that pistons team had several all-stars though.....and from our current roster, i think we'd be happy if even one player pans out over the next few years
Those Pistons didn't become all-stars until they won the championship, just saying. When you won, you got recognized. If this team did well, there might just be a few all-stars in it.
You sound like the guy who called me a "fake fan" for wanting better picks as opposed to a longer drought of mediocrity based on this roster.
You have to remember that only 2 of them were All-Stars by the time the Pistons won the championship in 2004 and that they all bought into the team concept. The current incarnation of our roster looks relatively unselfish, and if they can get better on their help defense and play within the flow of the offense, there's still reason for some optimism. We might not have all the players we need yet, but that's what free agency and our cap space is for.
ok let's just scrap the semantics and just get to the point then... there is simply no player on the current roster with the talent level of a chauncey billups or rasheed wallace in their primes. rip hamilton - maybe and this roster will never be a contender without a severe upgrade in pure talent perhaps with our capspace we can finally land some talent next summer, but as the past couple summers have shown, it's not that easy.. getting a top 5 draft pick doesn't guarantee anything either, but obviously the bulk of nba superstars were top draft picks, so it certainly does help to draft high
Parsons is gonna score 20 points a game this year? Kevin Martin, Gilbert Arenas, Tracy McGrady, those are guys who had high single season increases. All of them had to add about 10 minutes/game to do it. Those guys are shooting guards who skills are chucking shots and jobs are about scoring. Parsons isnt that kind of player. He MAY can be a "Danny Granger" type with a 2 year improvement, but looking more the Hedo Turkoglu type.
Alright, I got my masterplan now. 3 Layups every game can turn me into a 20 point scorer!! rawwwwr!!! Whooopeee watch out those 3 layups, I'm coming for ya!!!
I don't understand why people use the 2004 Detroit Pistons as an argument for not tanking. Billups the 3rd overall pick, Wallace was the 4th overall pick, and Rip was the 7th overall pick in their respective drafts. If anything, this shows that you need some talent near the top of the draft class to have a chance of winning via draft or trade. And since we can't get any via trade or FA (well any good ones) that are in their primes, we have to look to the draft and hope to get one.
Not only that.... but 'Anti-tankers' keep bringing up the Pistons. They were an exception. Dumars hit the jackpot on all of his FA signings and that was the result. If you ask me if I want to put my hopes in Wiggins/Shabazz/Parker/Noel....or hope to get lucky on late lottery to mid round first round pick. I'll go with the top 5 guys every time. I love Parsons game but he's not someone you build around. Right now our hopes are on guys like Lamb, Jones, and D-Mo to prove everyone wrong. It's not out of the realm of possibility that either of these guys can become all-star caliber players IMO but it is just less likely. The reason some of us did not like the Delfino signing is because he's another solid veteran that does one thing... He takes playing time from a young player...like Morris who as the OP have said has been better, but will now have to battle Delfino for minutes instead of the Rockets actually seeing what he can be and what he can become. Even if we don't have plans for Morris, if he comes out and plays well off the bench his value raises big time because he's a young player. Keeping him on the bench is only going to sink his value because other GMs will think he's not playing because he sucks. Perhaps that is true...but when you are rebuilding then there is nothing wrong with playing young players that suck.
This first half of the season is pivotal to what direction Rockets will take. If they are within 8th seed or close to it, I'll look for Morey to make trades to fulfill our weaknesses. What will be our weaknesses? We simply do not know at this time. It could be major injuries or just sub-performance from certain players/bench. If we become a long shot, outside 10th seed, Morey will make trades, Kmart for pick(s), and "unofficially" tank for the rest of the season. I am all for it and tankers and non tankers can finally get married and happily ever after.....til next season at least. I agree with OP that it's absolutely rediculous for fans wanting to tank before the season has begun. If they could just pay attention to some of the preseason games, they will notice that our starters are solid! They were never out of any of the games. Yeah...it's preseason and yeah...this is also a new roster, with only two returnees, and they will get better as they jell together.
I agree that tankers usually look stupid. But, for a totally different reason that you're saying. If you look at the teams with the worst record since they changed the lottery system, only 3 have won #1 and only the second worst team won like 3 or 4 times. Those are horrible stats. I know what the odds are, but the stats of who has actually won the lottery is totally different. I say get as much young talent as you can and play them, but do not get horrible players and just suck.
I would agree that we don't have someone with the talent of Rasheed Wallace, but I would disagree with the notion that we don't have someone with the talent of Chauncey Billups (note: just because I say a player has the talent level doesn't mean he will reach it). Billups was never one to put up big stats, but he made it up with scrappy play and veteran savvy that he accumulated over the years. Maybe I'm being too optimistic, and perhaps I am, but to assume the talent level is not there, based on first and (essentially) second year players in the preseason of all times, is being too hasty to me. What matters more is that the team plays cohesively and makes up for each players' shortcomings by helping out, and like I wrote before, I'm liking the unselfishness play I've seen from the team so far. Hopefully they'll build on that, and next season, we'll have more cap space than everybody else next season to sign players. That's got to be more promising in our search for a player that can come in already being a star.
The Pistons weren't crap until they got Rasheed Wallace for nothing. At that time he was the 3rd best PF in the game behind Duncan and KG.
