The Answer to the Pistons
 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3679931


I wish him the best of luck.:tro: :tro: I would love to see him get his championship, though it would have to be at the expense of the Celtics.

Dumars has become Shapiro.

I :{>: Iverson

Me too Lori. Been a fan of him for a long time.

Just one answer for a myriad of questions.

Iverson.....the love?



Unbelievable.

I am not sure how to interpret this. I think Denver must obviously feel like the team they had couldn't do it. They lost all of their defense when they lost Najara and Camby and this is their way of trying to get some of that back along with a little more offense in the process. I have a feeling though that Anthony won't respect Billups as much as he did Iverson and he'll try to dominate the team offense and I just don't think that's going to work. Either way, I didn't think much of Denver's chances to make a real impact in the West beforehand and I still don't.

Detroit is different. Billups was the heart and soul of that team and it's hard to replace that once it's lost. However, if there is any player in the league to try to replace that with, it's Iverson. I think Detroit realized that they did need a little something on offense. They have guys that can score but I think Iverson is the kind of guy that can not only score but he puts more pressure on a defense than Billups does. I think Iverson will open up the court a little bit more for their offense. I don't think it hurts them at all and if it doesn't work out, they are in a better position to do things in the offseason once Iverson and Rasheed Wallace's contracts both expire. I believe those two contracts total about $35 million. I think Dumars is looking at his roster and thinking that they'd be better off playing an uptempo style and taking advantage of the young, athletic players that they have and Iverson is more suited to that style than Billups is. Overall, I like the move for Denver but not as much as I like it for Detroit.

Take it you don't like him?

jealous?

He's terrible. Tupac Lite.

His game is terrible?

I think it blows for Detroit--which is good.

No.

Indifferent...but it blows for Detroit.

It's not good enough to trade McDyess. I can understand Billups and a benchwarmer.

The guy is 33 years old. The Pistons aren't going to win with two volatile douchebags like Wallace and Iverson leading them.

Where they going to win if they hadn't made this move? The move allows them to still be competitive while setting themselves up financially to have more flexibility in the next offseason.

EAUXH!?


So ...it doesn't help them this year?

^^^ Jealous Snorty

Just stating fact.

Philadelphia had a belly full.

It only took Denver one season.......so there ya go.


I guess they were jealous,too.

I think it makes them a little bit better but no, I don't think it makes them a championship team. I don't think every move should be made to make a team a championship team in that particular year. I think it's a good move for the future of the team without them having to have a drop off while making the transition.

Well you almost backed off.



Very nimble on your feet--you are.

I'll agree on the step back to go 2 forward..even if you don't.

The Cavs should finally win the division this year.

You guys know more than I in regards to the in's and out's of who is good for what team. I have been following him for a long time and just appreciate the effort he puts forth during games. No denying the guy plays hard.

Oh he does..from what I've seen of him.

But a ball hog..and "me" before "team."



I'm very happy for the Pistons.

Definitely not the defintion of a team player. Incredibly talented and fearless though.

Oh I agree.


He's perfect for the nba.

And Dala will not challenge me in this thread nor the Browns thread because she knows I will eat her..............................
























...lunch.


:)

I think it's sometimes unfair to call guys like Iverson selfish or to say they aren't team players. You have to consider the teams they play with and the amount of talent they have alongside them. When he was playing with Philadelphia, who else in the world would anyone have wanted to be shooting the ball besides Iverson? Aaron McKie? Eric Snow? A lot of people point to the number of shots he takes but again, who else would you want taking them besides him? I look at the year they made it to the championship series. That year, Iverson took 28% of his team's shots. That's not out of line with other star scorers in the NBA. The year the Bulls won the first title, Jordan took 26% of his team's shots. In the first two years without Shaq, Kobe took 33% and 26% of his team's shots. Even with Shaq in 2003, he took 28% of them. LeBron James in his highest scoring year took 28% of his team's shots. Iverson is right in line. Also, four times he's finished in the top 10 in assists per game. How many other great scorers do that? And his toughness is well known. For a lot of those years, he was playing on some teams that weren't any good at all. A selfish player might take that opportunity to sit out games. Why go all out when you have no chance of winning? Not Iverson. He'd not only play through his injuries but he'd still give every ounce of energy he had. He's led the league in minutes per game plenty of times. There are a lot of players that I'd call selfish. Iverson's name would never come up.

Good to know he's in line with the other ball hogs of the league.


And I wonder why his assists have been so high when no on else on the team can shoot?

Shouldn't a point guard shoot less and assist more?

They will probably win in the palace and a few games on the road.

They're not going to be contenders for quite some time. Dumars will be darted in two or three years.

Was one of my happier days in sport fandom when the Sixer's got rid of him. He will never, I repeat NEVER, win a championship. His shot selection was piss poor, almost as bad as Iguodala's.

You are just racist towards people with the initials A I

:p ;)

I understand what you're saying bro. I just feel compelled to root for him. I can count on both hands the number of his home games I missed when he was in high school ( I was at Bethel a couple years before he got there). Also made the 2 1/2-3 hour drive to the old Cap Center in Landover on more than one occasion to watch him when he was at G'Town.

That could be it, I can't stand either of them.


And Kev, I used to feel the same about Kobe and Eddie Griffin too as i was live for a few hs games of theirs, but that soon wore off and Kobe quickly became an enemy.

AI is no doubt talented, but you can not build a winning team concept around him. Once he left here, we tapped into some potential that went unused for some time and began playing like a team.

Didnt the Sixers make it to the NBA finals with Iverson?

I agree he will most likely never win a Champ., but I still gotta root for him. Only local guys I don't root for are the Vick's:wf


As an aside...I will be home around 8:30. You know where to find me:)

This is a HOME RUN for the Pistons. Chauncey is 32 and is signed for four more years at 12 million per year. Mcdyess is 34 and signed through 2010 at close to 7 million per. Those are bad contracts. Iverson's contract expires after this year.

The pistons are old and need to rebuild. Dumars is astute enough to realize that.

So what if they don't contend this year? They will be entertaining and they will put out a decent product while they wait to sign Chris Bosh or one of the other big name free agents that will be available within the next two years.

What part am i missing? Dumars does it again! He is one of the best GM's in the game.

Ah.



I am agreed with in the sense the Pistons are bagging at least this year.

Good.

I know you arent saying that Iverson is a better defender than Chauncey Billups.

Are you?

Bucher reporting that McDyess will be waived, sit 30 days, and return to the Pistons.

So not a bad trade afterall. McDyess has been a solid contributor to that team.