AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — The reporter approached the retired legend, figuring he’d get a glass half-full toast to the guy’s old team.
“So, the Pistons are struggling, but do you think they’ll work out their problems come playoff time?”
“No,” said Bill Laimbeer, as blunt as one of those elbows he threw in the 1980s as part of the Detroit Pistons Bad Boys. “Their team is structured incorrectly. (Allen Iverson) is not the best defending guard, and guards got to be defenders these days. He’s small. He’s got a big heart, he still can score, but come playoff time, it’s tough. It’s the Eastern Conference, grind it out, and it’s physical. It’s going to be a hard road.”
On Nov. 3, Denver traded Iverson to Detroit for Chauncey Billups. Now, on March 3, Billups will play his first game in Detroit since leaving the Pistons, and will do so for a first-place team. As for Iverson, he’s never played worse as a pro, and tonight he won’t play at all, opting to visit a specialist to examine his injured back.
As for his Pistons (29-29), they are mired in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, the same conference in which they’ve competed for the championship the past six seasons.
As happy as the Nuggets are to have Billups, fans in Detroit might be equally sad their team landed A.I.
Asked if Billups is a better fit in Denver than he is for Detroit, Iverson said: “That’s the way it looks. . . . This is just the way it is. I have to stay positive. And keep fighting.”
Not the best fit
Iverson, 33, is averaging a career-low 18.0 points per game, but more than points, it’s the style of his game that hasn’t seemed to click here. At times, the Pistons have looked better without him. He suffered the back injury last week, missing games against Orlando and Boston, and the Pistons won both after having lost eight in a row. And when he does return, Iverson told former teammate Carmelo Anthony that he will come off the bench for the first time in his career.
As for his relationship with the Nuggets, A.I. speaks warmly about the players, the coaches, and the fans, saying how tough it was to move his family from a community that welcomed him.
As for his relationship with Detroit? Well, just tune into Detroit’s 97.1 FM “The Ticket” these days. Callers are applauding the potential benching. Fans can’t seem to wait for Iverson’s contract to expire this spring. One host said “The Answer” was “The Cancer.”
“A.I. is a great player and can still average 30 points, I’m sure, but that’s not what that system calls for,” said Billups, the 2004 NBA Finals MVP with Detroit.
“So, it’s really not fair to him that people look at him and say, ‘They can’t get it done with him,’ because it’s not about him.”
Asked if it was weird seeing his old team, a perennial contender, struggling without him, Billups said: “It is weird, especially because it’s not like they lost me and didn’t get anyone. They got one of the greatest players of this era. But the only thing is — it’s not about that sometimes. It’s about the mix.”
In 2007-08, Iverson did help lead Denver to its first 50-win season since 1987-88. But the Nuggets got swept in four games against the No. 1-seeded Lakers. Now, as Iverson struggles in Detroit, he grapples with his legacy. The guy is a Hall of Famer, no doubt. He was in All-Star Games when courtside fixture Beyonce was in high school.
But besides one magical run, in 2001, when his 76ers went to the Finals, Iverson hasn’t done much in the playoffs. Critics say he shoots too much and doesn’t trust his teammates in crunch time; piles up steals but doesn’t play tough defense.
Laimbeer talked about how two of Detroit’s top players, Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince, are “catch- and-shoot players,” but Iverson “is more of a look-to- score-first player and then realizes he needs to make a pass, so the timing is going to be disrupted right there.”
Iverson is perpetually positive. He talks about Detroit being a tough playoff draw. And, with him in the lineup, the Pistons have defeated some good clubs, notably the Lakers, Cavaliers and Spurs.
Mile High expectations
The Nuggets, meanwhile, have moved on, and Billups has become their leader.
“What I bring to the team is something this team desperately needed — my leadership, the way I play and my experience,” Billups said. “In Detroit, I think a lot of things were taken for granted. Us not being able to get over the hump was a concern, but you’ve got to look at the flip side, 30 other teams that would love to be in that position.”
And now, there are many who believe Billups could lead his new team to his old stomping grounds — the conference finals.
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
