Le Basketbawl

Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Now, I have far too much respect for Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars to suggest that either he or head coach Michael Curry are mentally impaired, but one does wonder when they are going to realize that they will not win with their current starting five. As of this writing, the Pistons have lost five straight games, and in this long time NBA observer’s opinion, it all comes down to the Pistons starting five as a whole, being less than the sum of their collective parts.

The Pistons decided to re-boot in November when they traded Chauncey Billups to the Denver Nuggets for Allen Iverson. Detroit decided that their elite point guard (Billups) was expendable, because they had a talented successor in Rodney Stuckey. Stuckey showed great promise last season in his rookie campaign even though he missed a great deal of the first half recovering from surgery. Stuckey was hurt in an exhibition game on the eve of the regular season, after being a standout in the preseason. Whether Stuckey can become as good as Billups remains to be seen, but the premise is sound.

The true question in the deal was why did Detroit trade for A.I. in the first place? Was he as myself and others speculated a rent-a-player for a year, so that they could use his salary slot to rebuild? Or did Iverson truly fit into the long term plans of the Detroit Pistons? The question remains unanswered in January, but the bottom line is that the Pistons were a better team before the deal than since they consummated it. And the five game losing streak they are currently experiencing is just a symptom of a far deeper problem. The current makeup of the Detroit Pistons does not work, and unless changes are made their record, and more importantly their fans will continue to suffer.

When the Pistons first made the deal, they tried a starting five of Rasheed Wallace, Kwame Brown, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, and Iverson. That did not stay in place for long, as Tayshaun basically became a “point forward” and Brown showed that he is a a cipher. There have been cases of teams trying to tap that unfulfilled potential from big men as long as the Association has existed. Every once in a while it will pay off (Tyson Chandler seems to be the real deal with the New Orleans Hornets. Chris Kaman showed great improvement last season with the Clippers, but injury has kept him on the sidelines since late November.) Kwame Brown has not been one of those cases with Detroit.

The next incarnation of the starting lineup, is the one that the Pistons greeted the New Orleans Hornets with on Saturday at the Palace of Auburn Hills. The Hornets handed Detroit their fifth straight loss winning the game 91-85. The Pistons were severely under-sized as their starting five was Rodney Stuckey, Iverson, Hamilton, Prince, and Wallace.

Rasheed Wallace is not a pure center, and Tayshaun Prince is certainly not a power forward. How Curry and Dumars thought that pair could match up well against Tyson Chandler and David West, to me is mind boggling. Detroit actually played quite well in the game, hanging around until the end, but they were not strong enough to overcome the team from New Orleans.

Detroit has another very talented young player on their roster in power forward Jason Maxiell, who should be part of their starting five. The troika, of Iverson, Hamilton, and Prince, needs to be broken up, and Maxiell needs to replace one of them. The question is which one?

If Iverson is as I expect just a rent-a-player, then he should be the Pistons sixth man for the rest of this season. If Iverson is going to be re-signed, then the Pistons have to figure out, do they trade Tayshaun Prince or Richard Hamilton. Because Detroit will not win with those three players as part of their core.

The Detroit Pistons barring a total collapse by Boston, Cleveland, and Orlando, will not be in the Eastern Conference Finals this season. Those three teams are just superior at this point of the season, it’s that simple. So Curry and Dumars should use the rest of this season to figure out the long term direction of the Detroit Pistons. Jason Maxiell is part of the future for Detroit, their current starting lineup is not.