Can’t say I didn’t see this coming.
“Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars announced today that guard Allen Iverson will miss the remainder of the season. The all-star guard missed 16 games between February 27 and March 28 after exiting a game at New Orleans with a sore back on February 25.
“After talking with Allen and our medical staff, we feel that resting Allen for the remainder of the season is the best course of action at this time,” said Dumars. “While he has played in our last three games, he is still feeling some discomfort and getting him physically ready to compete at the level he is accustomed to playing this late in the season does not seem possible at this point.”
Iverson returned to action on March 29 versus Philadelphia and scored eight points with two assists and two rebounds in 21 minutes. In his three games back since the initial injury, he has averaged 7.7 points, 1.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 18.7 minutes per game.
Acquired by the Pistons from Denver on November 3, the 6-foot-0 guard has appeared in 54 games this season (50 starts) averaging 17.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 36.5 minutes per game.” Via Pistons.com
Personally I thought Allen wasn’t going to return on his own after the injury, so when he did I was surprised. I was even a bit more surprised when the Pistons made mention of Iverson’s post game comments after the Sixers game, so the fact that he’s been shut down after his retirement comments is no shock. Say what you will, but my money is not on a medical issue being the reason for AI sitting out the rest of the season.
What the situation has done to what’s left of this season remains to be seen. Everyone has their own AI opinions, but with what has been going on, this might be the best for the team right now.
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I agree totally with Natalie. A while back I wrote of my experience with an employee who claimed a “bad back” and how she never returned–but took a job with another restaurant the day after her disability pay ended. I didn’t think AI would return either, but when he did a few games ago I wrote an apology to him. Well, I take it back–I am convinced if he was starting, we wouldn’t be having this discussion. And looking at the big picture I think the Pistons made the right move (even if they are claiming it was for “medical” reasons).
american prince how can you say AI hasn’t developed his game… he’s a fuc**** hall of famer, no one can be a hall of famer without developong their game idiot.
And Slim Shady is OUR bitch :]
lots of potty mouths commenting here
for medical reasons or not, i think this would be best for the team.. this would help the bench gain quality minutes before the playoffs start. guys like arron and walter and amir should have extended minutes so they could have confidence in the postseason. i have a feeling that AI would be back for the playoffs though.. i just have that feeling (even if i believe that him not being there would be best for the team).. still i hope our Pistons make it to atleast the ECF..
A.I. sacrificed his entire game to try and “fit in.” Coming off the bench was just one demotion too many. I don’t blame the man for being upset. The organization treated him callously and the team hung all its dysfunctions on his shoulders. That said, he wasn’t a good fit from the start. A.I. is the kind of player who needs to work in an up-tempo system and the Pistons were obviously not interested in playing any faster with him in the lineup. It’s best to let A.I. go, but to bash him baselessly and immaturely (and that applies to Natalie’s handiwork in the margins) is truly shameful. Here’s to hoping we get past the first round.
FINALLY!!!!!!! bye bye AI you fake ass, bitch ass, cryin ass, punk ass muthafucka! Your game sucks now & you look gay without braids! Stay the fuck out of the D…your not welcome here anymore, your pass has been revoked.
Might wanna get rid of MICHAEL CURRY as well.
Iverson you suck. Thanks for ruining our season. We were perennial ECF attendants til you’re cancer-laced style of ball permeated our courts. I partially blame you for Michigan’s recession, and I hope you have a great season next year with a team in Europe.
This was the right decision by the Pistons. AI doesn’t deserve to play another game in a Pistons uniform. I’m glad that he is done.
The guy who said about Iverson weight is 100% right
Iverson is old, not so fast, short, weak, skinny, with no defense, with no 3 pointers, 40% fg shooting guard who every time I see him play misses one of two free throws. Actually there is nothing this guy is good in.
Iverson fans are kids who like him because he is short like them and was a scoring champion 10 year ago in a shitty Philly designed for him to attempt every shot possible. Nobody should take their comments seriously.
I’ve never been a pistons fan since iverson show up in pistons uniform. I don’t like Pistons players and their FU***** Coach! I just watch detroit games just for allen iverson, and now he’s gone.. I don’t have to waste my time, watching and hanging on any detroit websites. Damn you CURRY, idiot!!!
At least one thing he said is true: He is doing everything he can to help this team win. Not being a distraction anymore definitely helps.
I hope he will have fun coming off the bench in Memphis/Charlotte next season…much better for him…if they want him at all…
I never understood how somebody who gets paid $20 millions per year for playing basketball can hate his situation.
fuck u all AI haters….thank god hes out with pistons..hes not happy the way the teams played…AI is a kind of player that pushes the ball in up tempo and curry doesnt run it with the team and yet AI is the one who is blamed the way pistons played this season…are u blind…? hes is not ruining the chemistry of the pistons but he played to fit the team chmistry but doesnt sims goin good….all we blame is the coach and joe dumars for letting this happen….
michael jordan and the bobcats are interesrted with AI….he might signed after the season….even the great MJ23 is intersted in him…all AI heaters u must shut up ur mouth and see what happen next season…
many says AI doesnt share the ball with his teamates coz he is a ball hog…and yet AI is the the leading the assist in detroit team averaging 5.0 APG..how can he is a ballhog, whos leading assist in a team? are u blind…? ass detroit fans…detroit will never2 achieve or leveled again the status in past 6 years…promise….
This makes the trading of Billups even more ridiculous…
i’m sure iverson wanted to push the ball more, but you can only do that when you have solid defense gettting stops. ai doesn’t play solid defense, so the chances of getting stops and fast break opportunities was greatly diminished.
also, if i dribbled around until i had three defenders on me every time i got the ball i’d manage a few assists a game too. i’d also end up with a bunch of turnovers and clanged shots over taller defenders…
ai ball reminds me of the ssol suns. it’s a fun brand of basketball to watch, but it’s ultimately not successful, period. ai would rather retire than admit this to be true.
I still can’t believe what we as Piston fans had to endure this season, and all for naught. If we would have just lost Chauncey and nothing else, I think we would have been much more competitive this season. It was agonizing watching this season play out, many unnecessary loses due to “experimentation”. I personally didn’t see it as all experimentation, but rather mostly demonstration. This resulted in a season that has not been fun to watch at all. The whole AI debauchery was both grueling and draining, for fans as well as the players. I truly had hoped he would have helped us lead the second squad; instead he just wasted our time and let us down. I’m done with this. Let’s move on.
agree with you guys. Kyle i hate run and gun basketball for that exact reason, it doesn’t let you set your defense. Only coaches who can’t coach half court make that there offense.
So is it now okay to rub it in guys like Keith Langlois face that we were right all along? How many shots did those guys take at us all season. And oh what do you know, we were right all along.
And just because AI’s money comes off the books this summer, doesn’t mean we are actually going to get a player we need this summer. Really the only player I want is Andre Miller, and I’m gonna be stuck with Stuckey for I don’t know how long.
YAYYYY!!!!!!
Fans on this blog show more venom fro Iverson than they do for the most hated rivals of the team. The man suited up in Pistons red, white and blue, and received nothing but hate from the city all year for it, which is sad, because I thought Detroit fans were better than that.
Whether you like the Iverson experiment or not, the man was a PISTON, and should have been treated like one of your own.
missing that one practice did him in… As far as respect from his fans as a piston……
How are we to say he is a pistons when he repeated his history of being better than being apart of a team…. respect is earned… and no matter how good AI is..He still has to pay his dues…
i totally agree with fluidics. iverson never really got it going in detroit which is a fact. in my opinion however, the coaching staff should be made responsible. i have seen no real effort to implement iverson’s strength into their offensive scheme. i mean you bring in a guy who averaged over 27 ppg his career and expect him to contribute for 15 ppg and still play the same way he used to during his career? come on man, what the hell was the management thinking? iverson needs touches to be effective and that is no secret either. never has been. as a pistons fan i am disappointed the season did not go the way all of us have envisioned. hating on iverson seems obviously convenient at his point – and the way this site is treating iverson is disrespectful in my opinion as well. this man is a warrior and a good guy. always comes to play. you should think about curry’s accomplishments this year. if there is anybody to blame on the first place it’s gotta be him – a rookie coach who was unable to set priorities and get their player’s to buy into his philosophy and system. he couldn’t command any respect from the vets either. partly it was also dumars’ fault – but i don’t wanna get into that cause to me joe is still the man.
i think you make the mistake of thinking the venom towards iverson is due to the pistons having an overall bad season. i personally don’t blame him for this, there were many factors. curry, sheed, stuck, ai, -chauncey, injuries were all factors in this season.
but i’d also argue that part of curry’s struggles during the season were due to making decisions based upon personnel management rather than logical basketball.
but he did imply that he was willing to change in some way to fit the team and i don’t think he really did that. i think the team tried to integrate ai as much as they could in to what already worked and he was simply uninterested in it. they have spots that when hit in rhythm they shoot a very high percentage. ai didn’t try to get them the ball then, he got it to them through the one passing lane he could still see whenever he decided he wasn’t going to be able to get a shot off.
oh and for the record i gave ai a chance. i honestly thought him coming off the bench with the younger, more athletic bigs would put up big points running the floor but evidently that’s not an option he’s willing to exploring. who is and who isn’t giving things a chance?
Best thing that could happen to this team, as a TEAM.
Now we can settle in, on how we played with Bynum helping out Stuckey. I hope Curry saw the last 10 to 20 games that Bynum is capable of producing regularly and will keep his minutes up. Rip can finally play his spot without worrying about when he will go to the bench and Afflalo will get some time.
its so funny how some of the dumb fukks here say “AI is a great player” ,think about it , he said that he didnt like the fact that he came out the bench n he;d rather retire ? comon now thats a great player ? get the fukk outa here , n 2 days later they announced that he will not play 4 the rest of the season , it looks 2 me its all a setup n thats some coward shit wat hes doing , but u know wat fukk him believe me we can do alot better cuz honestly i never saw anything great that he done 4 the team except fukk it up
I’m pretty angry at Dumars. This has to be his worst mistake as a GM. Yes, worse than Darko. Far worse. When will we get an apology?
its good that AI is gone as a piston..there will be no distractions now..thats all he is.. a distraction..hes not a proven winner..he only cares about his stats..he doesnt give a fuck about the team or city..curry needs to realize that kwame brown cant start and put sheed back in the lineup..or else curry has to go also..cuz when it comes to playoff time..brown will get man-handled by KG..he doesnt know how to play helpside defense..sheed is a great help side defender who can score whenever he wants also…so sorry kwame..but your playing time shud come to end pretty soon : )
We play the 76ers in just a couple hours. We really need a win today, since we’re only .5 games ahead of the Bulls. If we can string together some W’s, we could solidly lock ourselves into the 7th seed. Orlando will likely lose only 1 more game, considering their not-so-hard remaining schedule. Boston’s remaining schedule is a little tougher, they would have to work much harder to excape with only 1 lose and even if they did they would be tired going into the playoffs. I think season ends 1-Clev, 2-Orlando, 3-Boston. Making the 7th spot the place to be. Let’s go Piston!
Ai has been sacrificing all season nd finally itz over. stuckey is not ready to be a starter nd take over games. iverson should of been in the line up wit rip. they showed signs that they could do it like the lakers game at LA. the coaching just sucks. this team could of done something special but too bad. good luck AI nd watch the pistons get their ass kicked in the playoffs!!
Yeah!!!!! I’ve been waiting for this for a long time now the Pistons fans can be happy he’s gone and now I can watch him play next year with a team that has a better coach (which could be anybody)and a team that can actually learn how to use him instead of have the fans bitch and cry about him. Good luck to the Pistons next year and I’m excited that I dont have to watch him play on the Pistons no more just as much or maybe more then all you Pistons fans!!!!
First of with the whole A.I. thing. Iverson did the exact same thing Hamilton did. He moved to the bench cause he thought it was best for the team, but when he saw the team still wasn’t winning he complained about it, then Detroit shut him down. Now people are calling him selfish and all that. He never said he was mad a t coming off the bench, but the guy was playing 18 mins a game. He went from playing 30+ minutes in a game to 18 minutes in the same season, and you think he’s not gonna complain. Even Amir Johnson would complain about something like that.
Oh well let the blame game continue, whatever makes you feel better about yourself.
Proof that the Pistons are not better without Iverson: today’s loss versus the Sixers.
Simply put, the Pistons core were too stubborn, like many of the fans here, to allow Iverson to play. When he was brought onto the team, Iverson was told to try not to “fit in” but to play like he always played. However, he was criticized for not fitting into a system that gets outplayed in the fourth quarter. (Today, Rip and Stuckey made only 2 out of 8 shots and Sheed went 2 for 6 in the fourth quarter.)
There are fans posting junk about AI and the way he is sitting down the end of the season. I’d be surprised if Mr. Dumars didn’t apologize to AI for the immaturity of his core players for not complimenting Iverson’s game.
Rip whined about not starting even before he sat the bench. Then Rip got 30 plus minutes off of the bench because he was given the ball many times. When Iverson was sent to the bench, he gladly accepted the job, probably thinking he would see the same minutes that Rip saw off the bench. This is only the fault of Curry for not trying to give Iverson the same minutes that he gave Rip off the bench. Another factor of inequity was that when Iverson came off the bench, he was not passed the ball when he was open. Also, Curry kept Iverson off the floor for the final minutes of the games, and he played Stuckey and Rip instead.
Curry’s decision look like the Pistons want a chance at the lottery (Suton???). But the body language of the core (Rip, Sheed, and Prince), show that they didn’t want Iverson on their team. Pretty sad to see for a team I’ve always admired for being down to earth.
Amazing comment KleenGee.
now, what piston fans,,,, you keep loosing.. without ai, the stupidity of michael curry,, how ai can help this team, joe dumars ask ai to limit his shoots to 24% he he,, fuck .piston fans michael curry,,worst coach, ai will rise next season..mark my words.. fuck piston,,, i wish i could refund my seasos ticket.. my nba broadband not ai playing playoffs…
+1 for KleenGee
michael curry is simply not ready to take responsibilities as a pistons head coach. as i have already mentioned in my pror comment he failed to distribute minutes for iverson and further failed to implement iverson’s strength into the playing schemes of “detroit basketball” (quite frankly, i haven’t seen nothing of that this season).
so how bout those spartans
CHANGE HAS COME!
fundamentalgame: I had to write because I too saw all of the disrespect towards Iverson. He is a warrior, and that’s why some people greeted the trade for Billups with optimism. The Pistons needed that warrior mentality, especially for the Playoffs, and that was something we did not see happening.
And I just noticed what you did to AI on the left side there Natalie…low class. Deleting your site from my bookmarks, go Bobcats.
FINALLY IVERSON FANS WILL LEAVE. WOOHOO
Natalie u are a fkn whore. Just saw what you did to A.I’s pic. You have lost every iverson fan. That was amazingly stupid of you why the hell would you do that. Ur just alienating some of your audience just because u feel iverson screwed ur team over.
Natalie lotta growing up to do.
A.I. said he wanted to help the pistons win another championship and screwed us. all he cares about is being the star and being a starter. how does he make the bench feel. man i wish chauncey was a piston still!
Fire Curry!!!!
that MEANS HES DONE PERIOD … WELL IF IM RITE DATS KIND OF WEIRD HE DIDNT PLAY MUCH WITH THE PISTONS AND HOPFULLY WE DO BETTER …BECAUSE HES NOT HERE……… SUCKSSSSSSSSSS
DETROIT PLAY SOME BALL
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