NBA Obsessed takes you into the hit and run game of NBA Basketball.

Allen Iverson doing what he does best

So with Rip Hamilton coming back, who will it be? Allen Iverson or Rip Hamilton in the starting lineup?

Will it be Hamilton, guard Allen Iverson or power forward Amir Johnson?

After practice, Curry said a decision hasn’t been made but his comments seemed to indicate where he was leaning.

“We’ve seen just from the data in our games that we know defensively … it’s no secret when we got two bigs and (Tayshaun Prince) at the three-spot we’re our best defensively and at the end of the day that’s normally what’s going to drive most of our decisions,” Curry said.

If he keeps that line of thinking that would mean either Hamilton or Iverson would come off the bench.

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Allen Iverson has been a surprise to many, as he has played well and the Pistons have been able to win with him in games.

One can’t help but notice that when the younger Pistons, Amir, Maxiell, Stuckey, and Afflalo are in the game the Pistons are much faster and play well with Iverson. When the older Pistons, Prince, Hamilton, and Rasheed Wallace are on the court, it is a much more half court game and the pace is noticeably slower. Iverson does not fit quite as well with that group.

The real question is not who should be starting, but how do you mesh both players into the lineup. The Pistons need the relentless scoring of AI and his up tempo game, but come playoff time the game goes more half court and the curl plays for mid range jumpers by Hamilton become very important to winning.

Coach Curry has to find a way to get both players involved.

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Allen Iverson gets a Michael Curry hug after game winner against Clippers

Allen Iverson a Piston.

Say it over slowly. Aaallleeennn IIIVvveerrsssoonnn aaa Pppiiiissstttooonnn. There, does that feel better?

Yeah, he is trying to fit in and be a good teammate. The Pistons are all about the no star concept. Joe D realized he could win with a bunch of good players or near great players without the superstars. Did he not want superstars? Heck no, he wants them bad, but they are hard to come by and even harder to harness.

Bring in Allen from stage left or Denver. AI wants a title. He can taste it. What better way to go for one than to fit in on a team that goes to the conference finals every year.

This team is the future for Rodney Stuckey, but the present for AI. Joe D may not give him a future in Detroit. His contract is worth too much. AI must win now, so no sacrifice is too great.

If Iverson is less spectacular, he’s also more intriguing than he’s been in a while. For a while he became so wrapped in controversy that we forgot about what he did right. He’s the shortest player among the top 10 career scoring leaders. He was picking himself off the floor and signing up for more punishment long before Dwyane Wade made an ad campaign out of it.

Allen Iverson is now just one of the guys.His presence also makes the Pistons a more compelling story. They aren’t just the same cast of characters we’ve been watching since 2004, give or take a Ben Wallace. And Iverson is trying to do what so many have said he could not: sacrifice for the good of the team. That presents a paradox: To get his place in history, he’ll have to give up his place in history.

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LeBron James with two hands raised

What are you talking about? The Cavaliers and LeBron James are in 1st place, 5 and one half games up on the streaking Pistons.

Oh, not that. The Cavaliers are 2nd in the ESPN Power Rankings by Marc Stein. How does LeBron do it? Other than Mo Williams, there is no one on LeBron’s team of any merit.

This is a big deal, because they had to push out the Boston Celtics to do it and that just does not happen, but the Celtics are slumping or something.

Rajon Rondo says the Celtics are absolutely, positively “not in a slump.” And he’s right. After a 27-2 start, I’d say losing four out of six for the first time ever in the KG-Pierce-Allen era ranks as more than a slump.
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Speaking of my Pistons, they are on a roll with AI and Rodney Stuckey in the starting lineup.

Detroit’s return to the top 10 is the other rankings headline this week, after the Pistons — now 13-3 since moving Rodney Stuckey into the starting lineup — uncharacteristically spent five straight weeks in the teens, ranging from No. 13 to No. 17.

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What do you think?

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As a follow up to the Part I of Rodney Stuckey is candy and a Rose blooms - Part I, your intrepid author would like to show you some interesting comments by Coach Michael Curry of the Detroit Pistons.

Keep in mind, Joe Dumars hired Curry in part because he is such a great student of the game and the players of the game.

This comment came after the Pistons beat the Bulls.

After the game, Pistons coach Michael Curry described Phoenix’s Steve Nash, San Antonio’s Tony Parker and Denver’s Chauncey Billups — who started the season with Detroit but was traded, in part, because of Stuckey’s development — as the gold standard of NBA point guards.

Next, Curry identified New Orleans’ Chris Paul, Utah’s Deron Williams and New Jersey’s Devin Harris as a trio who have “separated themselves … as a young group of guards pushing Nash and Parker and Billups.”

Then he mentioned his own guy.

“I think Stuckey is in a group with Derrick Rose and (Boston’s Rajon) Rondo as the up-and-coming next group of guards,” Curry said. “It’s going to be interesting to see how they all continue to mature and grow as players. All three have different skill sets, but all three have the kind of demeanor that it takes to be very successful in this league.”
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Rodney Stuckey

If you read this column at all, then you realize that your intrepid author is a huge Detroit Pistons fan. There is no reason to hide it and let’s hope it does not turn off any readers. All of you have your favorite teams out there.

That being said, it was a special night when the Pistons played the Chicago Bulls. Derrick Rose would be playing. Rose is excellent. It would be fun to see him play against the powerful Pistons. The Bulls would be outmanned and the defense on Rose and his teammates would be ferocious.

Well, that was what your intrepid author was looking forward to, but that is not what happened. Rodney Stuckey stole the show. Rodney is going to be a great player some day, but it seemed like he was there already.

The second-year guard caught fire early and stayed hot throughout the game as he torched the Bulls for a career-high 40 points in the Pistons’ 104-98 victory.

Stuckey, whose previous career high was 27 points in April at Minnesota, was 15 of 24 from the field, and he made nine of 11 free throws. Stuckey has averaged 18.4 points and 7.4 assists in the seven games since he became a starter.

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Stuckey seemed to be everywhere doing everything. He would drive to the hole and score. He would fake a shot and drop the ball off to Rasheed for a 3. He would fake a drive and fire a pass to Prince for a long range bomb. He would patiently dribble up top until Rip Hamilton became open on the curl play for a mid range patented jumper from Hamilton. If all else failed and the shot clock wore down, then Rodney would go to the hole with a slashing drive and score over Nocioni or some other outmanned Bull.

It was supposed to be about Rose and instead was about Stuckey.

Still my intent was to watch Rose and what he could do. It would be easy to say that Rodney fouled out Rose (and Ben Gordon), but that would miss the point.

Derrick Rose is tall, strong, and oh so quick. He can run the floor and can short jumpers and he can hold up the ball and spot the open man. There is little to work with on the Bulls, but you could tell that Rose is, in Vitale language, a dandy. His quickness is most evident, because he is so big. If you face him as a small guard, then you would expect to at least be quicker, but that would not be the case. Rose is quick, period.

There will be other Rose vs. Stuckey battles and Stuckey will not win them all, but on this night it was all Rodney.
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Allen Iverson getting some love from Coach Michael Curry

So it seems funny that so many fans are suddenly all over Joe Dumars case about the Allen Iverson trade. It is actually pretty rare in sports for both teams to get quality star players in any trade.

In this case Joe D gets a trading A+.

How can this be, you ask? Haven’t they lost a ton of games since AI rode into town, you ask?

Well, it can be and yes they have lost more than they usually seem to lose.

But consider the benefits of this trade.

The transition Dumars so boldly made in dumping Billups and his $36.3 million stretching out through 2010-11 was as shrewd and forward-thinking as it gets in this what-have-you-done-for-me-yesterday league. Clearing cap space by acquiring a huge expiring contract — in Iverson’s case, $21.9 million — is a tried-and-true rebuilding tactic. When the expiring contract is attached to Theo Ratliff, Joe Smith or some other fading veteran, the case can easily be made to fans reaching deep into their pockets that it’s the right move for the future.

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Now did you really think Detroit was going to win it all this year with an aging Billups? Haven’t you noticed how he failed to produce big in the last two playoffs? No knock on Chauncey, but his better days have come and gone. Denver gets a nice boost from Chauncey, because he settles them down and calmly spreads the ball around. That was not going to help the aging Piston starters.

By the way, have you seen AI play with the Piston backups? Amir, Maxiell, Afflalo, and new starter Stuckey, can fly up the floor and blend in better with the attacking Iverson.

Hey, if the experiment fails, AI and Rasheed Wallace will be sent packing and two new young stars will be in their place.

Trading A+.

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Rodney Stuckey can fly past you, but is he ready to pilot the Pistons to victory?

Chauncey Billups was traded for Allen Iverson. Chauncey was on the decline. He no longer dominated in the playoffs and often left the team stagnant. Don’t get me wrong, he was a Piston warrior, but they were not going to win it all with Billups.

AI will share time with Stuckey and bring more speed and penetration to the offense. This will allow more players to play, like Afflalo, Amir, and Maxiell with an up tempo style.

Is AI the answer? Probably not, but change was needed and Chauncey was from Denver. Joe D cut a deal that seems to benefit both teams.

he’s the guy who has averaged more than 40 minutes a game during his NBA career.

And he says he’s ready if the Pistons want him to revert to his old playing style.

“Yeah, that’s just the competitive nature that I have,” said Iverson, 33. “That’s just inside me. I want to be the guy with the ball. I want to be the guy making the decision. But that’s just not the case anymore, and I have to adjust.

“I don’t have a problem with it. I think the bigger picture is winning a championship.”

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Philly is involved in that transition from making the playoffs to being consistently good and challenging to go farther in the playoffs.

EB is not the answer for the 76er’s but he is an important piece to the puzzle.

Philadelphia is still searching for that leader on the court and depending on leadership from the coach. Someone has to rise up and lead with their play. That was the importance of Billups to the Pistons. The 76ers need to find their Billups.

Detroit now belongs to Tayshaun and Stuckey. This will be an experiment due to the fact that neither player has an outgoing personality, a personality to get the team to follow them. This could be where the relentless play of Allen Iverson will fill that void until those players can take over.
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Jason Maxiell taking it to the rack

Coach Michael Curry and the Detroit Pistons have their first victory on the books and Curry played a lot of the young guys. This is the new look Pistons.

Joe Dumars, the masterful GM, is mixing up a new brew for Halloween and many of the future Piston pieces are involved.

You will see Rodney Stuckey, Amir Johnson, and Arron Afflalo playing lots of minutes. It is a massive youth movement after failing to move any of the veteran players in the off season.

The Pistons will be the same, only different.

But Jason Maxiell remained a crucial piece of the pie and they were not sure he would be around.

Jason Maxiell will be a restricted free agent

Maxiell has a game that belongs down on the paint, but he is a couple of inches short, much like Ben Wallace was as a Piston. So how do you resign a guy that other teams want, but will probably never be a starter except under almost perfect team conditions?

In other words, Jason has the long arms, aggressiveness, and perfect shot blocking ability that you want, but the lack of pure size makes him more of a situational player. He can star, but not consistently star.

You don’t want to lose him, but you can’t over pay him. That is the key.

Well, unlike Ben Wallace, they did not lose Jason Maxiell.

Pistons power forward Jason Maxiell accepted a contract offer today and will not become a restricted free agent following the season. The deal is for $20 million over four years.

The deadline for him to reach an agreement was today.

Maxiell, 25, was a first-round pick out of Cincinnati in 2005 and has averaged six points and 3.7 rebounds per game in his career.

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Jason Maxiell will remain a Piston for 4 more years.
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Rodney Stuckey going to the hole

The Pistons have enjoyed phenomenal success through the recent years to the point that making the Conference NBA finals and not making the finals is seen as a major disappointment.

Heck, last year Joe Dumars even put the whole starting team up for fire sale, if anyone would trade for them.

But there is one guy that was ruled untouchable. That guy is 6′ 5″ Rodney Stuckey. Here is a point guard that can go to the hole at will. Here is a point guard that is brimming with confidence and can’t wait for the season to start. Here is a point guard… well you get the point guard point.

New coach Michael Curry has all the confidence in the world in Rodney Stuckey and vice versa.

Curry has indicated that he likes the scoring Stuckey and veteran big man Antonio McDyess could bring from the bench.

“When you have both of those guys anchoring your second unit, it allows your other role players to play their roles and not play outside of themselves,” Curry said.

Stuckey and Curry have formed a mutual admiration society — Stuckey thinks the new coach will fully exploit the talents of the team; Curry has indicated he will emphasize more running and more pressure defense, stuff that Stuckey wants to hear.

“He’s going to give us opportunity to showcase our talent, and when the young guys get out on the court, we are going to do what we do and go out there and play hard and play good defense and it’s going to lead us to victories,” Stuckey said.

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Chauncey Billups cannot believe his hometown Nuggets did not want him

Hey, you had your chance and blew it. It is hard to believe that nobody in the NBA wanted Rasheed Wallace or Chauncey Billups.

It is difficult to fathom that no team could have improved themselves by dealing for Tayshaun Prince or Rip Hamilton. But that is exactly what happened.

Only Rodney Stuckey is untouchable. The rookie showed great promise in the playoffs last year.

Now Joe D says the deals are done. He is still not happy with the way the season ended. On the Piston tour this past week, Joe D says the expectations are the same, NBA Finals or bust.

New coach Michael Curry is supposed to light the fire under their behinds.

It remains to be seen.

Billups, Hamilton and Prince are entering their seventh season in Detroit, hoping to at least advance to the conference finals for the seventh year in a row.

But Dumars is confident new coach Michael Curry will motivate the old nucleus to play hard.

“Part of the reason we hired Michael Curry was that he can instill a sense of urgency in how we play and the discipline that we play with,” Dumars said. “Those two things were missing last year, in my estimation.”
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