this is great logic, but fans of the iversons and marburys of the world never listen to this kind of thing. i know from experience as a knicks fan.

AI is a difference maker …. in ticket sales.

AI can’t fix the rebounding and defense, but he can help overcome their scoring deficiencies.

The rebounding is still a problem, I don’t know how much is Eddie Jordan and how much is it the Sixers. Brand is a good rebounder and Dalembert is a good rebounder, it seems to me if they get the minutes they’ll do a good job. In any case another big man should come in when one of them goes out and that means Smith. Until Speights comes back those three have their opportunity to shine, or at least they should. It’s important for the Sixers to find out if Smith can really play or not, so we know who to draft next season. If we get rid of Dalembert and Smith washes out that means we need two new bigs to replace them.

I think Speights will help with the defense and rebounding when he comes back. He was improving greatly in both those areas jsut prior to his injury. It will be nice to see how he and Brand work together.

First off, let me start by saying I live in Denver and am a long time Nuggets fan. I wish no ill will, and have a ton of respect for the Sixers organization. I am also a fan of AI, but not here to slurp him by any means. I just happened to come across this post, and don’t think the argument holds any water. When looking at all four of teams listed, you have to take into consideration that each one was in a different situation with AI. I don’t think you can count the Grizzlies at all in this argument because they suck. They suck now, they sucked then, they suck forevermore.

Next consider Denver, they were a decent team before the arrival of AI, but didn’t live up to expectations, so they moved him. They also gained Chauncey Billups in the move and let Marcus Camby go in the off season. Those two moves may have very well created a larger impact on the Nuggets improvement that the actual loss of AI. He performed well as a Nugget.

Detroit may have suffered m ore from losing Billups than gaining AI. Billups was their general on the floor, and an integral part of the team. They lost a bit of their identity in the move, but is that AI’s fault?

Now for the sixers. Way worse without AI…. period. Been a middle of the pack .500 team in a terrible Eastern conference. When you had AI, conference finals was an expectation.

Your team is 5-15, with like 7 losses coming by 3 points or less. Take him, at least he gives you a punchers chance to knock down some final shots and turn some close games into w’s!

Pretty stupid stat to use.

Compare Denver with and without AI.
Compare Memphis with and without AI.
Compare Detroit with and without AI.

Mixing that up suits your hating agenda,though. Denver is a much better team than the other 2 and the stats get skewed a great deal due to that. It’s either pretty ingenious use of stats to hate or you are just another dumb little bimbo.

Detroit fired that coach and they still suck. AI might have saved that situation and that coach’s job if that coach wasn’t so determined to loose the team. Memphis is also a joke of a club, and their collective idiocy isn’t AI’s fault either.

Denver is better with Billups than with AI, that’s all those stats prove. The ones that show he can still score are the point. He’s still a good NBA scorer, which is something the Sixers need. They need a lot more to be a good team, but with AI they at least have a chance to win some games.

This team wasn’t going to get a lottery pick, and not bringing in AI might have kept them out of the playoffs. It’s a good move for the team, and it’s no risk since they can always cut him if things don’t work out.

The logical inference is clearly that without AI they had a greater chance of being in the lottery.

Why that’s beyond you is the question you should be asking yourself.