I voted Sheed, but I would like to change my vote to other. I think Joe Dumars is the MVPiston.

It seems like they played the same exact one last year. I wish they would update those videos. Some updated music too...

BupBup went up by 2. 10 to 8, poll don't lie!

From bball jay - 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.


Seems to me what there is no shortage of is guys with offensive skills who have never made their teams better or won a championship - a whole host of players whose only claim to fame is two seconds on ESPN on Saturday night. And last time I checked, unless we've gone to that new two basketball version of the game, the last thing this team needs is another player who needs the ball to be effective. Wasn't there some team a couple of years ago with five starters who were all offensive machines... who was it... oh yeah, those Laker guys and we know what happened to them.

But you're right, to call Ben an energy guy is pretty faint praise. He is a lot more than that to this team. CB is the brains, 'Sheed the id, and Tay and Rip the soul, but Ben is the heart and without that nothing else works. All you had to do was watch him in overtime last night jumping out on Redd those last couple of possessions and shutting him down.

Of course, on another day I might have picked CB for the Pistons MVP so...

Definitely! When I wrote my argument for Ben, and spoke of intensity, I really had in mind "heart", but heart that translates into effective catalyzing play.

you said it perfectly - there actually is a shortage of energy guys in the league. name 10 energy guys, then name 10 offensive guys. i bet you struggle to find 10 energy guys but could name 10 offensive guys in about 20 seconds.

sure we could have traded darko for harrington, but harrington needs to touch the ball like 25 times a game to be effective. you can't measure what ben's intangibles bring to the team.

and if you notice, teams don't double us that often in the post, because sheed can find an open ben for a dunk, and those teams know it. ben has the heart and keeps the team in check.

teams don't double us because we don't post up.

even if ben is the heart. does that warrant a mvp vote?? i don't consider ben the most valuable or sheed because antonio mcdyess can step in nicely for both of them and we would still be championship contenders.

i watched ben step out on redd a couple of times which was good. i also watched him not grabbing any rebounds.

did you also watch cb switching to simmons so tay could switch to redd. did you watch cb hitting clutch jumper and then a clutch 3 to extend the lead. did you watch cb sinking free throws with the game on the line. that's your mvp.

ben focus is on defense. but trust me his offense is lacking and it makes us play 4 on 5. the lakers problem wasn't too many offensive players. it was too many offensive players that wanted the ball. the pistons have 5 scorers on thier team when mcdyess replaces ben. the ball gets shared very nicely.

I picked Sheed because I didn't know who to pick. But until we had him, we were not playing championship ball. We were playing "good" (I wouldn't quite even say "very good") basketball.

Of course, if you removed one of the other starters from the mix, it's quite possible Sheed wouldn't have made the difference.

Anyhow, Sheed is loved by his teammates, keeps things loose, makes bold and accurate guaranshees, and has great talent. He's the MVP if I have to pick one.

It's a great question because I really think intelligent arguments can be made for any of the starting five. (That's not a dig on people who picked bench players...I just think picking a bench guy is going to be a much more difficult argument...even a Vinnie Johnson couldn't be an MVP, IMO).

I don't think there IS a correct answer to this question.

__________________
"Quite simply captain, I examined the problem from all angles, and it was plainly hopeless. Logic informed me that under the circumstances, the only logical action would have to be one of desperation. Logical decision, logically arrived at." -- Spock

These are excellent points. I was thinking about this last night when the Detroit Sports Report did a piece on Sheed's trash talking, both in games and in practice, and I got this impression that he's something like the pressure regulator on the team: cranks it up with brash behavior when needed, lets off the steam with jokes and light-hearted theatrics when that's needed.

I think this is right on. It's an interesting intellectual and verbal challenge, like a puzzle. I'm sure just about everyone here would agree first that the teamwork is the key to the success. But that's part of what makes trying to argue for one guy all the more challenging and fun. I think it's especially fun if people try to make their arguments for their pick without having to rest them on a tear down of someone else's game.

if you have not seen it yet, you should look. in most of the pistons very few losses tayshaun has done horrible, and in the games that go down to only a 1 or a 2 point win tayshaun does bad. in the houston game tay did bad and houston just missed a 3 to lose that game. rip had 35 chauncey had 23 and 15, sheed had a 20+ game, but tay was only 2-8. even though rip sheed and chauncey did hreat we had to gut out a win. if tayshaun plays his game this team is very good.

__________________
"That's the end, man." Rasheed Wallace