From most volatile player to most valuable player Here's a thought to curdle those who once reviled him as all that was wrong with the new generation of NBA performers: Allen Iverson, to this point in the season, is the league's most valuable player. Uh-huh. The former Mr. Irresponsible himself is the best player on the team with the best record. He means the most to his team. Thus, MVP. He is whittling determinedly at his game, trying to make more from less. He is learning to surrender possession of the ball. He is learning to get others involved. He is playing impassioned defense. Beyond that, he has become punctual and reliable. He gets A's in deportment and citizenship. He has grown and he is trying to grow some more, and the depth of that effort alone should count for something. He has clasped the captaincy to his heart and embraced the attendant obligations. Cornrows and tattoos, billowing pantaloons and rocket-powered sneakers, missed practices and kissed-off shoot-arounds, pouts and sulks - all the things that made so many teeth gnash - now recede in the rearview mirror. Slowly but surely, Iverson has reformed himself and refined his game. Of course, everyone still is afraid to exhale, knowing that it could all shatter like dropped crystal. But for the moment, the 76ers are riding high and the little warrior is a model citizen. Iverson took over a game that was being lost yesterday, running a one-man break, and George Lynch seized every rebound of importance and defended maniacally, and the best record in the NBA was preserved. The Sixers are 28-9, folks. They are on pace for, gulp, 62 wins. Iverson gave an encore of Saturday night's 40-point detonation on San Antonio with a 35-point destruction of Charlotte, the team that presents the most match-up problems for the Sixers. Iverson took a Jordanesque approach yesterday, lingering out on the perimeter in the early going, trying to let the others establish, assert and extend themselves. And then after the Hornets had forced the tempo into a half-court slowdown, turning the Sixers into laboring jump shooters ripe for the beating, Iverson took command. He slashed to the basket and ended up making 11 of 12 free throws. He also had five steals. And he led the Sixers in assists with seven. And, yes, he took 26 of their 74 shots, but there were only a few with which you could quibble. Philadelphia is 20-2 against the East, with losses to the Hornets and New York Knicks. The Hornets present special problems for the Sixers because of their frontcourt size and physicality. They also are frequently successful in denying the Sixers what they like best - scoring off their defense, running in an open court. The Sixers finally got the lead at the end of the third quarter yesterday, and now here comes the killer statistic - they are now 25-1 when they have the lead going into the fourth quarter. "I think closing out is what we've been doing best," said Tyrone Hill, who joined Lynch and Theo Ratliff in double-figure rebounding. The Sixers play that python defense and then really squeeze in the fourth quarter, and that accounts for their success. Then again, it didn't hurt the Sixers that Charlotte, caught in suicidal scheduling, was playing its second game in less than 24 hours. The Hornets looked gassed late. As for the Sixers' MVP candidate, Iverson was wreathed in smiles. Again. "I'm the captain of a team that's playing well, and it's great," he said. "Hopefully, I can be captain every year." He sees himself, he said, as a motivator, but not a barker or a chewer of ears. "I try to show my teammates I play every game like it's my last and let them see that." There are taller players with all-around games, Kevin Garnett and Rasheed Wallace being paramount. And Kobe Bryant has a luminous game that he keeps elevating with diligent labor. But Iverson is playing with a ferocity that is gleaming even by his past standards. He sustained a painful shoulder injury of the sort that usually keeps most players out up to a month. For Iverson, they listed return time at one to three weeks. He missed one game. One. Then again, it says something for the rest of them that they won that one game, and that it was against the Jazz and that it was in Utah, yet. Paul Silas, the Charlotte coach, said: "Iverson took over. He just made some incredible shots. It's as simple as that. If you have a player like him who is that capable, you have to go to him. More often than not, he is going to come through for you. "They [the 76ers] play tough defense. That has been their mark throughout. They defend you tough and get out in the open court and Allen does his thing. The other guys sit on the perimeter and wait for him to break you down. "They're going on all throttles right now. They are playing exceptional basketball right now." None better than the MVP.		Author Billy Lyon   Source Inquirer   Return to Articles