Yes, I said it.
Joe Dumars shocks the world with another surprising move in his 8th year as the Pistons President of Basketball Operations. This time, he calmly traded away the 2004 Finals MVP, Mr. Billups, along with beloved Antonio McDyss and the rather dark Cheick Samb for Allen Iverson. Look, I really understand what the man is trying to do. In 2010, there will be a ton of superstars in this league that will become free agents, and Joe is trying to free up some salry space so he can try to get at least two of them. Here are the nominees: Lebron James, Nash, Ray Allen, Ginobli, Amare Stoudamire, Dirk Nowitzki, Bosh, T-Mac, Yao, Michael Redd. You can see why GM's are licking their chops for a slice of this group of studs, and hopefully, Dumars is preparing to sign a couple of these guys. Personally, I would love to have Dirk or Bosh on Detroits squad, a big man to play the perimeter with the young backcourt in place of the aging Rasheed Wallace.
Heres the bad news. This deal will probably affect Deatroit's postseason negatively. I used to the fact that there has not been a point guard in the East able to match up defensively with Chauncey Billups ever. He has been able to either post up or drive on these Eastern point guards since joining the Pistons. Now theres Iverson, the relentless scorer and scrappy point guard that adds speed to the starting lineup. There lies the problem. Offensively, Detroit has been using off-the-ball screens and cuts to free up mainly Rip and Rasheed so they can make their 15 ft. jump shots. Will Iverson be able to run the offense, distributing to the open man and take over when necessary. This is the test that he must pass if he wants to become the next Mr. Big Shot in Detroit.
Alright, I'll give Iverson some credit. He used to be my favorite player in the league after Micheal Jordan retired if that means anything to you. The man is an incredible athlete an has had to carry his team offesively on his tattooed shoulders ever since he was drafted #1 in 1996. Nine All-Star appearences, a couple of scoring titles, All-Star MVP, regular season MVP. He has averaged 27 ppg, 6.5 apg, and 3.8 rpg. If he can have these numbers in Detroit, then by all means, Dumars is a god. I just dont think that AI can thrive under this style of basketball, a defensive mindset and slow but efficient offense. Iverson has always been a pleasure to watch, and if he is reading this, in the words of Eminem and Trick-Trick.....Welcome to Detroit City.
Joe Dumars shocks the world with another surprising move in his 8th year as the Pistons President of Basketball Operations. This time, he calmly traded away the 2004 Finals MVP, Mr. Billups, along with beloved Antonio McDyss and the rather dark Cheick Samb for Allen Iverson. Look, I really understand what the man is trying to do. In 2010, there will be a ton of superstars in this league that will become free agents, and Joe is trying to free up some salry space so he can try to get at least two of them. Here are the nominees: Lebron James, Nash, Ray Allen, Ginobli, Amare Stoudamire, Dirk Nowitzki, Bosh, T-Mac, Yao, Michael Redd. You can see why GM's are licking their chops for a slice of this group of studs, and hopefully, Dumars is preparing to sign a couple of these guys. Personally, I would love to have Dirk or Bosh on Detroits squad, a big man to play the perimeter with the young backcourt in place of the aging Rasheed Wallace.
Heres the bad news. This deal will probably affect Deatroit's postseason negatively. I used to the fact that there has not been a point guard in the East able to match up defensively with Chauncey Billups ever. He has been able to either post up or drive on these Eastern point guards since joining the Pistons. Now theres Iverson, the relentless scorer and scrappy point guard that adds speed to the starting lineup. There lies the problem. Offensively, Detroit has been using off-the-ball screens and cuts to free up mainly Rip and Rasheed so they can make their 15 ft. jump shots. Will Iverson be able to run the offense, distributing to the open man and take over when necessary. This is the test that he must pass if he wants to become the next Mr. Big Shot in Detroit.
Alright, I'll give Iverson some credit. He used to be my favorite player in the league after Micheal Jordan retired if that means anything to you. The man is an incredible athlete an has had to carry his team offesively on his tattooed shoulders ever since he was drafted #1 in 1996. Nine All-Star appearences, a couple of scoring titles, All-Star MVP, regular season MVP. He has averaged 27 ppg, 6.5 apg, and 3.8 rpg. If he can have these numbers in Detroit, then by all means, Dumars is a god. I just dont think that AI can thrive under this style of basketball, a defensive mindset and slow but efficient offense. Iverson has always been a pleasure to watch, and if he is reading this, in the words of Eminem and Trick-Trick.....Welcome to Detroit City.
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2 comments:
I don't really mind the post-season implications. As far as I'm concerned, our previous group proved that it couldn't make it to the finals. I like Dyess and Billups, but mixing it up with AI for a couple years and then going big in 2010 will be sick. I'll pray the rosary every morning 5 times if we get Lebron James to finish out the starting five with Amir, Maxiell, Stuckey, and Rip.
That would be amazing, but I realy doubt that the Ohio native would want to come play in Detroit. I feel that Lebron wants to move to the big city and get out of Ohio for a while. His good friend Jay-Z is co-owner of the Nets franchise, and someday he wants to move the team to Brooklyn. If they have enough money to spare, I think that he will do everything possible to bring King James to the Big Apple.
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