<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">After two months of trying, Sixers president Billy King apparently has given up. At least for now. King, who said Tuesday Iverson is off the market, reportedly had flown to Atlanta, where the All-Star has a home, to tell him that in person. While Iverson fans will no doubt rejoice, this doesn't bode well for the immediate future of the team. At the end of the season, with a lottery pick looming and the Fan Appreciation Night fiasco fresh in his mind, King said he would change the culture of the team, not only on the court but also off. So far, the only change has involved the firing of the public-relations director - a move so inconsequential to the on-court product as to be laughable. Not to mention undeserved. How can you change the culture without changing the cast of characters, particularly Iverson, that has ruled this franchise for years? Will Iverson suddenly be the perfect leader, the ideal teammate? Will he suddenly realize that how and when he practices sets the tone for the rest of the team? Will promptness, cooperation and team play suddenly replace perpetual tardiness and a penchant for 25 or more shots a game? King can only hope. "I met with him for two hours (Tuesday) and he said, 'I'll do whatever it takes to win,'" King said of Iverson. And keeping Iverson seemed the right thing to do. "At the end of the day, Allen Iverson's best for us," King said. So what now? More of the same and another trip to Secaucus, N.J.? Trading Iverson was always a risk, but one that King appeared ready to take. If various reports are true, he came close a number of times, including a draft-night deal with Boston that would actually have given the Sixers something of value. Nothing ever came of it, however, and King has apparently given up. Either that, or he hopes by taking Iverson off the market he'll raise the stakes. Teams were obviously willing to discuss Iverson with him, but no one was willing to ante up with players and picks that would give the Sixers equal value. No one can dispute Iverson's talent. He's led the league in scoring four times, and this past season was his second straight in which he proved that age really hadn't slowed him down. Despite being 30, he still averaged 33 points a game. Saying that Iverson is not available doesn't make it so. It merely means that the rumors will go away, something Iverson said recently that he wanted, and that in all likelihood he'll start training camp in Barcelona with the Sixers. "Honestly, I hope if something happens, it hurries up and happens," he said during a press conference before his charity softball game. "And if it's not going to happen, I just wish I'd get some kind of indication that it's not going to happen." And, by now, we all know that what Iverson wants he gets, hence King's trip to Atlanta. Or so we can assume. Iverson cannot be happy with the status quo, although he's learned to say the right things over the years and likely will continue. But the team that will surround him will be similar to the one from last year, and it's hard to imagine that the addition of rookie Rodney Carney will make that big a difference, although King certainly hopes it does. "Adding Rodney Carney is better than some of the players we let go," King said. "Adding Willie Green for a full season is better than some of the players we let go." Plus, after three years of revolving-door coaching, the Sixers will enter training camp with the same head coach that ended the season. "Sometimes standing pat and having consistency is better than changing everything," King said. </div> link: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=167...1&PAG=461&rfi=9
Considering the offers King was getting for Iverson it is no surprise that he chose to keep AI. I mean when the Celtics are not willing to trade the seventh pick in the draft, and some young prospects to get a player the caliber of AI then there is a problem. The market for AI right now was extremely low, because other teams where thinking that there was no chance King would bring AI back, and that eventually he would be forced to settle, well he didn’t and it’s a good thing. I think you will see AI rumors start up again around the trade deadline teams like the Timberwolves, Clippers, etc. will show interest.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">At the end of the season, with a lottery pick looming and the Fan Appreciation Night fiasco fresh in his mind, King said he would change the culture of the team, not only on the court but also off. So far, the only change has involved the firing of the public-relations director - a move so inconsequential to the on-court product as to be laughable. Not to mention undeserved. How can you change the culture without changing the cast of characters, particularly Iverson, that has ruled this franchise for years? Will Iverson suddenly be the perfect leader, the ideal teammate? Will he suddenly realize that how and when he practices sets the tone for the rest of the team? Will promptness, cooperation and team play suddenly replace perpetual tardiness and a penchant for 25 or more shots a game? </div> That says it all right there. Right now, I would give Billy King a D- for the off-season.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting C.K.:</div><div class="quote_post">That says it all right there. Right now, I would give Billy King a D- for the off-season.</div> D-? What did Billy King do to deserve a D-? I give him a big fat F. He isn't going to use the MLE, lost Salmons for nothing, and the only new acquisitions to our team is our rookies! This is basically the same exact team as last season, which means he did absolutely nothing
