The Detroit Pistons made headlines this season by trading franchise mainstay Chauncey Billups and power forward Antonio McDyess to Denver for Allen Iverson. So far, the results haven't been great, as the Pistons lost Iverson's debut Friday night, a 103-96 decision at New Jersey. Detroit is finally watchable again: Iverson is just one of those guys you simply have to see play to fully appreciate.
It's difficult to assess how the Pistons are going to play with Iverson, since Friday's game seemed to be an off-night for the team. After a typically stingy first quarter in which they gave up just 14 points, they allowed the Nets to score 25 in the second and then 64 after halftime. New Jersey point guard Devin Harris ran absolutely roughshod over them in the second, scoring a career-high 38 points and shooting an incredible 24 free throws. Detroit just wasn't sharp defensively. Of course, Rajon Rondo is not going to present the offensive threat that Harris did in single-handedly winning that game for New Jersey.
Offensively, Iverson looked extremely comfortable assimilating into the Piston offense. He seemed to defer a bit to his teammates, at least until the fourth quarter. In that last period, he started looking for his shot more, but it's worth noting that Rip Hamilton was not on the court during that time.
Rip actually was the one who looked least comfortable with Iverson, or perhaps more accurately, without Billups. He took 20 shots and appeared to force a few more than he typically does.
The big problem seemed to be initiating the offense. New Jersey played a lot of zone -- a look that Boston probably won't give -- and the Pistons spent most of the time just tossing the ball around the perimeter, occasionally shooting at the basket. Iverson has taken Billups' spot in the starting lineup, but he's not a true point. Neither is Rodney Stuckey, frankly, and the three-guard lineup they went to (with Hamilton sliding over to small forward) didn't really work yet. Detroit justified trading Billups by insisting that Stuckey was ready for major minutes, and while he certainly showed his mettle against Boston in the playoffs last year and he has been fine this year, he's not -- at least not yet -- the kind of player you can give the ball to and count on him to distribute to Iverson and Hamilton, and when he's on the court with AI and Rip, there's just not enough orange to go around.
That said, Detroit is still a major player in the East and I expect this game to be a tough one, particularly since it's at the Palace at Auburn Hills.
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