 FIC of 15.3.
Yet, despite everything he’s accomplished, and all the accolades he’s received, he is followed by a reputation as a player who gets “his” at the expense of his teammates. The team may win or lose, but Allen will get his 30 points, no matter how many shots it takes. Right or wrong, that perception exists.
Iverson has always been one to do things on his terms, his way, unwilling to change for others, because he got where was on his own, so what does he owe them?
This is the best season of Iverson’s career, because finally, his play has shown he’s acknowledged the previous deficiencies in his game and found ways to evolve past them. After all of his past success, Iverson has finally succeeded in that most difficult of ways for us all, changing or breaking habit and traits that have been successful for us in the past, but now prevent what we ultimately may become.
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