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By trading Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson, the Detroit Pistons began the process of dismantling the core of the team that lived in the Conference Finals this decade in order to bring in cap flexibility, and along with it, the potential of new talent. However, by keeping Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton (as well as bringing back Ben Wallace), and adding in Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva, the Pistons created a disharmonious roster. Some are too old (Wallace, Prince, Hamilton, Chucky Atkins), some are too young (Rodney Stuckey, rookie Jonas Jerebko, rookie Austin Daye). Some are finesse players (Villanueva, Gordon, Jerebko), and some are brutes (Stuckey, Jason Maxiell). Some are defensive minded (Prince, Wallace, Maxiell), while some are defensively impotent (Villanueva, Jerebko, Gordon). Some rely on offensive continuity (Hamilton, Gordon, Prince), while others strictly want to go one-on-one (Villanueva, Stuckey). With such a poor mixture of players, it’s no wonder why the Pistons were blown out of the water by the New York Knicks 104-87. Detroit started the game by running various baseline cross screens, then down screens, that were ineffective because of the Knicks habit of switching all screens. Instead of establishing open shots because of the screens, the Pistons gained no advantage. Even mismatches were hard to come by since the Knicks start Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, and Jared Jeffries, three players with comparable size. Forced out of their continuity, Detroit was forced to attempt various isolations and post ups from a standstill. Too bad that’s not Hamilton, Prince, and Stuckey’s game. No wonder when the smoke cleared, Ben Gordon entered the game, and Detroit made its first real adjustments, Stuckey was 1-4, Prince 1-2, and Hamilton 0-5. Hamilton was noticeably rusty after missing much of the season due to various ankle and hamstring injuries. Of Hamilton’s 6-21 performance, he went a combined 0-5 on two post ups and three isolations. While going one-on-one was never Hamilton’s forte, he only performed 2-9 on catch-and shoots whether spotting up or on the move. Hamilton’s other attempts came on a curl (1-1), various screen/rolls or handoff/rolls (2-5), and in early offense (0-1). Prince played okay defense and was never a factor on offense—1-4 FG, 2 PTS. The worse the roster the Pistons field, the more Prince doesn’t fit in. Stuckey—6-13 FG, 8 REB, 5 AST, 1 TO, 15 PTS—has trouble getting Detroit into second and third offensive options and is best served as a scoring guard off the bench. Stuckey’s strong enough to bull his way to the rim and has a decent enough jump shot (2-4) to make him a complete offensive scorer, but he’s not quick enough to play the two and not sufficient enough to play the point. The failure of Stuckey to develop into a prototypical point guard is one of the myriad reasons why the Pistons offense has been so stale the last pair of seasons. Aside from a steal of David Lee in the backcourt, Wallace simply went through the motions defensively and was embarrassed by David Lee. Wallace can still rouse himself once every two weeks into a standout performance, but the more he realizes that the team is going nowhere, the less effort he’ll bring. It’s a wonder why he was brought back, except for nostalgia purposes. Jerebko plays defense like a rookie, was pushed around on the boards, and didn’t do much of note on the offensive end besides finishing broken plays—4-9 FG, 9 PTS. He even had his shot blocked in transition, a telltale sign of a lack of athleticism necessary to succeeding in the NBA. Wilcox offered no defensive resistance and his athletic one-handed alley-oop slam reminded NBA watchers of his fantastic athleticism and his fantastically disappointing career. Atkins made his open jumpers—3-4 FG, 1-2 3FG, 7 PTS—period. Daye can run and jump but needs to work on his jump shot, and needs to get stronger. Maxiell played hard, but didn’t accomplish much—zero rebounds in 12 minutes. Whenever Charlie Villanueva touched the ball, he shot it—0-4 FG, 0-2 3FG, 0 PTS. Fortunately for Detroit, his teammates didn’t pass him the ball very often. Defense, passing, rebounding? Nope, Villanueva only plays with the ball in his hands. How did a team give this loser a 30 million dollar contract? Indeed, Gordon was the only player aside from Stuckey who could create his own offense—6-9 FG, 2-3 3FG, 17PTS—and Gordon succeeds at most of the same catch-and-shoot schemes that have been in Detroit for years thanks to Hamilton. Too bad Gordon is in the perfect role for him as a sixth man, and can’t do a thing about fixing the starting lineup. It’s hard to figure out what Joe Dumars’ plan is for the Pistons. With roughly $50 million in salaries committed to next year, they aren’t going to be players in this offseason’s free agent bonanza, especially when Gordon, Prince, and Hamilton will be making over $10 million. Is the team still a team based on defense and execution? Do they want to be an isolation team? Do they consider themselves potential contenders, or are they concerned with the future? Nobody knows what the Pistons are, except a bad basketball team.

He has nothing on Brian Cushing... wow