Andre Iguodala is an enigmatic creature, he has so many talents, but never seemed to fit in perfectly in Philly. However, now he moves to the run-and-gun nature of the Denver Nuggets – and thanks to Roundball Mining Company — Masai spoke about Denver’s defensive plan for AI9 to a local Denver radio show, the Drew and Scott Show:
“We as a team have studied teams that play the way we do. Phoenix did it, even in the past some other teams have done it, we do it. The one thing I think we struggle with is defense, and we thought bringing in a defensive minded player would kind of affect the athletes that we have. We do have good athletes and we do have good players that have potential to be good at defense. We’re always going to score.., we’re always going to be tough for the way George Karl coaches, but defensively we have to stop somebody. We can’t be 19th in the league on defense and think we want to make a jump.
“So I think that was where the upgrade was. We feel Iguodala is going to be able to score a little bit more because of the way we play. I think the Sixers played more of a halfcourt game and they played more in a halfcourt setting. We go up and down, and that’s his game. He likes to find people, he likes to make plays, he likes to attack the rim, and that’s how he plays. So I think on both sides we have somebody that can play-make for some of our other players and … an elite defender that’s going to help us be better on defense.”
Apparently, Denver is actually 28th in points allowed (I recalled it being 29th-my bad) and their overall defensive efficiency is 20th in the league. Either way, Masai is right about one thing, Iguodala will be helpful around the perimeter when Denver gets thrashed by three-point shooting. As Masai mentions, he hopes to use Andre in being a play-making, aggressive shot taker as in getting off of the fast-break and attacking the rim.
While many don’t see Andre making a solid difference in Denver — they have a right to believe that AI9 isn’t a solid difference maker — but Andre may be put into a situation where the offense goes through Ty Lawson first, and that monkey off of Iguodala’s back as the main offensive go-to guy, might be the best thing to happen to Andre.
Or maybe not.
Either way, only time shall really tell if Masai’s plotting and scheming has paid off.
