It was on a philly message board. and there was no link there/ I gotta think there has been someone else who has done that. But, I guess steals weren't traced as a stat until the mid 70's. Nonetheless, if true....
Sounds like something Michael Jordan would have done in the early 90s, but I can't be arsed to look up the stats. I don't think anyone can deny that Iverson's turnovers and shooting percentage are a problem. Even if you count his turnovers per-48 minutes, he is still tied for worst with Wade. That said, it is my opinion that his positives - scoring, assisting, defense - outweigh the negatives enough to make him a borderline great. And there's stuff you can't measure in stats, like his willingness to drive the lane and take the punishment, that he hasn't been healthy since, what, his freshman year at Georgetown - that has to be considered.
That's the first name I thought of too, but I guess in the early 90's you still had Isiah, Magic, and others dishing out assists like nobodies business.
I think you're right. Point guards used to get higher assist numbers. There was John Stockton, and while I was never a fan, Mark Jackson could fill the stat sheet. I want to say Scottie Pippen, but I don't think his PPG or APG were that high, and Grant Hill didn't get that many steals.
Doubtful that either of those guys were top five in scoring though. I wondered about Isiaih but his scoring was never much more than 20ppg. Tim Hardaway had a season with 25 points so I wonder if he came close.
Apparently, I can be arsed to look up stats, though not actually sort through them: http://www.dougstats.com/ Stockton regularly ended up in the Top 5 in assists and steals, but not scoring, while Jordan did the same in scoring and steals. But I didn't see anyone who did all three. If they kept track of steals in the past, I'd imagine Oscar Robertson would have done the trifecta. Can't think of anyone else who could've though.
BTW - speaking of Iversen's impressive stat feat, anyone else notice that Lebron James is 6th in assists, 3rd in points and something like 3rd in steals? (He's 5th in turnovers behind Iversen who is in 1st place.) Pretty impressive.
Oh, and he's 20. Just ridiculous how good that kid's going to be. I'm a bit concerned though, I think he's lost faith in his team. He's tried to carry the Cavs on his back since Silas was fired (though I can't really blame him).
Speaking of high school phenoms, I still don't think people realize how good Al Jefferson's going to be. Scored 13 in the 4th to lead the Celtics back to beat Miami, the magic # to win the Atlantic is now 1. He has incredible post moves for someone that young. He'll be a 20-10 guy very soon.
Mark Jackson can still dish that ball. At times I think he would do a better job offensively then Marbury right now if he were a couple of years younger. Kidd will be just like him.
Did anyone catch Peja's statline from last night's game vs the Lakers? 8 minutes played, 4-4 from beyond the three, 1-2 from shorter in and two assists. 14 points in 8 minutes!!
Looks like the Cavs are done, with the Pistons' backups beating them today. New Jersey now controls their own destiny. A hot New Jersey against a cold Heat in the first round? A first round upset waiting to happen.
The 76ers over the Pistons in the first round is the most plausible upset, and it's a long shot, a very long shot but Iverson against his former coach could be very interesting. But I hope the 76ers can win their last 3 and move to the sixth spot to avoid Miami and Detroit.
You're kidding I hope... check NJ's recent schedule... not exactly Heat caliber opposition... Miami-NJ in the first round is about as close to a lock as you can get.
I don't know - NJ have a lot of playoff experience especially in their point guard and if Vinsanity gets rolling they might be able to cause some problems for Miami. Sure it's a long shot -- and I still think it's too bad they got rid of the best of 5 in the first round -- but NJ aren't a terrible team. I wonder if RJ is getting close?
rj is recovering quick, according to his doctors (he's in his sixth week of rehab out of a diagnosed eight, if i remember correctly). but how effective he would be against a tough miami team. well, i don't know about that. i just want the wins against philly, washington and celts...
What do you mean? They lost Jacque Vaughn for the season and Travis Best doesn't exactly inspire confi... Oh right. Yeah, I'm not convinced by NJ either. They've played a pretty soft schedule the past month or so. I'm more mystified by Cleveland though. A couple of months ago, they were running on all cylinders. I really thought they had a balanced, albeit young, team that played well around Lebron. I'd hate to be a Cavaliers fan right now, thinking about Lebron's future with the team.
Well, Z went down, and even though he's back, he's still limping apparently. Firing a coach midseason on a team enroute to the playoffs NEVER makes sense. And Gooden seems to be only scoring 10-12 points a game which is forcing LeBron into having to put up Kobe-like nights, which as we know, starts to destroy team chemistry after a while. So the rest of the team takes off, which requires even a more God-like night and the cycle only gets worse.
Their achilles heel has also been their play on the road... absolutely terrible stuff. If they win tomorrow though, I like their chances... playing Toronto should be an easy win, especially since I think those guys wouldnt mind tanking the final game to ensure VC and NJ dont make the playoffs.
It's a shame that NJ may make it at the expense of Lebron - and it's a shame that they are playing him such heavy minutes at this stage in his career - I'm not sure a first round loss is worth it. RJ apparently is really close and may get clearance before the playoffs start. Meanwhile Shaq had to leave the game yesterday with a thigh bruise. Speaking of upsets, San Antonio have to be worried with Duncan hopefully just getting back and a first round matchup with an unbelievably hot Denver team. If San Antonio go down, you got to feel like the title is anyone's for the taking. I'm also disappointed that the two other Texas teams may meet in the first round - I'd like to see both of them go a little deeper.
Honestly, I don't know who will come out of the West. I can't even predict the Final 4. Who knows if Seattle and Phoenix can keep running in the playoffs? The refs could very well put away the whistles and allow hand checks (or conversely, start calling moving picks). Denver is clearly the hottest team right now and they face the favorites in the first round. Houston has a bunch of veterans who have been there. Dallas might just put it together. Memphis, again, is the team no one wants to face in the playoffs. Nothing short of George Karl growing hair would surprise me in the West.