What to Watch For - Cavs v. Pistons
Posted March 31st, 2009 by Michael Curry
What to watch for tonight when the Cavs take on the Pistons at the Q.
- During ESPN’s NBA Coast to Coast last night, analysts Tim Legler and Jamal Mashburn said that the one team that the top teams in the East don’t want to face in the first round is the Detroit Pistons. While I think the Cavs would crush the Pistons in a series - something likely to be proven tonight - I’d still rather see the Cavs face an inexperienced team like the Bulls or the Bobcats if I had a choice. Unfortunately, a Cavalier win tonight actually makes a first round matchup with the Pistons more likely, as the Pistons currently sit at 36-37, a game ahead of the Chicago Bulls for seventh place in the East. The Bulls have a favorable schedule down the stretch, with five of their last six games at home, while the Pistons play six of their last nine games on the road, including tonight’s contest. The Pistons certainly don’t scare anyone anymore, but they have enough wily veterans and formerly big-time players to make a strong push for a couple of games, which could be a problem in a short series.
- Allen Iverson has returned from his recent injury, and he has historically played very well here in Cleveland. Iverson is coming off the bench now, the third change in the backcourt rotation since his arrival in Detroit in exchange for Chauncey Billups very early in the season. Iverson was first paired with Rip Hamilton in the backcourt, with second year guard Rodney Stuckey coming off the bench. Then in mid-January, Hamilton moved to the bench, with Stuckey starting at the point guard spot with Iverson at the shooting guard. When Iverson went down with a back injury in late February, the Stuckey-Hamilton backcourt was able to rip off four straight wins, before the Pistons began sliding again, falling to 8-8 without Iverson before his return on Sunday. Now Iverson will come off the bench, though it appears that none of the current starting guard combinations are having much success. Iverson remains a very dangerous scorer - he’s still averaging 19.7 points against the Cavs this season - but he has been a bad fit in Detroit, and should be expected to change addresses yet again when he becomes a free agent this Summer.
- Even though the trade hasn’t worked out from a basketball perspective, I just want to again give kudos to Pistons GM Joe Dumars. He was able to move Chauncey Billups unwieldy contract (sure, he looks good today, but how is his productivity going to suffer in years in two years when he’s 35 years old and making $13.5M?) in exchange for Allen Iverson’s $20M expiring contract. This created serious amounts of cap room this Summer in what will definitely be a buyer’s market, while boosting ticket sales by bringing in a Superstar talent and ticket-seller like Iverson. More importantly, it is now clear that the Pistons weren’t going to be a championship contender this season even with Billups, what with the Cavaliers, Celtics, Magic and Lakers all streaking out to gaudy win totals with younger and more talented teams. Instead of trying to beat a dead horse, Dumars made a great move that created future options while still maintaining an interesting, if not that good, team on the court. At some point, all great teams have to accept that their run is over, and that it’s time to rebuild. Most GMs wait a season or two too long to do that, and as a result end up with a bunch of overpriced, over-the-hill players who have no trade value, which makes the rebuilding take longer. Dumars moved at exactly the right time, made exactly the right move, and he will have the Pistons back in the Eastern Conference Finals (and getting beat by the Cavs) again very soon.
- While the Iverson trade didn’t work out as hoped for Detroit, the decision to move Billups and let Stuckey take over the point guard duties has been moderately successful. Stuckey is averaging 13.4 points and 4.9 assists per game, and he played a little bit better during Iverson’s time away, putting up 14.8 ppg, and 5.5 apg in the month of March. While he’s not exactly making fans forget about Billups and his 18.3 ppg and 6.3 apg, Stuckey is younger, cheaper, and more likely to be around the next time the Pistons are ready to make a serious run at another championship. Stuckey has great size, speed and strength for a point guard, and reminds me of a young Andre Miller in the way he attacks the basket. While his game still requires quite a bit of refinement, and his passing needs to improve, I think the Pistons made a solid choice in banking on Stuckey, at least at this point. It will be interesting to see if the Pistons have Stuckey post up on the smaller Mo Williams tonight.
- As for the Cavs, well, Z’s still waiting for the return of the ball he scored his 10,000th point with, and Ben Wallace is getting close to returning from his broken leg.
Go Cavs.
