AI would rather retire than come off the bench?

[tehova]

comin off the bench sucks

*watches starting 2 guard drop 24 a night*

*prays for him to graduate early or get better handles so he can move to the point*

:supersad:

[GSW]

Quote: Originally Posted by Stumbleweed

They gave up on him as well -- he was legitimately injured for a while (possibly still... none of us know what the situation is there) and they didn't feel he was playing at a high enough level to justify giving him more than 18 minutes when he did play. If they didn't have the "he's just cap sapce" argument, it would look like outright disrespect rather than "planning for the future". Whatever happened, he didn't get the minutes he deserves, and I don't blame him for not wanting to be a bit player in what will surely be a first round playoff exit.

he still quit stumble.

[Salhus]

I thought it was very obvious that the Pistons made this move simply for financial interests.

If they kept Billups I see them at the same level as the Spurs, not the Lakers-Celts-Cavs-Magic.

So, I still think it will be a good move in the long run.

[o_capone]

once again, the pistons chose to trade for him... they knew the type of player they were getting... a legit superstar who has no business coming off the bench in favor of a second year player or an inferior player such as rip hamilton... they should have never traded for him point blank period... the man did average 26 points and 7 assist last season... if they were not going to let him be him then they could have gotten someone else for billups...

[Muzyk23]

This whole situation is a MAJOR Detroit Basketball organizational FAILURE. The organization should be ashamed - it's all their fault.

[PrettyT11]

Quote: Originally Posted by GSW

he still quit stumble.

Again how can you say he quit?? Where you there?? NO. Do you know how bad his back is?? NO you don't. You guys kill me man. It wasn't but about a week ago you guys and everybody else in the media was all over the guy saying he wouldn't come back and was not really hurt. Then the man comes back to you guys surprise and he makes a comment about he would rather retire than be a shell of his former self playing 18 minutes. Again NOT ONE TIME did Iverson say I don't want to play or he wasn't going to play. The PISTONS decided to sit him down. The PISTONS released a statement saying he was hurt and wouldn't play. NOT IVERSON.

To just throw him under the bus and say he quit and is not really hurt is not fair to the man and the warrior he has been ALL his career. He has never sat out unless he couldn't play. Have you and any of you other guys had back spasms?? You don't know how you will feel from hour to hour let alone day to day. They can flair up at anytime. Iverson's game revolves around speed and getting to the rack. Not having your back up to par really hampers that.

I'm not saying Iverson is a saint and he is not at fault for any of this but to just say he up and quit and the team is something that you annot prove and is unfair for a player who has proven over 13 YEARS that he gives his all.

[Tha_Kid]

It's easy to say he quit but the fact is we don't know what happened. This same type of thing happened with Kwame Brown & the Wizards in the '04 playoffs. Kwame felt his minutes were being jerked around and wanted to play, the team releases a statement saying "we mutually decided it was best" to blah blah blah and people sit back and label the guy a quitter. AI refused to come off of the bench in the future, he didn't say he wasn't going to do it the rest of the season. The man was on an island in DET, and it is just as likely that Dumars decided to cut his losses and send him home just as the Wizards did.

Not to mention that FWIW it wasn't just about starting vs coming off of the bench, it was having a back injury and warming up before the game, then having to sit down for the first 10 minutes of the game then coming in for like 7 minutes and getting pulled just as he's easing into his game, then rinse & repeat for the 2nd half. You also can't overstate how much of this had to do with the Pistons still losing. Rip said as much after his stint on the bench, he said "We tried me off the bench, it didn't work, and i'm not going back to the bench."

[Stumbleweed]

Exactly.. it's so much easier to place blame on the individual simply because the organization is made up of many decision-makers. It was clearly a bad fit for both sides, but laying it all on AI simply isn't fair.

The Pistons organization bears responsibility for trading for him when they probably knew that he wouldn't be a good fit, they bear responsibility for not just buying him out when they realized that fact, and they bear responsibility for actually shutting him down (again, he never said "I'm not coming back", it was a team-released statement). He bears responsibility for possibly pissing off Curry with the Thanksgiving practice thing, (allegedly) for milking the recovery time because he didn't like his role, and for being so direct (and going to the media) with his feelings about his role instead of keeping the matter private.
------------------------
"Not to mention that FWIW it wasn't just about starting vs coming off of the bench, it was having a back injury and warming up before the game, then having to sit down for the first 10 minutes of the game then coming in for like 7 minutes and getting pulled just as he's easing into his game, then rinse & repeat for the 2nd half. You also can't overstate how much of this had to do with the Pistons still losing. Rip said as much after his stint on the bench, he said "We tried me off the bench, it didn't work, and i'm not going back to the bench."
------------------------
Good point, Tha_Kid.