RealGM

If Rick was on good terms with management and he signed on for another 4-5 years and still did the Sheed trade, would the Pistons 3 peat? I still feel the 05 Pistons and Spurs are soo close that it's seriously a toss up. I think if they didn't have the drama they had with Brown, they would have a good shot at repeating. Also, that means after 06, Ben Wallace is likely to resign with the Pistons and I'm confident we could of beat Cleveland with a good defensive system and Wallace instead of old man Webber.


2004-I have the Pistons winning in four. Kobe's shot was clutch, I'll give him that. However, chances are he'll miss a shot like that instead of make it. Lakers were lucky they weren't swept.

2005-Again, I think without the Brown Drama I say Detroit takes it in 7. Not saying it would be easy but I still feel the Pistons were better than the Spurs. Call me a homer but I truly feel, had Horry not hit that 3 in game 5, I could see Detroit winning in 6 instead of 7. With that said, I still feel SA deserved it. I hated them for a while after we lost but I respect the hell out of them.

2006-If the Pistons got to a 3rd finals, I'd say they most likely win in 5 or 6. Not going to lie but even know I still feel the refs favored Wade, I also feel both teams are overrated. Both lost in the first round the following season. It would still be a challenge however.

2007-Probably the year they get gassed and fall short of the finals(or even lose in the finals).

I'm not sure, Rasheed really bought ib partly because it was Larry Brown, prior to the trade he was becoming a huge distraction in Portland.

Moose10Fan wrote:I'm not sure, Rasheed really bought ib partly because it was Larry Brown, prior to the trade he was becoming a huge distraction in Portland.

Sheed was already out of Portland. We got him from the Hawks (he only played one game for Atlanta).

I'd say no, but yes if they drafted Wade, Bosh or Melo instead of Darko. If the Pistons got that pick right, they'd have won back-to-back with either Carlisle or Larry Brown.

Let me be clear, I despise Larry Brown for the crap he pulled when he wanted to ditch us for his "dream job" in New York. That said, we don't win any championships without him; he was as responsible for putting us over the top in '04 as Sheed. Plus, as has been mentioned, it was the UNC connection between Brown and Sheed which really brought out the best in him and convinced Sheed to re-sign with us (remember, when we traded for him it was widely-speculated that he would be nothing more than a half-season rental on his way to, ironically enough, the Knicks).

Plus, it wasn't Brown's drama that cost the Pistons the '05 Finals against the Spurs; again, ironically enough, it was Sheed leaving Robert Horry wide open at the three point line at the end of game five.

Like I said, I will always hate Larry Brown, but I also won't deny him his due.

I don't think so...I think missing out on drafting one of the greatest SGs of all time is what really cost us.

MrBigShot wrote:I don't think so...I think missing out on drafting one of the greatest SGs of all time is what really cost us.

That then begs the question - Would have have actually turned into what he became (one of the greatest SGs of all time) if the Pistons drafted him, or would he have turned into what Rodney Stuckey became, playing behind Rip Hamilton and Chauncey Billups?

Damon_3388 wrote:

MrBigShot wrote:I don't think so...I think missing out on drafting one of the greatest SGs of all time is what really cost us.

That then begs the question - Would have have actually turned into what he became (one of the greatest SGs of all time) if the Pistons drafted him, or would he have turned into what Rodney Stuckey became, playing behind Rip Hamilton and Chauncey Billups?

Take BPA, ask questions later. Obviously at the time Darko was not considered a reach, but if we could go back and redo the pick...you take Wade regardless of who you have on your team.

The Chauncey/Rip situation is not applicable here, Wade as a prospect was far more talented and more gifted than Stuckey. Had we drafted him, I think eventually the FO and coaching staff would eventually realize that he's a future star and start to build the team around him. It would be less like Stuckey's situation and more like Kobe. He'd probably come off the bench at first, but eventually he would become the franchise player that we've come to know. Talent like his always shines through. I truly believe that DWade would be one of the greatest SGs regardless of what team drafted him.

Yup, I think we would have one a couple more. Carslile, and Thiboudo, those guys have a track record for overachieving teams. Adding Sheed to that lineup brought us up a whole level right in the last 20 games or so. Carslile could have road the train to a title too. Drafting Wade, think if we would have taken him, won a couple, then he charms James to Detroit, we might be looking at 5 more titles right now. It is what it is.

Larry Brown>Rick Carlisle

Even with all the coaching changes, drafting darko, and losing big ben we were still a few eggs laid in big games away from a lot more finals appearances/wins.

I feel trading Chauncey three games into the 2008-09 season was more detrimental to us than losing Carlisle or anything else (drafting Darko, letting Big Ben leave, etc.).