| An outsider's look at the 2005/2006 Piston season
I know this is a bit old, but still very interested. I am translating this from the Russian website and this offers a very unbiased review of the Pistons' first season under Flip Saunders. This article has quite a few good points. Please mind that it is a translation, so I am not looking for the style points. You will be the judge of how close to the truth this is. Quote:
History
Team played as Fort Wayne Pistons (1950-1957)
Home arena: The Palace of Auburn Hills
Capacity: 22076
Achievements: three time NBA champions (1989, 1990, 2004)
Symbolic all-time team: Isaiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Grant Hill, Bob Lanier, and Ben Wallace
Season 2005/2006
The season was really a tale of two seasons. On one hand side, the team set a new club record for the wins in the regular season with 64, sent four players to the “All-Star Game”. Detroit players finally gained notoriety that they earned during the past several years. However, at the same time the team faced disappointments. Barely getting past Cleveland in the conference semi-finals, Flip Saunders’ team was soundly beaten by Miami Heat in the conference finals.
Let’s take a better look at why the Pistons were unsuccessful in the playoffs, especially since it has direct influence on the upcoming season. Many observers considered player fatigue and spending too much energy during the regular championship as a main factor in the Pistons failure. However, during the past season when the team lost to the Spurs in the 4th quarter of the game 7 of the NBA finals, Pistons mainstays Hamilton, Wallace, and Prince played more minutes and Billups played the same minutes. I would like to point out other reasons for the Pistons early exit. In my mind, the main factors that contributed to Pistons’ demise are: relatively low individual skill level of the players on the offense, and the fact that the team was the favorite to win it all.
First reason. This team doesn’t have a single player who can consistently get points in the set offense or create scoring opportunities for the others. Any other club vying for the championship has such a player on the roster. In Dallas its Nowitski, in Phoenix – Nash. San Antonio and Miami have two of them each. No Piston player hit half of his shots, except for Ben Wallace who only averaged 7 points per game. Hamilton needs a lengthy set up that involves an entire unit. Billups’ attacking arsenal is limited. He is a very good still shooter and long distance shooter, but he’s much weaker off the drive or at the rim (41% career field goal percentage).
The most talented Piston, Rasheed Wallace, regressed under the Saunders regime. Throughout his career, the long-armed forward was equally comfortable in the paint, with mid-range game, and at the 3-point line. Saunders tipped that balance and Sheed was gradually reduced to a one-dimensional 3-point shooter. As a result, during this season Wallace attempted more 3-pointers than Peja Stojakovic or Michael Redd. Sheed’s other strenghs, such as middle-range game over the outstretched hands of the opponent, and his play with his back to the basket, was used less and less…It’s not surprising that in that situation the most consistent player on the offensive end became Prince, who is nowhere nearly as talented and only did what he was capable of within the limitations of his skills.
Second reason of the playoff failure is psychological. Detroit entirely and completely was built with players who had problems adapting with their previous teams. Not one of them could previously achieve their potential, including Billups and Big Ben. Scandals accompanied Hamilton and Sheed when they were leaving their other teams. However, when they were put together, they bonded and fused very well as a team. During the 2004 Finals this team was able to match four living legends of the NBA from Lakers with angry and aggressive alternative and became the champions of the NBA. Now, when Billups is the MVP candidate, when Detroit’s entire roster is participating in the “All-Star Game”, the bad boys lost their anger, their desire. The team lost that “us against the rest of the world” mentality, and it is not coming back.
The Offseason
Draft
Will Blalock. Short but strong point guard from Iowa.
Trades
Signed: Nazr Mohammed, Ronald Murray, Ronald Dupree
Nazr Mohammed. The main signing during the offseason. Not bad, solid center. After Wallace left, the team needed another big, and Mohammed was probably the best of the available choices.
Ronald Murray. Good move by GM Joe Dumars. The bench needed strengthening and Murray proven in Cleveland that he’s perfect for that role.
Ronald Dupree came back to Pistons from Minnesota. He won’t get much playing time
Losses: Toni Delk and Alex Acker to Greece, Ben Wallace to Chicago.
Wallace wasn’t the best on ball defender (Prince, and probably Sheed are better in that category), but Ben held together an entire team defense, made it solid. He did it better than anyone else in NBA. He was very energetic, and could be in many places at the same time: pressed the PG, got rebounds, blocked shots in the point by an opponent.
Season 2006/2007
Starting Five
Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace, and Nazr Mohammed.
Coach
Flip Saunders
Saunders’ name is always associated with just one NBA team, Minnesota. After nine years of coaching there he is known as a talented but with very weak will. He has proven that during the deciding moments he cannot help his team. Seven straight years Minnesota couldn’t get out of the first round. Then Sam Cassel came and pushed the team all the way to the conference finals. In Saunders career his regular season winning percentage is close to 60%, while in playoffs it falls to almost 40%.
The star
Chauncey Billups
Very strong guard. Very tight defender with a great shooting touch and great vision.
The Bench
The bench is very weak. The key bench player is Antonio McDyess who could be starting on any NBA team. He is very effective near the rim and the mid-range game. His turnaround shot reminds of Ewing and Olajuwon. There’s also Flip Murray, who should stand out. An Argentinean national Carlos Delfino has been waiting for his chance for two years. Will he get it this year? The veterans, Lindsey Hunter and Dale Davis, should’ve retired a while back.
Strengths and weaknesses
Substitution of the Big Ben with Nazr Mohammed cannot not affect the strategy of the team. Those are two distinctly different players. Big Ben is noticeably faster than Mohammed. Besides, Wallace is a much better defender and as effective on offense. Big Ben didn’t score many points and wasn’t a threat offensively, but he’s always moving and has very strong hands. These hands allowed him to get rebounds against much taller opposition as well as be a threat on the alley-oop from Hamilton which was very effective (Mohammed is much slower, but he is usually well-positioned and likes to bang bodies under the basket).
Worth noticing
Tayshaun Prince
After being a personal defensive specialist, Tayshaun is evolving into a multi-dimensional player who is a threat on the offense. He’s hitting the outside shots, and he can also post up very effectively using his height and long limbs. During this deciding season his role is going to continue to grow.
Conclusion
The car called Pistons lost its engine in Ben Wallace. Someone could say that Bulls overpaid for his services. I don’t think so. You cannot overpay for the player of the Ben Wallace’s stature, he is always going to help. He is always effective; he can’t go into a shooting or scoring slump. There are rarely any bad days on defense, and Ben almost never has those.
Besides loss of Ben Wallace, I question the work done by Saunders. As far as I can see, a team like Detroit is capable and should be based primarily on the defensive play, suffocate the opponent defensively. Saunders added to the offense, and forced Detroit to run and get easy points in the transition. And while it made the team more dynamic, Detroit lost its calling card. In the end this coach and this team do not really match.
Having said all that, I am not about to berry Pistons. This is a solid team that has been together for a few years. There’s no question in my mind that Pistons will make playoffs.
Playoffs – yes.
Championship – no. |  |