McCosky: Stern's edict has changed the game/Time for an evolution

[JS]

I think the question we must ask ourselves is who is expendable? I mean regardless of the love we have for Ben, the fact is next season his contract will be bloated. He will no longer be steal in terms of the cap. So is it logical that we move him just on that fact? I don't know. Or is it better to attempt to trade Tay , who now has a bigger deal now but is perhaps one of the best two way players and still has huge upside? Or lastly do we trade Sheed? If we trade Sheed what is fair value? Is a guy like Odom enough or too much? Would the Knicks be willing to part with Frye and filler for Sheed ?

There are a lot of questions and a lot of possibilities not all are appealing to fans on the surface.

[Hermy]

I think the question we must ask ourselves is who is expendable? I mean regardless of the love we have for Ben, the fact is next season his contract will be bloated. He will no longer be steal in terms of the cap. So is it logical that we move him just on that fact? I don't know. Or is it better to attempt to trade Tay , who now has a bigger deal now but is perhaps one of the best two way players and still has huge upside? Or lastly do we trade Sheed? If we trade Sheed what is fair value? Is a guy like Odom enough or too much? Would the Knicks be willing to part with Frye and filler for Sheed ?

There are a lot of questions and a lot of possibilities not all are appealing to fans on the surface.

Keeping Ben, with or without a bloated contract, is appealing to me. Is it to Davidson?

[Gecko]

I think the question we must ask ourselves is who is expendable? I mean regardless of the love we have for Ben, the fact is next season his contract will be bloated. He will no longer be steal in terms of the cap. So is it logical that we move him just on that fact? I don't know. Or is it better to attempt to trade Tay , who now has a bigger deal now but is perhaps one of the best two way players and still has huge upside? Or lastly do we trade Sheed? If we trade Sheed what is fair value? Is a guy like Odom enough or too much? Would the Knicks be willing to part with Frye and filler for Sheed ?

There are a lot of questions and a lot of possibilities not all are appealing to fans on the surface.

Sheed and Ben are the only expendable players in my opinion. Which one would bring more interest in the open market I think is a good debate. I could make a case for and against each one.

[detroitsportscity]

Ben - works hard, plays hard, gets dirty, plays D, lives and loves the Pistons.

Sheed - doesn't work, whines, plays like a situational 2 guard(Steve Kerr-esque) and his defense isn't what it has been, IMO.

Trade Sheed.

Not sure for who/what, but he would be the one I would trade if the return is even close to similar.

[metr0man]

keep Ben and dump Sheed for a low post offensive threat.

[b-diddy]

wow, i didnt know david stern could change the rule on us just becuase we went up 2-0 on lebron.... oh wait, he made these rule changes 2 years ago, before we made it to game 7 of the finals?!?! oh shit, guess that kind of shoots down mcworthless's article, huh?

hes full of shit (not saying he's wrong about ben). last year we were fine playing D. this yaer we were fine playing D--till the pistons crapped the bed. all of the sudden the rules are the problem? please.

and since when do people agree with mccosky on this board? i though he was universally considered a joke.

[b-diddy]

oh yea, if you want to blame a rule, blame the tech count rule. thats why the pistons are playing like theyre neutered. because sheed cant get fired up anymore.

[Uncle Mxy]

wow, i didnt know david stern could change the rule on us just becuase we went up 2-0 on lebron.... oh wait, he made these rule changes 2 years ago, before we made it to game 7 of the finals?!?! oh shit, guess that kind of shoots down mcworthless's article, huh?

hes full of shit (not saying he's wrong about ben). last year we were fine playing D. this yaer we were fine playing D--till the pistons crapped the bed. all of the sudden the rules are the problem? please.

Having Rasheed for a full season, most folks expected the Pistons to crack 60 wins for the 2005 regular season. While there were other factors (brawl, LB), one big factor was being called for bullshit fouls relentlessly during those first couple months owing to new defensive calling by the refs. LB had the same complaints. We adjusted to some degree, but we've rarely been allowed to apply the 48 mpg constant defensive pressure that used to be commonplace. Some other teams never really adjusted. Flip's Minny team went from being a better defensive team to mediocre once Trenton Handcheck stopped being useful under the new rules. We didn't see nearly as much of the "no tight D" stuff in the 2005 playoffs as we have in 2006. "Playoff basketball" used to be more physical.

[b-diddy]

ok, well we still made it to the finals last year. maybe it hurt us, but we went from a dominant team (when we wanted to be) last year, to what appeared to be an alltime great team this year, to complete shit 3 weeks ago. but fine, its the hand check rules.

[realistic]

Joe may be a visionary. But if he knew he was gonna unload a Wallace, he would have hung on to Darko.