Can you jumpshoot your way to an NBA Championship?

[luniz]

We're in the East. It's more than possible.

I think the real question is, how much better would we be if we actually had an inside offensive presence???

Somebody brought it up a few days ago, I think P.J. Brown would be perfect as a "quick-fix" for our interior problems...

I've never been impressed by PJ Brown. I'd rather have Sheed, Dice, and Maxiell.

Tayshaun and Max can both play down low but they're not great finishers, especially when defensed.

[Matt]

I agree, Scoreless Williamson was a tool in '04, and Okur wasn't much of anything at that time either, and even now Memo is more of a jump shooter than post presence. The only value we had on that bench was Hunter & James for defensive purposes, and Elden Campbell so he could hack the big guy...


Darko was a piece of shit then, and he's still a piece of shit now.

according to many pistons' fans we were some sort of dominant inside team back then, lol. especially considering Ben Wallace gave us like 6 pts a game and, back then, we were still all griping about Sheed not staying on the low block. and oh yeah, our main scorer was Rip Hamilton who was and is a jump shooter.

[b-diddy]

bullshit. larry brown would circumcize every member of our team if we played the faggoty way we do now. what was the #1 rule of "playing the right way"? getting high % shots at the basket. this

while it is true corliss wasnt a huge post factor in the playoffs, he did get some pt. but we also had ben who was a factor in the paint (its true, though maybe unpopular) sheed and prince played in the paint more. chauncy penetrated more. we conceded turning the ball over so that we could get it inside.

now? we lead the league in fewest turnovers every year. but who gives a shit? having fewest int's in football doesnt mean shit if you throw joey harrington checkdowns every throw.

flip is dumb as shit. he designs a system that relies on jumpshots. players shoot best when they have fresh legs. flip insists on wearing his key players out by march.

its another embarrassing exit from the playoffs this year. flip playing the bench in december was an aberation, he'll probably go out of his way to not play the bench goign forward just to make up for it.

[Matt]

when was Ben Wallace ever a factor in the paint? we are talking offense, right? you mean back in 03-04 when he was shooting 42% FG and averaging 9 ppg?

i think Flip Saunders is an average coach. but i don't agree with him getting most of the criticism for the team's recent playoff futility. the players have to be held accountable, and I think much of it starts with Chauncey. he's been holding the ball longer than I remember and he's been making lots of crappy decisions. more than i seem to remember and i don't think he gets enough blame.

there are plenty of other flaws on this team (like most other teams), but i think it's an easy out to say Flip is the cause of everything.

[b-diddy]

and 9 pts isnt bad out of your center. especially on that team. hell, mcdyess is only getting us 10.1 ppg. i bet ben had more dunks in 04 than anyone on our team will have this year.

i would love for someone to beable to dig up our points in the paint historicals for the last 5 years, it would probably be hilarious. i tried 82games but i dont think that chart history.

[b-diddy]

http://cbs.sportsline.com/nba/dunk-o-meter/yearly

maxiell is leading us with 46 dunks this year so far. thats a little better than 1 a game.

cool page, worth checking out. my boy bynum at #2 is pretty cool. yao at #7 is shocking.

[Matt]

i bet ben had more dunks in 04 than anyone on our team will have this year.

"come on, now"



edit: ah, you beat me to it, bdiddy.

[Matt]

btw, where exactly is the "paint" measured when talking about points in the paint? Is it just the circle where they measure charging? Or is it a larger fixed radius with the basket being the center? Or is it the "lane" below the FT line, bordered by where the rebounders line up for FTs?

[Zekyl]

We shoot plenty of jumpers from that lane. Do those count as points in the paint?