Posts tagged ‘Rip Hamilton’

A source close to the situation told FanHouse the Pistons are committed to trading Richard Hamilton by the upcoming offseason.

Hamilton, who turns 32 next month, has three more years left after this one at a total of $34 million.

Pistonscast Response…

THANK GOD!!!

Leadership is one of those words that can be difficult to nail down a concrete definition for. In terms of basketball, I believe a leader is the one who takes on the responsibility of successfully accomplishing the specific goal set by the team.

I think the question of leadership is the only difference between Rodney Stuckey and some of the NBA’s great young point guards like Chris Paul, Deron Williams, and Derrick Rose. All three are  proven leaders who’s play determines the outcome of games every night.

In only his rookie season, Derrick Rose was clearly the leader of the Chicago Bulls and the heart and soul of the team. So far, Stuckey hasn’t impacted his team quite as much as Rose has in Chicago, but he has shown signs of greatness.

In Stuckey’s defense, unlike the other guards previously mentioned, he hasn’t really had the same opportunity to be a leader. As a rookie, his job for Detroit was to be back-up to Chauncey Billups. The following season he had more opportunities but with the constant line-up changes, it still was some time before his role was clearly defined

Now, with the dawning of a new day in Detroit, is this the season for Rodney Stuckey or will another player step up and become the leader of the Detroit Pistons?

Join Pistonscast LIVE on blogtalkradio Monday, July 27^th at 6:00pm, when we discuss who the Detroit Pistons next number one guy will be.

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GO PISTONS!!

I never thought the day would come that I would endorse this trade…

Its such a sad day, but this must be done.

Its time for Richard “Rip” Hamilton to be traded to the Utah Jazz for the often injured Carlos Boozer.

If you listen to Episode 112, I emphatically said Carlos Boozer will never play for the Detroit Pistons.

The reason I said Boozer would not be Piston is I thought we were going to spend 12 to 14 million dollars to acquire him via the 2009 free agency market.

When a re-emerging team like the Pistons have 19 million in cap room and you spend 75% on Boozer that doesn’t equate to a logical acquisition.

But, Boozer opted to stay with Utah Jazz and I was relieved.  I knew we could pursue a great young talent like Charlie Villanueva who I think can be an All-Star by 2011.

As much as signing Charlie V makes sense, Ben Gordon creates a lot of questions marks.

Is he tall enough, is his defense good enough, and will he be happy coming off the bench.

These are all issues that you have to consider because the 6′1 ish Ben Gordon is now the highest paid player on the Detroit Pistons.  (Money=Stardom & Ego)

But as many questions as Gordon creates, he also provides multiple answers.

He can score on anyone in the NBA, he’s a deadly and consistent long range shooter and he’s only 26.

As much as experience counts for in the NBA, its a young man’s league.

Mr. Rip Hamilton is 31 years old and his play will only decline in the future.

I think your highest paid player, (Ben Gordon) should start for the simple economic fact of getting your money’s worth.

If I was the President of a company, I would not have my highest paid employee only work part-time.

That employee would work the long hours needed to get the job done.

Ben Gordon can’t help us win a championship off the bench. I need him to start and play 38 minutes a game, to go hard on defense and average 22 points a game.

I need him to be on the court as much as possible with Rodney Stuckey and Tayshaun Prince to establish the rapport needed to continue the championship culture that Joe Dumars started to create in 2002.

It’s obvious that Richard Hamilton will not be happy off the bench, remember when he said this… “Something’s got to give. I’m all for doing whatever it takes for the team, but coming off the bench with us not winning, something’s got to change”said Hamilton.

Rip’s already called his shot and for the Detroit Pistons to get another step closer to contending for a championship we need all the firepower we can get in our starting 5.

Right now our top five players are, Stuckey, Gordon, Hamilton, Prince, and Villanueva.

Doesn’t that look eerily similar to small ball?

How quickly do we forget that Pistons fans worldwide could not stand that lineup.

And you know what, the Detroit Pistons players hated that “Small Ball” lineup even more.

With all that said, how often in the NBA are trades for All-Star caliber players fair. (Not Often)

If we can trade Richard Hamilton for Carlos Boozer, WE MUST TAKE THAT DEAL.

Utah’s weakness has always been at shooting guard, and if they really love Paul Milsap then they should be happy to make this switch.

Rip should be happy to go to Utah’s because he can play with what he desperately needs, a point guard.

In my opinion, the young Deron Williams looks like a more polished, pass first version of Chauncey Billups.

If you’re Utah, a your starting five is Deron Williams, Richard Hamilton, Andrei Kirilenko, Paul Milsap and Memo Okur, then you are honestly ready to compete for the NBA championship.

Will you win one, probably not, but with the sometimes volatile Ron Artest and the often injured Andrew Bynum starring on the Los Angeles Lakers, anything can happen.

The new look Pistons would practically be complete, Rodney Stuckey at PG, Ben Gordon at SG, Tayshaun Prince at SF, Charlie Villanueva at PF, and Carlos Boozer at C.

Thats a starting five that would compete well against any team in the NBA.

Don’t forget the Pistons have one of the best, training staffs in the league.  If Boozer comes to town and listens to what they have to say, he should be able to stay on the court for 70+ games and most importantly be ready for the 2010 playoff push.

And remember if this Boozer merger doesn’t work, Carlos will still be a 2010 free agent…

Peace,

John W. Davis

Pistonscast.com

Got a question for Pistonscast.com? Send it to John W. Davis. And for Pistonscast news and updates follow John on Twitter.

Pistons guard Richard Hamilton is expected to return to the court on Saturday against the Wizards after missing six straight games with a groin injury.

Hamilton has been sidelined a total of 14 games by the injury this season.

Detroit coach Michael Curry also indicated that forward Rasheed Wallace might return from a calf injury against Washington.

VIA DETROIT FREE PRESS

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If the Pistons ever needed a starter more than right now… You get my point, my drift and I’m sure you share my happiness!  Rip is back against his former team!  LETS GO RIP!  Let’s go Detroit!

Good News, since we are the 7th seed 8th seed at the moment, we are still currently matched up right about there with Orlando in the 1st round because they have taken over the Number 2 Seed! So if we have to be the 7th seed I’m rooting for Orlando to be the Number 2!  Where ever you go Orlando… we will follow! LOL

I know we only have a handful of games left but if we can win at least 9 games to close out the season we can still get that Number 5 spot! (But I’ll take any match up against Orlando in the 1st round!)

Let’s start moving forward with this next one against the Wizards!

Peace,

John W. Davis

www.pistonscast.com

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If only Chauncey stayed…

by Eric Woodyard

Rarely in basketball, let alone professional basketball, does a team truly embrace the concept of a brotherhood that surpasses the overall sport. The Adidas ads may campaign this act but if there was one team that was successful in doing so, it had to be the Detroit Pistons (post-Stackhouse and pre-Iverson). So why break it up?

I guess you never really realize what you have until it’s gone. Chauncey Billups was the most integral piece to the puzzle of the brotherhood and everyone in the state of Michigan was aware of this except for Joe D., which is why he acted in such a pedant manner to acquire Allen Iverson. The brotherhood was so hermetic because all of the siblings were at a point in their career where they were still trying to burnish their skills and find their niches. A.I. was already polished, which has took the brothers a while to get used to. He’s been like a spoiled step child who has been asked to live in poverty as well as do chores (cough…defense) and it’s been rough. Now on a night when their biological brother, Mr. Big Shot, returns home after being shipped off, this is what happened…

Pregame

Fans were peering from the stands with cameras, cell phones, and camcorders looking to snatch a memory of Chauncey Billups in his new powder blue uniform as he took part in the shoot around with his new team. I seen well over 100 Billups jerseys in the red, white and blue, but I am pretty confident that no one in the stands was sporting his new Nuggets jersey.

Billups posters were everywhere that read things like “Chauncey You’ll Always Be in Our Hearts,” “Welcome Back, Mr. Big Shot,” and many other sincere quotes. The funniest one that I read had a photo of Joe Dumars with the thinking box over his head as well as a photo of Billups and Iverson hugging in their new uniforms that said “What Was I Thinking.” Everyone was very supportive of Chauncey in his first visit back to the Palace of Auburn Hills and the vibe was electric.

While walking to my seat on the press row, I realized the magnitude of this game when I spotted a name tag that read “Stephen A. Smith-ESPN.” This caught me off guard because in all of the games that I have covered, not once have I ever seen Stephen A.’s name, and I was ecstatic.

He’s home again.As clock ticked and the teams flocked onto the center court, the intensity was felt all through the building. I’m not sure if the fans were being supportive of Billups or for the Pistons but they were a little more enthusiastic than usual. This set the stage for his introduction from John Mason where he introduced him as “Still the deal from Park Hill… Chaunceeeey B-B-B-Bill-ups!” The crowd went nuts as they cheered for a few minutes as Chauncey held his hand in the air to show his gratitude with that broad smile. The same broad smile that helped put Detroit back on the basketball map. The same broad smile that captured a NBA championship and Finals MVP in 2004. The same broad smile that inherited several endorsements during his stint in Motown.

In-Game
From the tip off, it was apparent that Chauncey had something to prove. His leadership skills were still on display as he directed his team to the right spots with his excellent hand signals, his muscles were still peering out of his jersey (no homo), and his skills were still pin point as usual.

In the first quarter, he put on a shooting exhibition as he connected on five of his first seven shots for 13 points including a sick pull up jumper over Rip Hamilton that had the crowd cheering. For the rest of the game he proceeded to shoot the lights out at the Palace as he finished with 34 points on 11-19 shooting.

Rip tried to take on the challenge of guarding hiRip tried.m, but it was a tough burden as he finished the game with 21 points. Despite Chauncey’s heroics, the Pistons still looked great as they played great defense down the stretch. Midway through the fourth quarter I caught up with Stephen A. Smith to get his take on the situation in Motown.

SLAM: Are you surprised by the recent success that the Pistons have had without A.I. in the lineup?
Stephen A. Smith: No. Because as great of a scorer as Allen Iverson is, when you bring in somebody that’s basically a foreign element to a system that’s been running pretty much like a machine for the last six or seven years, there’s going to be some kinks in their army. You’re going to see them struggle a little bit, but when he goes out than you can revert back to form because you can start doing things that you normally were accustomed to doing in the previous six years. That’s all that happened with Iverson. Of course he’s a great scorer, he’s a great talent, we all know that, but he was the only foreign entity to this system and because he’s such a great talent, you have to adjust when he’s out on the floor. You can’t ignore him, if you’re his teammates whereas once he leaves, you can get back to old form.

SLAM: I’ve been hearing a lot of opinions, but what is your official opinion about the Iverson/Billups trade after having some time to see it play out?
SAS: I feel like it was the right move and I feel like it was the right move for both teams. Chauncey’s a great PG, a Champion! But in the case of Iverson you shade Billups’ $39 million off the cap; you shade Rasheed Wallace numbers coming off at the end of the year. That’s about the future, that’s why you make a deal like that.

SLAM: Do you think the Pistons will make a good run in the Playoffs this season?
SAS: No, No!

Although the Detroit Pistons would go on to defeat the Denver Nuggets, 100-95, Stephen A. still seemed confident in his opinion and a win wouldn’t seem to change his mind.

Post Game

Rather than a traditional post game interview in the visiting locker room, a special press conference was given to Chauncey immediately following the game. As Pistons head coach, Michael Curry exited the podium; Billups stepped up to give a few quotes a couple of minutes later. When he entered the room, you could feel his aura as his earrings blinged with the shining lights. “I’m ready when you guys are…” Billups says.

The conference lasted a little over seven minutes and he spoke candidly on a few topics. (The full questions are the ones that I directly asked him.)

On being nervous:
“Nah I wasn’t nervous, I was more excited. It was just an unbelievable reception that the fans gave me here and it’s really no words that really can explain how good it made me feel. I felt appreciated, I felt very very appreciated for my years here and I want you guys to know that I appreciate the time that I spent here and how you guys all treated me. It was great to feel appreciated.”

Was it tough to stay focused playing against your old teammates who you went to war with for so many years?
“Nah, I was able to stay focused out there, [but] it was weird man, I got to admit. At halftime I started walking toward their tunnel a little bit, but I had to snap out of it and take a left so it was weird, man.”

When you seen certain players checking you did you feel like it was easier to score because you know their defensive tendencies?
“Nah, not really, I just wanted to be aggressive. Without Melo, I knew it was going to be tough. We needed another playmaker out there and I knew that I had to be aggressive and try to make a game of it and we did that.”

Going against Rip:
“That was funny, Rip is always out there jumping around and smacking and all that crazy stuff. I was just wishing we were in the bonus time because I was just gonna attack him and get on the free throw line. Rip is, as you guys know, a very crafty and pesky defender.”

Conversation with Rip after the game:
“We just talked about competing against each other. It’s been a long, long time. I was in Minnesota and he was in Washington that last time we competed against each other like that and it was fun. It was a lotta fun. We push each other to the limit outside of our close friendship, we compete and we battle out there. We just talked a little about that.”

Watching the Pistons struggle:
“Of course I don’t like to see them struggle, and I’m happy that they’re in a good place right now, playing a lot better, but I think it kind of shows what I meant to the team and the things hat I did without even showing up on the paper. So they’re in a good place, I’m happy about that and I hope they win the rest of their games because we don’t have to play them no more.”

Was trade motivation?
“Well it was a little bit of motivation. My motivation really was just that I still got a lot of years left and that I’m not old and I can still lead and I can still take charge. I didn’t want people just to think that I was a great player just because I played in this system with a lot of other great players. I want people to know that I’m a great player in any system and I can be effective in any system, so that was my challenge and the reason I was able to have a good season.”

On the ovation:
“It was fun but I was a little embarrassed so I didn’t want it to go on too long but it was a great feeling.”

What he will remember:
“The thing I will remember the most is what happened before the game with the ovation, people standing and cheering, screaming and going crazy. I’ll never forget that. As far as regular season games go I’ll never forget my first game back in Detroit. No matter what and it’s been a lot of great big games that we’ve played in but I won’t forget this one. I may forget the game and what happened but the ovation and the warm welcome that the fans gave, I will never forget that.”

As Billups charged out of the room, all of the media followed him. He acknowledged every person in his path, including all of the workers in the building. He was awarded the game ball before he left as well. If only he would have stayed!

Peace,

Eric Woodyard

www.slamonline.com

(This article is comes to Pistonscast Courtesy Eric Woodyard and slamonline.com)

VIA DET NEWS:

ORLANDO, Fla. — Allen Iverson will not play tonight against Orlando, and he is questionable for the game Sunday in Boston.

Results of an MRI on his ailing back Friday came back negative, but the team has sent him back to Detroit for more tests.

Coach Michael Curry announced Friday that Iverson would be coming off the bench the rest of the season, with Richard Hamilton moving back into the starting lineup.

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What’s Going on World?

John W. Davis here.  The Pistons have finally made the shake-up that they desperately needed.  It’s not just because of his ailing back but Allen “AI” Iverson is going to the bench for good!  That’s right, for the rest of the season.  I can say I saw this coming… AH HA!

Check out an excerpt from yesterday’s post:

————–

” Stuckey will continue to start. I repeat he will continue to start.  (SIGH…)  Coach Curry says he’s not considering sending Stuckey to the bench.  Rip is obviously not happy coming off the bench and losing.  I know that Iverson is hurt right now with his back injury but could a starting lineup change be on the way?

Are the Pistons finally going take the reins away from Iverson?”

————–

The Pistons finally made a move.  Something had to give and I’m glad it did!

Peace,

John W. Davis

www.pistonscast.com

Pistons.com Detroit v. New Orleans Quote of the Day:

Rip Hamilton…

On Playing Most of the Game Without Allen Iverson: “The way we’ve have been starting, is the way [head coach Michael Curry] wants. I’ve said I’m happy to come off the bench as long as we’re winning. But we’re losing. We’re now 4-12 with me coming off the bench. Something’s got to give. I’m all for doing whatever it takes for the team, but coming off the bench with us not winning, something’s got to change.”

(Thanks to Matt from the AU for all the great pics and the link.)

*Other Pistons Points to ponder…

 Stuckey will continue to start. I repeat he will continue to start.  (SIGH…)  Coach Curry says he’s not considering sending Stuckey to the bench.  Rip is obviously not happy coming off the bench and losing.  I know that Iverson is hurt right now with his back injury but could a starting lineup change be on the way?

Are the Pistons finally going take the reins away from Iverson?

 
What’s Going on World?

John W. Davis here. It’s time for some drastic measures. I’ll get right to the point.

Here is the Pistonscast: Deven and John 3-point plan to salvage this season.

1. Let the young guys play every game. Afflalo, Amir, and Max need their playing time like Rip needs his mask.

2. Let AI lead. Simple enough. He wants to do it. At this point, we can’t get worse.

3. Rodney Stuckey: Don’t be afraid to sit him down to send a message to him. As super as Stuck was at the beginning of the season he is still a young player. Don’t be afraid to teach him a lesson.

Honorable Mention: Continue to let Rip Hamilton lead off the bench. Let Rip be Rip.

*Also listen to Episode 89 for a special edition of Calling Coach Curry.

Peace,

John W. Davis

www.pistonscast.com

What’s Going Pistonscast Posse?

Oh where, Oh where is Rodney Stuckey’s aggressiveness?

That’s the question of the day.

Matter of fact, it’s the question of the week.

If we are going to beat Boston, we need the young Thunder Cat, Superstar version of Mr. Stuckey! Rodney, you have already proven that you can practically score at will. When you score 40 points in the NBA, you have ascended to the next level. However the next level means new responsibilities.

*Is Rodney Stuckey ready to dominate every game?……………………

Another question in my mind, is if the “new” 20 point and 10 rebound Rasheed Wallace for real? I sure hope so. He is playing out of position every night but he is so skilled that he gets it done when he wants to.

Its so frustrating but when Sheed is on, all of his past transgressions go out the window. When he is not playing well, they all fly right back into the window and bring our team down.  But you can’t blame Rasheed because we all knew he was this type of player before he came to the Pistons.

*Are we going to get Rasheed……………

or

Roscoe?……………………………………..

These are the question in my mind.

What are yours?

Peace,

John W. Davis

www.pistonscast.com