How the times have changed. Remember last season, when the Detroit Pistons were still the favorites in the East and had made it to at least the conference final round for six straight seasons? Now, Detroit is 17 games behind the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Pistons sit in seventh place, fighting to maintain a playoff spot.
Instead of battling for supremacy in the East with teams like the Boston Celtics and the Cavaliers, the Pistons are at .500 thanks to a recent eight-game losing streak prior to beating the Orlando Magic last Friday. Since January, they have gone an abysmal 10-18, with only four of those victories versus clubs with a winning record. The Pistons have not looked like the same team with Michael Curry at the helm, and trading Chauncey Billups to the Denver Nuggets for Allen Iverson in November certainly has not helped the cause.
President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars is a shrewd man. No matter how he spins that trade, it was purely a salary dump. Iverson simply does not mesh well with the Pistons' blend of basketball. Yes, A.I. is averaging 18 points a game, but his need to push the ball up the court and play at a fast pace does not fit with players like Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess. Billups, though he is not as athletic and adept at getting to the hole as Iverson, ran the half-court offense and made his teammates better while also fitting into the Pistons' mold as a defense-first player.
The trade for Iverson has most adversely affected Richard Hamilton. Because of Detroit's desire to play Rodney Stuckey at the point, Iverson had been starting at the two-guard spot until a recent back injury, relegating Hamilton to the bench. Hamilton has actually been just as productive off the bench, but he has voiced his displeasure with the situation during the recent skid.
At 29th in the league in scoring, Detroit desperately needs Hamilton happy and doing what he does best: coming off screens and hitting mid-range jumpers. The Pistons are still a top-five defensive team in the NBA, but that has not been enough to mask their other deficiencies this season, such as a lack of front court production.
Another one of the problems has been at point guard, where Stuckey has taken over for the departed Billups. After a promising rookie campaign last season, Stuckey was handed the reins to the offense, with the thought being that the Iverson/Billups deal would free up minutes for Stuckey, the foreseen point guard of the future. While Stuckey posted great numbers in December and January, February was a month to forget.
As was shown on Friday when Stuckey netted 22 points in the win over the Magic, the Pistons are a different team when their point guard is scoring. Since he averaged less than eight points a game during the eight-game losing streak, it is no surprise that the team struggled. Because players like Wallace, McDyess and fifth-starter Tayshaun Prince are not primarily scorers and certainly cannot create their own shots, Detroit needs Stuckey to play aggressively like he did in January before his shot attempts dipped by almost five a game.
The Pistons are forced to rely on their starters because the younger reserves have not progressed like Dumars had envisioned. Jason Maxiell, the only real viable big man option off the bench, has seen his numbers drop since last season. With players like Aaron Afflalo playing fewer minutes, Detroit has been relying on its aging and slowing core far too much this season.
Yet with two straight wins over the Magic and the Celtics, there is still some hope that the Pistons can turn on the jets in their last 24 games and make a surprise playoff run. But barring the unexpected, Detroit's consecutive conference final appearances streak should come to an end this season.
If so, Dumars could continue his dismantling of the core of Pistons' glory days. Iverson, Wallace and McDyess all have expiring contracts, and it would make sense for the Pistons to bring in younger players and start anew. Realistically, that has probably been Dumars' plan all along. Whether he actually thought this Pistons team could contend is not clear, but the notion that they are no longer at the top of the league certainly is.
