Yesterday on 97.1 sports talk with Mark Wilson and Rob Parker they asked
the question are the Pistons currently better or worst without Wallace?

Team's pretty much collected even though I still think a major move is
coming regarding one of the veterans, perhaps Sheed.

Gone are- Ben, Evans and probably Delk...

In are-Nazr , Flip Murray and ex-Piston Ronald Dupree

Amazingly there were mixed thoughts as to the team being better or worst
and a multitude of reasons. What do you say?

rdjio@webtv.net wrote:

Just based on past performance, you would have to say worse. Murray is
probably a bit of an upgrade from Delk (based on youth alone), Dupree
and Evans seem largely interchangeable, but I can't imagine there's an
NBA team owner that wouldn't laugh in your face if you suggested Ben
for Nazr straight up. Not to mention 'Sheed being a year older and
maybe not as happy/committed without Ben and with Flip.

The only argument that Detroit could be as good next year, let alone
better, would have to rely on the idea that some of the players that
aren't returning starters are going to do better than they have in the
past. Give Nazr enough minutes and the confidence that comes with
being a starter, maybe he'll be a 10-10 guy, with more of a post
offense presence than Ben. Let Flip M. run wild with Lindsay against
the second string guards of opponents, and he'll be a legit scorer.
Delfino will finally get serious minutes at backup SF, and prove his
worth. As to attitude problems, well, winning is a great disinfectant.

I'm hoping for the second scenario, but not banking on it. On the
other hand, the Pistons can take some comfort in the fact that their
likely main rivals for the eastern crown each have their own, not
insignificant, issues.--Joe

jslater@utnet.utoledo.edu wrote:

yes, nazr is a worse defender, but a better offender :-)

i don't think the pistons even had a doubt about who is better. this
was money

dave

On 20 Jul 2006 14:38:28 -0700, "Dave McNulla" <mcnulla@gmail.com>
enlightened us:


The question is not whether the Pistons are worse or better. The
question is are they good enough now to beat the Heat in a 7 game
series. Just like the Heat, under Pat Riley, built their team to beat
the Pistons, the Pistons now need to build to beat the Heat.

Moves are probably not done yet, but I'm not encouraged. Dupree, in
my opinion, is an upgrade over Evans. But that doesn't mean squat if
he doesn't get to play. As Dave mentioned, Mohammad is a better
scorer than Ben but nowhere near the defender. All those rebounds and
blocked shots that Ben got are not, at this point, going to be done by
someone else.

In order to beat the Heat, the Pistons need to remain the elite
defensive team they've been for the past 4 seasons and they need to
add more scoring. So far, I believe the scoring has been taken care
of, but they are now weaker defensively.

Regards,
////
(o o)
-oOO--(_)--OOo-


"I know a mouse, and he hasn't got a house
I don't know why, I call him Gerald
He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse."
-- Syd Barrett, R.I.P 1946-2006
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remove nospam to email me.

Steve

Personally, so far, I think Dumars has countered the effect of losing
Ben well.
He didn't grasp at just any one to fill a hole.
He had a definite alternative plan. Should it be plan b or c in either
case it was a pre-planned option.

Nazr has the potential to compliment the other four starters. A bit
slower than Ben but has long arms and takes up a good deal of space.
Hopefully we'll keep Kelvin Kato and the pair can duel it out for the
starting center position.

Kelvin Kato is actually a better offensive threat than Nazr or Ben.
Kelvin could net you 15 points a game from the middle if used as a
starter. He need only have a good healthy summer and enter training
camp in shape to show he has a desire to compete rather than just
receive a pay check. This guy is strong, solid and can be intense and
even mean,,,aka,,,Rick Mahorn style according to friend who once played
with him and I value his opinion. Seems injury is the only thing that
stomped his NBA growth. He might be the second gift Orlando gave us if
Joe doesn't discard him prematurely.

Ronald Dupree, rebounds, has a short range jumper but no three ball
threat like Evans was.
He probably is glad to have a second chance in Detroit after being in
cold storage in Minn.
Perhaps he'll want to show the staff it was a mistake getting rid of him
last year. And another year of experience doesn't hurt in the league.

Pistons have serveral players who were rookies last year and should
benefit from the NBA experience even though they didn't get an abundance
of court time. The jitters should be dissolved and a hunger to prove
themselves should emerge from among them. Just watching does have
certain benefits. Observing the tempo, noting the weaknesses of players
and observance that hey these other guys are human and really are not
all that talented can be revealed. A feeling of , damn I belong here
does enter into the mind. Maxiell, Acker and Johnson should feel better
and more confident about the upcoming season even if they hold a
bitterness toward their coach.

I'm sure Flip Saunders has had time, staff , fans and enemies that
stressed to him you have to develop a bench to win it all. If that
message doesn't get into his head he'll be gone by all star break!

> >

Oh absolutely. I was just making the obvious point that if you look at
rosters and base predictions largely on past performance, the Pistons
are "worse" because the only major move they've made (no disrespect, R.
Dupree and M. Evans) is getting Nazr for Ben, and nobody thinks Narz
is as good, overall, as Ben. The other, still pretty obvious point I
was making is that Pistons fans could still hope that improved play
from bench players (F. Murray Delfino, Maxiel, etc.) would make up for
that. After seeing some summer league play, I'm not betting the farm
on that, but we'll see.


That's a good point, but I think of all "defending champion" teams of
recent years, the Heat are going to be hardest to figure. D. Wade is a
true, emerging superstar, of course, and it looks like he's going to
enjoy some superstar calls. Shaq will be back, and you have to assume
he'll be able to bring it at least sometimes in the playoffs. As to
the rest, especially aging pieces like Walker, Mourning, and Payton,
who knows?


What else do you think the Pistons can do by way of moves, now that
they've used up both their salary cap slots on Nazr and Murray?

I'm again going to go with the even more obvious answer --in the past 2
seasons. the Pistons have suffered from lack of production from the
bench. Get a decent backup for Tayshaun, one that can play 12-15
minutes regularly and get some points!--Joe

This all depends on Rasheed.