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The horror, the horror: An unselfish A.I.
By Marc Stein
Special to ESPN.com
PHILADELPHIA -- The scariest scene, for basketball's grittiest team, was
bound to materialize at the fabled Spectrum, since that's where Sixer ghosts
float.
And this was indeed ghastly.
|  | | The Sixers need Allen Iverson, left, to want to make the big shots, not pass them up. |
More unsettling than Pat Croce's plans to scale the Walt Whitman Bridge,
some 397 feet above water. More pure panic than Allen Iverson slipping into
a golf cart, zipping NASCAR-style around the practice court and hurtling
toward the Lakers' team bus.
The most frightening sight, for those gritty/gutty/feisty 76ers, in the
lead-up to Wednesday night's Game 4?
Iverson, parked at a Spectrum press conference, telling the world that he
doesn't necessarily have to have the ball at the most critical
juncture of the NBA Finals.
"You don't look for one person," Iverson shared, looking serious. "This is a
team game, so hopefully you just get a collective effort. You know, you
don't look at one guy and say, 'OK, you've got to step up. Tonight has to be
your night or we don't win.'
"I would hate for my teammates to put that pressure on me every game. (And)
tell me, 'We've got to have it from you tonight or we're going to lose.'
It's not fair. We got here together."
See?
Scary for any Philly fan.
That's just about the worst thing Iverson could have said Tuesday, assuming
he meant it. We'd like to think that, caught up in the media's fast-shifting
positive opinion of his diminutive self, Larry Brown's "little kid" was just
being politically correct.
If not ...
If Iverson really meant what he said, the Sixers have real problems. To this
point, they have survived every conceivable injury and Brown's negative
energy to settle into their customary 2-1 deficit in a seven-game series.
This time, though, they ain't playing Toronto or Milwaukee. Against the Los
Angeles Lakers, who seem to be getting stronger with each passing dribble of
these Finals, the last thing Philadelphia needs is a selfless Iverson.
Answer us this, Allen:
If you don't "have it," who will?
Aaron McKie needs intravenous fluids just to show up for work and, according
to Brown, is bound for off-season shoulder surgery. Eric Snow has a fracture
and a sprain in the same ankle. Tyrone Hill is an actual ghost, down to 2.7
points and 19-percent shooting in the Finals. George Lynch is rushing back
from a foot operation because the healthy guys playing his position are
named Raja and Jumaine. Then there's Brown's sudden infatuation
(desperation?) with small lineups, which saw Kevin Ollie playing center in
Game 3 crunch time Sunday.
And now Iverson wants to pass?
Again, we'll assume A.I. was simply being PC. He couldn't possibly be
wilting under the pressure, could he?
Maybe he just misspoke. Earlier in Tuesday's press briefing, held at the
Spectrum rather than the F.U. Center because of a U2 concert, Iverson
proclaimed to be "confident." He also excitedly embraced the Sixers' first
two full off days in a series since the break between Games 4 and 5 against
the Raptors.
From that 48-hour recharge, Iverson emerged to scored 52 points -- just a
basket shy of his playoff high. They might need something similar now.
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You don't look for one person. This is a team game, so hopefully you just get a collective effort. You know, you don't look at one guy and say, 'OK, you've got to step up. Tonight has to be your night or we don't win.' I would hate for my teammates to put that pressure on me every game. ... It's not fair. We got here together." ” |
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— Allen Iverson, Sixers guard |
At the very least, the Sixers need the 48-point demon they had in Game 1,
which is how they stole the opener. For all the nationwide bluster about how
Philadelphia could so easily be up 2-1 or even 3-nil -- and even though
Dikembe Mutombo has been better against Shaquille O'Neal than anyone
envisioned -- don't forget that the Sixers could just as easily be on the
precipice of a sweep right now. The Lakers don't usually squander five-point
leads in the final 80 seconds of overtime, as seen last Wednesday.
"I really wanted an extra day -- bad," Iverson said of the respite. "I don't
know how much healing you can do in one day, but I was anxious to find out."
In that time, the Sixers have presumably concocted a counter to L.A.'s
improving defense. By sending Robert Horry as a help defender in support of
Derek Fisher or Tyronn Lue, the Lakers have hounded Iverson into 22-for-59
shooting the past two games. They're also frequently forcing Iverson to
drive left, toward the baseline, by overplaying Iverson's right and
attempting to take away the lane.
It's working just enough to put the Lakers in a pretty good spot. No team in
the Finals has ever recovered from a 3-1 deficit, which is where the Sixers
risk falling if they lose this one. "The pressure's on us," McKie concedes,
knowing how strong the Lakers are in their away purple.
Winning Game 4s at Portland and Indiana last spring gave L.A. a series-turning
lead of 3-1 in each of those battles. Phil Jackson might not be daring
enough to trot out his "death's door" line if the Sixers are thrust into a
similar hole, but Brown knows what a Game 4 loss would mean here.
"The Lakers have been able to win three straight (in the playoffs)," Brown
said. "We haven't. That doesn't mean we wouldn't try, and we wouldn't have
confidence in ourselves, but I think everybody in the locker room
understands the magnitude of this game coming up."
So, no, the Sixers don't exactly have the Lakers right where they want them,
no matter how many people try to tell you how fitting it is that they're
facing yet another 2-1 shortfall. Yes, the Sixers are 3-0 in Game 4s -- and
all on the road, no less. But this ain't the same. They've got the Lakers in
town, and a plague running through their battle-torn locker room and
memories of those 10 missed fourth-quarter free throws in Game 2.
And their failure to capitalize on Shaq's foul-out in Game 3.
And now Iverson asking us to not to ask him to be amazing.
"The circumstances," McKie agrees, "are a little different."
Says Snow: "We didn't want to do it the hard way. It's unfortunate that
we've fallen behind. In no way, shape or form did we want to fall behind.
Yet here we are. Unfortunately, we're in this predicament again."
On the back cover of Wednesday's Philadelphia Daily News, the featured
artwork pictures Iverson speeding around in his golf cart, next to a curious
caption.
"IVERSON ACTS AS IF SIXERS IN DRIVER'S SEAT."
Does he? Not if you listen to that scary answer.
Marc Stein, who covers the NBA for The Dallas Morning News, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.
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