Where watching Denver hurts too much happens
Posted by pistonsnation
Joe Dumars does not care about the Haier Shooting Stars Competition
I hope Joe Dumars is able to find a happy place when the Pistons lace ‘em up against the Nuggets because I sure can’t.
Seeing Chauncey Billups score 25 on 6-for-11 shooting while Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon combine for 14 points on 6-for-16 shooting breaks my heart. I’ll take the guy “on the downside” of his career who is averaging 20 points and 6 assists on the second best team out west over two wildly inconsistent young gunners any day of the week.
Last night while joining George Blaha in a second quarter broadcaster swap Nuggets’ color guy Scott Hastings commented that the Billups trade worked out for both teams. Ok, there’s Denver, so who’s the other team? Hastings was known as a funny guy during his playing days, so maybe that comment was showing everyone he still knew how to pull a good rib?
Then there’s Arron Afflalo whom Joe sent to Denver for cap space. In return we get a future second round pick. Maybe since we’re near the bottom of the league in perimeter defense we could use that pick on a guy who could help to correct that? Maybe a guy like Arron Afflalo perhaps? AA scored 14 connecting on 4-of-6 from downtown, meanwhile Villanueva and Gordon -three point specialists mind you- combined to shoot 2-for-8 behind the long line.
Then there’s a Carmelo Anthony. All we missed out by drafting Darko Milicic is a 30 & 6 guy that is the definition of a franchise center piece. That’s all.
As witnessed last night the Nuggets have two guys in Chauncey and ‘Melo who are go-to-guys when a game is close. The Pistons have ZERO. Plus, Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony are two really cool names. Just thought I’d throw that in there.
Last night’s game wasn’t totally horrible. The Pistons hung in a game that they surely weren’t picked to win. It’s just hard to ignore the woulda-coulda-shouldas playing against Denver. On a glass-half-full tip Joe Dumars has given us a team to pull for as we await the draft lottery results.
Tags: Arron Afflalo, Ben Gordon, Carmelo Anthony, Charlie Villanueva, Chauncey Billups, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, George Blaha, Joe Dumars, Scott Hastings
This entry was posted on Saturday, February 27th, 2010 at 10:36 am and is filed under Chauncey Billups, Fanalyzed, Former Pistons, Nuggets. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
You know it is easy to look at the Billups trade now and see how one sided it is. But at the time it looked like the right move for both squads. The Pistons were dealing a player past their prime and a huge salary (who was also losing his job to Stuckey) for salary cap.
February 27th, 2010 at 11:29 amAnd the Nuggets were getting that veteran leadership, which they desperately needed.
It was a move that Dumars had to make. The summer before the Nuggets were asking about Billups and Dumars said only if Melo is involved. And when the Nuggets didn’t bite and Billups and the Pistons were each struggling to start the season it was the best move they could make.
Now, do you think Billups would have that same success in Detroit if the deal wasn’t made? I don’t think, I think he needed a change of scenery. The Pistons had Stuckey breathing down his neck and the Nuggets and him were a match made in heaven.
However, the Pistons do need Billups leadership now.. Before the game Stuckey, Villanueva and Gordon spent a good five minutes spinning the balls on their hand and playing hacky sack with the ball. Which is fine if you win…
[...] Pistons Nation also has thoughts on playing the Nuggets that are definitely worth a read. [...]
February 27th, 2010 at 6:11 pm