Andre Iguodala Says Collins Era Was Draining
By Spike Eskin
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – "Will the Sixers trade Andre Iguodala," was perhaps the longest running questions of its kind in Philadelphia over the last decade. Well they finally did, sending him to Denver in the trade that brought Andrew Bynum to Philadelphia.
He opened up to CBS Sports Matt Moore about his last couple of years in Philadelphia.
"I haven't really enjoyed basketball a whole lot the last couple of years," Iguodala told Moore. "Last year was a big year for us, but it was just draining for the criticism to be there every single day."
As an example of the criticism, Iguodala told Moore the following story:
"I went through so much to prove myself in every single training camp because a lot of coaches would come in and say, 'Don't shoot threes. Don't shoot threes. Don't shoot threes. Drive and dunk. Drive and dunk.' And I would be like, 'I can shoot threes!'
"So in Doug Collins' first year, I didn't shoot threes because he was like, 'I don't want you shooting threes, I don't want that shot.'
"Last year, I said, 'I'm shooting it.' And what happened? Shot 38 percent from three, top-25 in the NBA from three and I'm supposed to be a non-shooter. You put so much work in, and then to be told, 'Don't do what you worked on all summer.'"
(Igoudala is a career 33 percent shooter from beyond the arc. He actually shot better than 39 percent on threes last season.)
Via Is The World Ready For Andre Iguodala by Matt Moore on CBS Sports
This isn't the first anyone has heard about a friction between Doug Collins and Iguodala (which I'm told was mutual), it's just the first either of them have spoken about it.
The rest of the interview is interesting, and talks about his time in Philadelphia and his new team in Denver.
READ: Is The World Ready For Andre Iguodala
I'm a well documented fan of Iguodala and his game, I'm saying it there so you don't have to write it in the comment section.
The Sixers open the season at home against Iguodala's Denver Nuggets, on October 31st. Tickets are still available at sixers.com.
