Expendable?

Kind of like the Beatles

I look at it in terms of heart, soul, mind and body. Odd man out is expendable...although I also don't want to lose any of them.

With the Beatles you had:

John Lennon...mind
Paul McCartney...Heart
George Harrison...Soul
Ringo Starr...Body


With the Pistons, I see:

Chauncey...mind
Sheed...soul
Ben...heart
Prince...body

Rip is the odd man out.

I think when you look at expendable you also have to look at what position can easily be replaced and what the person being replaced brings to the table. I would say Tayshaun is more easily replaced.

You can find a Small Foward's all around the league that are bigger and put up more points. His defense may slack off from Tay's quite a bit but with Ben and Sheed in the paint that would force the guy to shoot jump shots.

Let me take a stab at it.

AS FAR AS I KNOW.

expendable

from least to most...

Tay
C-note
Ben / Sheed



Rip

Tay or Rip easier to replace but...

But even those two guys can do things that few can. I like guys that are unique talents and all five are unique. Teams distinguish themselves when they have a few guys on the team that can have that special capacity. We really have five such guys.

This is so tough. Look Rip is improving a lot he just needs to work on not getting frustrated that's why he messed up against Bowen. i remember in the last 5-10 games Rip was either 1 assist off, or 1 board off a triple-double 3 games in a row. He means a lot to this team.

himat

I don't think anyone was knocking Rip. Some people were just saying if you had to lose one of the starting five, he would be the player most easily replaced. Nobody said he would be easy to replace or that they wanted to replace him.

ben wallace

is the most expendable. his defensive skills are declining. his offense ain't coming along at all. he actually attempts to score too much. his man basically plays zone and kills all of tay's or sheed post game. his man plays zone and destroys driving lanes and also messes up rips curls. he relies on athleticism and with the age and wear and tear on his body i don't think he's going to be that great for too many years. he also has a young 7 footer that plays both ends of the floor nipping at his heels. i wouldn't trade anyone on the pistons but of the starting 5 ben is the one that has to go. his size is also starting to become a problem. the young 7 footers of chicago give him problems, jerome james goes off on him, shaq destroys him, dwight howard gives him fits.

i don't know if anyone remembers but our best lineups in the ecf and nba finals were when sheed and mcdyess were in at the same time. that lineup is absolutely unstoppable. mcdyess is also an underrated defender.

Come on Ben. His defense for your info isn't declining just because his stats are because unlike 3, or 4 years ago we got 2 other great defensive (and offensive) froncourt players with him. Plus he got the Defensive Player of the year award, and his offense is improving.

i'm not talking about stats. i'm just talking about ben not showing up for games. ben getting dogged by bigger more athletic centers. maybe if he moves to power forward he can extend his career. but make no mistake ben wallace is on the decline. i'm not saying he isn't still a great defensive player. i'm saying he isn't going to get better and he stinks at offense.

ben can't hit a free throw to save his life which makes having the ball in his hands on offense dangerous. he also routinely just throws up some mess towards that basket and makes that "oh" sound that i hate so much. of the starters ben's game is the one that is declining which means if somebody has to go he has to go. he is already a one dimensional player so when the d starts to go what else is left??

Ben shoots 50% free throws for the 05 season, but he sot 40% in the first half, and 60% in the second half. He's improving.

microwave

yes. you posted for throughout the playoffs that ben and sheed were better. i am strictly speaking the ecf and nba finals. against miami we went with sheed and mcdyess to counter zo and shaq. against san antonio the lineup with sheed and mcdyess didn't allow duncan to hide on ben. you have stats to back your argument up but i have my memory. i remember the lineup with sheed and mcdyess was much more offensively potent and not too much of a slack off defensively. i don't think the lineup was used very often in other series though so that may be why it isn't ahead of ben and dice lineup.

horace grant played with micheal jordan so i agree he isn't better than ben wallace. i don't think he's even close. horace grant also had a pretty good foul line jumper that extended his career. ben does not have that to extend his career so i just don't see him playing until he's 38 at a high level. also horace grant was not making the kind of money ben will command this year. we will end up with a 10 million dollar no offense declining defense big man. sure if ben signs for 6 million i say keep him for life. but for 10 - 15 million i say he's expendable.

i'm not saying push ben into retirement for darko. i would keep ben on as a piston for his career. but if somebody in the starting 5 had to go i would let ben go. we have a young center ready to take over mcdyess bench role. he's 7 footer can block shots, score, pass and hit free throws. i'm saying out of the starting 5 he is the one that can be most easily replaced by someone we have on the team.