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Originally Posted by TheUntouchable
Sheed and Dice are good.
In their prime they are awesome, but now they're good but still old.
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Originally Posted by TheUntouchable
Debatable, but doubtful. Villanueva is a sieve on defense and Sheed is still very good on defense.
Poor defense can be corrected at least to the point of being average (unless you're really small), so I'm not too worried about this. Here's last years stat break down for both players:
Villa:
PPG: 16.2, FG%: 45, 3P%: 35,
FT%: 84, RPG: 6.7, STL: .6, BLK: .7,
AST: 1.8, TO: 1.8
Sheed: PPG: 12, FG%: 42, 3P%: 35, FT%: 77,
RPG: 7.4, STL: .9, BLK: 1.3, AST: 1.4,
TO: .9
Bold = better than the other.
Another interesting factor is that V played only 26.9 min while Sheed played 32.2 min. Imagine what V's stats would look like if he played say 35 minutes, an amount a young player should be able to handle. I think V's offensive production under the assumption of more mins is enough to outweigh the areas Sheed has an advantage in. I know this is ultimately highly subjective, but I still believe V is better than Sheed now. Not close to Sheed in his prime though.
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Originally Posted by TheUntouchable
This is very lol. Dice was above average last year and Wilcox is literally completely worthless on both ends of the floor.
Lets compare stat lines.
Wilcox: PPG: 7.2, FG%: 50, FT%: 56, RPG 4.5, STL: .4, BLK: .3, AST: .8, TO: 1.2
Dice:
PPG: 9.6, FG%: 51, FT%: 70, RPG 9.8, STL: .7, BLK: .8, AST: 1.3, TO: .8
Ok, it appears Dice dominates, but wait. Dice got those numbers playing 30.1 min a game. Wilcox only played 16.9 minutes! On a per minute basis, Wilcox has Dice thoroughly beat in the points category and is pretty close to Dice in most other categories. Although Wilcox's TO per min and FT% is very poor relative to Dice. I grant you that Dice may have the overall edge, but I think it's close especially when you also factor in that Wilcox is expected to improve given his age while Dice is on the downside of his career.
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Originally Posted by TheUntouchable
This is ldo, but Gordon still sucks on D.
Again, Gordon has a body that is serviceable for at least average defense and given his age and experience, I'm betting he improves on this front.
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Originally Posted by TheUntouchable
Hamilton has already shown a small decline and it will continue.
I'm not convinced of this yet. Hamilton's biggest drop offs last year happened in FG%: From 48% to 45% and 3P%: From 44% to 37%. I believe this is largely because of the loss of Billups and the fact that Hamilton and Iverson never fit in together on the court. Now Iverson is gone and Stuckey, although not at Billups level, still stands to improve significantly. Both these factors should boost Hamilton's stats. I know Hamilton missed 15 games last year due to injury but I'm not convinced that's age related given that Hamilton is still only 31.
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Originally Posted by TheUntouchable
Kwame Brown staying the same is still awful Kwame Brown.
Truedat.
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Originally Posted by TheUntouchable
This can be said about the rookies on any team in the league. Be more objective and less of a hopeful fan. It's very unlikely any of them significantly contribute this year.
I just think the addition of these guys is a small plus to the team. I'm not going overboard here. I certainly like these guys better than Amir Johnson, Walter Sharpe and Alex Acker.
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Originally Posted by TheUntouchable
This is just blah blah blah sports writer stuff and doesn't have any substance so I'm not really gonna comment.
You really think the Piston's chemistry this year will be as bad as last year? We can only improve in this area. The conflicts between Hamilton and Curry, Iverson and Curry, and the overall conflict between Iverson and the team and perhaps Curry and the team. This hurricane of problems is highly unlikely to happen again this year. And there's reason to believe that's the case. Hamilton, Stuckey, and Prince have good chemistry together. Villanueva and Gordon have a good chemistry going. Gordon doesn't mind playing off the bench like Iverson did.
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Originally Posted by TheUntouchable
My main point is that "Much Better" is a ridiculous thing to say about this team and their best case scenario is getting annihilated in the first round of the playoffs.
Says you. I see things differently. I see a team that will win 50 games. I see a team that will not only get to the 2nd round but they will give that team hell too. This team will not die easily like last year. Whatever team faces the Pistons in the 2nd round will walk away thinking, "Man I'm glad we don't have to play those guys again."