haven, absolutely...but how would you rate their overall team defense. for instance, Anderson is great and Cato and Hakeem are great...but our defense sucks. I don't see Seattle enough to say. But their defense was certainly better in the past.
Heypartner, Detroit had James Edwards and Mark Aguire, who were very effective and efficient in the low block. Detroit had a great back court, but they also were balanced, deep and good in pretty much all phases I can think of. Will, the only area I see Thomas as probably not being able to excel in is shot-blocking and defending on the low block against the better PF's in the league. Just because of his combination of height with merely adequate arm length and jumping ability (say in contrast to the similarly tall Brand who has these other assets), I doubt he will be able to hold his own against a Duncan, Wallace, McDyess or Brand for instance. I am not saying we will need him to win such match-ups, but only hold his own. I just don't see that happening. Still KT was a great pick and I want to keep him around (ideally as a back-up 3/4). But while I agree he brings a lot of good things to the table, I think we will need to find either a more physically endowed starting PF or have both a center and a small-forward around him that can help form a great interior defense.
Sir, The Pistons were a major contender before they got Aguire, and Aguirre was a bench player the 2nd championship. As I looked it up for confirmation, I found that Dantley gave a bigger boost than I remember. Edwards was not really a low post, but more a high post threat. He always nailed the 15 footers against Parish as the shot-clock was running down. Still, considering how difficult it was to beat Boston and LA in the Eighties, their frontcourt was NOT close to being as formidable as their foes. That's what I'm mainly pointing out. Relatively speaking to the competition, they did it with guards and defense. Here's some history to help you decide: During two full seasons in Detroit, Dantley averaged better than 20 points, and he helped the Pistons reach the NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers in 1988. In Game 1 of the series Dantley scored 34 points on 14-of-16 shooting from the field. But the Pistons ultimately fell to the Lakers in seven games. The Pistons had made a reputation for themselves as the NBA's "Bad Boys" and featured such strong-headed individuals as Bill Laimbeer, Dennis Rodman, Rick Mahorn, and Aguirre's childhood friend, Isiah Thomas. Aguirre fit right in with this rough-and-ready crew. He also filled an important niche for the club. Accustomed to leading the Mavericks, he was asked to simply play a role for the Pistons, who wanted an offensive boost in a defensive lineup. The Pistons had narrowly missed capturing an NBA Championship in each of the past two seasons. They had lost in seven games in both the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals and the 1988 NBA Finals. But after Aguirre joined the team the Pistons promptly stormed to the championship, sweeping the Lakers in the Finals. Whether or not he was responsible for his team's surge to the top, Aguirre certainly contributed some major offensive flurries. He scored 40 points in 49 minutes in the two initial first-round games against the Boston Celtics. In the last two NBA Finals contests, however, he totaled only 4 points in 47 minutes. His 15.5 points per game with Detroit were third on the team, and in the playoffs he scored 12.6 points per contest. The Pistons repeated as champions in 1989-90. Aguirre came off the bench for Rodman and averaged 14.1 points, fourth highest on the team. In the playoffs, which culminated with a five-game Finals win over Portland, Aguirre averaged 11.0 points. But time had begun to catch up with him. He played three more seasons with the Pistons in an increasingly limited role before moving on to the Los Angeles Clippers for a partial campaign in 1993-94. [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited February 21, 2000).]
Oh... I thought you were implying that the superstar tandems specifically had poor defense. If not, we're in agreement.
Heypartner, I do remember Edwards haveing a really tough fadeaway from maybe 10-15ft, I am sure you are correct he set up for in the high post though. As far as Aguire and Dantley, Dantley was the superior inside player. If I remember however, Detriot they traded for Aguire because he had some inside game along with range that Dantley didn't have. Yeah, I agree Detriot's frontcourt couldn't compete with Boston's (who may have had the best ever), but the group of Edwards, Laimbeer, Aguire/Dantley, Mahorn, Salley, and Rodman were arguably the 2nd best in the league in the late 80's, and certainly in the top 5 (the Lakers lead by Worthy and Jabbar might be #2, also, Atlanta had atleast Wilkens and Willis in their primes, Milwalkee's was good, we were good with Hakeem and whoever else there at the time). So my point was that Detriot had a very good and deep frontcout. They were great in defense, but they weren't bad in offense either. It is also true they were a guard lead team, but so were the Lakers with Magic and Scott as well as Cooper off the bench. Both teams when healthy were just rock solid everywhere, which is why they were the best. [This message has been edited by sir scarvajal (edited February 21, 2000).]
