Don't know if anyone else caught it, but the WB postgame ran a GREAT highlight reel on CB.

I just voted for the HVC! If he plays, we must be blowin the opponent out! Everybody else is a tie!

For the team to sustain, for years to come, Darko is the key; he is a chip that must be played well, trade or whatever.
BupBup is a PG and they can be replaced pretty easy.
Easier than bigs but we have Dyess so a loss of either shouldn't be too bad.
A shooter like Rip is hard to find.
But we have Fino and Mo.
That leaves Tay who takes his place? Who can cover bad ass SFs and still score.
Tay is my MVP.
Or you can stick a gun to my head and make me blurt out a name.

tough call for sure, good arguments for all of them (and I've heard various Pistons over the past couple of years say Tayshaun, and Chauncey says Rasheed I think).

But I'm going with Ben just because to me, the Pistons' real achilles heel is their occasional emotional flatness and subsequent lack of intensity.

Time and again, under such circumstances, I see Ben ignite the team with an intense defensive play or rebound (sometimes even just by an intense, even if unsuccessful, play on offense). Those plays seem to have a contagious effect on the rest of the team, and you can suddenly see them kick into gear, bodying up on defense, boxing out on the defensive boards, getting a little more leg into the jump shot, etc...

I don't think he's the Pistons most skilled player, and on any given night, losing one of the other guys might hurt more. But day in day out, I'd say Ben is the player who most consistently saves the Pistons from what I see as their only weakness.

fun question

[quote=scolas]

But I'm going with Ben just because to me, the Pistons' real achilles heel is their occasional emotional flatness and subsequent lack of intensity.

Time and again, under such circumstances, I see Ben ignite the team with an intense defensive play or rebound (sometimes even just by an intense, even if unsuccessful, play on offense). Those plays seem to have a contagious effect on the rest of the team, and you can suddenly see them kick into gear, bodying up on defense, boxing out on the defensive boards, getting a little more leg into the jump shot, etc...


I have to agree. Regardless of how skillfully they're playing right now, if Ben doesn't bring the energy they don't do well.

do you think there are a shortage of energy guys in the league?? i wouldn't put ben in as my mvp because a lot of the time he holds us back. we play 4 on 5 offensively most of the night. no post ups becuase ben's man doubles. no drives because ben's man clogs up the paint.

But without any of our starting 5 don't you think our chances of even winning a championship significantly decreases?

LOL. I'm pretty sure you just say some of this stuff to get a reaction. I don't think you truly believe it. (But I do agree with you that Delfino is looking like he could play an important part in the Piston's not to distant future.

BTW...Nice steal and dish by your boy last night!

what i do think though is that if ben didn't lead that comeback in the finals, which fell just short, piston fans would be worried right now even though we have a great record. and don't think ben doesn't do anything offensively. that's where he sometimes hurts other teams. usually the player defending him leaves him to help out on another player which gets ben easy hoops and if someone else shoots he'll get a rebound or hustle it down for an extra possesion.

yes. i explained myself further in a later post. i only said delfino because he holds the key to us going down as one of the greatest teams ever. i say that because he is the key to the bench doing well. we need the bench to do well so we can win 70 games and rest the starters and run through the playoffs.

no. i don't think losing 1 of our starters significantly decreases our championship hopes. i would say slightly. i think everybody has a very capable backup on the bench.

yes. darko surprised a lot of folks with that. not me though.

i think that if lb hadn't put delfino in the doghouse tay would have been rested. delfino could have helped against wade and ginobli so we could have been rested and ready for san antonio.

i think if lb had used darko and elden against shaq. ben would have showed up in the first couple of san antonio games and we wouldn't have been down in the series at all. i think if ben wasn't in the game tay could have posted up ginobli instead of getting double teamed and wasting shot clock.

i didn't say ben sucked on offense completely. he does get timely rebounds. i just don't think his contributions on the defensive end and with energy warrant an mvp vote.

It warrants DPOY. Kinda one dimensional. In the poll BBens not going down with out a fight. 9 to 8