<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">WHEN Andre Iguodala entered the NBA draft following his sophomore season at the University of Arizona, he didn't know which team would select him. It wound up being the 76ers who snapped up the versatile, 6-6 swingman with the ninth pick in the first round. As fate would have it, his new team was also the hometown of Mustafa Shakur, Iguodala's Arizona teammate and a former Friends' Central guard. Shakur took it upon himself to educate Iguodala as to all that he could expect at the first site of his professional basketball career. "After he was drafted we talked and I kind of told him about the city and things like that," says Shakur, recalling their conversation during the Wildcats' recent appearance in the NCAA Tournament. "When he got to Philly, he gave me a call and we went out to dinner on City Avenue, where he was staying near the team's practice facility [Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine]." So, did Shakur rhapsodize to Iguodala about the joys of a good cheesesteak? The green tracts of Fairmount Park? The tranquil splendor of Boathouse Row when it's lit up at night? "He let me know that the media here is pretty tough and I should never listen to the radio," Iguodala recalls. "Oh, and he told me about the city wage tax." You have to wonder if Shakur also informed Iguodala of the time Santa Claus got pelted with snowballs at Franklin Field. Having been given a pep talk like that, no one would have blamed Iguodala had he run screaming into the night, demanding a trade to, oh, almost anywhere. But Iguodala, blessed with an adaptable temperament to go with his adaptable game, has learned to survive in the tough-love cauldron that is the Wachovia Center. In fact, "Iggy" has more than survived; the only Sixer to have started all 73 games, he has won over a notoriously difficult-to-please fan base that has come to appreciate his unselfishness, superb defense and highlight-reel hops. None of that is likely to stamp Iguodala as a dark-horse candidate to be voted rookie of the year. That honor is likely to fall to the Charlotte Bobcats' splendid first-year big man, Emeka Okafor, who is in town tonight for a game against the Sixers. Others who are sure to draw support include the Orlando Magic's Dwight Howard, who went No. 1 in the draft straight out of high school, and Ben Gordon, the shooting guard who provides instant offense in the fourth quarter for the Chicago Bulls. At 36-37, the Sixers' record is too pedestrian to draw much national attention to Iggy, whose statistics (8.8 points per game, 5.7 rebounds, 1.7 steals) are solid and workmanlike but hardly spectacular. But someone once said that numbers are there to be crunched into whatever form the cruncher cares to make of them, and Iguodala's bosses insist his value supersedes statistical quantification.</div> Source
I really hope he learns to create his own shoot over the summer. I think he outside shooting really impressed everyone so far, being that everyone doubted him before the draft. The future looks very bright for the 76ers down the line.
With Iggy on our roster, I think hes only getting better and better. Like N4S, he should work on that jumpshot over the summer which would make him a pretty good well-rounded player.
Yeah I agree, a lot of his skills are top notch like his defense and athletic game but he still has a lot to work on. This would be like the midrangers or moving better with the ball. However, I think he has definitely surprised a lot of people with his stellar performances. Plus, he's probably going to be something big in the future, I can just feel it. Hopefully, he'll stay with Philadelphia for years to come.
All I have to say is, I can't wait. Once he develops into his full potential Andre will be a very nice player as he already is. From defense, to rebounding, to passing, to scoring, I really think he can do it all.
