Why is iverson playing in turkey

Would've liked to see him win a title. Posts : 12, Originally Posted by will2survive. Posts : 22, Betpoints : He played for 2 other teams after Denver he sucks. Posts : 4, Yeah, when Coach Hollins pushed him out of Memphis, he gained his players respect. Peeps don't like playing with him. He adds value to nobody.

Just like Marbury. AI is a much better player than Marbury. He carried the Sixers on his back. He's a warrior. People just don't want to deal with him.

Sixers never had much beyond him at the time. Most NBA teams now have one or two legit stars. You're gonna really piss them off if you bring AI onto your team. Since leaving the Sixers, he's only made teams worse. Posts : Ogilvy, from Australia, the remainder of the roster is players from Turkey, Russia and Eastern Europe. Still, as far as being cosmopolitan, Jackson said Istanbul "was a beautiful place, like living in New York.

Everyone speaks English. Okur said he thinks the fans in his home country will respect Iverson, "on the floor, off the floor, and treat him like a superstar. And hopefully, he's going to play good and try to help Turkish basketball, make it better. We'll see what happens. Practice is also a whole other deal, and the game is more physical among the good teams.

Even among the bottom teams, it's intense. They play 30 games; the mentality is much different. Crispin, who logged some time in the NBA, played nearly two seasons in Turkey; former Temple star Dionte Christmas is currently playing for a team there. If he doesn't live up to those expectations, it won't be pretty. He could be home in six games. Teams can be capricious and overcontrolling; there's no players union. Things could go really well or really poorly for him.

Iverson's team this season plays in the Turkish league, not in the Euroleague, considered the best league in Europe.

Only two teams from Turkey play in the Euroleague. Besiktas hasn't won the Turkish league since , although its management obviously expects that to change. The drop in talent around Iverson will be significant from what he was accustomed to in the NBA. He will be expected to be a super player and a hero; he'll have a bull's-eye on his jersey, and every defender will go at him.

Iverson lacked his signature explosiveness in last season's stint with the Sixers; he was unable to regularly penetrate the lane the way he once did, and he had to have a painful knee drained of fluid several times.

Historically, practice has been an issue with him. I think that he will be in for a huge surprise, with the emotions of being viewed as this great NBA player; he is not any longer, but they will expect it. I look for him to struggle mightily in all aspects of this Turkish venture, factoring in his age, his lifestyle, his nonconforming mentality. And add to that one game a week and days of practice. Still, listen to Zorbey Canturk, a freshman swimmer at Drexel who is from Istanbul and has been in the United States for roughly 2 months.

He is the reason I watched. I just think it's funny that I come here and he goes to my hometown. The seven-footer is honing his skills in Turkey these days, playing for Besiktas of the Turkish professional league.

When he finally did muster enough courage to try some Turkish delicacies, he was sick for a week. Once Iverson hit the floor for his new team in Istanbul, things began to click. Iverson says the biggest adjustment to the international game is the officiating:. You have to change your game, change your style of play.