I find it amazing he is stll putting up 30 ppg at his age, He has been through NUMEROUS injuries yet it never seems to slow him down.When do you see him declining as a player? How much do you see him declining?
AI will be one of those player who will retire when he is still good. He has too much pride to hang around when he isn't performing great. In about 2 years he will look like declining and then make a swift retirement.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (clangus @ Sep 13 2006, 01:47 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>AI will be one of those player who will retire when he is still good. He has too much pride to hang around when he isn't performing great. In about 2 years he will look like declining and then make a swift retirement.</div>I agree in saying that he will start to decline after the next two to three seasons. However, I really don't see him retiring until he's about 36 or 37 years old. Why? Well, obviously he won't be the same player he is right now at that age, however assuming that he is still on the Sixers squad at that time I can really see him staying with the team and taking a back seat to some of the younger guys and showing them the ropes. Again, that is assuming that our young guys (I.e. Williams, Iguodala and Daly) pan out, and that AI isn't traded.He just has too big of a will to win a ring, but then again family is extremely important to him, and he seems level-headed enough to realize when it is truly time for him to step away from the game.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BALLAHOLLIC @ Sep 13 2006, 01:41 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I find it amazing he is stll putting up 30 ppg at his age, He has been through NUMEROUS injuries yet it never seems to slow him down.When do you see him declining as a player? How much do you see him declining?</div>man, ive never really thought about that. Thats a very good point. He has been so good for so long. Alot of other players that were MVP candidates back when he was about 5 years ago have all decreased in talent, production, and so on. I say he will in a few seasons. He cant go on forever...EDIT: spelling
most point gaurds stay until they are like 37 he has more seasons left he will probably have like a gary payton's role un the future
well, the main reason Gary is still around is for leadership purposes and defensive purposes. Allen doesn't have a whole lot of both. I hope that he retires on top with a championship. I dont want him to go to some team where he averages 12 ppg though to get it. I think that he might get smart and just sign for cheap with an already good team and average like 20 a game. I guess that can kinda be related to what Gary Payton did even though they have different styles of ball....
Allen will still be scoring 15 ppg in the season before he retires. He is so quick and talented, that I dont ever see him becoming a washed up player even if he plays until he is 38. He will always have that scoring ability in him. I think he will decline a bit, and drip down to a 20 ppg scorer in 2-3 years though. Which is still scary good for a player his age.He has already proven to us that he wont decline just because he turned 30 or 31, or whatever. So thats why I think he will always be a great scorer until he salutes the crowd and walks through the tunnel for the last time.
Allen has repeatedly said he doesn't want to be a ring-chaser like GP and Malone, and that if the only way he will get a ring is by being the 12th man, he'd rather not have a ring. He wants to be a part of winning that ring, whether that be starting or having a critical role off the bench when he gets up there in age.CB4, I agree that he'll see a decline in his athletic ability at some point, but as you said he just has that natural ability to score, and he will definitely find a way to get it done. The scary thing is that when he does start to decline and his scoring goes down, he'll start to use his passing to his advantage and his assist numbers will go up.
Great point tony. Iverson as you can see is in GREAT shape. I say about 3 more years... and When I say 3 years he will avg 20ppg.....I see his #'s dropping slowThis season maybe 27ppgnext season 25ppgThen 20ppg
The scary thing is, Even when his scoring dips he will still finish his career as a top 5 scorer in NBA history.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BuLLzDoMaIn @ Sep 14 2006, 02:00 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Great point tony. Iverson as you can see is in GREAT shape. I say about 3 more years... and When I say 3 years he will avg 20ppg.....I see his #'s dropping slowThis season maybe 27ppgnext season 25ppgThen 20ppg</div>Good point... I can definitely see that happening, especially with Cheeks at the helms. He wants AI to produce more assists... last year AI averaged about 33 and 8 a night, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him average around 29 and 9 this year, and eventually about 25-27 and 10. Of course, knock on wood, that is if he doesn't suffer any major injuries.
I think Iverson will never average less than 20ppg no matter how old he is. If he is not scoring what else does he really bring to a team besides heart?
Great player but I see him start to decline this year. Maybe just slightly but it will drop more next year.
Allen Iverson is the type of player who may delcine at athleticsm but will improve even more on his shooting and passing. Great players usually last very long(Karl Malone, Michael Jordan, Kareem etc.). AI is always in top shape, and stat wise, he has had his best season in his career despite his MVP season. I can see him being 37 still averaging 25ppg. Thats what he does is score. And despite all of his injuries, AI plays a finesse game, most finesse players last alot longer. Fortunely he hasnt had back spasms such as Tracy McGrady and Steve Nash. Hes always going to be in top shape for his entire career, if his scoring does go down, AI would end up averaging 10assist per game. Thats just the type of player he is, he will always dominate even if he is 38 or 39. And with the defensive intensity low with new NBA rules, it will help him even more lasting longer. AI's decline has already started, but its so slow and small that nobody can really notice it. With Webber around and Igoudala and Korver starting to emerge as better offensive players, he wont have to take the load and get the beating like he used to back in the day. So in my opinion, AI is already declining, but its slow so by the time hes going to retire, he will probably be 40. Its just the type of player AI is, tough.
He is a few years away from really declining. I think that right now the only thing that would really stiffle his career would be a major injury, other then that I think he will always have the jumpshot, and the passing, but the driving to the basket and defense will decline in a few years.
Allen Iverson is the energizer battery of the Nba. He is a great player and in my option if he puts in the work which im pretty sure he will I dont see him declining for another 5 years. He might not get 30 and 10 like hes getting right now, but in my option iverson is a 25pls scorer with at least 7 to 8 assists. Iverson is a tru inspiration and I dont think that he will ever declince becasue his game is that good and becasue his drive is even better than his game.
He's one of those guys who will be able to play on a very high level for a long, long time. I say he averages atleast 25+ ppg for another 3-4 years.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (philafan @ Nov 9 2006, 02:21 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>never he will retire before he starts to decline</div>No he won't...Anyway, I don't think Iverson will start to decline overall, rather once he loses a step or two (which will be after 3 or 4 years) he'll start to utilize his teammates more than before. You can already see that he's on top of his game both physically and mentally, but as his athletic talents start to decline due to age he'll just start playing better basketball mentally (I.e. set up his teammates and take his shots when the defense gives it to him). Hopefully by the time he starts "declining" either his teammates on the Sixers will step up and become more aggressive offensively, or he'll be on a team with a bunch of different offensive weapons... if that is the case we'll probably see his scoring drop to between 20-25 points a game, and his assists staying at around 8 a night or possibly even increase.
