| Pistons
Poised for Second Half Surge
The Pistons
extended their winning streak to five last night with a win over
the Knicks. Solid ball movement, Rip and Tayshaun, and a good outing
from the bench helped the Pistons roll to a 97-88 win. It appears
the Pistons are positioned for a second half surge.
It all started a couple of weeks ago when something finally clicked.
The Pistons walked beat Denver 87-70 and since then have won 10
of 11 games. Four of those over 100 points.
One of the turning points of the season for the Pistons was the
acquisition of Carlos Arroyo. Although some will argue that losing
Elden Campbell gives Miami the edge, others would argue that the
Pistons are deep enough and strong enough to handle Shaq without
him. Arroyo solved all their problems at guard. Additionally, he
maybe solved a lot of the team’s scoring problems.
Arroyo came to the Pistons from the Utah Jazz where last season
he saw himself start in 71 games and average 12.6 points per game
with 4.0 assists. He signed a big contract during the off-season,
but had an episode or two with head coach Jerry Sloan. In return,
Arroyo found himself on the bench and requesting a trade. Utah was
happy to accommodate.
During the off-season, the Pistons did a major retooling of their
bench. Out went Mike James and Corliss Williamson. In came Antonio
McDyess and Ronald Dupree. The Team re-signed Lindsey Hunter, but
so far he’s been mediocre at best. With the arrival of Arroyo,
the bench appears to be all set. But is it enough?
The starting five have been getting stronger and stronger. Tayshaun
continues to remind us why Carmelo Anthony was passed in the draft.
Chauncey Billups is getting into his late season prime. Rasheed,
Rip, and Ben are playing well as always. Ball movement is good,
Larry Brown has calmed down, and they are on a mission.
Disrespected or not, the Pistons are the favorites to win the East.
They’re not only defending champions of the NBA, they’re
in first place and getting stronger each game. They are relentlessly
pounding team after team. Heck, even Darko is seeing steady playing
time.
By the time the playoffs come the Pistons will have home court throughout
most, if not all, of the playoffs. If they continue to win games
at this rate, they may even gain home court for the NBA finals.
They’re looking at a Boston, Orlando, or -- yes this would
make the NBA happy – Indiana first round matchup.
I wouldn’t expect any new news on trade deadline day. The
Pistons will most likely stand pat with what they have. Arroyo was
a considerable addition to the team. They are playing well and most
likely won’t want to give up anymore players. Dumars doesn’t
have a history of shaking things up to just see if he can get more
wins. He likes to put a key piece or two into his team and tweak
it into a contender. With Arroyo he’s done that already.
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