Iguodala can't do enough

BOSTON - Just like last offseason, not long after the Sixers were eliminated in five games by the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs, the Andre Iguodala question hung over the team.

The talk here has been about this being the last season of the Big Three of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett, with Boston anticipating the departures of Allen and Garnett via free agency. And the talk in Philadelphia for the last year has been about whether the Sixers will keep Iguodala or move him.

If this was his last game with the Sixers, it will be remembered as a decent performance, one that had its moments but wasn't great. Iguodala led the Sixers with 18 points on 5-for-11 shooting as the Sixers were eliminated by Boston.

He also finished with four rebounds, three assists, and three turnovers.

"I'm not going to put too much thought into that right now," Iguodala said of his future. "I've got a big summer ahead of me, and I'm focusing on that. We'll see how it works out and then we'll see from there. But that's out of my hands. I don't want to get into that right now."

He does have a big summer in front of him. Iguodala is a candidate for the 2012 U.S. men's Olympic team. And as one of the better on-ball defender's in the NBA, despite the star-studded group of players that have been invited, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that Iguodala could be named to the team.

In the aftermath of a playoff loss, no one wants to talk about changes. However, Sixers coach Doug Collins - without mentioning specific players - acknowledged that change is a part of every summer.

"We have to grow as a team. We have to add some more pieces. We know that," Collins said, with team owner Josh Harris standing not too far from him. "A day like today, I always tell our players to make sure that you look around that locker room, look at your teammates because you'll be forever bonded.

"But this team will not be the same team next year. That's the nature of sports."

Going into Saturday's Game 7, through 12 playoff games, Iguodala was second on the team in scoring (12.5). This was a byproduct of poor shooting (37.9 percent).

But what hurt him most was his poor shooting from the line. Going into Saturday's game, Iguodala was just 13 for 29 against Boston.

Since rising to a career-high 19.9 in the 2007-08 season, Iguodala's scoring average has fallen in each successive season, all the way down to 12.4, his lowest average since his second season. In his defense, while they needed more scoring out of him, the Sixers' philosophy this season has been to go with the hot hand.

After collecting $13.5 million for this season, Iguodala is scheduled to collect close to $15 million next season and has a player option for the same amount in the 2013-14 season. This will give the Sixers a lot to think about over the summer as they try to improve the team.

Throughout his career in Philadelphia, which started when the Sixers selected him with the ninth overall pick in the 2004 draft, the biggest complaint about Iguodala's game has been that he hasn't lived up to his contract from an offensive standpoint.

This season, perhaps more so than any, his value has been apparent at the defensive end, where night in and night out he's had the tough assignment of sticking to the opponent's best perimeter scorer.

On Saturday, he had another stellar defensive performance, playing tough defense all night on Pierce and making him work hard to score 15 points before he fouled out late in the fourth quarter. And as a testament to his defensive prowess, Iguodala at times also played tough defense on Boston's dynamic point guard, Rajon Rondo.

Blessed with phenomenal athleticism, the biggest knock on him has been his inability to translate that to the offensive end. Iguodala flashed that athleticism late in the second quarter of Saturday's game when he exploded down the lane for a one-handed, windmill dunk.

But it wasn't enough.