Man, I'm convinced after watching todays game of something.Without Chauncey Billups, the Pistons are a <u>POSSIBLE</u> lottery team. I mean think of other teams which have a few stud players but can't seem to put it together and win in the east. Teams like Indiana, and Milwaukee, and even Boston before the youth movement and whatnot.There are so many games that we'd lose if not for Billups taking over at the end and takincare of business. During the game he is the catalyst to everything we do. People said that about Ben Wallace, but for me that was never true. Ben Wallace was a role player who stood out because he fit our team so well. Sure he does some things great, but we never relied on him for very much of anything. We always relied on the guards, mostly Billups.He does so much for us, and is SOOO undervalued here by some of the media and a TON of fans. I don't really get it. The guy has been the key to winning us a title, and has done so much for the team. If the Pistons were to lose Billups this off-season(which I don't think will happen..Joe is to smart for that), I think the true value of Billups will be shown when this team takes a dump without the glue that holds it together.I'd say YES he IS more valuable to the Pistons then Nash. I honestly think the Suns could still win 50+ without Nash, and with Barbosa taking over. I think theres 4 players in the league which mean more to their team then anybody else, and those are Kobe, Duncan, Dirk..and Billups.
<span style="color:#008080">thats why hes Mr. Big Shot :shifty2: im sure dumars is not gonna let him go anywhere, billups deserves to get paid, and I dont think he'd leave, look at Ben, sure hes got all the money, but im sure he misses being in detroit</span>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Combs @ Apr 8 2007, 07:39 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I'd say YES he IS more valuable to the Pistons then Nash. I honestly think the Suns could still win 50+ without Nash, and with Barbosa taking over. I think theres 3 players in the league which mean more to their team then anybody else, and those are Duncan, Dirk..and Billups.</div> Losing Billups this off-season would destroy the Pistons. His value is incredible. He has amazing court vision, can score if hte team needs him to, and you can rely on him in the clutch. However, I disagree with you on the Billups = more valuable than Nash. Earlier this year around the all-star break when Nash was injured the Suns went on a 3 game losing streak against struggling teams such as Atlanta and Seattle. This was really the time that Dallas ran away with the conference. The Suns without Nash remind me of the Nuggets. They run a fast break style offense yet lack a player on their roster who has stunning court vision. Pheonix would be far from a 50 win team if they lost Nash and tried to place Barbosa in that spot. Not taking anything away from Barbosa, he's very talented on offense but the Suns need Nash. While if the Pistons were to lose Billups it would leave them with a ton of cap space to make the neccesary adjustments to continue being one of the top teams in the East. I seriousely doubt Billups will leave, he wants another chip he has a good chance of winning it in Detroit who resides in a very weak eastern conference.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (GArenas @ Apr 8 2007, 10:32 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I seriousely doubt Billups will leave, he wants another chip he has a good chance of winning it in Detroit who resides in a very weak eastern conference.</div>I disagree, if you guys are saying how the Pistons would play without Billups like they would be a lottery team then imagine what he would do to a team like the Rockets or the Spurs. I doubt he would go to the Suns, Jazz, or Mavericks because all of those teams have great point guards. The Spurs have Parker; who is an excelent player, but he isn't Chauncey Billups good could still improve their championship contending team quite more. Especially since they could plateau Him, Parker, and Manu in the backcourt, or possibly even trade one of them for someone to help out Tim Duncan at the 4/5.But the Rockets are a team that would REALLY excel under the leadership of Billups. I mean Yao Ming will be the best center for years to come (after Amare and Oden). Tracy McGrady, who, when healthy is a perennial all-star. Then have players like Mutombo, Wells (but with this season, and his expiring contract I'd be surprised if he even came back let alone stay healthy), Battier, Head, and Howard. All they really need is that leadership and clutch play that Billups offers to really make a push. Unfortunatly with there cap situation really, that will not happen.And yes, I do think that without Billups, Detroit would be nowhere near where they are now. After Hamilton, Wallace, Webber, and Prince they have no depth and no point guard.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>I'd say YES he IS more valuable to the Pistons then Nash. I honestly think the Suns could still win 50+ without Nash, and with Barbosa taking over. I think theres 3 players in the league which mean more to their team then anybody else, and those are Duncan, Dirk..and Billups.</div>I can't buy this. The suns are just LOST without Nash. I think they'd win 45 max without him.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (tHe_pEsTiLeNcE @ Apr 9 2007, 02:34 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I can't buy this. The suns are just LOST without Nash. I think they'd win 45 max without him.</div>I dunno, I still think they'd land 50. They could come close with with 45-50 I guess. The point is they'd still compete and be a top 3-4 seed in a tough conference.Take a mid-ranked point guard and put them on both teams. I think the Suns still compete for a top seed in the west. I think Detroit falls way off. Nash is valuable to the Suns, because the PG position is the most important position in that system.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Take a mid-ranked point guard and put them on both teams. I think the Suns still compete for a top seed in the west. I think Detroit falls way off. Nash is valuable to the Suns, because the PG position is the most important position in that system.</div>I think what people don't understand is that replacing the best shooter and passer in the league who is perfect for a system is a lot more difficult than replacing a guy who, while he may be a better player, is not the best in the league at anything. They replace Nash with just about any player and they see a huge dropoff in points and assists and efficiency out of the PG position, the pistons replace Billups and they still have they solid defense to turn to and just need to slow down the pace a bit more. In terms of on court/off court difference, The Pistons and Suns are both minus 1 point per 100 possessions with their point guards on the bench, but the suns have a bigger margin when Nash is in, thus making a bigger dropoff.plus, remember that 45-50 wins for the suns is the same dropoff as 35-40 wins for the pistons, so if the suns won 45-50 games without nash you'd have to say the pistons would win 30-35 games without billups.
Well you said they'd be lost without Nash. Winning almost 50 and competing for a top 4 seed isn't lost IMO. 35 wins without Billups IS lost. And I'm speaking with regard to no other player taking said players place. Barbosa enters the starting line and probably scores more himself then Nash does. The team no doubt takes a hit as a whole though, but I don't think it's a huge one. Marion and Amare can be great players without Billups. Hamilton and Price while very good players, cannot be considered great.Maybe he's just as valuable? but then again you'd never know it as you hear very little about Billups, and so much about Nash. Any team in FA should offer Billups a max contract and not think twice about it. As said, he could take any mid-level team to instant contender..and I pray that doesn't happen to this franchise as it would take a while to recover.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Well you said they'd be lost without Nash. Winning almost 50 and competing for a top 4 seed isn't lost IMO. 35 wins without Billups IS lost. And I'm speaking with regard to no other player taking said players place. Barbosa enters the starting line and probably scores more himself then Nash does. The team no doubt takes a hit as a whole though, but I don't think it's a huge one. Marion and Amare can be great players without Billups. Hamilton and Price while very good players, cannot be considered great.</div>I meant that whenever I watch phoenix they look lost without nash. The other team always seems to go on a run when nash is on the bench and phoenix is just clueless as to what to do. Sure they'd probably remedy it over a long stretch but they are 4-12 without him or something like that.if the suns won 45 games and the pistons won 35, you are correct that the suns wouldn't be lost and the pistons would. But you have to remember that the suns will probably win about 61-62 games this year and the pistons will probably win about 51-52, so it would actually be a similar drop-off if your hypothetical situation occurred.
Billups did exactly what I was talking about tonight. We were done in the 4th and he brought us back when we needed him.Guy is on fire.
Here's the Devil's Advocate:A little something called Rebuilding for the Future.Billups isn't getting any younger, and Wil Blalock, our only young point guard, is NOT the answer. Tony Delk and Anthony Goldwire are not reasonable either.What's a few years in the lottery? Joe Dumars is a smart GM, he can work something out for us. Prince is young, Maxiell is young, and Rip is 29. But, Amir Johnson may or may not become the tall athletic PF/C we need, and we cannot rely on late first round draft picks to become our teams future starters. Guys like Chucky Atkins does not cut it. Acie Law IV could be huge for us. I hope he falls to us; he can definitely be the PG of the future.If Delfino turns out to be a Manu Ginobili-like player, in terms of skill level, I would say don't worry so much about the paragraph before this one. But, you can't guarantee Delfino can live up to the fullest of his potential. That's not my opinion though. I say bring Chauncey back, let him play for 3-4 years in Detroit, possibly win a title, and just sign other free agents. We still have Orlando's pick, and we can deal for a PG later on if we really need one.Man, this is one of my best posts on BBW.
Another great game by Billups tonight. We really collapsed when he was out of the game, which proves Combs' point. And he hit that clutch three to win it for us, and the foul shots at the end. Great overall performance.
When people were calling Billups for MVP last year, I didn't agree with it.Now it seems like he's not even in the mix this year, and this is the year he deserves consideration! I'd vote for him!That dude seems to win us every game, he's playing at such a high level.
