Lets say we drafted Melo instead of Darko, would Rasheed be here in motown right now? Would we still need that offensive force? Would Joe D. would have still done the trade? I say hell yes. I'm posting this cause Mike Lupica had a little rant on Sportscenter tryin to tell Joe D what a dumb move it was for not draftin Melo, and he wouldnt need Rasheed if he did.
i'd much rather have Sheed than Melo. Sheed gives us low post offense AND defense. i haven't seen Melo play too often, but against the Pistons his D was terrible. with the Wallaces down low our blocks per game have been amazing. it's impossible to say whether Joe would have pursued Sheed if we already had Melo. BUT, if i had to choose between the two, i would definitely choose Sheed.
ARE YOU CRAZY??? Melo is averaging 20 points a game in the west imagine how many he would be getting in the east! He is also only 20 years old, Rasheed is a vet. Melo would have brought instant scoring to help out Hamilton and Ben Wallace. How can you say as a pistons fan you would rather have sheed then melo?
Right now I would rather have Sheed (he still has plenty of years left in him), he is a very good defender can post up, rebound, spreads the floor so well and opens up the middle for the slashers to attack. Melo is a great talent no doubt though.
Right now? right now is when you would need a player like Melo. The Pistons would have a good chance of dethroning someone in the west if they had Melo on the team
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting CANT STOP ME:</div><div class="quote_post">Right now? right now is when you would need a player like Melo. The Pistons would have a good chance of dethroning someone in the west if they had Melo on the team</div> You have got it twisted. The only way Pistons would have a chance to defeat the west would be by having Sheed inside.You need size to compete with the west elite, Him and Ben are a dangerous duo on defense and offense. People really underrated what Sheed brings to the team he is on, he does things that don't show up in the box scores and no I don't mean techinals.
look at the game against Detroit. Melo couldn't score and he was useless. Sheed doesn't need to score to have an effect on the team. His interior defense alone gives Detroit more improvement. it's not a coincidence that Detroit set the record by holding 3 straight teams under 70 points.
btw, if Rasheed wanted i'm SURE he could average 20+ points per game. he could demand the ball and just shoot everytime he touches it. i didn't realize this until Sheed came to Detroit: he's an amazing team player. he's willing to pass out of the post. he's willing to set picks and screens. the way he outlets the ball after a rebound is great (we haven't really had that before). lastly, his enthusiasm on the court is really cool. he's pumping up the crowd and he's cheering on teammates from the bench. when he had his troubles in portland, i wrote him off as a typical primadona athelete. i realize now that there was a reason that "great teammate" is one of the first things that people say about Sheed when describing him.
Ugh...there are so many factors that would affect this I don't even want to think about it. There's cap space; 'Melo's salary, plus Chucky's if we hadn't made the trade. We might not be able to resign Memo if we hadn't traded Atkins. Also, the Pistons could still use a force like Rasheed, that's always a good thing, so I'm sure he would have taken the opportunity and done it. Plus a million other things that, as I said before, I don't even want to think about. Bottom line, this is just "what if" and I've heard it all season and I'm tired of it. Rasheed is here, 'Melo is not, and that's that.
I think that Sheed would not be here if Melo was drafted. As some of the others have said, I would much rather have Sheed over Melo anyways, so I don't care that he isn't here. Rasheed has more overall talent and he provides the type of offense that we need. In addition, Rasheed can actually play defense and he provides another defensive player to help us. Also, CANT STOP ME, how in the hell would he average much more on the Pistons being the 3rd option, minimum over being the 1st option on the Denver team? Not to mention his minutes getting cut in half. How would we dominate the West with him? We looked pretty dominating with Rasheed recently, even though we played against contenders for the 8th seed.
Melo would help get the pistons to the finals this year then next year they would win hands down. also everyone knows that averaging 20 points and playing in the west is a little harder than getting 20 in the east.imo.
Yes, it is easier to average 20 in the East, but it is a difference between playing 40 minutes and being the first option on your team and playing 20 minutes and being the third/fourth option on your team.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting CANT STOP ME:</div><div class="quote_post">Melo would help get the pistons to the finals this year then next year they would win hands down. also everyone knows that averaging 20 points and playing in the west is a little harder than getting 20 in the east.imo.</div> it's much easier to score 20 points per night on a bad team than it is on a team that is well established. it's also easier to score 20 a night when you're the number one scoring option and you are free to shoot whenever you want. it doesn't matter as much what conference you are in.
If they had both, they could actually be champions. It's just fantasy, it would be nice to see a 7 game series in the finals. Wasn't the last 7 game series was in 94 with the Rockets and Knicks.
Ya never know, sheed coulda been here and Melo too. Or even none at all........ this thread is stupid too many factors to consider makes my head hurt.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting CANT STOP ME:</div><div class="quote_post">ARE YOU CRAZY??? Melo is averaging 20 points a game in the west imagine how many he would be getting in the east! He is also only 20 years old, Rasheed is a vet. Melo would have brought instant scoring to help out Hamilton and Ben Wallace. How can you say as a pistons fan you would rather have sheed then melo?</div> A true Pistons fan would much rather have Sheed.
I agree that with Sheed the Pistons have a slight (very slight) chance of winning it all. He plays defence, shoot well for a big man and he is a bona fied star in the NBA. But....the Pistons only have Sheed for one year with no gurantee that he will re-sign. So if the Pistons lose the championship (which is a big possibility) they pretty much could lose Sheed in the off-season. Melo's contract comes up in 5 years and he's already posting big numbers with the potential to only get better. Given the fact that Rasheed was only acquired through giving up Chucky Atkins and Bob Sura this would not be a situation where you would question whether to have Melo or Rasheed. Its more of a Darko or Melo arguement, which is getting terribly old but I just can't help but call the Pistons on that blunder. If the Pistons drafted Melo in the first place and got Rasheed later on....I would say they would be a definite contender (barring any concerns about chemistry) not only to win the East but to win it all. Now they are trying to move space to re-sign a player that plays Darko's position (Okur) and acquire another player who player who makes it that much more tight for playing time for a big man (Rasheed). Yah I know you are saying..."He's a project", "I would rather wait for a talented big man to dominate the east than to have Carmelo a super talented small foward". But does a real Pistons fan really need to agree with all of that or do they get a chance to actually question a teams moves once in awhile? BTW How can some people be fans of Darko if they don't even see him play?? I don't mean this to be offensive (people are allowed to be fans of whoever they want and I respect that) but I find it hard to be a fan of someone if I never see him play. I'm sorry if this offends anyone, its just my opinion.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting CourtVision:</div><div class="quote_post">Melo's contract comes up in 5 years and he's already posting big numbers with the potential to only get better. ...</div> I could be wrong here, but isn't the standard rookie contract for THREE years, with two option years (which the player or the team can opt out of)?
Actually I think its the other way around, I could be mistaken though. I think the team has the option to pick up the two years and renegotiate. Again I could be wrong, I don't know much about contracts But 3 years 5 years, tomato tomaato
