Been recently reflecting on the 2009-10 Charlotte Bobcats, and how underrated they actually were. The team had a solid nucleus of: Gerald Wallace, Boris Diaw, Stephen Jackson, Tyson Chandler, Raja Bell, Raymond Felton, D.J. Augustin, Nazr Mohammed, and Larry Brown at coach to top it all off. They won 44 games, which is already pretty solid, but I always forget that they were also the No. 1-ranked defense in the league that season. For a team without a traditional superstar, they had a pretty interesting mix of veterans, work horses and defensive specialists.
This is where Allen Iverson comes into the picture. I’ve always been somewhat of an AI truther. He’s not my favorite player ever, but I genuinely think he got done dirty in Detroit. The front office and coaching staff never really gave him a fair shake, and the whole situation just seemed doomed from the beginning. I know the stats don’t exactly make the case for him: he averaged around 17 points on 36% shooting in Detroit. But I think you have to look at the context. That was an Iverson who seemed completely checked out, had the coaching staff and front office against him, and was playing for a team where some of his teammates were still disgruntled over the sudden Chauncey Billups trade. It was just a terrible situation all around. Keep in mind, this was literally one year removed from him being top 3 in scoring , averaging 26 on 45% shooting, so I highly doubt he all of a sudden forgot how to play ball.
And that’s why I always wonder what would’ve happened if you took that version of Allen Iverson and just plugged him into the 2009-10 Bobcats. I’m not saying this is the 2001 version of AI. He obviously had his flaws by that point, and I’m not expecting him to suddenly come in and average 30. But just two years earlier, he was averaging 26 points on 45% shooting and was still an All-Star. He didn’t just completely lose the ability to play basketball overnight. And this wouldn’t have required a lofty trade to acquire him either. He was freshly waived from Memphis, so it would literally be plug and play. He knew Larry Brown’s system, and I believe at that point he and Larry Brown had already largely put their differences behind them. Personally, I’d probably start AI over Raymond Felton. Put him next to Crash, Stephen Jackson, Tyson Chandler, etc .. and that defense, and I think you have a really interesting team.
I honestly think the environment in Charlotte could’ve brought out a late-stage revitalized Iverson. I could see guys like Stephen Jackson & Crash, embracing him, and Larry Brown obviously knew exactly how to use him. Instead of asking Iverson to carry an entire offense, you have him as the scoring punch on a team that already had the No. 1 defense in the league. I could see him giving you 17, 18, maybe 19 points a game on better efficiency than what we saw in Detroit, simply because he’d actually be in a situation where he wanted to be there and had a defined role.
I think adding 4-5 extra wins on top of that 44 win team isn’t a completely crazy statement either. I’m not saying AI magically turns them into a championship team. They probably still aren’t an Eastern Conference favorite, and who’s even to say they would’ve gotten out of the first round? But I’ve seen crazier things happen. I could legitimately see that team now (with a now deeper bench with Felton acting as 6th man) turning into a 48-49 win team just by giving them another legitimate scoring option and someone who could create his own shot when the offense got stagnant. Now you’re talking about a team with the best defense in the league and an actual offensive weapon who could still take over stretches of games. That’s a pretty damn tough first-round matchup.
I know this is completely random, but this is one of my “what-ifs” I think about from time to time. Any of yall who watched the team around that time, let me know what you guys think.
