The Pistons found their stride once Billups and Chris Webber were with the team in mid-January. Richard Hamilton had a phenominal year as the leading scorer for the Pistons at 19.8 per contest. Chauncey Billups was able to put in 17 points per game and Tayshaun Prince had a great defensive season. He was a lockdown defender every night of the season until the last 4 games of the Cleveland series. The Pistons were the second best defensive team in the league giving up only 91.8 points per game. They rolled through the first round of the playoffs by sweeping the overwhelmed Orlando Magic. They were able to outlast the Bulls in 6 games before falling to the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals.
What Went Wrong?
The team fell apart in the playoffs at the worst possible time. They had the Cavs on the ropes with a 2-0 lead in the series and game 3 in their hands before turning over the momentum and the series to LeBron James. Chemistry amongst the team and coach became volatile as players grew tired of Flip Saunders' offensive and defensive schemes. Rasheed Wallace voiced his displeasure often through the season and the sentiment grew to extreme proportions as they fell apart in the playoffs. Chauncey Billups didn't show up in the playoffs either, when he's supposed to be one of the top big game players in the league. In the final game of the Pistons season, he played 44 minutes but took just 7 shots and scored just 9 points.
Off-Season Overview
The big deal for the Pistons this off-season was making sure that Chauncey Billups didn't go anywhere. They re-signed their free agent for 5 years and $60 million. They also re-signed Amir Johnson after his fantastic season spent in the D-League. To take care of the aging and disappointing bench of the Pistons, they drafted Rodney Stuckey out of Washington State and Aaron Afflalo out of UCLA. They also signed center, Cheick Samb from the 2006 draft.
Players Added- Guard Rodney Stuckey (Draft), Guard Aaron Afflalo (Draft), Small Forward Sammy Mejia (Draft), Center Cheick Samb (2006 Draft), Swingman Jarvis Hayes (Free Agent, Washington), Guard Gerald Fitch (Free Agent)
Players Lost- Power Forward Chris Webber (Un-signed), Center Dale Davis (Too Old)
Phil Barnett's Impact Players-
After collapsing in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals, many are wondering if this is the end of the Piston’s run as an elite team in the league. Only time will tell if this team is sitting at home in May, or playing in their fifth straight Eastern Conference Championship series.
Breakout Player: This team is getting older, but Tayshaun Prince is coming into his prime years as a basketball player. He is tough to match up with because of his length and is still a great defender on the parameter. Prince can potentially put up career numbers this year, knowing he’s going to have to do a bit more than what he’s accustomed to if this team is going to be successful.
Disappointing Player: Unfortunately, Rasheed Wallace is on the decline, and doesn’t seem intent on playing hard. Last season he averaged a mere 12.3 points per game, his lowest point total since his inaugural season in the NBA. Wallace is going to be giving up minutes to the man out of Cincinnati, Jason Maxiell.
FantasyInsideronline.com Fantasy Sleeper-
Jason Maxiell, Power Forward/Center- The Pistons have less depth this year with Chris Webber being gone and Dale Davis being too old to be re-signed. That frees up 39 minutes of playing time to disperse amongst the rest of the bench players. Nazr Mohammed has played so poorly in Detroit that the Pistons will go small and start Antonio McDyess alongside Rasheed Wallace this season. That means that Maxiell will be the first big man off the bench, and he’ll be relieving two guys who are both in their 12th season in the NBA. Maxiell will probably come close to David Lee numbers in terms of scoring and rebounds from last year, not to mention the 2 blocks per game that he’ll surely average. Take Maxiell by the 10th Round, take a lot of trash talking from the rest of your league for doing so, and laugh hysterically when they can’t figure out in January why Steven Hunter can’t get off the bench in Denver.
Best-Case Scenario
Rasheed Wallace comes through on his statement that he and Flip Saunders understand each other now and he leads the Pistons through his dominant play. Hamilton keeps improving and cracks the 25 points per game barrier. Tayshaun Prince establishes himself as one of the top defenders in the league and completely dominates swingmen around the Association. The rookies bring tough play and exuberance off the bench to take the stress of a full season's grind. Jason Maxiell and Amir Johnson provide the Pistons with defense and scoring off the bench. The Pistons turn back to their dominant team mentality and completely smother the rest of the league with their defense. They roll through the playoffs in the East and win a tough 7 games series to win the NBA FInals.
Worst Case Scenario
Flip Saunders becomes the scapegoat of the players for their inability to play as a team and the players stop listening to Saunders. They abandon gameplans due to a lack of trust of the coaching staff and constantly battle and challenge authority all year long. Without a proper scheme that the players are willing to execute, they try to get by on talent alone and struggle to put together long stretches of good basketball. They finish 5th in the East and lose out in the second round.
Talkhoops.net Prediction- 1st in Division, 1st in East
I think that even though some of the players will still have problems with the ways that Flip Saunders runs the show, the Pistons will be too good defensively to not be the best in the East. The young'ns will infuse the roster with enthusiasm, athleticism and great production. Rip Hamilton is going to become a top scorer in this league getting well over 20 ppg. Tayshaun Prince, as predicted by Phil Barnett, will make the leap this season and become a game changing player. The Pistons will battle through the East playoffs and beat out the Celtics in the Conference Finals. They'll go to the Finals where they'll lose in a tough 7 game series.