Basically, as a lot of Pistons fans know, I have been down on Billups and McDyess for a couple of years, following the Webber half-year with the Pistons...the Pistons were integrating Cwebb, and they had that run in March of '07 where they were the hottest team in the league, and then McDyess started to pout, and Chauncey went to the press saying something about how it was tough to integrate someone like Chris at the exact moment that Chris was beginning to help the Pistons dominate basically because of his unique high-post offensive orchestration...so, i have had a long simmering grudge with CB and Dyess, so i am the last person in Piston nation to shed a tear following their trade: see ya...
The only problem is that Dumars traded for Iverson, who has an equally suspect record on working relations with Webber following the Philadelphia fiasco, where he did nothing to support his teammate as idiots in the press were blaming Webber for how badly that team performed...not to mention, i am not really an original fan of Iverson's style of play, even though I respect what he has accomplished, he is just not a personal favorite, for the above reasons, so i basically think the trade is a positive one for Detroit, but i am going to hold my breath at least through 2008, and probably until the very end of the year, that Iverson, potentially teamed with Rasheed, won't just completely implode the project that Joe has been working on all decade...but, enough on the trade, and Iverson's potential negatives, i think this year can go well, because of the following...
a. I am a huge Rip Hamilton fan, anyone down on his game, his attitude, or his role on the Pistons, automatically i treat as suspect with respect to their basketball knowledge...
b. Tayshaun Prince is a cornerstone performer, and like Rip, incredibly consistent, and even though some people think he disappers sometimes, especially, as i have heard the argument, in the last few playoff runs, i think Tay's role as primary defender on the opponent's best player is crucial to this team staying competitive; any offense that he provides is bonus...
c. Curry is a psychological improvement on Flip Saunders, Larry Brown, and Rick Carlisle...the Pistons could not have gone in to this year with Flip as coach again, it just was played out, and it was time to make a fresh move, and i think Curry's player experience has huge upside...like Iverson's and Rasheed's attitude, Curry's inexperience has the potential to completely drag down this year, but i think it is a calculated risk that could prove out huge this year and in coming years...
d. Pistons youngsters are legit...i would not have thought i could make this statement, as i don't really put a lot of stock in intangibles, especially what some media people play up, such as hustle, but my first thought on the youngsters is really in the form of a question: is there any player in the league more 'active' than Amir Johnson?...he could be a real presence, and though there will be considerable growing pains, Curry's move to put him in the starting line-up gives me a lot of confidence in Curry and Amir...only time will tell, but this is a very defensible calculated risk...
as for Stuckey, i was on the record of being sceptical that he would be good enough to live up to the hype from the Pistons nation, especially at draft time, but he looks pretty good, i mean the dude can move with the ball in his hands, and though his jumper is a complete question mark, he has skills, and more poise than i would have thought at this stage, and his quick development is the only criteria in the decision that joe made to trade for Iverson...if Stuckey were not a pretty reliable player already, Joe probably could not have made the deal, at least, i think it would have had to come closer to the trade deadline...
Maxiell's 4 year/$20M contract extension is exactly the terms i predicted about a month ago on mlive.com/forums/pistons, and i continue to think that is a good bet by both the Pistons and Maxiell to be sufficiently fair, considering the risk that Maxiell might be too short to be very effective, while at the same time, he has the upside to make that contract look a complete bargain...it really could go either way, but everyone following the Pistons is really pulling for Max...he is just a unique player, and he and Amir, if they ever learn how to play at the same time together would provide a yin-yang that few other NBA teams could match in the front-court, at least as far as young players are concerned...we'll see, the verdict is still out, but i like the possibility...
e. Afflalo, Bynum, Kwame Brown, Hermann, Sharpe are all really decent NBA players, it looks like, and if they develop and can stay content in their roles on the Pistons, and if the Pistons look like contenders throughout the year, they might be the pieces that Curry can use to counter Boston's imperceptible, but real depth...i like all of these guys, and hope that Curry can find ways to develop them, and i am pulling for all of them to have decent years, as that only helps the Pistons...
f. O.k., it should be somewhat obvious that there is an 800 pound gorilla in this post, because even though i addressed it somewhat in the opening, i have not really said anything about the one thing that will make or break this year...the continuum on which the possibilities lie for the Pistons are 2009 NBA Champion, and perennial under-achievers with marginal real problems, and that will be mainly determined by the final point i will make, and that is this:
how will Iverson and Rasheed play with each other and with the rest of the team?...
We are talking about a guaranteed Hall-of-Famer and a potential one, but they both, on their own, have the capacity to implode any team they are on...put them together, and there is no way of predicting what will happen...even Joe Dumars cannot control the outcome of this experiment, and there is absolutely no way for Curry to truly control it...it is almost completely up to Iverson and Rasheed to decide how they are going to deal with it, because without Billups, there is no one to check these guys...Rip and Tay can't do it, the fans can't do it, no one can do anything, but just hope...absolutely every scenario you can think of is possible with those two on the same team, so we shall see...
it could be something really fun to watch, or it might just be the craziest sports experience of our lifetime, in a bad way for Pistons fans...myself, i was previously unengaged with the NBA for reasons that i'll explain in future posts, but with the trade, and with the election over, etc...i am now on this blog, and i watchd a couple of minutes of tonight's first half against Toronto...i mean i am interested to see what happens...i want to believe in Iverson, i want to see Rasheed's passion be good for this team...but like i said i will be holding my breath as long as possible, just in case...
i welcome your comments...
2 comments:
hey Dyess, grow up:
http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/76636
its a business, and many players have dealt with far greater snubs than your situation with Denver, going back 6 years now...
btw, we don't need or want you in DET, anymore, so you better find a home, brush up on your analyst skills, or prepare to fade in to the distance...
I agree with you on many points in your blog...but you need to face the fact that Dice was a key piece to the puzzle for the Pistons. His experience off the bench was going to be a huge factor, so unless one of the younger Pistons, Maxiell for example, starts dropping 12 and 8's, not 5 and 5's, pistons could still be another year away from reaching the finals, until Joe D brings Bosh. Your boy Webber had flashes of an Elite NBA player for just a few seasons, and his stop in Detroit was merely an easy trasition out of the game for him, his skillz at that point had diminished to that of a college player in the GLIAC and he just could not produce...
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