Introduction
The 2004 NBA Champions - Detroit Pistons. Boy was that unexpected.
The 2004 Pistons were defined by their defense, great chemistry and
great coaching. They took that and some timely shooting and won the
championship.
Team President Joe Dumars made some bold choices for the 2004 season.
First they fired Rick Carlisle and hired Larry Brown. Then they passed on
Carmelo Anthony and took Darko Milicic instead. They also took Carlos
Delfino with their second first round pick and let him play in Europe this
year. Some of those moves worked out great and some are still under review.
Gone from last years team was Jon Barry (FA), Michael Curry (Trade),
Danny Manning (Retirement), Don Reid (FA), Clifford Robinson
(Trade) and Pepe Sanchez (lord knows). In their place came Bob Sura, Tremaine Fowlkes,
Darvin Ham and Darko Milicic.
In addition, Chucky Atkins, Zeljko Rebraca and Sura, were traded to get Rasheed
Wallace (A big thank you goes out to Danny Ainge for making that trade possible),
and Humbert Davis was traded to New Jersey. Those deals not only helped bring
the 2004 title, but cleared cap room for resinging R. Wallace and/or
Mehmet Okur.
Current Team Roster/Status
2003-04 Roster (from http://www.espn.com)
NO. PLAYER POS. HT. WT. BORN COLLEGE
1 Chauncey Billups PG 6-3 202 Sep. 25, 1976 Colorado
41 Elden Campbell C 7-0 279 Jul. 23, 1968 Clemson
24 Tremaine Fowlkes SF 6-7 212 Apr. 10, 1976 Fresno State
8 Darvin Ham F 6-7 240 Jul. 23, 1973 Texas Tech
32 Richard Hamilton SG 6-7 193 Feb. 14, 1978 Connecticut
10 Lindsey Hunter PG 6-2 195 Dec. 3, 1970 Jackson State
7 Mike James PG 6-2 188 Jun. 23, 1975 Duquesne
31 Darko Milicic FC 7-0 250 Jun. 20, 1985
13 Mehmet Okur FC 6-11 249 May 26, 1979
22 Tayshaun Prince SF 6-9 215 Feb. 28, 1980 Kentucky
3 Ben Wallace PF 6-9 240 Sep. 10, 1974 Virginia Union
30 Rasheed Wallace FC 6-11 230 Sep. 17, 1974 North Carolina
34 Corliss Williamson SF 6-7 245 Dec. 4, 1973 Arkansas
Stats (from http://www.espn.com)
NAME GP GS MIN PTS OFF DEF TOT AST STL BLK TO A/TO PF TECH
R. Hamilton 78 78 35.5 17.6 1.0 2.6 3.6 4.0 1.32 0.22 2.7 1.48 2.8 0.1
C. Billups 78 78 35.4 16.9 0.4 3.1 3.5 5.7 1.08 0.10 2.4 2.36 2.3 0.1
R. Wallace 22 21 30.6 13.7 1.5 5.6 7.0 1.8 1.09 2.05 1.3 1.38 2.7 0.3
T. Prince 82 80 32.9 10.3 1.1 3.6 4.8 2.3 0.77 0.84 1.5 1.61 1.8 0.0
M. Okur 71 33 22.3 9.6 2.3 3.7 5.9 1.0 0.51 0.89 1.4 0.68 1.9 0.0
B. Wallace 81 81 37.7 9.5 4.0 8.4 12.4 1.7 1.77 3.04 1.5 1.12 2.0 0.2
C. Williamson 79 0 19.9 9.5 1.1 2.1 3.2 0.7 0.38 0.25 1.4 0.50 2.6 0.0
M. James 26 0 19.7 6.3 0.3 1.9 2.2 3.7 1.00 0.04 1.6 2.32 1.7 0.0
C. Atkins 40 0 18.8 6.2 0.2 1.1 1.2 2.4 0.48 0.03 1.2 1.98 1.5 0.0
E. Campbell 65 27 13.7 5.6 0.8 2.4 3.2 0.7 0.32 0.77 1.0 0.71 2.1 0.0
B. Sura 53 0 13.3 3.8 0.6 1.4 1.9 1.7 0.70 0.17 0.7 2.28 1.6 0.0
L. Hunter 33 8 20.0 3.5 0.4 1.6 2.0 2.6 1.18 0.18 1.0 2.50 1.4 0.0
Z. Rebraca 21 2 10.6 3.1 0.9 1.4 2.3 0.2 0.24 0.43 0.6 0.31 2.1 0.0
D. Ham 54 2 9.0 1.8 0.9 0.9 1.7 0.3 0.24 0.15 0.6 0.52 1.2 0.0
D. Milicic 34 0 4.7 1.4 0.3 0.9 1.3 0.2 0.21 0.44 0.4 0.54 1.0 0.0
T. Fowlkes 36 0 7.3 1.2 0.5 1.0 1.5 0.4 0.25 0.08 0.3 1.17 1.0 0.0
H. Davis 3 0 7.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.00 0.00 0.3 1.00 1.3 0.0
TOTALS 82 --- --- 90.1 12.4 30.4 42.8 20.8 8.04 6.95 14.4 1.44 20.3 0.5
OPPONENTS 82 --- --- 84.3 12.0 28.7 40.6 19.0 7.91 5.00 14.7 1.29 22.9 0.5
Pistons Leaders
NAME FGM FGA FG% 3PM 3PA 3P% FTM FTA FT% 2PM 2PA 2P% PPS* FG%
R. Hamilton 6.8 14.9 .455 0.2 0.9 .265 3.8 4.4 .868 512 1098 .466 1.18 .462
C. Billups 5.0 12.8 .394 1.7 4.3 .388 5.2 5.9 .878 262 661 .396 1.32 .459
R. Wallace 5.5 12.8 .431 1.0 3.1 .319 1.7 2.5 .704 99 212 .467 1.07 .470
T. Prince 4.1 8.8 .467 0.7 1.9 .363 1.3 1.7 .766 281 566 .496 1.16 .507
M. Okur 3.5 7.6 .463 0.3 0.7 .375 2.3 2.9 .775 233 494 .472 1.26 .480
B. Wallace 3.9 9.2 .421 0.0 0.1 .125 1.8 3.6 .490 314 740 .424 1.03 .422
C. Williamson 3.8 7.6 .505 0.0 0.0 .000 1.8 2.5 .731 304 602 .505 1.25 .505
M. James 2.3 5.7 .401 0.8 2.1 .364 1.0 1.2 .844 39 92 .424 1.12 .469
C. Atkins 2.2 5.9 .374 1.1 3.3 .323 0.8 1.1 .721 46 105 .438 1.06 .464
E. Campbell 2.1 4.8 .439 0.0 0.0 .000 1.3 1.9 .685 138 314 .439 1.15 .439
B. Sura 1.3 3.3 .410 0.2 0.7 .250 0.9 1.3 .696 62 137 .453 1.15 .436
L. Hunter 1.5 4.3 .343 0.4 1.5 .280 0.2 0.2 .625 35 93 .376 0.82 .392
Z. Rebraca 1.0 2.6 .407 0.0 0.0 .000 1.0 1.3 .786 22 54 .407 1.22 .407
D. Ham 0.7 1.4 .493 0.0 0.0 .500 0.4 0.6 .600 36 73 .493 1.28 .500
D. Milicic 0.5 1.9 .262 0.0 0.0 .000 0.4 0.7 .583 17 64 .266 0.74 .262
T. Fowlkes 0.4 1.3 .313 0.0 0.2 .125 0.4 0.5 .722 14 40 .350 0.92 .323
H. Davis 0.0 0.7 .000 0.0 0.3 .000 0.0 0.0 .000 0 1 .000 0.00 .000
TOTALS 33.5 77.0 .435 4.1 11.8 .344 19.0 25.3 .753 2414 5346 .452 1.17 .461
OPPONENTS 32.1 77.8 .413 4.3 14.4 .302 15.7 21.1 .744 2277 5198 .438 1.08 .441
Salaries
I'd like to give credit to Patricia Bender and her excellent NBA
resource site at http://www.dfw.net/~patricia
Detroit Pistons Date # of total
Player signed years salary misc FA
Tremaine Fowlkes ...... 10/28/03 1 minimum '04
Darvin Ham ............ 9/23/03 1 minimum '04
Lindsey Hunter ........ 8/8/97 7 $19 million '04
Mehmet Okur ........... 8/21/02 2 $2.1 million '04
Rasheed Wallace ....... 9/27/95 3+6 $6.8mill+$80mill '04
Elden Campbell ........ 7/26/03 2 $8.4 million '05
Mike James ............ 7/25/03 2 minimum '05
Tayshaun Prince ....... 9/2/02 4 $4,541,153 rc t-opt '06
Ben Wallace ........... 8/3/00 6 $30 million '06
Chauncey Billups ...... 7/17/02 6 $33.7 million p-opt '07
Darko Milicic ......... 9/12/03 4 $16,815,062 rc t-opt '07
Corliss Williamson .... 7/24/01 6 $31,500,000 '07
Richard Hamilton ...... 8/12/03 7 $62 million p-opt '08
rc = rookie contract, 1st round picks from 1995 and on are signed to 3
year contracts at a set range, with for picks from 1998 and on with a
4th year at the team's option
t-opt = team option year(s) (if team chooses, player will be under
contract for another year)
FA = year player becomes a free agent (year = summer of) [Note: For
players who have less than 3 years of experience (most noteably,
rookies), the players are restricted free agents - their team can match
any offer made to the player. 1st round draft picks who have completed
the 4th year of their rookie contract are also restricted free agents.]
Current Team/Player Breakdown
Guards
Billups, Chauncey G 6-3 202 9/25/76 Colorado
Billups is a very lucky man. The Pistons were the perfect fit for him in that
he does not need to be a true point guard to be effective. Billips is not a great
shooter or passer, but he does both good enough to be effective. He also showed
some real maturity this year in his dealings with Larry Brown (who was admittedly
very hard on Billups). He took the criticism and made himself a better player
and leader.
Hamilton, Richard G/F 6-7 193 2/14/78 Connecticut
Hamilton really had a coming out party in the NBA playoffs. He had a very
good year overall, but once the playoffs started he showed that he was a
special player. Always on the move, he forced the other team to spend a lot
of effort covering him (even when he had an off night). As an example, Kobe
Bryant was usually worn out by the end of the games from all the chasing he
did on Hamilton. When they signed him to the $62 million dollar contract last
year, I thought that they over paid. Not so anymore...
Hunter, Lindsey G 6-2 195 12/3/70 Jackson State
Hunter returned to the Pistons after a serveral year absence and did a great job as
a backup point guard. Hunter provided good leadership and outstanding defense. I'm
not sure if he will be back with the Pistons (since he is a FA), although I suspect that he will.
Delfino, Carlos G 6-6 215 8/29/82 Skipper (Italy)
Delfino was drafted in the 2003 draft and kept in Europe for a year. For the most
part this looked like a great move. Delfino played a lot and really well in Europe whereas
he would not have played much for the Pistons. However, after the struggles of Darko and
Okur, Delfino is said to be concerned and might not come to the NBA this next year
afterall. Dumars went and spoke to him and seems to be convinced that he will be a
Piston next year.
James, Mike PG 6-2 188 6/23/75 Duquesne
James came over from Boston as part of the Rasheed Wallace. James never really
fit in with the Pistons and hardley played in the playoffs.
Forwards
Wallace, Rasheed F/C 6-11 230 9/17/84 North Carolina
When Rasheed Wallace came to the Pistons, there was two schools of thought concerning the
trade: the first school was that Wallace was the missing piece. The second was that Rasheed
would screw up the close team that was already in place. Well, no doubt that the former was
the correct observation. Wallace found the perfect home in Detroit. He was not needed to
be a dominate player or a team leader. He was expected to play defense and fit in. He did
both. Rasheed is a free agent, but I expect that he will re-sign with the Pistons. If he
does not, he is a fool :-).
Prince, Tayshaun F 6-9 215 2/28/80 Kentucky
Prince can be a bit maddening at times. He can look like a future NBA all-star sometimes
and other times, just take up space. You don't know when your going to get a 16pt - 8 rebound
game from him, or a 2pt - 2 rebound game. He is always a solid defender (his work on
Kobe was remarkable, and lets not forget perhaps one of the top 5 defensive plays ever -
his block on Reggie Miller). However, it is the offensive end where Prince needs to become
more consistant. Brown at times durning the season, threated to bench Prince because he
would just not shoot the ball. Because of Ben Wallace offensive limitations, the Pistons
really need Prince to average about 15 ppg to keep the other team honest. When he does
that, the Pistons are a much better team. One must also comment on the mature way that
Prince handled the Anthony thing. A lot of young players would have wilted under all
the "they should have picked Anthony" comments that he heard all season.
Williamson, Corliss F 6-5 245 12/4/73 Arkansas
Williamson's game has slipped a good bit in the last couple of years. Once the NBA's
6th man of the year, he is now almost an afterthought in the Pistons roation. He is still
signed for next year and was not taken by the Bobcats in the expansion draft so I expect that
he will be back next year. Not really big enough for PF and not quick enough for SF as a
front line player, he has thrived being to strong for second line players.
Fowlkes, Tremaine F 6-7 212 4/10/76 Fresno State
Fowlkes did not play much and is a FA, I don't expect him to come back
Ham, Darvin F 6-7 240 7/23/73 Texas Tech
Ham did not play much and is a FA, I don't expect him to come back
Centers
Okur, Mehmet C 6-11 249 5/26/79 Turkey
To be honest, I'm not a big Okur fan. I never quite saw what I kept hearing from
Dumars. He is a nice player, but he does not like to play inside, is not a good rebounder
and is not a great shotblocker. He is said to want to go somewhere where he can play so
I expect that Okur will be somewhere else next year.
Wallace, Ben F 6-9 240 9/10/74 Virginia Union
Wallace is my favorite player in the NBA. A very hard worker who is the best rebounder
I've seen. He is an excellent shotblocker and the best defender in the league. Larry
Brown challenged him to be more of a scorer. Although he is still not a great (or even
good) offensive player, he did improve to the point where he was at least involved in
the offense and had some very good games.
Coaching/Front Office
The Pistons have arguably the best coach and GM in the league. Larry Brown has
always been a great coach and finally has a NBA title. He is a teaching coach that
stresses teamwork and passing, looking for a better shot. He is hard to play for and
was very tough on Billiups and Okur. His not playing Darko showed that he is not
afraid of bad PR for the GM. How good Darko comes in the next couple of years will
show if he really is such a great teacher.
What else can be said about Dumars. When he got the job, he talked about bringing
another NBA championship. I have to admit that I had many doubts that he would be able
to do that. The success of the team has kept him from really being critized for his
draft picks. Although the drafting of Prince was a great late round pick, he struck
out with Rodney White (traded after just one year) and taking Darko over Anthony would
have been an Albatross around any other GM's neck. His ability to make trades is what
really sets him apart from other GM's. Getting Ben Wallace and Chucky Atkins for Grant
Hill may have been a "face saving" trade at the time, but it ended up turning around the
Pistons. Getting Williamson brought in some toughness. Trading Stackhouse for Hamilton
was a bold stroke that showed just how good he is at evaluating talent. I'll hold off
on Darko, I don't think that Anthony would have fit in as nicely in Detroit and I think
that Dumars understood that and that factored in the decision to take Darko.
Team Needs
Detroit really has no need (assuming that Rasheed Wallace resigned and Delfino comes
over). Now if they lose both Wallace and Okur, they will be serious need for a C/PF
type player. If Delfino does not come, they will need a backup guard who can shoot.
My Selection
Beno Udrih, PG, Slovenia
This is a need pick (assuming that Delfino does not come). Hunter is a FA and
James did not work out well. They also could use another shooter coming off the bench
and Udrih is a very good shooter. In the real draft, the Pistons have the 54th pick and
no chance of getting Udrih.
Others considered
Delonte West, PG, St. Joe's
A undersized SG who I did not think could really play point
Trevor Ariza, SF, UCLA's
It is said that his stock is rising, but he really is not ready and I
don't think that the Pistons would want to deal with an immature kid.
What will the Pistons do?
Sit back and not even worry a lick about the draft :-). |