Ballhogers Ltd.

[AlwaysWhat,NeverWhy]

Who's the worst ballhoger in the league?

Kobe and AI are the first ones coming to mind, although they're nothing compared to the early MJ...

Here's an article in relation: http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/3495834

Any other annoying selfish guys in the NBA right now?

[MC Hao]

melo

[Keo]

Ya Allen Iverson then Kobe...those are the major ones.

[Ataraxia]

AI hands down, he takes at least a gazillion too many shots.

[fgrep15]

Between Iverson and Kobe, probably Iverson, Kenny Thomas was saying how after he left Philly he finally able to play basketball as opposed to watching the AI show.

[Indy]

well i was pretty pissed off about how many shots stephen jackson took against the bulls on saturday...

but yeah, its allen iverson. although sometimes his ballhogging is for the bette.r

[In_Ya_Face]

but a.i's game is more mature in the last time or in this season. he shoots pretty much but his game improved.

jordan was selfish in the early years of his career. but it got more and more better and so is game envolved from a one-man show to a player who has utted himself in the duty of his team wich won at least 6 titels


(sorry, my english is not the best )

[Matt]

can someone copy + paste that in here cos for some reason i can never open foxsports site.

[AlwaysWhat,NeverWhy]

Iverson did a little more than Kobe
Story Tools: Print Email XML
Charley Rosen / Special to FOXSports.com
Posted: 10 hours ago



Keep the women and children indoors! Stock up on water and canned goods! And even batten down the hatches! It's a shootout in L.A.! Kid Kobe vs. The Answer!


While Kobe Bryant was more concerned about getting his own points, Allen Iverson collected 15 assists and, more importantly, led the Sixers past the Lakers. (Harry How / GettyImages)
Both of these guys are shot-happy, turnover-prone me-firsters. Iverson leads the NBA in shots taken per game (24.0) and in turnovers (4.58), while Bryant ranks third in each category with 20.5 shots and 4.09 miscues. (Tracy McGrady averages 21.4 shots, and Dwyane Wade 4.16 turnovers.)

Since Lamar Odom was nursing a strained shoulder, Bryant had even more of a license (and a necessity) to fire-away than ever before. Iverson, too, had a particularly itchy trigger finger. Ever since the addition of his new sidekick, Chris Webber, A.I.'s shot production has actually increased to 24.7 per game.

And with both the Lakers and the Sixers struggling to make the playoffs, Sunday's matchup in L.A. was a critical one. But what else was at stake?

Well, Iverson (30.5 ppg) and Bryant (28.0) were the league's leading scorers. The game was played on stage in Hollywood and broadcast on national TV. It was only natural to expect that two of the league's most prolific quick-draw artists would also be very much interested in outdoing each other.

And if the battle at hand was won by Philadelphia (96-89), the personal showdown was won by Iverson on a split-decision.


MIN FG FT 3FG REB A ST BS TO PTS
Iverson 43 5-28 10-14 0-6 2 15 4 0 3 20
Bryant 39 10-22 8-8 6-13 10 5 1 1 6 34

Both players came out passing, going through the necessary charade of trying to get their teammates going (Bryant didn't even attempt a shot for the first 4:38.). But there was a crucial difference: For the initial five minutes of the game, Iverson dominated the ball, yet he still operated within coach Jim O'Brien's guidelines — running plays, and moving without the ball. Meanwhile, Bryant's ball distribution came off offense-breaking one-on-one moves.

In the latter stages of the first quarter, however, both players got down to serious business — hogging the ball and shooting at will. Iverson mixed up his game, driving, pulling up, and firing away from the outskirts; while Bryant yo-yoed the ball on the perimeter and unleashed nothing but 3-balls. (His first seven shots were triples, and he bagged four of them.)

Kobe then picked up his second personal foul early in the second quarter and was forced to the bench. (He was battling the officials all game long and eventually was T'd up.) During his absence, the Sixers went on an 11-2 tear and snatched the lead. On the initial two possessions after Bryant's return, the Lakers concentrated on running their triangle, but they turned the ball over both times. That's when Bryant went hog wild, disdaining any set plays, and took four 3-pointers (making three) and executed a nifty assist to Chris Mihm. Forget about the triangle, from thenceforth Kobe was only interested in getting his.

At the same time, Iverson couldn't find the basket with a map. But that didn't stop him from shooting (he missed nine of his first 10 shots). Forcing drives, tossing up airballs, and throwing passes to nobody.

The game was a sloppy affair, and Philly was lucky to be ahead 43-40 at the half.

After the intermission, Bryant altered his game plan and consistently drove the ball to the rim. He made his normal share of incredible shots, but also committed numerous turnovers as he tried to make unnecessarily spectacular passes.

Iverson's halftime adjustment made much more sense. Still unable to drop the ball through the ring, he concentrated on performing like the play-making point guard that Larry Brown always wanted him to be — seeing the court, penetrating tiny cracks in the defense, seeking to create easy shots for his teammates. Andre Iguodala was on the dunking end of four sensational lob passes. And had C-Webb converted a few more of his open looks (he shot only 8-of-21), Iverson would have finished with at least 20 assists, instead of the 15 he collected.


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Here's a tally of all the forced and/or foolish shots taken by each player in the closing minutes of a close game:

In all, Kobe unleashed five ill-advised triples (making one), one layup (which he missed), and two other mindless forays to the hoop which resulted in a turnover and a blocked shot.

Iverson missed a total of five quickies, two layups (one an airball), tossed up (and missed) three more shots, shot another airball in a crowd, and committed a charging foul.

With the game up for grabs in the waning minutes, Bryant played one-on-five, scoring a total of seven points on six solo ventures. Iverson, meanwhile, likewise began looking to pad his stats as he registered six points and an assist on five takeover moves.

At the same time, Iverson was much more willing, and much more adept, at getting his teammates involved. Whereas, after the opening minutes of the game, Kobe passed the ball only under duress.

With so many Lakers just standing around watching Kobe and hoping that the ball might come their way, it's no wonder that the home team was guilty of an astounding 27 turnovers. (The Sixers only had 12.)

In truth, both Bryant and Iverson monopolize the ball too much for their teams to be more than mediocre. Even though Bryant's stats were more impressive than Iverson's, the difference in this particular game was that Kobe played the way he always does — trusting nobody but himself

And if the anticipated shootout resulted in more blanks being fired than bull's-eyes, give A.I. credit for adjusting his game plan and finding a way to lead his team to victory.


Charley Rosen, former CBA coach, author of 12 books about hoops, the current one being A pivotal season — How the 1971-72 L.A. Lakers changed the NBA, is a frequent contributor to FOXSports.com.

[FendeR`]

Iverson does hog the ball, but he really doesn't have much to work with when he passes the ball. But now that he's playing point and has Igoudala+Webber to past too he's been racking up assists pretty well. And about fgrep's quote of Kenny, really, does Kenny Thomas have the right to say that?

[Full Surface]

Allen Iverson, no question about it. He plays over 45 minutes a game, has the ball 70% of the time on offense, and takes way too many shots.

[AlwaysWhat,NeverWhy]

Allen Iverson, no question about it. He plays over 45 minutes a game, has the ball 70% of the time on offense, and takes way too many shots.

And don't forget: The rest 30% of the time, he can't even get open for a free look!

[cyanide]

After watching the All Star game, Iverson was a big time ball hog. Not only because he took so many shots, but he dribbled the damn ball every where he went. I think he was the main reason the All Star game was boring this year. There wasn't movement and a lot of passing, there was too much one on one.

[AlwaysWhat,NeverWhy]

And they still gave him the MVP award... How many turnovers did he have in that game again? 6 or 8?

[Jona]

Allen Iverson got 7 turnovers and 9 assists in the 2005 All-Star Game.

[Doobie]

iverson is the biggest ballhog , but he does average many assist per game , i used to think antoine walker was the biggest ballhog in atlanta.

[cyanide]

iverson is the biggest ballhog , but he does average many assist per game

Because of his ballhogging, he's able to get enough assists when he's willing to use his abilities to pass

[AlwaysWhat,NeverWhy]

If they counted passes from one hand to the other as assists he'd be averaging about 1000 per game...

[mdardy]

I wish everyone would shutup about AI being a ballhog. He is no more of a ballhog then any other star player in the NBA. So what is the point of singling him out.

[AlwaysWhat,NeverWhy]

He is no more of a ballhog then any other star player in the NBA.

I don't see any other star player in the NBA (apart from Kobe) shooting 11/25 from the floor in each game, commiting 4.5 TOs at the same time. If there was one, we'd call him a ballhog...

[mdardy]

He is no more of a ballhog then any other star player in the NBA.

I don't see any other star player in the NBA (apart from Kobe) shooting 11/25 from the floor in each game, commiting 4.5 TOs at the same time. If there was one, we'd call him a ballhog...

I see a lot of players shooting like this.

The mere fact that you mentioned Michael Jordan in your original post shows your lack of basketball IQ.

[AlwaysWhat,NeverWhy]

The mere fact that you mentioned Michael Jordan in your original post shows your lack of basketball IQ

It's obvious which part of " EARLY Michael Jordan " you chose to leave out, isn't it?

[cyanide]

I see a lot of players shooting like this.

The mere fact that you mentioned Michael Jordan in your original post shows your lack of basketball IQ.

Believe it or not, but MJ was quite a ballhog. Good thing he has the talent to justify it. While AI has the talent, he's no MJ, and he could be doing more for his team a la LeBron James.

[fgrep15]

The difference with MJ was that he hogged efficiently. Iverson and Kobe hog and shoot under 43%, and average 4+ turnovers, while MJ hogged and shot 50%, and had about only 3 turnovers a game.

Anyone that deny's MJ wasn't a hog in his early years never watched him, now he didn't have much to work with early on, and though he was efficient, it was when he started trusting his teamates that he got the wins. Out of all the players, the most efficient ballhog in the recent years has been McGrady. He had to hog on the Magic, but never committed more than 2.7 turnovers, and only shot under 45% once.

Iverson also started taking more shots when Webber came, it's just how his game is, it's the only way he knows how to play really.

[Drex]

Iverson hands down. But, who else can bring the ball up court for the Sixers?