Sports Views

It was, however, a problem in Philly, where Brown never quite figured out what to do with AI. While Starbury is no longer considered to be the foundation of the franchise — at $10 million per it’s Brown — he does present some of the same problems — a me first mentality, shoddy work habits, disinterest on defense — that Brown faced, and ultimately never solved , in AI. Eventually, dealing with Iverson wore Brown down so he quit.

Simply put, he wouldn’t. He doesn’t nor did he want to the Knicks job at this time. There isn’t enough money in the Sultanate of Brunei that could convince Brown to spend the next two years harping Marbury to play D and practice hard. When he isn’t doing that, he’d be busy chastising Richardson and Crawford for poor shot selection. He spent six years butting heads with Allen Iverson in Philly and I genuinely believe Brown, whose 64 years old and battled health problems this past season, isn’t up for that sort of endeavor again.

The problem with a lot of teams at the NBA level is that front offices either can’t commit to a coach or or go spineless when players can’t handle being motivated by coaches. In Philly’s case, it’s probably a little of both. They’ve had 4 coaches in the last 3 years. And O’Brien was fired because the young players didn’t like him. In other words, they got upset because they were treated according to how they played.

What the younger players should have done was take a cue from Allen Iverson (yes, I said that) He wasn’t enamored with O’Brien either, but he had his best season last year.

The biggest positive, and probably the most important, was Allen Iverson, A.I., Bubba Chuck. Allen Iverson, at the age of 29, had his best season by far. Not only statistically, but personally. I am afraid to say it, for lack of embarrasing myself, but I think A.I. has matured.

I for one have identified at least five categories in which players fall under and therefore, receive different treatment from the referees (keep in mind, this can be favorable or unfavorable treatment) — Rookies (think Chris Bosh in his rookie year), Whiners (think Vince Carter in any year after his rookie year), Old-School players (Charles Oakley comes to mind), Up-and-comers (Dwayne Wade) and Superstars (Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, and Lebron James just to name a few). This situation has gotten so out of control, I’m beginning to...

If the rumors are true, the Canadian born player would be joining an elite group of guards Bob Cousy, Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson, Allen Iverson, and Michael Jordan to have won the title. Nash joined Phoenix Suns last summer as a free agent after spending six seasons with the Dallas Mavericks and led his team to league-best 62-20 record.

It's nice to see that this Pistons fan is being charged for throwing a coin at Allen Iverson, but it's hard to escape the conclusion that this behavior was encouraged by Stern's response to what happened last November in Auburn Hills. Wouldn't some serious consequences for the owners in Detroit have helped to prevent this latest incident? I'll admit to being a Pacers fan (I grew up in Indianapolis), but it's not the severity of Artest's punishment that's at issue here -- it's the fact that there was essentially no penalty for the Pistons organization....

Philadelphia 76ers take into tonight’s Game against the Pistons is how quickly a lead can disappear. At one point during the Game one, the Sixers led by 16 points, and they were up by 12 after the first quarter. But in a span of 12 minutes the Pistons crashed the boards with such ferocity that the Sixers were stunned into submission. Led by Tayshaun Prince and reserve big man Antonio McDyess, the Pistons collected 19 rebounds in the second quarter Saturday, seven of them offensive. Those rebounds produced nine second-chance points, part of...

It wouldn’t be the NBA without some drama. The difference is that the drama this year won’t be coming from LA, as it did the past several seasons. It may come from Philly, where Allen Iverson and C-Webb get another chance to show that they can play together. Similar questions surround the remade Sacto Kings and Houston Rockets.

It’s too bad nobody wants to surround Allen Iverson with some decent players. No, Chris Webber doesn’t count. At least not now that he’s hobbling around and being incredibly anti-clutch. Detroit is still the defending champion, and it’d be stupid to pick against them early.