Using CNNSI.com team previews as rotation source: PACERS Tinsley A. Johnson Reggie Jackson Artest Bender O'Neal Croshere Foster Pollard BUCKS M. James M. Williams Redd D. Mason Van Horn Kukoc J. Smith Haislip Gadzuric Pachulia BULLS Hinrich FW Gordon Pike Nocioni Deng Chandler Othella Curry AD CAVALIERS McInnis Snow LeBron Dajuan Newble Luke Gooden Traylor Ilgauskas Diop PISTONS Billups Lindsey Rip Delfino Prince Dupree Rasheed McDyess Ben Campbell
he's just showing us how to post in NBA Dish. looking over the list, there is not one former rocket on there. Thus, with that vital fact, it goes into the NBA Dish forum...as seen here right now.
pistons got this division....and the whole eastern conference again id say this year even though its so early and its stupid to think of finals, but by roster and chemistry id say the defending champions will lose in the finals this year.
If you want a 1-click link to a table showing the depth chart for every NBA team, try here: http://www.rotoworld.com/content/depth_nba.asp?sport=NBA
The thing is, the Pistons success last year was almost as much about chemistry as it was about talent. Clearly, they had some very very good players, and a lot of them (Billups, Wallace, Hamilton, Wallace), but no where near as dominant as Shaq/Kobe were. Of course, they look the strongest in the division, but chemistry can be such a tricky thing - just look at the Rockets following their championship. Essentially the same team started to have all the problems people thought were possible the year before and it took a shake-up to get them back to championship level.
Your assumptions about the Pistons are a bit flawed. They made the Eastern conference finals the year before last year. They have numerous lottery picks in their rotation. Their defense will always be there because of Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, and Larry Brown. And so on. They were not as untalented as people think and there was nothing lucky about their championship. They may not win again, but they'll be a very good team (provided they don't have catastrophic injuries).
