He would've been great in our system. Detroit is a slow paced team. A year or so ago they were near dead last in pace.
Artest, Prince, and Battier might be redundant in a sense, but to think that it doesnt bring us closer to a title in any way is just plain ignorant. They'd be great trade bait. Any contender would love to have one of these guys on their team (assuming Ron doesnt go nuts). Tony Parker - 2007 Finals MVP Chauncey Billups - 2004 Finals MVP Isiah Thomas - 1990 Finals MVP Magic Johnson - 1987, 1982, 1980 Finals MVP
First: it's generous (to say the very least) to suggest that Magic Johnson is a prototypical point guard. And, it's not a far fetched comment to suggest that Magic was the "2" in all those championships (Byron Scott being the point in 1987 and Norm Nixon in '80 and '82) Magic proves my point that a big, creative wing is part of the recipe for championship success. Secondly: Tony Parker in 2007.... 4-0 over the Cavs? There was this Tim Duncan guy (dominant big) and some fellow named Emmanuel Ginobli on that same team, right? right? Duncan's 22/11/3 and 3 blocks really fuelled the Spurs through the playoffs - no doubt Parker blew up in the finals, but to say he 'won the championship' is erroneous. Thirdly: Thomas and Billups - there's no mincing facts - those guys were (at the time) the best players on their teams, both made the clutch plays, and both won a championship(s). But 3 championships in the last 30 years 'won' by a PG is hardly a case in point that PG's win championships. To suggest that trading one of Artest/ Prince/ Battier to a contender (and having that improve us) is just ignorant. We'd be the one stuck with 3 guys who play the same position (in mildly different ways) - so getting 'equal or better' value in a trade to a fellow contender would be nigh on impossible. So how would they improve us? All they would do is send a premiere wing defender who shoots the 3 at a pretty percentage to a championship contender. We screw ourselves basically by making our competition better... Don't get me wrong - Billups/ Yao would be an interesting combination to watch in action! But you just can't say with ANY certainty how it would pan out. There's every chance that we'd be shutting ourselves down in the 4th (nobody to generate from the wing) AND THEN saddling ourselves with a fairly evil contract to boot. Honestly, had that trade been made, I would NOT see it bringing us any closer to a title in any way, shape or form. When you have a 55 win team, and you can add Ron Artest without losing any major component of that team, you MUST consider yourself one step closer to a title. And don't give me the 'we always lose in the first round' nonsense. Of course we do - every season we've made the playoffs as a BOTTOM 4 SEED. WE'RE SUPPOSED TO LOSE. Last season we were a top 4 seed, but missing Ming and Alston for the playoff series against the Jazz. 2 of your starting 5 not there = big trouble for ANY team in this league when it comes to playoff basketball. I'll stick by my comments, you don't build around a PG, and Ming/ McGrady is one of the best tandems in the league, and we're a genuine contender this year (while Denver is making up the numbers). Quote me on it if you like.
Exactly what a lot of Nugs fans predicted -- the team got brought down to Earth. Even though we were still winning, we were a little sloppy the last few games. You can get away with it when you're shot is falling (see the Toronto game), but if it's off, you're in trouble. If it's off and you're playing the four-time NBA champs, you're screwed. Plus, we suck on TNT. Strangest thing.
Man if we got prince, this team would be ABSOLUTLY stacked in perimeter defense. Can you imagine a rotation of Ron/Prince/Battier???? No teams with all-star perimeter players would want to play us.
I think Billups was probably the most underrated PG in the league heading into this season. He's been fantastic for Denver. I thought he'd be really good, but I didn't expect the chemistry to change so dramatically.
