| Delk Adds A Familiar Dynamic Authored by Curtis A. Clark - March 16, 2006 - 3:15 am
Pistons fans have been clamoring all season for Joe Dumars to make a run at point guard Mike James. A fan favorite of the 2004 championship team, James was the missing element off the bench in 2005. This season Detroit needed an energy guy who could hound the ball and score of the bench.
Enter Tony Delk. In 6 games with the Pistons Delk is 9 of 13 from three point land, has provided good on the ball defense, and the Pistons bench has been above its season average in production. It is just a mystery how Joe Dumars continues to get quality players out of no where.
Delk by all accounts should have been starting for Atlanta, the guy has dropped 55 in an NBA game before. The youth movement in Atlanta is understandable, but Delk, 31, isn’t ancient and could have provided needed maturity and leadership. But none the less Atlanta cut him so he could find employ on a playoff team, a nice gesture, and one Detroit will be appreciating for the rest of the season.
Delk will add that missing component that Detroit needed to get its defense back to the form of 2004. A guy that can pressure full court on D and get to the basket on O. Delk has proven capable of that in his first 6 games, not to mention canning open jumpers, which there are a lot of in the Pistons offense.
Coach Flip Saunders has seen tape and realizes how effective the pairing of James and Hunter was in 2004, the pit bulls as they were called forced key easy buckets on the way to a title. Saunders has already hinted that he will use Delk and Hunter in the same manor, couple that with the energy of Carlos Delfino and Mo Evans, and Detroit could have a feared press off the bench. A press which could finally re-create an identity for a bench unit that hasn’t had one since Mehmet Okur was a Piston.
It’s hard to find flaw in the team with the leagues best record, but when they shore up that flaw with a free agent signing that cost them next to nothing, well that just has to sting the rest of the league. It just seems that if it is possible to improve the Pistons without giving up depth or key player, Joe D. will find a way.
A roster that started the year with 5 decent bench players, question marks at 2, now has 7 solid bench players with Hunter, Delk and Cato in the mix. With the leagues best starting 5, 3 veteran big bodies off the bench, and 4 solid energy wing players, they may now boast one of the league best benches as well.
Curtis A. Clark
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