Within the 2000s, the Philadelphia 76ers had been led by an undersized guard in Allen Iverson. Years later, the crew they constructed across the Corridor of Fame guard is drawing comparisons to the present crew’s make-up.
After beating the New York Knicks within the quarter-finals, the Atlanta Hawks punched their ticket to Las Vegas for the semi-finals of the NBA Cup. As they probably transfer nearer to successful this season’s match, a former skilled has shared his ideas on the brand new crew.
For years now, the Hawks have constructed their crew round Trae Younger. They’d some success, notably reaching the Convention Finals in 2021. Nonetheless, the Hawks made an enormous change to their roster over the summer time, after they traded Dejounte Murray to the New Orleans Pelicans.
Nowadays, the Hawks have surrounded their undersized guard with very lengthy, impactful defenders. Earlier this week, Rashad Phillips in contrast this plan to what the Sixers did with Iverson within the 2000s. He even in contrast defensive star Dyson Daniels to Eric Snow.
The Atlanta Hawks deserted their unique Golden State mannequin and changed it with Allen Iverson’s Lead 76ers mannequin from 2001. Encompass Trae with hardcore defenders and well timed scorers. Iverson was surrounded by versatile defender Eric Snow ala Dyson Daniels. #Yoda pic.twitter.com/jvILE44rO8
– Rashad Phillips (@RP3natural) December 12, 2024
Phillips tried to enter the NBA ranks in 2001, however finally went undrafted after 4 years in faculty. From there, he performed professionally abroad for a decade, from 2001 to 2010.
This new iteration of the roster has paid constructive dividends for the Hawks to this point. Together with their NBA Cup success, they sit in seventh place within the East with a 14-12 file.
These squads have some similarities, primarily as a result of they’ve a small guard on the middle of all the things. Younger is a a lot totally different sort of participant than Iverson, however he’s a person offense in his personal proper. This season, the Hawks star is averaging 21.0 PPG and a league-leading 12.2 PPG.
Iverson managed to win an MVP trophy and lead the Sixers to the Finals in his time. Solely time will inform how far Younger can take the new-look Hawks this season and past.
