| The Pistons Retooled Authored by Curtis A. Clark - September 16, 2005 - 8:20 pm
After another off season under the guidance of Joe Dumars the Pistons are retooled for another run.
Wait, retooled?
I know what you are saying, “I’ve looked at the roster man, retooled is not the word.” Just wait for the explanation then, it’s forth coming.
The Pistons are retooled, just not in the normal Joe D. way. He didn’t ship out a Stackhouse, he didn’t bring in a Billups, and he didn’t send away a roster stalwart like he has in Robinsons and Williamson. But he has made the team better.
“How?”
Well for one he made the hard decision, along with owner Bill Davidson, to severe ties with title winning coach Larry Brown. Now that may look bad, trust me I understand that side of the argument, but it is a good thing. Brown was bigger than the team and despite the team making back to back title series, he wasn’t developing the youth. The youth, which Dumars is counting on to put them over the edge this year. Brown had to go to create a more conducive playing environment for the veterans and the kiddies.
That brings us to point two, Flip Saunders. Saunders develops talent (see KG). He understands that practice isn’t a game and neither is the last 2 minutes of a blow out. Darko and the other youngsters will love this guy. He lets you make your mistakes and wont pigeon hole you into a specific role. Saunders may me the single most important thing to happen to this Pistons team’s future. If Darko and the others are eventually going to move into a productive role they need to start now. Saunders wont Brown them out of playing time.
“Well that’s all well and good, but what if they don’t develop?”
See security blankets Maurice Evans and Dale Davis. Dumars isn’t going to gamble completely on his unprovens. So he brought in guys that can grind. Davis is so veteran David Stern gave him a silver star. Evans has the physicality of a Darvin Ham with a shooting stroke, plus he played in Sacramento in a winning environment. Dumars worked way too hard to see his work fail on the shoulders of a lacking bench that is to inexperienced to contribute.
“So you’re saying that’s enough to overcome the remade Heat and reinvigorated Pacers?”
Yes.
The Heat, in the words of Tony Parker, may have made to many changes. The philosophy is not unprecedented. Every year, but this one, Dallas has overhauled their roster with the likes of Antwan Jamison, Antoin walker, Jason Terry, Eric Dampier, and others only to fall short. See the Yankee’s as well. You can’t just throw talent together and assume it will work; chemistry really is what wins in team games. You have to develop chemistry. Detroit has the same starting 5 for the third year in a row. That cannot be over looked.
Indiana will be hot and ready to prove themselves. They may be tough to overcome in the central, but they are a worse team this year than they were in 2004 when the Pistons took the conference finals from them in 6. The lose of Reggie Miller, who single handedly carried that team into the playoffs last year, is immeasurable. Couple that with the instability of their starting 5’s health and head and you have a team lacking in to many area’s come June and July. |
