The Pistons Are Finally Flowing
A Robdiddy production
 In early November the biggest trade since the Pistons acquired Rasheed Wallace happened. Suddenly the captain of the team, Mr.Big Shot, Chauncey Billups was gone. The team was in turmoil and still won their first game without him, but when Allen Iverson joined the team they were awkward together. Not until Antonio McDyess’s return did this team start to flow again. The Pistons were very stagnant in November and now finally at the end of December they seem to be regaining their swagger.
Their was the awkward situation of the young Point Guard Rodney Stuckey waiting for Billups to leave and now a new Point Guard was here. But Iverson is really a shooting guard, except the Pistons have a young scorer at the 2 by the name of Richard Hamilton. Finally rookie head coach Michael Curry made the right move by putting Rasheed Wallace at center and starting Tayshaun Prince at the power forward position and moving Hamilton to small forward and Iverson and Stuckey in the back court.
What are the results? This lineup is now flowing well! The small ball style used by Golden State’s Don Nelson is not a new concept, Nelson has used it for years in his many stops. This lineup allows the Pistons to save Antonio McDyess and Kwame Brown for later in the game when they need strength and rebounding. The balanced scoring amongst the starting 5 and Dyess off the bench has been beautiful. The balance has been crucial to Detroit putting together this 4 game win streak that they are on.
The Pistons most recently defeated the Orlando Magic, the Pistons lost their elite status in the Eastern Conference to the Magic. The Pistons destroyed the Magic on the boards and used their muscle to power past the Magic who relay on Three Point Shooting and Dwight Howard’s inside presence to win. McDyess has shown his warrior spirit off the bench and injured his ribs in the process. McDyess was alright after the game, but his health is essential to any Pistons run. He is their power option at the Power Forward position. He has been outstanding off the bench since the 2004-05 season. He is also extremely loyal to this team after rejecting many offers, he returned back to the Pistons after being traded to Denver and bought out by Denver.
Some local media outlets have suggested the Pistons should trade Rip Hamilton for Utah’s Carlos Boozer. I do not feel that at this time that would be a great move. You can not lose Richard Hamilton. Iverson and Boozer are free agents at the end of the year. The Pistons can make a run at him then; right now the lineup they are using has become successful. The Pistons have not spoken about retaining Iverson and if they traded Hamilton, they would have a gaping hole at the shooting guard position when Iverson leaves.
The main reason trading Billups didn’t hurt them is because Rodney Stuckey was trained by Billups and has been waiting for him to leave. Stuckey put up 40 points last Tuesday against the Bulls. Stuckey has averaged 21.4 ppg the last 5 games and looks to be a strong starter. Iverson has learned to distribute the ball from the 2 spot and help his team by not shooting as much. Iverson has always been a shoot first guard and now that he is on a winning team he seems to be finally adjusting. I feel this lineup maybe successful if they choose to keep Iverson on board past this year. |
