The Five Most Under Appreciated Athletes in Philadelphia History

Part 2 of 6

5 Andre Iguodala

When the Philadelphia 76ers drafted Andre Iguodala in 2004, he was not on many people's radar screen. He quickly opened eyes, though, with his extraordinary athleticism.

Iguodala stepped into a veteran laden lineup and played a supporting role to NBA scoring leader Allen Iversen and fading star Chris Webber. He made his mark by playing tough defense, hitting the boards and displaying prudence in shot selection.

The new A.I. clearly knew his place with the original A.I. dominating the ball, but exhibited tremendous explosiveness, agility, leaping ability, hustling defense and well-rounded skills. When Iversen wore out his welcome and Webber displayed rapidly declining skills, the Sixers moved the veterans and made Iguodala the de facto center point early in the 2006-2007 season.

"Iggy" continued to fill up all columns of the box score in the lead role, but the team could not escape mediocrity. He teamed with Andre Miller to lead a young Sixers team a step forward with two consecutive playoff berths, before suffering first-round exits.

Conventional wisdom was that the continuing maturation of young talent along with the return of a healthy Elton Brand, this season's team would take the next step forward. As 76ers fans painfully know, however, the team performance dropped like a rock under new coach Eddie Jordan.

In Philadelphia, the debate has continued about Iguodala's deficiencies and inability to raise the team around him. Having been placed in the lead role and re-signed to a lucrative contract a few years ago has made the new AI the lightning rod for the team's failures.

The reality is that Iguodala would be ideal in a supporting role behind a true top echelon star, but in the absence of that, media and fans have centered on trading him in search of coming up with a winning formula. And, despite some of the game's most spectacular dunks and athleticism, his overall skills and contributions unfortunately tend to get overlooked.

I'm just saying....

A weekly collection of random thoughts and observations for you to consider.

• So, of what consequence is Mark McGwire's acknowledgement that he used steroids? This seemed pretty apparent for years, especially considering his effective "no comment" in front of Congress several years ago. As it relates to the Hall of Fame voting, the bottom line is that his stats were jacked up by the juice even though he is using the old line that he took steroids "only for medicinal purposes."
• I'm still trying to digest Bobby Knight's absurd comments comparing steroids to Gatorade. I wonder if he similarly rationalized his recruiting practices, such as "what's the difference between a scholarship and a scholarship with a Corvette?"
• What's all the fuss about Lane Kiffin going to USC? Has he won anywhere in his career, even with Coordinator Extraordinaire Dad in tow?
• His future is unclear, but it still seems clear that the Eagles failure to put the ball in Brian Westbrook's hands was one of many mistakes made in the team's swan song on Saturday night. One year earlier, the Eagles offense struggled to get anything going against the Vikings until Westbrook exploded for a long touchdown on a screen play. And, he looked like the same guy on his 27-yard sprint on the only ball that came his way Saturday.
• Although many are minimizing its importance because Andy Reid has final say on personnel matters, losing Tom Heckert to the Browns is a blow to the Eagles. Reid devotes the lion's share of his time to coaching the football team, so having a strong, seasoned football guy behind the scenes handling GM duties (like leading talent evaluation) has been instrumental to the team's success during his tenure.
• After being out of the spot light for the first round of the playoffs, Brett Favre must be feeling re-invigorated as a key center of attention this week. There is likely a faction of football fans out there rooting for the Vikings to win simply to delay the annual "Will Favre come back?" Ego-Stroke-Fest that everyone will have to endure for months.
• Speaking of Favre, it makes me wonder when he truly does retire, will he need to relocate from the deep south LA to the left coast LA where he can stay within the Paparazzi line of sight?
• Congratulations to Leonard Weaver, Trent Cole, DeSean Jackson, Asante Samuel, David Akers and Brian Dawkins on being named to the 2010 NFL All-Pro team. Unfortunately, Dawkins was not in midnight green this year and most assuredly voters did not consider anyone at his position who did wear that color.
• The Colts Jim Caldwell was making looking replacing a coaching legend easy until he made the fateful decision to pull Peyton Manning and others in Week 16. My gut tells me that this will serve to be an unfavorable turning point and the season will end in disappointment before the Super Bowl.
• Like Juan Castro, it is hard to get too excited about the Phillies signing of relief pitcher Danys Baez. Reports indicate that he has electric stuff, but has had a tendency to get rattled and has never had more than mediocre results. If Chan Ho Park or John Smoltz are out of the question, what the Phillies really need is for Scott Mathieson to emerge as the next Ryan Madson.
• The Atlanta Braves have quietly been having a productive offseason and appear poised to provide some stiff competition in the NL East. The additions of Troy Glaus, Billy Wagner and Takashi Saito, along with a full season from Nate McClouth and their starting rotation, make them a legitimate contender.
• Brett Myers' reaction to the Phillies disinterest in resigning him are probably indicative of exactly why Ruben Amaro chose to go that route.
• Trading away young talent to acquire Tracy McGrady would be a panic move and destine the Sixers to a run of losing seasons. And, if clearing salary cap space is the catalyst, getting rid of your best player (Andre Iguodala) is not the way to do it. Philadelphia only has one NBA team, so the city can't afford to house "Clippers East."
• Watching DeJuan Blair, the 37th pick of last year's NBA draft, rack up 28 points and 21 rebounds for the Spurs last night reinforces how professional teams place too much emphasis on projected performance over how players actually performed in college.

Sixers Continue Free Fall, Face Critical Stretch

Any hopes the Sixers had for the season are quickly getting away as they continue their free fall. Last night's defeat to the Houston Rockets makes an even dozen, as they have now registered their 12th consecutive loss. It also marked their third straight loss since re-acquiring Allen Iverson.

If they cannot get a win Monday night against the struggling Golden State Warriors, things have the potential to get even uglier. The next two games are against the powerhouse Cavs and Celtics. The Sixers then host the perpetually lackluster LA Clippers before heading on their annual west coast holiday tour after a quick stop in DC. Even if they find a way to break the losing streak, they face the specter of being totally buried by the time they return home in the new year.

After advancing to the playoffs for a second consecutive year and playing pretty well against a tough Orlando team, the organization viewed the young team as an up and comer. President and GM Ed Stefanski opted to pass on signing veteran Andre Miller and hang onto his big ticket purchase from a year earlier, Elton Brand. He then decided that Eddie Jordan and his Ivy League system were the right formula to cultivate his young team. And, with no true point guard on the roster, Stefanski elected to draft a 19 year old project in the 1st round of the draft.

It would be safe to assume that if Stefanski had to do it all over again, he would have made different decisions, starting with Brand. The high priced free agent has been a large disappointment and encumbered the team financially. Jordan has done nothing to make Sixers fans forget Billy Cunningham and Larry Brown- or Doug Moe and Roy Rubin for that matter. It still remains to be seen how his latest move of signing Iverson will work out.

The Sixers got off to a bad start last season as well and then were able to recover enough to qualify for the playoffs, so it may seem premature to write off the season. In theory, the Sixers could still start to get the hang of their new system and roles. Players such as Marreese Speights and Lou Williams could return from injury and provide a boost. Brand could regain the form of his glory years as a Clipper. Once he gets his legs under him and loses the inhibitions associated with trying to prove himself a good teammate, Iverson could move from being "The Question" to "The Answer."

Right now, though, the odds do not appear to be with them. They do not have a big inside presence, they still lack perimeter shooting and do not distinguish themselves on defense. The Sixers appeared to be at their best over the past couple seasons when they used their athleticism and pushed the ball up the floor, yet are not organized to capitalize on those strengths.

Unfortunately, the team appears to have a major identity crisis. They are not sure what they want to be and are a collection of pieces that do not necessarily fit together. They have some talented players, but no rain makers.

The pressure mounts to turn losses into victories as the hole gets deeper. Although there was some risk in letting Miller walk, the return of Brand and Jason Smith as well as the experience gained by young players last year had the team thinking optimistically. As this season's attendance would suggest, fans were obviously less bullish.

The upcoming stretch of games will likely define the course of the season. Registering enough wins to see outside light from the deep hole in which they currently stand might have them trying to meld the team around the two A.I.'s. Conversely, no more than a couple wins might have the team throwing in the towel, releasing Iverson and " going young" for the balance of the season. Heck, they might even abandon the "Princeton Offense."

The Second Coming

Last night, the Philadelphia 76ers turned back the hands of time. The Wachovia Center was jam-packed. Sixers fans hit levels on the decibel meter untouched in several years. Players bounded with excitement in pre-game like it was a big game. "The Answer" was back in town and back in uniform.

The Sixers controlled the opening tip and 11 seconds later Allen Iverson launched his first shot. Unfortunately, the layup rolled off the rim to the collective groan of the sell-out crowd, followed by the "what could have been" smile of Iverson. Make no mistake, fans turned out in droves to take a trip back to better days in hope of seeing the original A.I. ignite an otherwise "not ready for prime time" team. It all felt like old times.

Even as a skeptic, it was easy to get drawn in and feel a level of optimism and excitement. Could Iverson be the catalyst to turn the second worst team in the Eastern Conference around? Could he bring back the excitement that many fans had decided was so infrequent that it was not worth the price of admission? Could he be the missing "go to" player to take the ball when someone needs to step up when the momentum is going the other way or when the pressure is on in crunch time? Could he be "The Answer?"

From the opening toss, the home team played on adrenaline fueled emotion, coming out of the gates bounding with energy. They out hustled the Denver Nuggets, fighting to grab rebounds and jumping on loose balls. Every time the Nuggets would edge close, the Sixers would respond to the encouragement of the raucous crowd to get a stop, drop a twisting jumper or drain a three. As if to protect his stature on the team, the new A.I. looked for the ball and played with an intent to make things happen as many have longed to see on a consistent basis. Iguodala even channeled Lebron James throwing in a 93 footer at the end of the first quarter (regrettably a split second after the buzzer.)

Unfortunately, the Sixers seemed to crash at the end of the 3rd quarter when the Nuggets began a 17-0 run that turned a 5 point deficit into a 77-65 lead. Suddenly, the Sixers could not make a pass, grab a rebound or make a stop. Players found themselves standing around on both ends of the court and "The Answer" was not ready for the rescue. The legs were just not there yet, presumably after the de-conditioning from a month long layoff.

This game ended the same way the previous 9 games had ended with the Sixers having the lower point total, this time 93-83. The Nuggets are clearly the better team as their opposite records (16-5 vs 5-16) validate, but for awhile it appeared that Iverson helped to close the gap. Until the adrenaline rush crashed, it was easy for the fans to raise their hopes, but the Nuggets swiftly reminded them it won't be that easy.

The talent, energy and excitement that Iverson brings to a team has never been in question as was on display last night. The problem has always been the baggage that he brings along with him. And, it is worth noting that the first warning flare fired into the air before the game even begun. Iverson arrived late to the stadium for his own "Welcome Home" party, showing up a little over an hour before game time.

Team and fan sentiment is on his side right now, but he clearly won't have the lengthy rope that he had in his previous stint. If Iverson really feels the sentiment that he expressed by kissing the team logo at center court during pre-game introductions, he would be wise to make some adjustments or his second tour of duty could be very short. When the Sixers decided to turn back the hands of time, they were not looking to dial up the circus that had precipitated Iverson's previous exit.