Time for AI to Go

Admittedly I was never one that thought the Sixers signing Allen Iverson was a great move from a basketball standpoint.  Sure they sold a few more tickets and, quite possibly, won a couple more games they may not have won otherwise.  But with Iverson now taking another indefinite leave of absence to be with his sick daughter it is time for the Sixers to cut bait with Iverson.

When the Sixers signed Iverson they were hoping he had enough left in him to help the team slide into one of the last playoff spots.  While I still thought Iverson had something left to prove I was not convinced he still has enough to take a team devoid of any real All Star talent to the next level.  Iverson is a guy who is complimentary player for a team needing a third scorer not a team looking for a second scorer.

I was also never a fan of the move because it inherently means less playing time for Jrue Holiday and/or Lou Williams.   As a Sixers fan I am more interested in seeing Williams and Holiday getting a chance to play together and develop a back court chemistry.  Williams had taken a back seat to Iverson coming off the bench despite the fact that Williams has better shooting percentages and scoring average as a starter than Iverson has given them.

The fact of the matter is Williams is the better player than Iverson is at this stage of their respective careers.  Williams is scoring 15.6 points per game and is shooting .476 from the field as a starter and needs to be the other starting guard.

Iverson yo-yoing back and forth between the team and home is also creating problems with the rotation.  There is no consistency in minutes and who is getting to start without knowing where Iverson is going to be from day-to-day.

Eddie Jordan needs to sit down with Iverson and have a heart-t0-heart with him and let him know that he still has a place with the team, if he wants it, but, it will not be as a starter.  The team is better off with Williams and Holiday as the starters.  Iverson needs to own up to the fact that he is no longer a star in the NBA and if he wants to continue playing it will be as a sixth man somewhere.  If Iverson refuses to accept a role coming off the bench then the team needs to cut him loose and move on.

If reports are to be believed it sounds as though the Sixers are close to telling Iverson not to bother coming back.  This is a relatively young team and they need to let the young guards get the bulk of the playing time as they build for the future.

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