1. It was probably Jordan’s best coached game. That’s not saying much, but his rotations weren’t terrible until the fourth. And really I can’t truly fault him – Iverson didn’t have his legs under him, having not played starters minutes in over six months. Billups abused Green badly in the fourth after Iverson left.
2. Even after the first few minutes, it’s pretty obvious to see Iverson has lost a step. That’s ok – he handed out six dimes, put up 11 points, and got to the line. That’s what he needs to do – Lou Will would settle for a jump shot instead of driving through the lane. There was a back and forth between Brand and Iverson that was off the wall amazing.
3. The crowd was abuzz every single time Iverson touched the ball. It was awesome. Every basket or assist he had a part in had the crowd screaming. With the atmosphere you’d think it were a playoff game.
4. I kept confusing Royal Ivey for Jrue Holiday. I was wondering why Holiday was playing so poorly. My bad.
5. Iguodala came out with a lot to prove, and he did – for the first two quarters. Then defenders swarmed him with double teams he basically disappeared from the game. He was a lockdown defender on Carmelo, allowing only 14 points. Billups had 31, many in the 17-0 run started after Iverson left the game. After Iverson left, Billups went nasty, including a 3 pointer that was well behind the three point line. It was then when people started leaving the game. Watch the replay, it was sick. Ty Lawson also ran past anyone not named Iverson, including Iverson at the end of the third. Yes, that Ty Lawson – the one I kept insisting that Sixers draft instead of Jrue. Ah well.
6. Brand put up a workman like double double, but when the defenders collapsed on him it’d be nice to see him make a pass now and again. I know he was trying to draw a foul, but it didn’t seem to be happening, and the shots weren’t falling.
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Seriously, being there made it worth the price of admission. Not just because of the pre-game, which was intense (I practically lost my voice before the game even started), but because of Iverson’s arrival, the team actually looked not half bad. They lost, which was the expected result, but I could honestly say that if Iverson were in mid-season form, and Speights were back from the injury and replaced Dalembert instead of Jason Smith, they would’ve won last night. It would’ve been an ugly win, but there’s finally a glimmer of hope there.
Will they make anything of this season? Beats me! But was it worth going last night? Absolutely. Nora had fun, Lisa had fun, I had fun. And even though it was a loss, the packed house was still pretty happy. They played hard, which isn’t a given the way they’ve played since the playoffs last season.
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