Iverson’s final peak, what level was the answer during the Nuggets era?

Iverson’s final peak, what level was the answer during the Nuggets era?

Once upon a time, the name Allen Iverson, his black and white No. 3 jersey, and the iconic Ditches and braids are the hallmarks of Philadelphia basketball. Indeed, he is the No. 1 pick of the 1996 golden generation, the proud son of God, the shortest MVP in NBA history, and the lone hero who led the 76ers to the Finals in 2001. In this city, he won the title of Rookie of the Year, 4 scoring titles, 3 steals titles, 1 regular season MVP, and became the Eastern All-Star starter for 6 consecutive years - for a whole decade, no one doubted that Ai Ferson will live in Philadelphia forever.

However, the NBA has never been a very humane league, and even the answer failed to fulfill his wish to live in Philadelphia forever. Although he won the fourth scoring title of his career in the 2004-05 season, by the 2006-07 season, the conflict between the 31-year-old Iverson and the team management had become increasingly serious. In addition, the team's record was not ideal. After playing only 15 games in the season, he was traded to the Denver Nuggets. This deal shocked the entire league at the time-Philadelphia actually gave away Iverson.

Of course, another key point of the transaction is that Anthony, who ranked first in scoring at the time, and Iverson, who ranked second in scoring, will join forces to fight. Two stars who also need to hold a lot of the ball will join forces. Whether it can survive on the field is a huge unknown. Fortunately, Iverson, who has always been unruly, seems to be much more "behaved". When the transaction took place, he directly stated that Anthony was the boss of the Nuggets and that he was willing to help the young people on the team grow better. .

In this way, with Anthony suspended due to the Madison brawl, Iverson made his Nuggets debut. 22 points and 10 assists. This kind of data may not be particularly outstanding for an AI, but considering that he has just traveled a long distance and even had no time to conduct systematic training with the team, this performance is enough to satisfy Denver fans. Throughout the season, Iverson averaged 24.8 points, 3 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 1.8 steals per game. However, in the playoffs, the Nuggets lost to the San Antonio Spurs, who later won the championship, with a total score of 1-4 in the first round and were eliminated.

In the 2007-08 season, Iverson ushered in his first full season in Denver. He still maintained a stable level, averaging 26.4 points, 7.1 assists and 2.0 steals per game, and his data was even slightly better. in the previous season. The Nuggets' performance has also improved to a certain extent, winning 50 games in the regular season. If the 50-win record was placed in the Eastern Conference, it could even rank among the top four, but in the fiercely competitive Western Conference, it could only rank eighth. In the first round of the playoffs against the Lakers, who ranked first in the Western Conference in the regular season, the Nuggets were once again eliminated and failed to win even one game.

Not long after the start of the 2008-09 season, Iverson, who had never been able to lead the team further, was traded to the Detroit Pistons, ending his short Nuggets career. " also officially announced its dissolution, less than 2 years after he left Philadelphia.

So, how to evaluate Iverson’s performance during the Nuggets period?

First of all, it is worthy of recognition that although Iverson was already over 30 years old at the time, he still had the league's top scoring ability. In his third game in Denver, AI proved his longevity with 44 points and 10 assists. In the 2007-08 season against the Lakers, Iverson scored 51 points efficiently against his old rival Kobe Bryant. It is not difficult to find through the game that Iverson's emergency stop jumper is still his signature, and his breakthrough and change of direction are still sharp.

At the same time, Iverson's changes on the offensive end are also obvious. Due to the presence of offensive players such as Anthony and JR Smith in the team, Iverson's scoring has indeed declined to a certain extent compared to the Philadelphia period, but his offensive efficiency is more efficient than before.

In the two seasons he played for the Nuggets, AI's field goal percentages were 45.4 and 45.8 respectively, which were the highest in the past ten years. His three-point shooting percentages of 34.7 and 34.5 were the peak of AI's career at the time.

However, although his personal performance was still outstanding, for the Nuggets, who were bent on competing for better results at the time, being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for two consecutive years and only achieving 1 win was beyond their control. Accepted. We have said before that there were many reasons why the Nuggets failed to perform in those two years, including widespread injuries on the team and George Karl's employment. However, in the end, Iverson became a victim. In the 2008-09 season, after exchanging clubs with Billups, the Nuggets also advanced to the Western Conference Finals that year. This contrast also reflects that Iverson's help to the team is really limited-his personal The ability is still there, but he and Anthony cannot achieve the 1+1gt;2 effect. Having strong offensive firepower will not necessarily make the team better.

In less than two years of Nuggets career, AI has indeed worked hard enough. He managed to integrate into the team with positive changes, making the existence of the "golden guns" a reality; but he could not It is also an indisputable fact that he cannot help his teammates become better and cannot lead the team to achieve greater breakthroughs. Iverson's Nuggets career may not be called a success, but this 1.83 meter man made many fans fall in love with the answer wearing a sky blue jersey. For Iverson, his final peak also stayed in Denver.