Eastern Conference Power Rankings

Over the next few days we will put up Eastern and Western Conference power rankings. I decided to split the conferences up instead of coming up with one long list because I firmly believe that comparison between other teams in the conference is more important because it doesn't matter what the other conference is doing if you can't beat your own conference teams. The purpose of rankings is to predict which teams will come out on top in their conference to represent the conference in the NBA Finals. Here are my quick thoughts on which teams are in the upper and lower echelon of the Eastern Conference. Enjoy.

#1 Celtics: Clearly no one is going to pick against the defending champs. The only critical piece they lost was Posey, but it seems like they are deep and talented enough to work around that. They played inspired last season and virtually did not lose that momentum the entire season. The one downside for the Celtic faithful is their inconsistent play in the playoffs. Going to 7 with Atlanta? 7 with the Cavs? There is no doubt that they overlooked that competition and played down to their competition. One thing to watch for might be the play of Darius Miles, and Cassell's role on the team. There was talk about Cassell using the last year of his contract to become an assistant coach, but that is not in the cards for this up coming season. I expect Rondo to continue his improvement this season as well as Tony Allen and Leon Powe to be consistent solid contributors off the bench. It also does not hurt that they have KG, Piece, and Allen as a core either. They are my pick to come out of the East, again.

#2 Pistons: It seems like every year since 2004 they have been at the top of every power ranking, but never able to live up to potential. The Pistons will continue to be competitive in the East every year for a few reasons. They have one of the best backcourts in the NBA in Billups and Hamilton. They also have a strong front court in Prince and Rasheed. They are a solid team defensively which will always give them a chance to compete. The Pistons also have young guards waiting to take on a bigger role in Rodney Stuckey and Aaron Afflalo which should help the legs of Hamilton and Billups, and will undoubtedly pay dividends in the playoffs. The declining McDyess seems to be the glaring problem right now. The 5 position needs to be addressed in a better way than Kwame Brown. I do agree that Kwame is a legitimate backup Center in the NBA, but if you have a declining Center as a starter, throwing Kwame in there and hoping he picks it up is a little unrealistic. The Pistons have been using Amir Johnson, a player who is built to be a 3 or 4, as a Center. They have also put Jason Maxiell into the Center role which is not his natural position. That was Flip Saunders' way of putting a bandaid on the Center problem, but it does not get that much attention. Rasheed usually takes most of the Piston criticism, but looking at their team, it goes beyond Rasheed. Sheed will have a big season this year as he is playing for a contract, and maybe rookie coach Michael Curry will help the Pistons out more on the whole. As always, the Pistons are in the upper echelon, but may not have enough to get over the hurdle, and by hurdle I mean the Celtics.


#3 76ers: That's right. This may surprise some of you, maybe even anger you. I was even contemplating putting the old school sixers logo up because the Sixers will finally have success like they used to. After the World Series buzz fades out of Philly, the Sixers will be the center of attention. Unless of course, the Eagles climb out of last place in the NFC East, but probably not. The Sixers are a revitalized franchise. They have waited for Andre Iguodala to get into his prime, and he is there. They put a solid point guard next to him in Andre Miller. The one thing they were missing was a credible power foward who could give them a solid post presence to free up Miller and Iguodala on the perimeter, and to give them another scoring option. They have finally acquired that player in Elton Brand, and with his addition, Eastern Conference championship hopes are reborn in Philly. They also have several young prospects that are due for a breakout season this year in Lou Williams and Thaddeus Young. Barring any major injuries, the Conference championship is a real possibility this year. They gave the Pistons a tough series in last season's playoffs which was a good starting point. They got the help they need in Elton Brand. It will help them this season and in the years to come. The Sixers will be at the top of this list for many years to come.

#4 Cavs: This is where the Eastern Conference gets murky. The Cavs always have a chance with Lebron James. The addition of Mo Williams gives them a strong point guard who can shoot and pass. He is the clear cut second option on a team that previously did not have one. They have a deep bench at the point guard position which will help them. They have talent in every position, but the problem is that outside of Lebron, they don't excel in any one area. Without Lebron, the Cavs are headed to the lottery. With him, they have a chance to compete for a conference championship. It is clear that Lebron can single handedly carry a team on his back. Mo Williams might be the help that Lebron needs, but it is not the piece that will fire them into championship contention. The top team sin the West will have a player better than the Cavs in every position except the small forward position. Don't believe me? Think Lakers, Houston, San Antonio, Utah, New Orleans, and you can make a strong case for Dallas and Phoenix. Look at every team above them in this power ranking, and even 1 or 2 teams below them on this list. Do the Cavs have someone clearly better in the 1,2,4, and 5 spots? Probably not, that is why they will always hang around at the top, but never get there until they get some upgrades in those places.

#5 Magic: The Magic might have one of the most underrated front courts in the NBA. Of course, Dwight Howard gets all of the press, but people don't talk about Hedo Turkoglu or Rashard Lewis nearly as much as they deserve. Hedo had a break out season as he finished second in points, assists, and rebounds as well as averaging .9 steals which was third behind Jameer Nelson's .91 steals. The major problem with the Magic is clearly the weak backcourt. Nelson is a solid point guard, but has virtually no help at the 2. They let the defensive specialist Maurice Evans go and watched him sign with conference rivals, the Hawks. Keyon Dooling also could not find minutes in the backcourt with the Magic and has moved on which means that Jameer Nelson will see an increase in minutes and production. Mickael Pietrus is going to fill in the #2 spot this year for the Magic and their success will largely depend on his success. When he was not on Don Nelson's bench in Golden State he was pretty effective. He averaged 7.2 ppg while playing only a modest 19.2 minutes. JJ Reddick is backing Pietrus up, and we all know that JJ has not been the most popular player in Orlando. Expect Pietrus to log a lot of minutes and be one of the key players to the Magic's success.

#6 Toronto Raptors: One of the forgotten teams in the Eastern Conference. They are the Eastern Conference sleeper team, and have a legitimate case to be #4 or #5 on this list. With the Jermaine O'Neal acquisition this offseason the Raptors are legitimate contenders. The Eastern Conference is continuing to close the gap between the once unquestioned superior Western Conference. If O'Neal can stay healthy and Calderon can continue to be a solid 11ppg and 8 asst per game point guard they are going to be a force. Chris Bosh showed what he can do this summer in Beijing and I'm gonna predict he is gonna drop 25ppg and 10rebs this season. A lot of people are hesistant to say anything more about the Raptors because of how unpredictable Jermaine O'Neal is. He is a little soft around the basket, and has been reluctant to make hustle plays his entire career. Hopefully he will play an inspired season and amount to everything we have expected of him. The other soft spot for the Raptors is at the Center position. Andrea Bargnani is one of the most underperforming Centers in the league. He is 7'0 and averages 10.2 ppg and 3.7 rebs. The point production is not a concern, but the rebounds is. It shows Bargnani's reluctance to muscle down low and his complacency. There are times on the court where you forget he is even out there. The Raptors will need a lot more out of him if they want to get anywhere in the playoffs. Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon have been pleasant surprises for the Raptors. Expect both to play a big role this season in the Raptors' success. Jermaine O'Neal coming in will probably mean one of them is losing their starting job, but both Parker and Moon are a capable sixth man and, will definitely be major consistent contributors for the Raptors.

#7 Wizards: With Gilbert Arenas out until January it will be up to Antwan Jamison and Caron Butler to carry the load. They have proven they can be a solid team without Gilbert, but never good enough to be at the top of the East. Unfortunately, with the Big 3 in Washington taking up so much cap room, they won't have enough to spend to get that final piece. It is going to be tough for Washington to compete with the top teams in the East without a dominant big man down low. The Wizards are built very similar to the Run N' Gun Suns of the past few years. They don't play good enough defense to contain the top teams in the conference either as they allowed 99.2 ppg last year while scoring 98.8 ppg last season. If the Wizards are going to make an impact this year, they are going to have to wait until Gilbert comes back and see how he fits back into the team. The chemistry on the team is good, but I truly believe they still need one more impact player away from being in the top tier of the Eastern Conference at either the Center of SG position.

#8 Hawks: They almost took out the Celtics last season in a very entertaining series. They haven't really changed much with the exception of Josh Childress. Despite what some people may think, losing Childress is a devastating blow to the Atlanta bench. The bright spot for Atlanta is their young talent. They will be able to compete for a playoff spot every year because of players like Al Horford, Josh Smith, and Joe Johnson. Marvin Williams is also an important player to keep in mind for the Hawks. He suffers from 'The Kwame Brown Effect' which is when a player is judged based on where he was drafted. Despite how high his expectations and draft position was, he plays a big role on this Hawks team at the 3 spot and have put the solid Maurice Evans behind him. The Hawks were lucky to keep Josh Smith after all of the speculation of him leaving for Philadelphia, but with Josh Smith staying in ATL for a while longer, the chemistry that almost pulled one of the biggest upsets in sports history off is still in tact. It is pretty obvious that this team has some great young talent and a veteran point guard in Mike Bibby to help guide them, but they won't be a force in the East, unless of course, they come out of nowhere to upset the defending champs from Boston.


#9 Heat: Well, the bright side is that they won't finish dead last again, but they won't finish in the playoffs this year. They have an athletic team, but they are still hurting at the point guard position. They got the upgrade they needed at the power forward position with Beasley and he will have a solid season. Mario Chalmers is also a good guard, but is not NBA ready yet. Having Dwyane Wade will always allow them to compete and having an athletic hustle player like Shawn Marion will always be a plus. The other huge hole the Heat have is at the center position. It is no secret that the Heat will be in a rebuilding process for the next couple of seaons, and their success depends on how fast Michael Beasley can develop. 2006 was great, wasn't it?

#10 Bucks: This team is not as bad as people think. Like the Raptors, they are often overlooked. The acquisition of Richard Jefferson was huge for this team. Jefferson is a solid all around player that can do virtually anything asked of him. They drafted the true sleeper of the draft in Joe Alexander. He may not be NBA ready right now, but that might change very quickly during the season as he might have to take on a greater role than he is ready for which will accelerate his development. Andrew Bogut just got a big extension which is indicative of him being in the Bucks long term plans. He gives them an inside presence and can score and rebound well enough, but can improve it a bit. Another positive is Michael Redd. We all saw his skill on the world stage and his deadly jump shot. He was injured a lot last season, but if he stays healthy, this Bucks club could surprise a lot of people. They also have a battle for the point guard spot. It is Luke Ridnour and Ramon Sessions fighting for the starting job, and Tyronn Lue is the backup. Sessions seems like he is going to win the starting spot right now, but having Lue and Ridnous as backups provides for a pretty deep bench at the 1 spot. A lot of people don't know about Ramon Sessions, but he was called up from the D-league last year and could have a truly breakout season. He only played 10 games last season and averaged over 38 minutes a game while scoring 8.1 ppg and dishing 7.5 assists. Not bad for a call up, right? Well, he is just one of the surprises that the Bucks might throw at us this season. Look for them to make some noise. If not this season, very soon.

#11 Bulls: They got their point guard in Derrick Rose, but is that going to solve their problems? My guess is that they will be getting rid of Kirk Hinrich before the trade deadline. Ben Gordon has insisted that he wants to play somewhere else, and they are still with the ball and chain that is Larry Hughes and his $12.8 million contract. The Bulls have a rookie coach in Vinny Del Negro. They lost a solid bench contibutor in Chris Duhon, and this season does not look too promising for the Bulls. Tyrus Thomas is also a constant question mark with his inconsistent play. If Thomas can be a consistent presence this season things will look up for Chicago. Also, Chicago fans have expectations to the sky for Rose, but remember that guards have a hard time with the transition to the pros. Rose has looked amazing in the preseason, but it will be a couple of years until we really see how good he can be. Of course, Luol Deng will be the focus of the offense if he can stay healthy, and Derrick Rose's development will facilitate that. Nevertheless, Chicago does not have the pieces to compete with the playoff ready teams, but the good news is that they have taken a step forward with Rose, and if they can trade Hinrich, they will be in an even better position.

#12 Bobcats: Charlotte fans shouldn't lose hope. Expansion teams take a while to get on their feet. With Michael Jordan in the front office and Larry Brown on the sideline, the Bobcats have some good people working for them. As far as players go, they still need a few upgrades. I love their D.J Augustin acquisition in the draft, and I believe it will pay huge dividends in a few years. What has really hurt the Bobcats is the mediocre play of Emeka Okafur, and him never living up to his potential. He grabs a bit over 10 boards a game and averages a shade under 14 ppg. Pretty low for a guy who was compared to Patrick Ewing. We know what Gerald Wallace can do. He brings athleticism and hustle to the floor and averages 19.4 ppg and 6 rebs. We know what Jason Richardson can do. He is a 3 point machine that is the Bobcats go-to guy who can put points on the board in a hurry. Raymond Felton is also showing he can run the show in the back court. If Felton has reached his potential, there is no way the Bobcats are going to be able to compete with the other solid backcourts at the top of the East. One storyline that will be interesting to watch play out will be Adam Morrison. He isn't only playing for a contract, he is playing for his NBA career. He is coming back from injury this season, and could make a significant impact or fade into the background. The Bobcats need a personel upgrade in a lot of positions for them to even think about being competitive.

#13 Pacers: Not much on this roster. Granger and Dunleavy had big seasons, but with an unhappy management and unhappy Jamal Tinsley, this team isn't going very far. The team has addressed the Tinsley problem for now by bringing in T.J Ford, but don't expect Ford to make a huge impact immediately. It will take him a while to get adjusted. The Pacers are in the rebuilding process right now, but don't expect that to last for long. This might be a team that gets better really quickly with Larry Bird behind it. They were a 36 win team last season, and I am astonished that they even managed to win that many games. I expect a sub-30 season from this team. They traded away Shawne Williams and Jermaine O'Neal, and got a retired Eddie Jones, T.J Ford and some cash. They also drafted Roy Hibbert who is a raw talent right now, but if he amounts to his potential he could be the cornerstone of the franchise. Not much for rebuilding in the short term. We all might just be ignorant to Larry Bird's bigger plan, but as of now, Pacer fans can reminisce about the old days in Conseco Field House with Reggie Miller and Rik Smits in the golden days.

#14 Nets: There is no defined leader on this team. Is it Devin Harris or Vince Carter? Yi is a superstar back home, but not in the States. Too many years on Carter's contract probably means that GM's will inquire, but probably not make a move. There just simply aren't enough pieces on this team to make anything work. I have liked Ryan Anderson for a while, but it is yet to be seen if he will make the team. Brooke Lopez will give them a defensive presences, but won't be that meaningful. Chris Douglas-Roberts is also a good prospect, and he is also fighting for a roster spot. Bottom line is that the Nets won't be able to make an impact this season, and probably won't be able to until they are in Brooklyn. That's ok with management though because they know they are eyeing Lebron in 2010.

#15 Knicks: Sorry Knicks fans. Not about to happen. They have a long way to go to make this team effective. This team definitely complements Mike D'Antoni's famous up-tempo style, but they don't have the players to do it. If people are not shocked by how big Eddy Curry showed up to training camp they better take a look at him. Zach Randolph has underperformed, and they still have the worst contract in sports in Stephon Marbury. One thing that people have not been talking a lot abot is Quentin Richardson and D'Antoni. How will they work together? Will D'Antoni take him off the bench and restore him back to the 14.9 points, 6.1 rebs, 1.2 steals, and 2.9 3pters a game? That could be something that is overlooked on this Knicks team. Of course, any Knicks fan will point to the promise of David Lee as a bright spot as well as their recent Danilo Gallinari pick. Jamal Crawford and Chris Duhon making up the backcourt isn't going to get anyone excited. However, finally bringing Nate Robinson off the bench will get people excited. All-in-all, there will be another bleak season for the Knicks, and they will continue to drop their tickets into the Lebron lottery.

The Eastern Conference is actually a lot deeper than people think. I used to be a big proponent of redoing conferences much like the NFL has split up their divisions. The recent acquisitions that the Eastern Conference has made has balanced out the power in the two divisions and has closed the gap a bit more. There is no doubt that we will be treated, finally, to a competitive Eastern Conference.

Thoughts on the Shawne Williams deal

If you all haven't heard the news, according to RealGM, Shawne Williams of the Pacers has been traded to the Mavericks for Eddie Jones, two 2nd round picks, and $1.8 million in cash.

This is definitely a step back, and at best a lateral step for the Mavs. My initial reaction to this trade is amazement. We all knew Shawne Williams was not going to last very long after his marijuana incident last year, and it is no secret he was on Larry Bird's blacklist after the incident. With that said, out of the 29 other teams in the league, why would the Mavericks be the ones to make a move for him?

It makes sense as to why the Pacers would want to split Marquis Daniels and Williams up, but why would Dallas want to bring Josh Howard and Williams together? With all of the negative press about Josh Howard these past 5 months, bringing in another problem player can't be healthy to the team's chemistry as well as their PR rehabilitation.

My guess right now is that Rick Carlisle thought very highly of Williams when he coached the Pacers. He can be a solid bench player if he focuses more energy on the court. Watching Williams play in Memphis left one to think that he is the prototype of an NBA player. Being 6'9 and 225lbs, he has the size to be a 3. He can play face up to the basket, and in college, could get to the rim at will. He is an inconsistent shooter, but with so much potential and only being 22, he definitely has room for improvement. Carlisle clearly thinks Williams has a chance to make it in this league, and wants one more shot a reviving a Williams career before it even really began. What is going to be the most intriguing part of this deal is how Williams conducts himself off the court. If he starts associating with the wrong people and it affects his play, I can't imagine Cuban having much patience for it after all he has had to deal with after the Howard situation. Nonetheless, the only product that matters is on the court. Williams has averaged 6.7 pts and 2.7 rebounds throughout his 2 year career. If he wants another contract, that is going to have to be improved to around 10 or 11ppg and he is going to have to improve his rebound category to around 6 or 7, at minimum to go along with it.

The problem I see with Williams is that he has no defined role at this point unless he somehow outplays Devean George and Jerry Stackhouse for minutes. If Carlisle starts randomly subbing Williams in to see how he fares, that could be disastrous for Williams and the Mavericks. In that scenario, it seems like Williams will get lost and his production will drop even further. That sort of seems like the rationale for trading Eddie Jones. Jones is an old veteran who had to compete with the younger George and Stackhouse for the same minutes Williams will be competing for, and with Williams due to make $1.5 and Jones being paid $1.9, it wasn't like that $400,000 was a salary cap move. The Mavs clearly see something here, and the desperate Mavs supporters are hoping it is right.

I love Shawne Williams the player, and I have loved his game since his days at Memphis. In fact, I was just talking with someone about how surprised I was when he was drafted 16th. Before the 2006 draft I was telling everyone that Williams was going to be one of the best players of the class, and the teams picking 11-15 were making a big mistake on passing him up. I have no problem admitting that I have been wrong so far. However, I do still have hope for Williams' career. There are two roads that Williams can take with his new start in Dallas. He can either live up to his potential or continue down his current path and find himself out of the league when his rookie contract expires.


As far as Indiana goes, Eddie Jones was my favorite player when he was on the Lakers. It has been tough for me to see him decline from his days as a Laker. I do believe that Eddie Jones will retire after his contract is up. He has even said that he will 'go home' if he did not win a championship with Dallas. I was rooting for him to win that championship, but it seems as if it won't be part of his career as a player. I don't see Jones playing much of a role in Indiana unless Jamaal Tinsley gets traded (which is a real possibility), but even then, Jones will be limited. Overall, the deal was great for the Pacers, and a gamble for the Mavs. It just adds to the already intriguing upcoming NBA season.

Izzy

Detroit Pistons Analysis

Many of you have requested to bring back the 'Off-Season To-Do List' series, but it was a little too much for our understaffed site to handle. So, to meet the demands of our faithful readers, we have decided to bring back the series in an abbreviated form. It will no longer be called the 'Off-Season To-Do list' because it is not the off-season anymore with the start of the preseason. We have decided to do analysis on teams that have been requested. We will try to accommodate as many requests as we can, but during the season, we will be blogging about season related issues instead of general analysis.
As you can tell by the title of this entry, the Pistons have been requested on numerous occasions. I have found the Pistons a very intriguing team in the NBA. Every year, someone picks them to go to the Finals or to win the championship. I've always found these predictions peculiar because they seem to be connecting dots that aren't there. Don't get me wrong, the Pistons are an extremely talented team, and they have the tools to be a competitive team year after year in the Eastern Conference. That is where it ends. A competitive Eastern Conference team. Even if they were a Western Conference team, they would still be competitive, but no matter where they play, they don't have the tools to get over the hump. I think Joe Dumars is starting to realize this and has pushed/will push the 'rebuild button'. This may not be totally apparent, but he has made a coaching change and toyed with the thought of trading his core this summer (The rumors with the Nuggets).

Here is the good news for the Pistons. They have a core of Rip Hamilton under contract until the summer of 2010, Tayshaun Prince until the summer of 2011, and Chauncey Billups until 2012. It gets even better for the Pistons, this is Rasheed Wallace's contract year. He is due to make $13.6 million this year and becomes an unrestricted free agent. This has huge implications for both Sheed and the Pistons. With Sheed being the highest paid Piston, but being only the 4th highest scorer on the team while averaging a very unimpressive 12.7ppg, 6.6 rebs, and 1.68blks, he will have a lot of incentive to boost those numbers this year, and Dumars as well as other GM's around the league will be taking note.. Sheed is only getting further and further away from his Tarheel glory days, and he will be demanding a huge contract to secure him and his family for life. That can happen, if, he performs big this season. As with many players and their contract years, expect Wallace to put up some huge numbers this season. He has always been an effective passer for a big man, but he should be averaging more than 1.8 assts per game. That statistic seems to be indicative of Sheed not looking to make the play and just settling. One of his biggest criticisms throughout his career has been his consistency. He shows up and then disappears through stretches of the season. He also tends to hang out on the perimeter instead of going down on the block. He does not utilize his post ability as much as he can. If he works on his post presence instead of settling for the three pointer, the Pistons will be very strong at the 4, which seems to be where everyone is making an upgrade these days. Wallace played decently well during the playoffs, but was shut down by KG during the Conference Finals. That is the biggest concern for Piston fans as it stands right now. KG and the Celtics are clearly the biggest impediment to making the Finals. If it does not happen this year, I can't see how the Pistons stay with Rasheed. This relationship won't be ablle to be rationally proglonged unless the Pistons get past the Celtics, at least.

If Sheed does have to leave after this year, Piston fans won't be too upset about it because they have one of the best young forwards in the game in Tayshaun Prince. The Compton Dominguez high school star and Kentucky Wildcat is the future of the Pistons. He has a 7'6 wingspan and a solid all around game. He creates matchup problems every night because of his length and solid defensive presence. Prince will be paid a fair $9.5 million this year and have that increase to $10.5 million and finally, to $11.3 million over the next 2 years. Prince made his mark on the league with his infamous block against Reggie Miller in the Conference Finals in 2004. Since then, he has become a household name, won a championship, and earned a spot on the Beijing team. He is most effective when he gets spot up mid-range jumpshots and is able to work within the system. Prince seems to have a great ability to adapt to different styles of play. Under Flip he was able to play a wing type of a role and get hustle points with a couple plays run for him throughout the game. With Michael Curry taking the reigns in Detroit the impact it will have is unknown at this point. I would expect Prince to be able to adapt to any role given to him because that is the type of player he is. He will still get his looks and will still create opportunities for himself. Prince has also never sustained a major injury in his career and has been a pretty consistent contributor for the most part throughout his career. I'd expect to see Prince being a constant and a long term player in the Piston's future.

I have been a firm believer for the last 4 years that the Pistons have the best back court in basketball. The combination of Rip Hamilton and Chauncey Billups is a coach's dream. You have a strong ball-handling guard in Billups who is a constant producer in terms of points and assists at 17ppg and 6.8assts, respectively, and you have Rip Hamilton, the overachieving sharp-shooter who averages the most points for Detroit at 17.3ppg. It is what you would envision a back court to look like. Two smaller players, one who can dribble, pass, make good decisions and protect the ball as your 1 guard, and the 2 guard who can shoot from anywhere on the court after receiving the ball from the point guard. This year, both players will combine to make $21.5 million of the $67.8 million payroll the Pistons will have to dish out this year. To exemplify how fair that amount of money is, Rip and Chauncey combine to average 34.3 ppg of the Piston's 97.5 ppg avg. That is 34% of the total points for the Pistons. Their salaries make up 31.7% of the total payroll. This shows that they are producing to the extent to which they should be. They also are not too bad on the defensive end as Rip logs 1 steal per game and Chauncey logs 1.2 steals per game. Both players are amazing perimeter defenders. Billups has the size to body up against bigger point guards like Deron Williams, and the speed and athleticism to keep up with players like Tony Parker, Chris Paul, and Steve Nash. Hamilton is undersized, but can still be a pesky defender. I think the Piston's biggest weakness is their lack of size overall, but it is most commonly exploited in the back court. It is tough for the Pistons to throw Rip on a 2 like Kobe or T-Mac. There is no doubt Rip has the quickness, but he is not strong enough to body up against players like that. Even smaller sized players at the 2 like Caron Butler would still have size advantages over Hamilton, and that poses a problem for Detroit. Many say, just throw Tayshaun on that player. Well, that creates another problem. Who does Rip guard? If Tayshaun has to guard T-Mac, then who guards Artest? If Tayshaun has to guard Kobe, who guards Lamar? Those are just two teams that can exploit the matchup of Rip Hamilton, but that is less of a concern considering the Lakers and Rockets are not in the same conference. For the purposes of the the Eastern Conference, Rip will be good enough to match up to Ray Allen, all the Pistons should really care about.

The reason I wrote that the Pistons might be going through a rebuilding stage is due to their youth movement. They have brought in a lot of young talent with Maxiell, Afflalo, Stuckey, and their two draft picks of D.J White and Deron Washington. All of these players are in the beginning of their career and especially the first three players named, will have an opportunity to become stars in this league. Antonio McDyess at 8.8ppg and 8.5 rebs and commanding $6.8 million the next two years is not what I would call ideal. In addition, having Kwame Brown as the backup is clearly a deficiency. I have written about the Kwame Brown acquisition in a previous post so I won't go into that any more although it is no secret that I strongly disagree with it.

This coming season will be the ultimate test for the Pistons. They have made some tweaks in their roster, and will still be in the annual discussion of who will win the East. Their name is undoubtedly the top two on that list. I still don't see them making it past the Celtics with their current squad. The Pistons have a great core and they are probably two players away from a championship. The Pistons can go in two directions at this point. They could be remembered as the one year fluke that took advantage of a disheveled and unorganized Laker team. Or, they could be the team that had no defined superstar and won because of their team play, saved the NBA from the stereotype of a 'superstar first' league, and played the game like Mr. Naismith envisioned when he invented the game.

Izzy

Links:
Both of these links are from ESPN the Mag.

A year after the fact, the Durant vs. Oden debate continues.

This is not basketball related at all, but Lil Wayne has a blog on ESPN, and it is great.

Nick Young Documentary

"Second Chance Season" is an inspirational story about Wizard's player Nick Young. It chronicles his life before USC and the NBA. The movie aired on ESPN2 last night, and it was incredible. It shows him battling on the court against former UCLA legend and Laker star Jordan Farmar in high school for bragging rights to the best player in the city, to his off court battle of the SAT, to his life battle in trying to cope with the death of his brother, and even several in depth interviews with the murderer of his brother and the drama that happens when the murderer and the family attempt to arrange a meeting.

The documentary was incredibly well made and almost made it feel like you were Nick Young's best friend that was going through these struggles with him. I believe that many NBA fans take for granted how hard some of these players had it before the NBA. Many fans look at the finished product of the player and are quick to criticize. This documentary really puts basketball and life in perspective. Young has had a lot more to deal with than just the pressure of putting the ball in the hoop. You see all sorts of levels of disappointment for Young and you get to experience it through him, seemingly in person. I can't give the movie justice through these couple of paragraphs. After watching the documentary, I have a new appreciation for Young's game and a new understanding of his life and others that have gone through a similar situation as him. Some people ask why professional athletes get paid ungodly amounts of money, but after seeing how Nick Young perservered through all of these hardships, it begins to answer that question.

If you did not get a chance to watch the movie then try and get a hold of it. If you haven't heard of the movie, here is the trailer.



Izzy

Quick thoughts on Josh Howard and Chris Paul

I'm not going to post the Josh Howard video because you all have seen it a million times by now. Apparently, Josh Howard has been sighted around campus (Wake Forest University) today. He has a house and some family members in nearby Lewisville, so it is not outrageous that he is around town. The interesting point is that The Chris Paul Foundation is sponsoring a concert by Ludacris tonight, and bought up a bunch of tickets that he gave to Wake students for free. A guess could be that Howard is in town to make an appearance at the concert for PR purposes (Rumor has it that Dwade, Lebron, Byron Scott, George 'The Iceman' Gervin, and some other Hornets players are making an appearance at the concert tomorrow). Or, he could just be waiting around until his court date next week for his racing violation he received earlier in the summer. Nonetheless, it is interesting to see two of the most high profile people to ever come out of Wake Forest both be in town simultaneously. One is just scratching the surface of his career and is one of the most loved athletes in the country, and another one who could be on a dark path in his career. I am a huge Howard fan, I love his game and I can't forget how much he has helped the Dallas organization, and I sincerely hope that he gets his name out of the news for negative things he has done, and gets his name in the news more for good things he is doing.

I can't stop reading all about this movie that is coming out about Lebron and his younger years. Here is an interview with some of the players, and check out this picture of a young Lebron.

What is the worst draft pick in the history of the NBA? No, not Kwame or Olowakandi...it is clearly Sam Bowie. Here is a stat analysis by WOW showing that Bowie was actually a very efficient player.

Team USA's go-to guy

One of the questions about the USA Redeem Team was whether they could fit all of those egos onto one team. As well all know, it worked better than planned. Some of the best players in the world found themselves in unfamiliar positions and adjusted to the situation. For my generation, it was our version of the Dream Team. It was some of the purest basketball I have ever seen, and it was beautiful to watch. Here is an article by Bill Simmons that a friend emailed to me talking about how the USA team unanimously chose Kobe to have the ball in the final moments of the game. It is a great read (Simmons always is). This post is less about promoting Kobe and more about highlighting the humility of the rest of the players, all of which, are the superstars on their respective teams. We may not see this again for a long time.

Here is the story.

Izzy

Introducing Greg Johnson to the DishingDimes team

We have picked up a new writer this past week. His name is Greg Johnson. He has written us a post before. It was the Game 1 rundown of the NBA Finals. Greg hails from the great or not so great (depends on your perspective), city of Boston. Some of you might be thinking, how can a Laker fan and Celtic fan coexist? Well, that is a good question. Surprisingly, Greg is one of the most level headed Boston fan I've ever come across, but I make that statement with some reservation seeing as I have not talked to him since Brady's injury. He has a very realistic view on everything Boston, and has a great knowledge about the league as well as history of the league. He is a great talent evaluator, and brings great opinions to any sports discussion I have with him. He is further from a Steven A. Smith and closer to a Hubie Brown in terms of his basketball comments.

He has a lot of real basketball experience. Standing at 6'5 he has played AAU ball, high school ball, and was a manager for the Wake Forest Basketball Team his freshmen year. If you ask him about the most memorable moment of his bsaketball career, he is less likely to tell you about the Division 1 basketball players he hung around with for hours on end, and more likely to tell you about the time when he was in a layup line for pregame warm-ups and fell after a dunk and attempted to brace his fall, like anyone would, with the palm of his hand, which caused his arm to bend up to the centimeter before it would break. I can imagine that his arm looked like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It may not have been his defining moment in his career, but it has proven that he is unbreakable, and he will be able to endure the criticism that bombards bloggers in the blogosphere without being phased. We are very proud to have Greg as a writer on the site, and we are sure that you all will enjoy his writing and his insight.

Welcome, Greg.

Izzy

When the real estate market and the economy is bad, it is tough to sell your house. Just ask Sheed and AI.

This is a really good review of a new documentary that is coming out about Lebron's old high school team. Check it out.