The Pistons enter the seventh year of a solid core of starters that have been together for six straight East Finals appearances and nothing less than 50 wins. Along the way the second wave of core players has begun to grow.
Age maybe a problem for only two Pistons this year, Chauncey Billups and Rasheed Wallace. And again, might be a problem. If the two can stay healthy and play seventy games each, the Pistons will have no problems. Just like they will have no problem with their starting 5. Chauncey Billups is one of the best PG and is one of the best one on one player at his position. Rip Hamilton is alongside Billups and the Pistons will have one of the best backcourts in the NBA. Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace, and Antonio McDyess are all solid defenders and scorers. Each player in the starting 5 can easily score 15 points a game. The team defense is one the best as well, and also individually.
Off the bench will be the second wave of starters for the Pistons led by Rodney Stuckey, who had a solid rookie season and playoff. So the Pistons will have no problem resting Billups on any given night. Jason Maxiell also showed that he could score down low in the post. Arron Afflalo showed a few flashes here and there of what he could do, as well as Amir Johnson. What all these players have in common is team and individual defense, which is the key to winning games.
The only problem that there might be is with rookie head coach Michael Curry. Will he change the game play of the team over the past seven years or will he stick with what he learned from former head coach Flip Saunders?
POSITIVE --> STARTING 5 AND BENCH. STRONG D.
NEGATIVE --> HEAD COACH MICHAEL CURRY, MAYBE.
X-FACTOR --> RODNEY STUCKEY PROVIDNG STRONG POINT PLAY OFF THE BENCH.
SLEEPPER PICK --> JASON MAXIELL. LOOK FOR SOLID INSIDE SCORING OFF THE BENCH ON A REGULAR BASIS.
PREDICTION --> PLAYOFFS BOOK IT. 50+ WINS. CENTRAL DIVISION TITLE.
OVERALL --> STRONG PLAY ON BOTH ENDS AND WINNING BASKETBALL.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment