Check this out: NBA Finals Game 5: Chauncey Billups 3-5 for 14 points NBA Finals Game 7: Chauncey Billups 3-8 for 13 points, NBA ECF Game 6 vs Miami: Chauncey Billups 3-14 for 9 points NBA ECF Game 6 vs Cleveland: Chauncey Billups 3-7 for 9 points He needs a backup. He has not played good for the last game of the Pistons season. 04 was fine though, he didn't need to do much during that game.
Preposterous. Nonsense. It seems to en vogue for people in the sports media to defend Flip and ostracize Sheed. But if you listen closely to the players who are now analysts, they will tell you that they see a team that doesn't have sideline leadership (because they can probably recognize it) and that Sheed is a hard case but still a great talent.
To be fair, that article also called for Flip to be fired. But it's an awfully shallow take on Sheed to say that "his act is getting old" and that he's "dragging the team down," because of...one ejection in the playoffs, after he had already fouled out? And with nary a word about his defensive performance.
Yeah, to be honest, I didn't read it. If the excerpts don't look tasty, I'm not into the talking heads regurgitating the same stuff over and over. It's amazing how little respect Sheed gets for his defensive contributions. I guess that's because he plays for the Steve Spurrier of basketball. :nerd2:
This is the exact same type of stuff we heard from the media last year after Ben decided to leave. The title in 2004 was won with a smothering defense anchored by Wallace X 2. When leadership of the team shifted to Mr. No Big Deal and his enabler Flip Sr., Ben got mad about losing, Rasheed got mad about losing, and both of them got painted as malcontents. I want to see Chauncey traded this summer, not because I'm using him as a punching bag for all that has gone wrong, but because his value is very high right now, and if Joe can pull of a sign-and-trade, he might be able to get an All-Star talent in return. This run is over, it was over last year when Ben left, and people who think we can pry the championship window back open with a couple of rookies and some minor free-agent acquisitions are just fooling themselves.
Right. Joe D should offer CB what he offered Ben. $48 million over four. He could go a little higher but not much.
Very reasonable. I might go slightly higher but make the 4th some kind of team/player option or tie in some performance bonuses... Really wish Bill Davidson wasn't a part of this equation.
I feel the same way about Billups as I did about Ben last year: I'd love to keep them on the team, but is that best for the Pistons? It's one thing to spend big money to keep a championship team together, but the Pistons are not a champion anymore. Giving Billups or Wallace big contracts when the team is clearly declining doesn't make sense, particularly when those contracts would limit the team's ability to make changes. I don't think the team needs to be blown up, but it needs a serious retooling. The Pistons have a chance to remain contenders if they play this right, so this summer will go a long way in shaping Dumars legacy as an executive.
Great post crumbs. The wheels of change are well in motion, even if we don't want to believe it. Driving with one foot on the gas and one foot on the brake just means we will continue to spin our tires. This offseason is very important, perhaps our most important in several years.
Roscoe, it's true. However, we may be rolling into the next season without any major changes with Sheed Rip Tay and CB starting and the bench of JMax, Flip, Deflino, AJ, and Dup. Hopefully it is not the case.
I would hope so too but I'd be ok with bringing everybody back except Webber (and obviously Lindsey), signing everybody's bestest buddy Grant Hill and moving Amir into the rotation. 1. Billups/Crittendon or other Rookie (Koopenen @ #27 )/Blalock 2. Rip/Flip Jr./Delfino 3. Tay/Hill/Delfino 4. Maxiell/Amir/Dyess 5. Sheed/Rookie or Dale Davis/Nazr Maybe trade Delfino/Murray and either one of the picks to try to move up. Beg the bobcats or somebody to take on Nazr's contract for ANYTHING. I don't care if it's for the rights to Adam Morrison's spree he had in 9th grade. They have to get rid of that albatross... Can we just send Nazr to Sioux Falls and pretend that didn't happen?
If Bill Davidson won't eat Flip Saunders' contract, he ain't gunna eat NazMo's. Joe really messed up with Nazr's contract. I'm not even sure there was another bidder for his services @ over $3 million a year, let alone with a player option at the end...
If Joe could have moved Nazr for anything living I think he would have done it already. I think we are stuck with him unless somebody needs him as trade filler to make salaries match.
