apologies in advance for a ridiculously long post (and sorry if there are rules against such long ones). after the BET, a bunch of 98ers and 05ers had the 96 vs 07 debate. the below was written before the belmont game.
1996 vs 2007
this is a 1 game exhibition. originally scheduled for mcdonough gymnasium, the demand for tickets was so extreme that they had to move the game to a larger venue. 96 won the coin flip, so Landover has the privilege to host the event. this bodes poorly for the 07 team since 96 was 16-0 at home and won games there by an average score of 92-65. to put that in perspective for non-numbers people, that's an ass-load of points. the thompson towel team and iverson court agree to sit together and put petty squabbles aside to compete with the massive presence of the JT3 mob. what the 96 fan base lack in numbers they make up for in relative sobriety and less trips to the bathroom. add in the curiously irrelevant costumes the current fans like to wear and the crowd influence is a wash. Jeff Green's mom and Allen Iverson's mom actually sit in the same section and seem to get along pretty well. They compare fake id's with one another and Mrs. Iverson is very impressed with the advances in 07's computer technology. They agree to buy houses on the same block if their sons get drafted by the same team. Jeff Green's mom asks, "Is Allen going to the NBA next year?" Mrs. Iverson wipes some mustard off her chin with the sleeve of her brand new $10,000 sable coat and says, "We're undecided."
billy packer is picked by stupid-ass CBS to call the game, but he gets lost in south east DC on the way and stops to ask where he can find "all those tough monkeys from georgetown." he's never heard from again. a determined syracuse fan sneaks into the parking lot wearing a prison jumpsuit and carrying a bushel of bananas. The Ewing family sees him but chooses to ignore him as they step out of their diamond plated hummer. unfortunately for the orangeman, he stumbles upon cru thik before he gets inside the arena. they put 7 bullets in his groin. being a syracuse fan he was already hopelessly impaired in that region to begin with, so no real harm is done.
cbs catches ewing sr for his comment. "i guarantee georgetown wins this game" he declares as he punches john starks in the face.
the coaches for this game arrive separately. the ESPN coverage team planned to open with a story on JT3 and how it feels to coach at the place his father made famous, but then they realized they could ALSO do a story about JT2 and how it feels to coach against his own son. they debated over and over again until Doug Gottlieb's smug little head exploded. finally, after they cremated Gottlieb's stinking headless corpse, they decided to cover the duke women's team's exhibition game vs UNC-Ashville with a follow up piece on the transcendent maturation of JJ Redick's poetry.
speaking of transcendence, the luminous chords of "here comes the hotstepper" ring through cap center as the 96 team comes out of the tunnel. 1996 fans are all lyrical gangsters at heart. as the song winds down, "high ballin" fills the void. what this tune lacks in catchy inanity, it makes up for in that it was used as inspiration for moronic celebrations by the new york football giants. The two teams appear loose and, except for the shiv othella harrington is carrying in his warm-up jacket and his weird fixation on iverson's left kidney, their is a very familial buzz in the air. jerome williams and patrick ewing jr wander near half court.
pe2: it's like i'm looking in a very ugly mirror!
jerome: my girlfriend is incredibly hot.
pe2: i can shoot threes, occasionally.
jerome: how do you shoot so well from the bench?
so much for "familial." they go their separate ways to practice their screaming.
and now, the starting lineups. for the 2006-07 big east regular season champion, big east tournament champion, 2nd seeded 26-6 hoyas from georgetown: PG: jonathan wallace, SG: jesse sapp, SF: dajuan summers, PF: jeff green, C: roy hibbert.
for the 1995-96, preseason NIT finalist, big east 7 regular season champion, big east tournament finalist, 2nd seeded regional finalist 29-8 georgetown hoyas: pg: allen iverson, sg: victor page, sf: boubacar aw, pf: jerome williams, c: othella harrington.
(i'll list: time expired, 96 score, 07 score)
Green skies over harrington and tips the ball to Sapp. Iverson zips past, steals the ball, races home for a lay-up. Harrington puts shiv away. Timeout as Sapp needs to change his shorts.
0:03 - 2 - 0
96 comes out in full court pressure. boubacar aw is the first line of defense with iverson and page waiting in the wings. jerome williams plays free safety near the half court line and othella harrington naps near the foul line. jonathan wallace asks JT3 if his acceptance letter to princeton is still valid. iverson is off to a quick 8 points and 3 steals already. a summers three and a hibbert dunk has 07 on the board.
4:32 - 15 - 5
missed threes by page and iverson allow 07 to bring the ball up the floor a few times. hibbert has 6 points on low post moves. boubacar aw blankets jeff green, but picks up a foul sending green to line for the first time. he knocks down 2. 96 maintains the lead by hitting the offensive glass with reckless abandon. 07 has no answer for jerome's rebounding, so in comes pe2 for summers. rivers also comes on for sapp. ya ya dia subs for harrington for 96.
7:55 - 20-14
96 has 07 playing a faster tempo than they would like. jerome williams dunks a put back and screams to crowd. pe2 takes a charge from page, screams and waves his arms to the crowd. jerome slaps a rivers pass into the crowd and takes his shorts off and sets them on fire. pe2 makes an entry pass for a hibbert hook and grabs a cheerleader and makes out with her on the scorers table. ewing senior looks on with a proud smile.
10:21 - 28-20
2nd foul on aw. green back to line for his 5th and 6th points of the first half. the 07 team has gone to a 2-3 zone and the 96 team cannot hit from behind the arc. 07 is breaking the pressure more steadily now, but they already have 10 turnovers. ya ya dia has given hibbert a few problems, but here comes othella to shoot the foul line jumper vs the zone. on the court for 07: green, ewing, summers, wallace & rivers. for 96: iverson, nichols (!), harrington, williams, & dia.
13:30 - 32-26
Green gets breathing room and immediately takes the game over. 07 starts to use the shot clock and iverson looks frustrated. the 35 second shot clock is an abstract concept to a player who can traverse the length of the court in 3 seconds.
15:50 - 34-32
awesome sequence to end the half: iverson knifes into the belly of the 2-3 from the wing, hangs at the foul line and hits his signature shot. long outlet to green and he soars for a tomahawk dunk. right back down the other way where page streaks in for a dunk of his own, when defying physics, green chases him down from behind and spikes the ball off the glass and out to mid court as time expires.
halftime: 40-35
halftime scoring stats: 96: iverson 16, page 7, williams 6, harrington 4, nichols 3, dia 2 aw 2. 07: green 12, hibbert 10, summers 6, wallace 5, ewing 2.
jerome leads in total screams, pe2 leads in screams per minute.
during halftime, the 07 fans form what appears to be a snaking conga line all around the arena. turns out this is not an innovative taunting gesture but merely a mad rush for the bathroom to expel the alcohol consumed thus far. as a result, less than 25% of them are present when the seconds half begins. back to starting lineups for the second half.
jesse sapp chucks a truly ugly 3 as the shot clock expires. it banks in. good sign for 07.
0:34 - 40-38
07 has come out in the second half and used an average of 26 seconds per possession. 96 is tired from a full 20 minutes of court length pressure and their shots are short. missed free throws are hurting the team as well. jeff green's mom turns and smiles at mrs. iverson. it's on.
5:12 46-48
slowly, slowly pulling away. aw's defense is still giving green trouble, but hibbert is getting to line. in comes jahidi white to use up some fouls. jt3 decides to exploit the tired legs of 96 and switches back to man to man. allen iverson gets a woodrow.
10:00 52-58
iverson blows past sapp, rivers, and wallace on three straight trips. hibbert comes over to help on the third one, but iverson slips it to jahidi to for a thunderous two handed slam. sapp, rivers, and wallace beg the official to allow them the special umass rules that travieso and padilla employed to cheat 96 out of the final 4. the officials agree.
14:44 60-60
it's slugfest now. aw has 4 fouls and green is taking him to the paint. wallace hits a floater when iverson gambles for a steal in the passing lane and is a split second late. pe2 and jerome have been binded together by some unseen force and neither can break away as they co-dive for a loose ball near the 07 bench.
18:23 66-66
jeff green isolates aw on the wing. aw has been dogging him all night, but he's tired and he's expecting harrington's help on the baseline. jeff gets there first and wraps around the rim and stuffs it through with authority. the entire 07 fan base is finally back in their seats and immediately erupts in a wild orge of applause.
19:29 68-69
iverson isolates at the top of the key. sapp, summers, and wallace surround him. iverson dribbles through summers legs and squirms free only to find mean jeff green right in front of him. he pulls up from 16 feet and shoots just past jeff's fingertips, but his shot is short. jerome williams (wearing PE2) grabs the rebound w/ his one free hand. he shoots an off balance shot from 4 feet but roy hibbert is there to palm it into the first row. roy's hip hits jerome's hip. the whistle blows. the refs gather to discuss the call. they can be heard saying "which team do we screw? they're both georgetown?" and "is there any way we can just give the ball to notre dame or uconn here?" in the end, they decide to whistle the foul on hibbert's hip. jerome steps up to shoot the free throw in relative silence as the 07's have mostly passed out from the drinking and the unexpected heat of the cap center. first shot is up.... swish. tie game. jt3 calls time out. ewing jr and jerome williams have to split time on each bench since they are now, like siamese twins, attached at the skull and rght elbow. jerome williams steps up for the second free throw. the ball spins off his fingers and arcs toward the hoop. it clangs the back rim and goes straight up in the air. it hits off the front rim and dies. it hangs there for just enough time for everybody watching to consider both possibilities, and then drops softly through the hoop for the winning point.
20:00 70-69
the final stats.
1996: iverson 28, williams 12, page 10, harrington 9, nichols 3, aw 4, dia 2, white 2
2007: green 22, hibbert 17, summers 9, wallace 9, ewing 7, sapp 5
OK, so maybe the 1996 wound is not fully cleansed.
So I guess I think 1996 would win a game if both rosters had to play each other, but I also think it's pretty clear that what 2007 has accomplished has now outstripped the 96ers - and I hope they keep distancing themselves!
