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Andre Iguodala. We all love his high-flying dunks, his flashy passes and the enthusiasm he plays the game with. He's been a fan favorite in Philly since the time he was drafted and has emerged as the go-to guy once since the Iverson deal. The question in my mind and the minds of Sixers fans across the nation is, can THE Philadelphia 76ers win a championship with Andre Iguodala as the franchise player? It's a tough question, but I've searched for some answers.

Iguodala is coming of his best season as a pro. He averaged 19.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists along with 2.1 steals per game and 46% shooting. With those stats, he's in an elite club. Along with Iggy, the only other players to average similar numbers are as follows: LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Baron Davis, Tracy McGrady, Joe Johnson, Vince Carter, Paul Pierce, Brandon Roy, Manu Ginobli and Hedo Turkoglu. Out of those 12 guys, how many do I think can win a team a championship as a number one option? Five, maybe six. Pierce is on the verge of doing it, but he's got two real, real good two and three options (KG and Allen, as if you didn't know). What I got out of this research is, gaudy numbers and statistics don't translate to championships. Not only that, but ONE franchise player cannot lead you to a championship himself, no matter how good he is.

Here's another interesting observation. Is Andre Iguodala on the same level or better than Manu Ginobli? Ginobli has won four rings with the Spurs as the SECOND option. What this tells me is Philly really needs to get a Batman (Elton Brand) to Iguodala's Robin. It could even work as a 1a, 1b type of relationship. That guy, and I have a specific guy in mind (Elton Brand), doesn't have to be a Tim Duncan or a LeBron James. He just has to be a guy to take more of the weight of Iguodala's shoulders than Andre Miller does. Can you imagine a starting lineup of...

PG-Andre Miller
SG-Andre Iguodala
SF-Thad Young
PF-(Elton Brand)
C-Samuel Dalembert

Bench-Lou Will, Reggie Evans, Rodney Carney, (16th pick), Jason Smith

That's a legitimate playoff contender. It has a mixture of young talent and veterans. I know no one is going to like this comparison, but at the time they were a really good team and nearly made the Finals. The 2005-2006 L.A. Clippers with Sam Cassell, Corey Maggette, Cat Mobley, Elton Brand and Chris Kaman. They took a very good Phoenix Suns team to a game 7 in the second round of the playoffs. Good, now that frightening we have that comparison out of the way. I trust the Sixers management and players not to mess up things up, unlike the Clippers.

These questions, this rant, these solutions all point back to one period of time, the first round of the 2007-2008 playoffs. The 2-seed Pistons vs. 7-seed Sixers. No one expected Philly to win, much less put up a fight except for us loyal fans, but they did. However; our supposed go-to guy, our franchise player, our stud, Andre Iguodala left a bad taste in everyone's mouth. 13 points a game on 33% shooting for our star? That can't be right, can it? Well, it is. I know it's his second (technically his first, since the first was with Iverson and Webber) playoff appearance. I know it was against the great defense of the former champion, Detroit Pistons and I know he's only 24 years old, but still, shouldn't he have done a little better? For his sake, let's take a look at other big name player's (LeBron and Kobe) first time performances against this Pistons team.

Kobe Bryant (with Shaquille O'Neal)-26 years old, 22 points per game on 38% shooting. Team lost series 4-1.

LeBron James-22 years old, 28 points per game on 44% shooting. Team lost series 4-3.

Well no surprise there. Andre Iguodala is no Kobe Bryant or LeBron James, despite what he might think (I'll get to that in one second). However; these numbers give him a glimmer of hope. If the big, bad Kobe Bryant, on a team with not only Shaq, but Gary Payton and Karl Malone, failed to shoot over 40% against the same Pistons(minus Ben Wallace), I'll give Iggy a pass.

One final note on the Igg-man. I've already gotten all the go-to guy, Pistons series stuff off my chest, but I've seen a few other red flags from Andre throughout the course of the season. Number one for obvious reasons, turning down his huge contract offer (reportedly for $57 million over five years) last summer. That's pretty big money for him to turn down. He hasn't proven anything in the league except he can help lead a 40 win team to the playoffs and this was AFTER he turned down the contract. I didn't like that at all. Secondly, I hate how he complains after every non-foul call. The most vivid one in my mind was in the playoffs, when Tay Prince knocked the ball out of his hands in one of the games. All Iguodala had to do was turn around and pick the ball up; instead he turned to the ref, complained about the no-call and allowed the Pistons to have a 3-0 fastbreak. I wish I had tallied all the times he complained about a foul call or lack thereof this season. Granted, every NBA player does this to some extent (cough Kobe), but as much as I dislike Kobe Bryant he has more of a right to do so than Andre. Lastly, this quote from his blog is a little worrisome. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but it seems as if he isn't too excited and dedicated to being a Sixer.

"As of our last game of the season I am a restricted free agent ... meaning other teams can offer me a contract but the Sixers have first right of refusal. I'm going to sit back and soak up the process of listening to what everyone has to say and keep myself prepared for next year, no matter where it may be. The city of Philadelphia has embraced me in so many ways and I appreciate the continued support. But the NBA is a business and anything can happen, so who knows what the future holds ..."

Read into it as much as you want or as little as you want. My question to you is, is Andre Iguodala the right go-to guy for this franchise?

http://sixersoul.blogspot.com/