Allen Iverson and 76'ers Rejuvenated |
Written by Robert ID940 |
Monday, 28 February 2005 22:15 |
Allen Iverson said Sunday felt like Christmas morning to him, because of practice. "Just coming in here today, I was anxious just to get in to practice and try to get things done," Iverson said. "Yeah, I''m anxious to come to practice." Less than two years after his infamous "we talkin'' about practice" year-end news conference, Iverson couldn''t wait to become familiar with new teammate Chris Webber. Iverson, Webber and their Sixers teammates have another practice scheduled for today and will work out Tuesday morning in Milwaukee before that night's game against the Bucks. There is a great deal to accomplish in the next two days because, starting Tuesday, the Sixers are facing a killer stretch of six games in eight nights. Webber, Rodney Rogers and Michael Bradley and Matt Barnes, neither of whom played Saturday, are all adjusting to a new system and new teammates in the wake of being traded here. "It's not a lot of time, but I have a lot of experience," Webber said after Sunday's session at PCOM. "I played for a lot of coaches. Hopefully, I know the fundamentals of basketball, so I think I can adjust quick. It's a lot of plays to remember, but we''ll get through that." Webber had 16 points, 11 rebounds and three steals in his Sixers debut, a 101-99 loss to the Kings. He had a chance to force overtime in the closing seconds, but his half-hook from 4 feet fell short. The game completed a whirlwind three days in which Webber was traded from Sacramento to Philadelphia, tended to his personal affairs, flew cross-country twice, passed a physical and played a game against his former team. "I just told a couple guys I wish [Saturday] was [Sunday]," Webber said. "I feel settled today. I''m not jet-lagged. Today's a much better day. I feel much more a part of the team and the organization. [Saturday] was just weird. I can''t even explain it. I hate it that we lost, but I feel good to be a part of the team." With Webber's troublesome left knee, he occasionally sits out a game in order to rest it. Given three sets of back-to-back games in the next nine days, it's possible Webber could miss one of the games. He was held out of seven of the Kings'' first 54 games because of the knee. Neither Iverson (sore left hip) nor Webber (knee) participated in the contact portion of Sunday's 100-minute practice for precautionary reasons. They did run up and down the floor during drills. Iguodala switches jersey numbers Rookie Andre Iguodala received an expensive watch from Webber as a thank you for switching his jersey from No. 4, which is Webber's favorite number, to 9. Webber was grateful to Iguodala because he wanted No. 4 when he came to Washington as a second-year pro and veteran Scott Skiles wanted "something like a million dollars" for the change. Webber wore No. 2 that year. Iverson said he also has something for Iguodala. "I told him, ''Dre, that's a nice watch, but you''re not going to be thinking about it too much after you see the chain I''m going to get you for the way you played in the [all-star] rookie game,'' " he said. Asked what he plans on giving Kyle Korver, who hit 7 of 10 3-pointers in the rookie/sophomore game, Iverson said, "Other guys were like, ''Hold on, you''re not going to do nothing for Kyle?'' I was telling the guys I''m going to go talk to him and see if he thinks I''ve got to get him something. If he feels that way, I just got to find out as quick as possible and see if I can afford it." "The thing I do is try to manage the care during the week," Webber said. "I try to lessen the stress in practice time, try to lessen the stress in my weight lifting and rehab in weeks when the games are heavy. I try to just take everything else down, so at game time I can be ready. Sometimes it's bad, but most times it's good. I expect to go into this fine." While Sixers coach Jim O''Brien wishes there were more practice time, Iverson figures learning on the fly has its advantages. "It might be a bad thing we don''t have time to get it straight in practice, but it's a good thing we can try to get it straight in the games," Iverson said. "Hopefully, guys learn quick and we catch a rhythm before people expect." |