Most Important Piston?

[the_l_train]

In terms of who provides us with the best play, night in and night out, and who we would be most severely punished if they were ever to be injured.

I would have to say Rip. I think he hits just as many "big" shots as billups does, and he seems more consistent, plays harder, and doesn't have the cockiness.

I think billups is second, then rasheed, then tay.

[hoophabit]

I'd have to go with it being a tie between Sheed and Chauncey. We don't really have a long-term alternative for either of them. If I had to pick one I guess it'd have to be Sheed as he's our only real center (if you don't count the Slovenian spaz).

[beau]

Tay plays D and occasional offense. Seems like someone from the bench can step up and replace his production. Maybe our good defensive rookie?

Sheed only shows up every third game; Max, Amir, And Mcdyess can pick up the slack

Mcdyess shows up every night, but our bigs on the bench are pretty good.

Rip is the engine on this team, but someone has to pass him the ball.

Billups is the leader on this team and plays great perimeter D. Puts up 18 and 7 and gets rip into a groove every night. This team would have to play completly different without him. He has been the Pistons best player the last several years and still gets my vote this year.

[ajaX82]

Oh its easily Billups. An injury to him kills the team. We can plug in Stuckey or Afflalo to fill in for Hamilton, Max for Sheed, Hayes for Tay and not get killed because of it. But its when Stuckey or Lindsay or Flip run the point that the offense goes to hell in a handbasket.

[the_l_train]

i am just not convinced that billups being out would hurt us as bad as rip would. it is a **** situation if either of them are out, but I think that i would rather see a combo of stuckey/rip, with tay taking care of the ball most, then stuckey/billups.

i think that billups disappears too much during games, something that rip hardly ever does.

[Hunter]

IF Rip has an off night other guys can pick up some of the slack. IF Chauncey has an off night we're usually ****.

IF Tay plays well we usually win. IF Sheed plays well we usually dominate.

Take your pick. I go Chauncey with Sheed is a close 2nd.

[Champs04bigshot]

Sheed IMO is easily the most important to our success. Billups gets a lot of the accolades but if we lose Sheed we lose our best post defender, one of our better three point shooters and now we have no way to get a bucket down low. Dice does not have the ability to get us points in the paint. Sheed gives us key defense, inside/outside scoring and provides the biggest heart and loves to win.

I agree with Charles Barkley and Billups that if Sheed focus like he does in the playoffs night in and night out with the desire to dominate he could be one of the best players in the league. No one in the NBA has the skill set he has. When he comes focused he is easily the best player on this team. He does it on both ends.

I believe Rip would be second because without him i have no idea what our offense would be.

[Hunter]

Sheed IMO is easily the most important to our success. Billups gets a lot of the accolades but if we lose Sheed we lose our best post defender, one of our better three point shooters and now we have no way to get a bucket down low. Dice does not have the ability to get us points in the paint. Sheed gives us key defense, inside/outside scoring and provides the biggest heart and loves to win.

I agree with Charles Barkley and Billups that if Sheed focus like he does in the playoffs night in and night out with the desire to dominate he could be one of the best players in the league. No one in the NBA has the skill set he has. When he comes focused he is easily the best player on this team. He does it on both ends.

I believe Rip would be second because without him i have no idea what our offense would be.

The problem is Sheed really isn't *that* great of a 3 pt shooter (34% is nothing to write home about and worse than Chauncey, Rip, Tay AND Jarvis). It's enough to not be a liability, but shouldn't exactly be his go to move. And unfortunately it is.

I'll the be the first to stand up and say Sheed has the ability to score inside....but he rarely actually does it. Maxiell gives us more of a post-presence than Sheed does and on some nights Dice does too. Even in the post-season.

Sheed is very inconsistent offensively, even when it matters. Over the course of a 7 game series he usually has 1 or 2 brilliant games and then is relatively quiet the rest of the time. His post-defense is always there, but if you wanna talk about how valuable his offense then let's be honest about not just what he's capable of but what he actually does.

IF the question were who's our best player when they are playing well then it's Sheed hands down. When he's on top of his game he's by far the most talented and dominant presence for us. And we almost never lose when he brings that sort of game with him. So by those standards he is the most valuable. IF he plays well - we win. But you just don't get that on a night to night basis from him. It's almost like arguing for a starting pitcher to be the league MVP. Do you really give it to a guy who only plays ever 4 games? *shrug*

[Snakebites]

If Billups plays poorly we look like a lotto team.

If Rasheed plays poorly we look like a lower playoff seed.

If Tay or Rip plays poorly, it depnds on who picks up the slack and how well they do it.

Based on that, its easily C Bill. Partially because he's the brain of the team, and partially because he plays our thinnest position.

[jab]

Jab's team MVP Chauncey

The topic asked 'Most Important Piston'


Jab's answer Tayshaun Prince


Odds of anyone on this board agreeing with me 5%
Odds of anyone changing my mind 0%
Odds of people attempting to change my mind 90%
Odds of me not ready to deal with the consequences of my answer 0%

IMO Tayshaun is the most important Piston because (insert drum roll)

He does all the dirty work and since LB put him in the starting lineup he has never missed a game so I have NO idea how bad we would be trounced if he was not there.

The kid from Compton with Joe D's demeanor is aces in my book.

[nasty daddy]

Would have to be Chauncey.

[bstein14]

Stuckey he's the franchise.

[Low-Ki]

Rasheed Wallace. We're absolutely decimated in the low post without him. He shows up offensively every one in three games, but he always plays very good defense.

[bstein14]

In a Series against the Spurs or Celtics I'd say Sheed.

In a Series against most teams probably Billups.

[Champs04bigshot]

[quote="Hunter"]-= original quote snipped =-
I'll the be the first to stand up and say Sheed has the ability to score inside....but he rarely actually does it. Maxiell gives us more of a post-presence than Sheed does and on some nights Dice does too. Even in the post-season.

Sheed is very inconsistent offensively, even when it matters. Over the course of a 7 game series he usually has 1 or 2 brilliant games and then is relatively quiet the rest of the time. His post-defense is always there, but if you wanna talk about how valuable his offense then let's be honest about not just what he's capable of but what he actually does.quote]

Dice has no low post game and doesnt even go to the block 99 percent of the time. Without Sheed there is absolutely no low post presence. You can say Maxiell does alright some nights but if he was going to be our low post presence you think he could get us buckets against KG, Dwight Howard, Tim Duncan the answer is no and those are the teams we will need a low post presence the most if we want to win a championship. I realize its all about your preference but Sheed defends the best big and can get points on the block and in the playoffs its about defense and getting easy buckets. Thats how you win a championship and Sheed defends the best bigs and is the only player who can consistantly get us points without having to rely on jumpers. I know he doesnt always show up offensively but he does when it matters hes always been clutch his whole career.

[Snakebites]

Low post threat?

This is still Sheed were talking about, right? Nobodies saying he doesnt have the talent for it, but its not a dominant enough part of his arsenal (IE, he doesnt use it enough) for it to enter the argument here.

[prophet_of_rage]

I say Rip is the engine of the team because he is the team's best and most consistent two-way player. The Pistons offence gets stuck in the mud quite frequently and it is a team of jumpshooters.

As strong as Chauncey is he is not a breakdown guard. So even if he gets past the free throw line he's pulling up for a jumper rather than drawing that second defender and kicking to the post guy. So who on the Pistons really commands a double team offensively? Rip. Not in the traditional sense, mind you, but his motion off screens gets two people watching him and suddenly your post is open. Or suddenly they can roll out for a jumper. Nobody else on the Pistons can do that.

Unfortunately it should be Sheed but he just doesn't have the complete takeover mentality.

Defensively Rip is also more important than Chauncey because he usually covers the better scorer. Look at the Orlando game where he went to whoever was hot, even covering Hedo. He's long and pesky and can keep up with the quick guards that kill Chauncey.

Also, if you look at the series where Rip struggles those are the series we lose. His contribution isn't the most visible, but playing without him in the longterm is the most detrimental.

[Uncle Mxy]

Sheed defends the best bigs and is the only player who can consistantly get us points without having to rely on jumpers. I know he doesnt always show up offensively but he does when it matters hes always been clutch his whole career.

Sheed isn't particularly clutch -- Portland WCF against the Lakers, last year's ECF meltdown against the Cavs, his lapse to Big Shot Bob in 2005 Game 5 Finals, etc.

[m23uza1hem36]

I'd say that Chauncey is; based on RealGm he's 9th in what he does night in and night out, I'd go with Richard after that, then Rasheed.

[mattyj]

Chauncey Billups, without a doubt in my mind...Any other PG steps in the game and our offense falls apart...