(CRAFT)[ALLEN IVERSON WAS SMALL, BUT HE WAS ALSO INCREDIABLE.]

My philosophy was to use my height advantage and shoot over the top of him. I don’t need to try anything, I don’t need to go anywhere, I don’t need to try to back him down. I’ll just shoot over him, because I can get a clean look.

What I’m talking about is not the same as settling for a jumper. When Allen was covering me, I’d receive the ball in favorable locations, in attacking positions like the mid-post, because he couldn’t stop me from catching a pass.

But couldn’t I have caught it even closer, maybe in the post? Couldn’t I have taken him off the dribble from 25 feet out? Maybe, but that wouldn’t have been smart.

I chose not to catch the ball in the post, because the Sixers would have just fronted and trapped me. I could have squared up and dribbled, but they would have helped and trapped in that situation, too. By catching it on the elbow or mid-wing, I mitigate all of these schemes, because they couldn’t front me on the pass and I didn’t need to dribble to get an open look over the top of him.