Hornets.com’s 1-on-1: Denver’s Allen Iverson, Scott Hastings
December 29, 2006
Hornets.com and Hoop magazine writer Jim Eichenhofer chatted with Denver guard Allen Iverson and television analyst Scott Hastings on Friday at the Ford Center.
Iverson was the NBA’s most valuable player in 2000-01 and was named a starter to the Eastern Conference All-Star team in each of the past seven seasons. The 6-foot, 31-year-old is one of the most prolific scoring guards in league history. He was acquired by the Nuggets in a trade from Philadelphia on Dec. 19.
Hastings played 11 seasons in the NBA from 1982-93, including playing for the Detroit Pistons’ rugged championship team in 1990. He now serves as the Nuggets’ television color commentator on the Altitude Sports Network.
Denver guard Allen Iverson
Q: What kind of impact do you think Carmelo Anthony’s return will have on the Nuggets? Do you think the defensive attention he draws will open things up even more for you offensively?
A: It’s going to be a big impact. He’s going to make it a lot easier. But when he comes back, it’s not going to just make it easier for me; he’s going to make it easier on everybody. Everyone.
Q: Even though you’ve been on different teams until this month, what kind of relationship have you had with Carmelo since you’ve been in the league?
A: I have a great relationship with him. A great one. It’s going to get a lot better, by being teammates and playing together.
Q: Was fatigue a factor for the Nuggets tonight, playing the second game of a back-to-back with only eight players available?
A: There was no excuse. That was a game we were supposed to have won. I just stunk it up. I can’t play that way and expect us to win basketball games. The way I started off the game and the way I finished it, it was kind of a domino effect. I’m not trying to lay it on anybody else. We can’t win ballgames if I have that type of night. We were supposed to win that game, especially with (the Hornets’) roster depleted.
I think we approached the game with the right mindset. We knew they were going to come in fighting with all of their guys out. There was no letdown on our part. We just couldn’t get it done and struggled so badly offensively.
Q: Did you feel like you had a lot of open looks?
A: Yeah. It was just one of those nights where I couldn’t get anything going. It was frustrating, but being in the league as long as I’ve been, I’ve had games like that and kept fighting through it. But (tonight) I couldn’t get it done and we couldn’t get it done.
Q: What do you do to get over a bad night?
A: Get ready for the next game. That’s it. Go into the next game with the same mindset, and it get it done of both ends of the court. We’ve just got to let this game go.
Denver broadcaster Scott Hastings
Q: Have you been surprised by how quickly Allen Iverson has blended in with his new team? His passing in particular has been outstanding over the three games he’s played.
A: It doesn’t surprise me how well he’s played, because he’s an All-Star and a Hall of Famer. Those guys can do just about anything they want to do. If you look at his stats, his assists have increased, but his scoring has also gone up (compared to his Philadelphia point production). I think the system fits him in Denver. He’s gone from a system (with the Sixers) that was very rigid and very diagrammed, to one that is a better fit. With (Iverson’s) style and his ability, George Karl’s system fits Iverson like a ‘T’.
George said this in the postgame (after the Nuggets beat Seattle on Thursday): ‘Iverson is actually BETTER than we thought he was.’ And everyone always thought very highly of him, knowing that he is a future Hall of Fame-type player.
Q: The question everyone around the NBA is wondering right now is: What will the results be of the combination of Iverson and Carmelo Anthony? Is it possible they will take shots away from each other and reduce each other’s effectiveness, or do you think they will benefit because opponents won’t be able to double-team both guys?
A: One of the interesting numbers to look at is that Denver leads the NBA in field-goal attempts. I think it’s about 86 per game. In the first two games with Allen Iverson, they took 97 and 90 shots. That came from just running more.
I don’t think those two guys will have any problem playing with each other, and there will be plenty of shots for both. I think what Carmelo will have to do is decide he’s going to be a guy who runs a lot on the wing, and if he does that, he is going to destroy people.
If you put Allen Iverson and Carmelo in a pick-and-roll together, Marcus Camby at the top of the key, J.R. Smith on the other wing, and Nene or Reggie Evans on the block, how do you defend that? If you double-team (Iverson), you have Carmelo, who is as good as anyone in the league at jump shots from mid-range. Or if Iverson takes it to basket, you’re going to get a layup for a big guy, such as Nene or Evans. If the defense brings help from the top of the key, Camby knocks down that shot from there with regularity. Then you have J.R. Smith spotting up, the best three-point shooter on the team.
So I don’t think there is going to be a problem at all. Here’s the key: I talked to a buddy of mine, Kevin McHale, who has been around the league for a long time. He said it takes about five or six years for a great young player to realize: ‘I’ve got the money, I’ve got the cars, the endorsements and the fame. But what am I’m missing?’
They realize that they don’t have a championship ring. I think Iverson is at that stage right now. He’s got a great family, great kids, all the money in the world – you know, your kind of money, Jim [grins] – but he doesn’t have a title. That’s the only reason he’s playing. I think if that (mentality) can get to Carmelo sooner rather than later, they will have two superstar-type players who will sacrifice everything just to win. That’s scary.
Q: As someone who played for the Detroit Pistons in the late 1980s – one of the most physical and combative teams in NBA history – what was your opinion of the recent Nuggets-Knicks scuffle at Madison Square Garden and the suspensions handed down by the league?
A: It’s a different era now. What Commissioner Stern wants now is a safer environment, which is good. He wants guys to show their skill. He was also the commissioner from 1984 on, when a lot of (on-court physical play) was going on, and his office handled it. For some reason, in the mid-1990s they changed some of the rules. And to be honest with you, that was for the better – some of this stuff doesn’t need to be happening.
With that said, there are too many young guys coming into this league who are spoiled and pampered. They don’t know what a hard foul is, and they fly off the handle too soon, or they don’t know how to foul hard without making it a cheap shot.
What happened in that incident, if (New York’s Mardy Collins) fouls J.R. Smith hard without throwing him to the ground, then (it would have been considered) a hard foul and no one’s getting upset. But it’s a different era and guys are getting upset. The commissioner has to handle it with suspensions and fines like he did to make sure this doesn’t happen any more.
But I remember the 1985 NBA Finals between the Lakers and Celtics, before they even had the flagrant-foul rules. There was a (breakaway layup) where Kurt Rambis was getting pushed into about the sixth row, and it was just expected. (Offensive players) took a hard foul, got up, tried to make their free throws, and kept playing.
Players now don’t want to be touched or hit. But what happened in New York, I just thought it was a little bit of scuffling. I think a lot of people (who gave opinions on the incident) overreacted a little bit.
Q: Has there been any NBA team in recent memory that has experienced worse luck with injuries than this season’s Nuggets and Hornets?
A: Last year, Denver, Houston and Charlotte were the league’s most injured teams. This year, the Nuggets lose Kenyon Martin in the second game of the season, and now Camby’s got a broken hand. Of course, the suspensions are self-inflicted, really.
As far as the Hornets, I’ve never seen it where all of the injuries have happened to the main guys. Usually it’s not like that, where it’s the four top guys all out. But in the NBA, no (opponent) cares about your bad luck. No one cares that you don’t have your best players. You don’t feel sorry for anybody. Once you do that, you start losing games you shouldn’t lose.
Hornets.com and Hoop magazine writer Jim Eichenhofer chatted with Denver guard Allen Iverson and television analyst Scott Hastings on Friday at the Ford Center.
Iverson was the NBA’s most valuable player in 2000-01 and was named a starter to the Eastern Conference All-Star team in each of the past seven seasons. The 6-foot, 31-year-old is one of the most prolific scoring guards in league history. He was acquired by the Nuggets in a trade from Philadelphia on Dec. 19.
Hastings played 11 seasons in the NBA from 1982-93, including playing for the Detroit Pistons’ rugged championship team in 1990. He now serves as the Nuggets’ television color commentator on the Altitude Sports Network.
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Q: What kind of impact do you think Carmelo Anthony’s return will have on the Nuggets? Do you think the defensive attention he draws will open things up even more for you offensively?
A: It’s going to be a big impact. He’s going to make it a lot easier. But when he comes back, it’s not going to just make it easier for me; he’s going to make it easier on everybody. Everyone.
Q: Even though you’ve been on different teams until this month, what kind of relationship have you had with Carmelo since you’ve been in the league?
A: I have a great relationship with him. A great one. It’s going to get a lot better, by being teammates and playing together.
Q: Was fatigue a factor for the Nuggets tonight, playing the second game of a back-to-back with only eight players available?
A: There was no excuse. That was a game we were supposed to have won. I just stunk it up. I can’t play that way and expect us to win basketball games. The way I started off the game and the way I finished it, it was kind of a domino effect. I’m not trying to lay it on anybody else. We can’t win ballgames if I have that type of night. We were supposed to win that game, especially with (the Hornets’) roster depleted.
I think we approached the game with the right mindset. We knew they were going to come in fighting with all of their guys out. There was no letdown on our part. We just couldn’t get it done and struggled so badly offensively.
Q: Did you feel like you had a lot of open looks?
A: Yeah. It was just one of those nights where I couldn’t get anything going. It was frustrating, but being in the league as long as I’ve been, I’ve had games like that and kept fighting through it. But (tonight) I couldn’t get it done and we couldn’t get it done.
Q: What do you do to get over a bad night?
A: Get ready for the next game. That’s it. Go into the next game with the same mindset, and it get it done of both ends of the court. We’ve just got to let this game go.
|
Q: Have you been surprised by how quickly Allen Iverson has blended in with his new team? His passing in particular has been outstanding over the three games he’s played.
A: It doesn’t surprise me how well he’s played, because he’s an All-Star and a Hall of Famer. Those guys can do just about anything they want to do. If you look at his stats, his assists have increased, but his scoring has also gone up (compared to his Philadelphia point production). I think the system fits him in Denver. He’s gone from a system (with the Sixers) that was very rigid and very diagrammed, to one that is a better fit. With (Iverson’s) style and his ability, George Karl’s system fits Iverson like a ‘T’.
George said this in the postgame (after the Nuggets beat Seattle on Thursday): ‘Iverson is actually BETTER than we thought he was.’ And everyone always thought very highly of him, knowing that he is a future Hall of Fame-type player.
Q: The question everyone around the NBA is wondering right now is: What will the results be of the combination of Iverson and Carmelo Anthony? Is it possible they will take shots away from each other and reduce each other’s effectiveness, or do you think they will benefit because opponents won’t be able to double-team both guys?
A: One of the interesting numbers to look at is that Denver leads the NBA in field-goal attempts. I think it’s about 86 per game. In the first two games with Allen Iverson, they took 97 and 90 shots. That came from just running more.
I don’t think those two guys will have any problem playing with each other, and there will be plenty of shots for both. I think what Carmelo will have to do is decide he’s going to be a guy who runs a lot on the wing, and if he does that, he is going to destroy people.
If you put Allen Iverson and Carmelo in a pick-and-roll together, Marcus Camby at the top of the key, J.R. Smith on the other wing, and Nene or Reggie Evans on the block, how do you defend that? If you double-team (Iverson), you have Carmelo, who is as good as anyone in the league at jump shots from mid-range. Or if Iverson takes it to basket, you’re going to get a layup for a big guy, such as Nene or Evans. If the defense brings help from the top of the key, Camby knocks down that shot from there with regularity. Then you have J.R. Smith spotting up, the best three-point shooter on the team.
So I don’t think there is going to be a problem at all. Here’s the key: I talked to a buddy of mine, Kevin McHale, who has been around the league for a long time. He said it takes about five or six years for a great young player to realize: ‘I’ve got the money, I’ve got the cars, the endorsements and the fame. But what am I’m missing?’
They realize that they don’t have a championship ring. I think Iverson is at that stage right now. He’s got a great family, great kids, all the money in the world – you know, your kind of money, Jim [grins] – but he doesn’t have a title. That’s the only reason he’s playing. I think if that (mentality) can get to Carmelo sooner rather than later, they will have two superstar-type players who will sacrifice everything just to win. That’s scary.
Q: As someone who played for the Detroit Pistons in the late 1980s – one of the most physical and combative teams in NBA history – what was your opinion of the recent Nuggets-Knicks scuffle at Madison Square Garden and the suspensions handed down by the league?
A: It’s a different era now. What Commissioner Stern wants now is a safer environment, which is good. He wants guys to show their skill. He was also the commissioner from 1984 on, when a lot of (on-court physical play) was going on, and his office handled it. For some reason, in the mid-1990s they changed some of the rules. And to be honest with you, that was for the better – some of this stuff doesn’t need to be happening.
With that said, there are too many young guys coming into this league who are spoiled and pampered. They don’t know what a hard foul is, and they fly off the handle too soon, or they don’t know how to foul hard without making it a cheap shot.
What happened in that incident, if (New York’s Mardy Collins) fouls J.R. Smith hard without throwing him to the ground, then (it would have been considered) a hard foul and no one’s getting upset. But it’s a different era and guys are getting upset. The commissioner has to handle it with suspensions and fines like he did to make sure this doesn’t happen any more.
But I remember the 1985 NBA Finals between the Lakers and Celtics, before they even had the flagrant-foul rules. There was a (breakaway layup) where Kurt Rambis was getting pushed into about the sixth row, and it was just expected. (Offensive players) took a hard foul, got up, tried to make their free throws, and kept playing.
Players now don’t want to be touched or hit. But what happened in New York, I just thought it was a little bit of scuffling. I think a lot of people (who gave opinions on the incident) overreacted a little bit.
Q: Has there been any NBA team in recent memory that has experienced worse luck with injuries than this season’s Nuggets and Hornets?
A: Last year, Denver, Houston and Charlotte were the league’s most injured teams. This year, the Nuggets lose Kenyon Martin in the second game of the season, and now Camby’s got a broken hand. Of course, the suspensions are self-inflicted, really.
As far as the Hornets, I’ve never seen it where all of the injuries have happened to the main guys. Usually it’s not like that, where it’s the four top guys all out. But in the NBA, no (opponent) cares about your bad luck. No one cares that you don’t have your best players. You don’t feel sorry for anybody. Once you do that, you start losing games you shouldn’t lose.
