By acquiring Allen Iverson, Joe Dumars is throwing caution to the wind and declaring that Detroit needs an electric scorer to be a difference maker and a true championship contender. After early struggles with Iverson, Detroit seems to have found its groove with three west-coast victories—the most recent one, a 106-95 victory over the previously unblemished Lakers easily the most impressive.
Lets use Detroit’s impressive L.A. victory to see what fans can expect from Detroit down the road, and whether or not they have the goods to go all the way.
Offense
With Chauncey Billups out and Iverson in, the Pistons offense was fundamentally different than their pre-Iverson offense. Gone were the Billups isos, middle pick-and-rolls, and post-ups. The number of staggered screens run for Rip Hamilton was greatly reduced. Posting up Rasheed Wallace was hardly an option. Middle of the paint curls for Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince were also extinct from the playbook.
Instead, Detroit’s offense is now almost completely reliant on ball-penetration and baseline cuts and jumpers.
With Iverson much too quick for Derek Fisher to stay in front of, and able to split the Lakers big men trying to hedge screen/rolls, Iverson was always one step ahead of the Lakers defense.
His mid-range offense was lethal, as he connected on six of his seven mid-range jumpers. He was also able to snake into the paint, draw a Lakers defender, and find appropriate cutters with open lanes to the hoop.
Iverson looked to push the ball every chance he had, and made excellent decisions on the break.
Give Iverson a gold star for his quickness, his unselfishness, his clutch free throw shooting in the fourth, and his jump shooting within the boundaries.
However, despite his solid numbers and overall floor game (7-12 FG, 0-1 3FG, 11-12 FT, 4 REB, 4 AST, 4 STL, 3 TO, 25 PTS), Iverson’s presence also cast some potentially ominous shadows.
For one, the only time a Lakers defender closed out on an Iverson jumper, Iverson missed the jumper badly. Iverson also missed the majority of his layup attempts (three of four), as has been his career-long tendency.
Two of Iverson’s turnovers were disturbing ones. A careless cross-court pass late in the fourth, and a lazy dribble were both turned into Kobe Bryant dunks. Also, Iverson had trouble breaking away from Derek Fisher and sealing position to receive inbounds passes against the Lakers press. That was one reason why Los Angeles’ press was so effective in turning the Pistons over late in the fourth, or at least making them labor to get the ball across the timeline.
With Detroit’s offense run through Iverson high screen/rolls, Rip Hamilton (3-10 FG, 5 REB, 4 AST, 5 TO, 12 PTS) was very ineffective. Sure, Kobe’s ability to hang with Rip through screens also played a major part in Hamilton’s struggles, but there were a handful of split seconds when Hamilton had popped free, and Iverson couldn’t get him the ball on time.
Furthermore, Iverson’s passes didn’t have the least bit of zip on them. Crisper passes to Hamilton (or whomever) would have led to a crisper offense.
Iverson tended to over-handle, his four rebounds were right at him, and only when he was driving to the hoop did he understand where open men were and how he could deliver them the ball in positions where they could score.
So while Iverson’s contribution looks great in the short term, an athletic, alert, and physical defense with talented guards could give Iverson problems. And even if Iverson is too talented for teams with lesser players to deal with, will the Pistons be able to diagram a complex offense, or will they be forced to live and die with Iverson’s decision making in crunch time?
Without much continuity to the offense, Tayshaun Prince was asked to fill more than his usual share. Prince was Detroit’s most effective player bringing the ball up, but looked uncomfortable having to do so much dribbling. Prince’s ability to make plays (6 AST, 1 TO), and put the ball in the basket (7-15 FG, 2-3 3FG, 18 PTS) didn’t suffer against the Lakers, but he’s a player who performs the best when he isn’t asked to be a major scorer and playmaker.
Rasheed Wallace was fools gold. His fingertips were hot early, causing him to go bombs away until the final buzzer. Sure, his three-point shooting was accurate (4-9 3FG), and yes, it was an important factor in Detroit winning the game, but it also meant that Rasheed wasn’t giving the Pistons the dominant low post threat they desperately need in order to capture a title.
In fact, aside from a couple of astute Kwame Brown flashes to the post when seeing the Lakers overloading their strong-side zone with only Kobe defending the hoop, the Pistons didn’t tally a single point off a post up. That inability for Detroit to dump the ball down low and force an automatic double team will hurt them as the season advances.
Kwame Brown moved well without the ball, Arron Afflalo hit a couple of jumpers, Jason Maxiell hustled and bustled, and Rodney Stuckey was reckless throughout the game.
Credit Iverson’s athleticism, Wallace’s three-point shooting, Prince’s creativity, Detroit’s offensive aggressiveness, and Los Angeles’ poor back line defense for the Pistons’ offensive success. Without Wallace demanding double teams in the post, though, Detroit’s offense might grow stale with their much simpler gameplan.
Defense
Detoit’s back line defenders were the story of the game. Kwame Brown’s post defense on Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol was exceptional, and Rasheed Wallace was everywhere with his help defense.
Aside from a few lapses when the Pistons allowed Hamilton to defend Kobe in the mid-post without sending any help, the Pistons defense on Bryant was marvelous. Prince successfully forced Kobe into a number of difficult jumpers one-on-one, and the Pistons were able to successfully hedge screen/rolls forcing Kobe to take wide angles to go around, allowing Prince, Hamilton, and Afflalo time needed to catch up.
When Kobe did try to breach the Pistons’ basket, Detroit was able to send a big man to help, leaving the guards able to stay at home with perimeter shooters.
Still, Detroit wasn’t perfect.
While Iverson was able to successfully flash into the passing lane and intercept two passes, he was repeatedly burned both on-ball and off-ball by Derek Fisher. Had Fisher’s jump shot not needed a GPS system to find the basket, his point total would have been much higher, as nearly all his looks were uncontested.
Even when Iverson did stay in front of Fisher, it was a coin flip whether or not Iverson would throw his hand up to contest Fisher’s shot.
What Iverson did do well was after Kobe would try to execute some kind of fancy spin move, Iverson would rip him with his quick hands and spark a fast break.
The hope for Detroit is that they have the back line defenders to compensate for Iverson’s gambles. They also hope Iverson’s Eastern Conference counterparts will lack the touch on their jumpers (Rajon Rondo) to attack Iverson’s porous defense, and that Iverson can wreak havoc in the passing lanes of teams with simplistic offensive gameplans (Cleveland Cavaliers). Either option is a case of Detroit looking to mask a flaw rather than assertively shut an opposing point guard down.
Since Detroit had to compensate for helping Hamilton defend Kobe, the Lakers had tremendous success crashing their offensive glass, corralling sixteen offensive rebounds for the game, ten for the first half. When Prince was on Kobe, Detroit didn’t have to sell out their help defense, allowing Wallace and Brown to be in better position to rebound.
Jason Maxiell was too short to stop Pau Gasol from stepping around and shooting over him for a layup. Maxiell tries hard, but he’s way too small to stop long, lengthy, opponents. Resigning Antonio McDyess should be a major priority for Detroit’s front office.
Overall, the Pistons defense was long, strong, and effective. Wallace remains one of the best help defenders in the league, Brown is an excellent post defender, and Prince’s length and versatility is as good as its always been. But is Detroit’s defense good enough to work overtime to make up for Iverson? And if McDyess isn’t resigned, where do the Pistons go for a backup center?
It looks like the more the Pistons change, the more they stay the same. They’re still physically tough and talented, but they still look prone to bouts of stale play which will derail them in their quest to get out of the Conference Finals.
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about 1 month ago
Hmmm, tough to know where to begin.
First, Hamilton's struggles have little to do with Iverson, as he's not played a decent game all year: with Chauncey, without either of them, and now with I.A. Add to this the fact that he was covered by perhaps the best on-ball defender in the league (kobe) and it's no wonder he continued to struggle. And for all of Iverson's "poor" defense, Fisher didn't do anything for the Laker's. If your man can't shoot, you're better off playing the passing lanes, and as the NBA is a game of matchups, if Iverson is getting consistently burned in certain games, then Curry now has the option of going to Afflalo or Stuckey, both of whom are good defenders. The versatility of this backcourt is now unmatched in the NBA. His few turnovers were more than compensated by his steals (something Chauncey was incapable of), and his consistent penetration provided the paint game that the Pistons need, providing opportunities for the aforementioned Kwame Brown, who played well, and even Sheed who was the beneficiary of a couple Iverson assists. The Piston's were +13 (led all players) when Iverson was in the game which means they were scoring, yes, but also defending.
Sheed's game was fool's gold? If so then you're missing the point of what Iverson brings to this team. Obviously, I'd like to see him stay down in the block a bit more, but with a true penetrator available, the opportunity for Sheed to pick and pop has just been furthered exponentially. Shades of Isiah and Lambeer back in the day. Neither Bynum nor Gasol ever came within ten feet of Sheed while he was shooting, with the exception of the buzzer beater which was an anomaly. The Laker's are lucky Sheed didn't shoot BETTER. And his solid defensive work down on the block was complemented by a game high in rebounding. Fools Gold? Please. Sheed's numbers are heading north since A.I. joined the team.
As for your assertion that Tayshaun is a player who performs best when not asked to be a leading scorer, who's asking him to be? Both Sheed and Iverson outscored him in this game, and I absolutely assure you that Iverson will be the number one scoring option on this team the rest of the year. If Rip ever gets his act together he'll be the second. And as a play-maker, this is something he's ALWAYS excelled at, even when asked to be the number one guy. Don't know what mythical attributes of Prince you're referring to, but they fall short of what the record would indicate.
Also, there are many ways of forcing double teams in this league (ever heard of Kobe, Chris Paul, LeBron, Jordan, Magic, Bird, and every other great player who wasn't a big) and dumping the ball down low is not the only mechanism to achieve this. The great Bulls teams certainly never had this available. Iverson provides the ability to pull defenders and had the Laker's backpedaling all night. Can't imagine where you saw indications of this offense going stale, as their passing and ball movement where brilliant all night. And McDyess WILL be resigned at the end of the month. He has no interest in playing for anyone else.
I guess I'll stop there. If you wanted to point to a team that didn't look championship caliber based on THIS game then you should've pointed to the Lakers. The myth of their "improved defense" has been exposed, as has the credibility of their bench. Any big man with a fifteen footer will kill them, though I wouldn't be foolish enough to call them fools gold. They're obviously a great team. The Pistons are still trying to find themselves, and were experimenting with crazy line-ups all night. And yet they still killed the Lakers. KILLED THEM. I'm not going to tell you that they are a championship team yet because there's too much basketball left to play and too much we still don't know about this squad. But based on THIS game, which is where you claim to derive your analysis from, they looked pretty damn impressive, and left the pre-anointed champs for dead.
about 1 month ago
Thanks for the response.
While Kobe certainly can be a great on-ball defender, his off-ball defense has never been exceptional. Boston ran him through screen after screen last year and Ray Allen was able to have a great series because Kobe would often get lost.
Certainly Kobe played Hamilton well, but the few times Hamilton popped open, Iverson either wouldn't make the pass early enough, or he'd lollipop a pass that Hamilton couldn't do anything with. If Hamilton is at his best curling through baseline screens, and Iverson can't find him, what exactly will Rip provide the team? He's a decent defender too, but now the Pistons have two players on the team whose games don't mesh with each other.
And even if Iverson is getting burned, Curry isn't going to be benching him in crunch time anytime soon. The Pistons will have to live with him. And what good will gambling for steals do, when you're allowing more open shots than steals? Opposing point guards aren't going to shoot 4-16 very often.
And Detroit's paint game? They only scored 30 points in the paint. Kwame's "paint game" came in the third quarter when the Lakers would overload their newfangled strong-side triangle zone, and Kwame would either cut in front of the back of the zone defender (Kobe), or move to the free throw line and drive in against Bynum.
The only few times Iverson assists led to points in the paint were on a drive and baseline cut by Hamilton, and on a baseline drive with Rasheed Wallace cutting from the top of the key. Teams with stronger defenses will close those lanes off and force Iverson to make contested layups, something he's never done exceptionally well.
And yes, Iverson was +6. Just like Kobe was -1 and Fisher was +2. Obviously Fisher had a better all-around game and was worth more to his team than Kobe. My point isn't that Iverson had a terrible game, my point is that if you project the way he played against an opponent like Cleveland or Boston, or San Antonio, or New Orleans, those opponents will have ways to stop Iverson, and Detroit's offense doesn't have a lot of continuity to lead to open shots. Besides Iverson, they don't even have a great second starter who can run screen/rolls well.
And Sheed's love of picking and popping is exactly why the Pistons have lacked an offensive spark the past few seasons. Instead of battling opposing teams on the block, he's been lazy and falling in love with threes. Rasheed can overwhelm opponents on the block. His three-pointers though, won't always be falling. Players don't make wide open threes as often as they make wide open layups, so Sheed's 4-9 is about the best they can hope for.
With Prince, whenever Iverson couldn't penetrate or make a pass to Hamilton, his next option was to pass to Prince on the wing where Prince would dilly and dally looking for something to open up before being forced to take his man off the dribble late in the clock. Sometimes it worked, especially when Vladimir Radmanovic was guarding him, but there were too many times when Prince was forced to isolate. That isn't his game. Besides Iverson, Prince was the one who was forced to make all the plays, all the passes, and all the tough shots. That isn't his game, and he'll look worse and worse the more he's asked to do.
Kobe posts up. A lot. Cleveland's offense would be better if LeBron posted up. Chris Paul is a point guard who is a better playmaker than Iverson. Jordan posted up more than a number of centers have ever done. Magic always posted up the halfcourt, and is one of the best post playmakers of all time. Bird posted up too.
Those great Bulls teams posted Jordan. He was their post player that they ran the offense through. Lus Longley was also an astute passer, and a competent scorer down low. The Lakers best teams had Shaq and Kobe who could post. The Spurs have Duncan. The Celtics have Garnett and Pierce. Come up with better examples of great teams with no post players if you want to prove your point.
And I'm still not on the Lakers bandwagon, but they have a better history of getting the most out of their team than the Pistons do. I'm not destroying the Pistons as they are certainly capable of making it to the Finals, but they played a team that was sloppy, soft, and wasn't shooting well. And Iverson's inability to defend, his inability to make passes to initiate offenses, and Detroit's complete lack of a post game will hurt the Pistons down the road.
Every great defense that's every played Iverson in the playoffs has adjusted to him and shut the team down. If the Pistons don't work on their other option, it will happen again.
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