National Basketball Association

Why Allen Iverson Be A Cleveland Cavaliers Assistant Coach

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Allen Iverson had a great week. To start, he’s been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Now he has an invitation to coach the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Tyronn Lue has given Allen Iverson the ultimate green light to seek him out should he want a coaching position. Should Iverson accept, a player development role with the Cleveland Cavaliers is a shot he can’t pass up.

In a video with TMZ, Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue was asked about his relationship with Allen Iverson. As he talked about their friendship, Lue enlightened fans to its depth.

Lue compared his relationship with Iverson to a sibling-like brotherhood. This may surprise some NBA fans, considering the ridicule Lue suffered after Iverson infamously stepped over him after a vicious crossover and pull-up jumper had Lue stumbling, bumbling and falling in Game 1 of the 2001 NBA Finals. However, Iverson and Lue have had a positive relationship since then.

This is evident even in Iverson’s Hall of Fame speech when he spoke of Lue and said that point guards make the best NBA coaches. In the TMZ video, when Lue is asked if he believed that, Lue simply stated that Iverson himself should be a coach. Though Iverson recently stated he wouldn’t be a head coach, the idea of Iverson as an assistant head coach should be taken seriously.

Iverson, who was recently inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame with players like Yao Ming and Shaquille O’Neal, was one of the best players of all-time on both sides of the ball. He made a living on offense with his uptempo pace and streetball style of play.

Playing at a breakneck pace and attacking the paint without cessation is what allowed Iverson to rack up points. It also made defenders want to guard him so tightly he could run them off of screens with ease before shooting from mid-range, an area of the court that he specialized in.

What enhanced Iverson’s mid-range game was his ability to get by a defender consistently one-on-one. Using a change of speed Iverson could blow by a defender off-the-dribble before he even got to trying to cross the player over. In fact, that’s essentially how Lue was put in position to be stepped-over in the first place.

However, the mid-range area wasn’t only a focus of Iverson’s. It was the focus of many players until the current era. In that sense, the Cleveland Cavaliers have two throwback players at the point guard position. Kyrie Irving and Kay Felder both relentlessly attack the basket.

Showing a great use of speed as they push the pace down the court, both Irving and Felder get into the paint at will. Even in half-court sets, both point guards have the ball-handling ability and aggressiveness to consistently penetrate the lane. Once in the lane, Irving and Felder showcase their scoring instincts as they either pull up from the midrange area or take the ball all the way to the rim and typically make the right decision.

As a coach, Iverson could help guide these two young point guards towards being the most elite scorers at their position, like himself.  In his 15-year career, Iverson was a four-time scoring champion. While Irving and Felder are offensive savants and born scorers there are noticeable flaws to their game.

Irving’s shot selection is often a source of frustration for the franchise. It’s an issue when Irving stops just short of the rim to launch a short contested jumper at the rim instead of going all the way to the rim. Although he thrives from inside the paint and behind the line, he’ll often settle for tough and contested jumpers in the lane instead of going all the way to the rim.

Last year, 16.4 percent of Irving’s shots came from 3-to-9 feet away from the basket and he converted 40.3 percent of those attempts. Compare that to Irving taking 24.3 percent of his shots from 0-to-2 feet away from the basket and making 58.4 percent of those attempts.

Or compare that to Irving taking 13.1 percent of his shot attempts 10-to-15 feet away from the basket and making 50.4 percent of them. The concern with Irving’s shot selection is reasonable.

Felder’s game is predicated on using straight-line speed and crossover dribbles to cause the defender to lose balance. Once Felder is able to blow by his man, finishing at the rim isn’t an issue. Felder’s height impacts his ability as a catch-and-shoot player and he’ll have to thrive from making shots from mid-range.

To this point, Felder needs to learn how to make those shots consistently. It’ll come through learning more ways to create space as well as learning how to keep his balance as he shoots off-the-dribble in the mid-range area.

Iverson, with his abilities as a mid-range scorer, will be able to offer guidance to Felder. Felder’s similar speed, mentality, ball-handling and slashing abilities will also help Iverson coach him as Iverson will likely feel as if he’s looking into the mirror some days.

Nonetheless, where Iverson could really help the duo of Irving and Felder is on defense. Though he stood at 6-foot and weighed 165 pounds, Iverson was one of the most dogged man-to-man defenders in the NBA.

Due to his coaching under John Thompson Jr., former coach of the Georgetown Hoyas and father of their current men’s basketball coach John Thompson III, playing smothering and aggressive defense was a part of Iverson’s basketball DNA. Coach Thompson is who Iverson thanked for saving his life in his speech during his Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

John Thompson Jr. is a college basketball coaching legend. Under his lead, the Hoyas won six Big East tournaments, five regular season conference titles, had three Final Four appearances, and won the 1984 men’s basketball championship. Not many players get to lay claim to having direct knowledge of the minute details of John Thompson Jr.’s coaching. However, Iverson does, and his passing along of the coaching he received on defense will be invaluable to Irving and Felder.

Though Irving isn’t an athletic point guard, he’s been working on his conditioning and is able to commit more energy to that end of the court. He’ll continue working on his conditioning in order to be one of the most effective two-way guards in the league as he looks to separate himself from the rest of the elite point guards in the NBA.

Felder, though 5-foot-9, is very athletic and completely capable of exerting the necessary energy to play physical, tight, man-to-man defense on the opposing ball-handler. Playing defense at that high of a level is what will help him most defensively.

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Opposing team’s offenses will try to exploit his height as a defensive liability by switching him onto bigger players. Nonetheless, no matter the height of the player, it’s difficult for players to put the ball on the floor when the defender is crowding their air space. Irving’s guidance to Felder in this area will be greatly beneficial to Felder’s career.

With no coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers under contract, but Tyronn Lue and Larry Drew, who Lue wants to be assistant head coach though there is some resistance to the idea, there is an actual opportunity for Iverson to coach with the Cavaliers. Though Iverson has said he doesn’t want to coach in a statement that was made two years ago, Iverson could enjoy coaching in a limited role. He could truly help individuals who need guidance and support as well as coaching on their point guard abilities.

The door for Iverson to contribute to a team as a player has been closed for years, however, now a door is open for him to contribute as a coach.

What do you think of Allen Iverson coaching on the sidelines for the Cleveland Cavaliers? Let us know in the comments section or tweet @KJG_NBA and @30for30Albertie.

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