Iverson Still Finding His Way in Detroit

When Chauncey Billups was with the Pistons, he had the honor of being the only player on the team with two lockers, holding court in the corner of the locker room with two stalls. It worked out perfectly because he needed the space -- not for his clothes but rather the large crowd of reporters who circled his locker after every game knowing that Billups would be the first starter out of the shower ready to take questions.

I was at last night's game, and the first thing I did upon entering Detroit's locker room before the game was check to see who inherited Billups' premium locker space. I thought Rip Hamilton might stake a claim, or perhaps even Tayshaun Prince.

Instead, Allen Iverson was given the honor, except for the time being, he has twice as much space as Billups ever did, flanked on either side by the empty stalls that Cheikh Samb and Antonio McDyess used to occupy.

Figuratively speaking, it's actually quite fitting: Iverson is a member of the Pistons, but at least for the first couple of weeks, he's also a spectacle unto himself. As much as he wants to fit in, his mere presence sticks out, both in the locker room and on the court.

The Pistons were a model of efficiency their first four games of the season, winning all four games, topping 50% shooting twice and averaging 104.5 points a night. Since AI joined the roster, the Pistons are 0-2 and have shot under 40%. In Sunday's game against the Celtics, the Pistons limped their way to 76 points with an especially putrid 34.7% shooting performance.

The knee-jerk reaction is to blame Iverson, but that's just not fair. He played quite well in his debut on Friday (24 points on 12 shots), and while he struggled against the Celtics on Sunday (10 points, 4-11 shooting), he was hardly the only one. Rip Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace combined for exactly one field goal through the first three quarters, and while Wallace eventually hit a few buckets in garbage time (finishing with 10 points on 4-17 shooting), Hamilton finished with just three points (all from the charity stripe) on 0-8 shooting.

After the game, Iverson downplayed the early struggles as part of the learning process. "Obviously it's going to take time because it's a different look, a different flow," said Iverson. "I think I'm a totally different player than what they're used to playing with. We're just going to have to get used to each other. ... We have to do some work, we have to get a little bit more familiar with each other. And we weren't playing no scrubs -- those guys are the world champions. So, we've got a ways to go, but I think we'll get it sooner or later."

Count Celtics coach Doc Rivers among those who expects the Pistons will eventually click. Before the game, Rivers admitted that Sunday's game wasn't a true measuring stick for either team given AI's lack of practice time with his new teammates, but he pointed out how AI's presence changes the way teams will defend the Pistons.

"With Chauncey, they didn't turn the ball over, but you could pressure them and make them eat up clock in possessions," said Rivers. "Now with Allen, you can't pressure Allen because [if] you pressure him, he'll beat you off the dribble and go to the basket. In some ways it may help them get into their offense earlier. That's been something we've done against them pretty well -- we were able to pressure them up the floor, make them use clock. They were starting their offense in the playoffs last year at 10 and 11 [seconds left on the shot clock], and that was huge for us."

A lot has been made about the fact that Hamilton's success has come from playing alongside Billups, but Iverson disputed the notion that he needed to do anything different to help Hamilton get into a groove. "When I don't play well, I don't look forward to somebody else to get me going," he said. "And that's not something I have to worry about for Rip; I've been watching him play since he came into the league, and he's All-Star-type player. So Rip knows what he has to do to get it done. As a basketball player, you have these nights."

While the end result wasn't pretty, at least Iverson can take solace in the fact that his night started out well. After admitting over the weekend that he knew he'd be nervous making his Palace debut, he had to appreciate the rousing ovation he received during pre-game introductions.

"Just chillbumps all over," he said. "The thing about being traded is, when you get traded and you go somewhere else, I think the luxury of it and the most positive thing is the way the fans embrace you. That's all you want. When you get traded, obviously you want your teammates to accept you, but you want to get that initial feeling of how they embrace you and how they accept you. That's all you want, that's all you think about when it happens. Being able to come and play for new fans and hopefully they appreciate and enjoy how hard you plan on the basketball court."