I'd say they have a good mix of talent. You have a great scorer with Stackhouse, an average second option with Cliff Robinson, a potential 6th man in Corliss Williamson, several good 3 point shooters (Atkins, Barry, Damon Jones), the block shot leader, a great rebounder and just a flat out great defensive player with Ben Wallace. The also seem to have good chemistry which makes a huge difference. This Detroit team is for real. They are one scorer away from being the best in the east, IMHO. B
Of course. I'm not sure what people were looking at when they said they'd suck this year or what they're looking at now when they say they aren't for real. They've got the best defensive player in the league (Ben Wallace), another all-defensive team member (Cliff Robinson) and another guy who's gotten votes for defensive player of the year and all defense (Michael Curry). That's a damn fine foundation for defense and what it means is they'll be in almost every game (regular season and playoffs). The offense isn't great, but it's good enough. Great shooters (Barry, Atkins, Robinson, Damon Jones) complimenting an effective all-star slasher (stackhouse) with one of the most efficient inside scorers in basketball (Corliss Williamson--check the numbers) and a developing big center with nice post skills (Zeljko Rebraca). They're far from perfect, but they do one thing that guarantees them a chance (defense) and have a lot of interchangeable parts and great chemistry. They've got a great record against the eastern conference teams and they win their home games. They have a real shot at making it beyond the first round.
