11-01-2004, 10:31 AM
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#1 (permalink)
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Kwisatz Haderach
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Coatesville, PA
Age: 25
Posts: 24,304
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Iguodala continues to open eyes as season approaches..
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Remember how the 76ers slipped Andre Iguodala into town under a cloud of secrecy for a pre-NBA draft workout in June? The more the Sixers had done their homework, the more they worried that he might be gone before their No. 9 pick. They hoped if their level of interest wasn't public knowledge, they had a chance. They knew the 6-6, 2-year player from Arizona was the one they wanted.
They didn't worry about any supposed weakness in his jump shot. They saw the three triple-doubles he recorded as a sophomore. They saw the first player in the school's history to lead the team in rebounds, assists and steals in the same season. They saw him as the only Pac-10 player in the in the top 10 in assists and assists-to-turnovers ratio last season.
Don't look now, but the secret is out. Iguodala, 20, has been climbing the ladder since the day he arrived. It is not an accident that he earned the starting small forward job for Wednesday night's season opener in Boston ahead of 11-year veteran Glenn Robinson, a two-time All-Star.
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"It's scary to say, but I just can't believe he's a rookie, the way he's playing," Sixers star guard Allen Iverson said. "He came in, he goes about his business, he won the starting job."
Iguodala turned a lot of heads in the Sixers' final preseason game in New Jersey. There was an 8-foot floater he dropped in with his left - opposite - hand. There was a terrific high-post to low-post pass.
"He was hitting some crazy [stuff]," said the Nets' Richard Jefferson, himself a former Arizona star. "I was telling him that, too. Lefthanded floaters off the glass, long jumpers...yeah, he's a very good player."
In the end, Iguodala had 15 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and the steals, with 6-for-9 floor shooting in 27 minutes.
None of which was any surprise to Jefferson.
"No, that's my man," Jefferson said. "I talked about him last year. He's going to be really good. I'm happy for him that he got the starting nod. I think things are going to go well for him.
"He gets his hands on everything [defensively]. He's going to be one of the league leaders in steals before it's all said and done. And he understands how to play. I mean, he knows the game - where to be and what to do."
Said Iverson: "The things he was doing [Thursday], I didn't know he had it, and I've been with him for a month. He just has that swagger about him. He steps on the court, he's not out there looking up to anybody. It's about him. He steps on the court, he feels like he's the real 'A.I.' I want him to feel that way, because it'll make it a lot easier for me."
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Who cares about a championship drought?:
My teams will never win a championship anyway, so why don't you discuss everything else at my forum? Good idea, right? Yeah, I thought so. It's called.. Booing Santa Claus. See you there.
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Originally Posted by Henry Rollins
“The average is the borderline that keeps mere men in their place. Those who step over the line are heroes by the very act. Go.”
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