'The Answer' responding with MVP numbers .

week, you would be hard pressed to find another player more deserving of MVP honors in the league.

Iverson is averaging 29 points a game as the leading scorer in the NBA and also plays inspired defense. He is one of three Sixers in the top five in steals per game.

It wasn't always this honky-dory around the Iverson camp, though. At one point, many, including coach Larry Brown, felt that he needed to get his head into his game.

Paul Moser

Allen Iverson is providing the answer to the question everyone asked in the off season.

Does he have "it"?

"It" is definitely in The Answer's repertoire. He oozes "it," he flashes "it" and then burns you for an electrifyingly devastating crossover with "it"

He drops 30 points on you with a single bound and then leaves dejected players' ankles sore simply for daring to guard him.

Iverson, who many regarded before the season as a ticking time bomb, has quietly become one of the best players in the game, to deafening enthusiasm from the city of Philadelphia.

Iverson has quieted critics and enticed supporters with his stellar first-half play this season.

If we were to end the NBA season this

Before this season, there were questions about Iverson's dedication to go along with his shady past.

This season, though, to Iverson's credit, we have not once heard the expression "posse" used with Iverson's name.

For Iverson, there was a fine line between being a good player and a great player. Iverson seems to be crossing that line.

But most impressive, and to Brown's credit, Iverson is a team player this year.

In a way, he always has been. He just wasn't asked to do the team thing under other coaches.

Johnny Davis, lverson's rookie year coach, fed fire to the selfish stigma that Iverson has kept for years by telling him to shoot every time he touched the ball and centering the offense around just Iverson during a period of games where he scored over 50.

Then Brown stepped on the scene. With tough love, Brown forced Iverson to add new

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facets to his game. Among the new facets was the mysterious "it" that this town has not seen since a certain other superstar with a doctorate carried it.

Brown has unlocked something beautiful that is blossoming right before our eyes.

In a stroke of brilliance, Brown decided to move Iverson to the off-guard position. Iverson who now is paired with point guard Eric Snow, can flourish in this more open position.

He can do a lot of the important things that NBA greats have done without being confined to just ball handling.

Although Iverson may end up as starting point guard some day, part-time point guard is perfect for now.

Iverson now is able to ease into the position instead of going through the usual trialby-fire method used in the NBA

Iverson's maturation has been possibly one of the most positive thing to happen to the NBA in a while.

Although it seems the NBA has dubbed the future of the league on Los Angeles Laker and Lower Merion High School star Kobe Bryant, they will_undoubtedly have to consider Iverson to be a possible heir-apparent soon-if they haven't already.

At this stage in the game, Iverson has outplayed Bryant, both statistically and physically. In fact, one of the only categories that Bryant leads Iverson in is most network tele- vised games. Write this in the books: expect to see many more nationally televised Sixers games next year.

Iverson took him to school one-on-one when the Sixers embarrassed the Lakers. In what turned out to be his best game as a Sixer, Iverson dropped 41 points and ten assists on Bryant and the Lakers.

If the TV execs were not watching this and noticing this, they aren't doing their job, period.

Right now, there is definitely a heated debate on who exactly will be the guy to lead the NBA the way Michael Jordan did in the '90s. The only two right now who can attempt to take that responsibility appear to be Iverson and Bryant, with an edge going to Iverson.

Iverson has answered the critics and has positioned himself to be the NBA superstar to lead the league into the next century.

The only question that is left to be answered for Iverson is whether or not he can keep up his improvement.

If he can start nailing his outside baskets with more consistency, he will become outlawed. Right now hardly anybody in the league can think about guarding him, and he's only 24. He has many more years to make defenders worry about him.

PaulMoserisa seniormajoringin English/ communication.Heis oneof Loquitur'ssportseditors. Heiscommonlyreferredto as"TheQuestion.•