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Tuesday, October 31, 2000
Pistons: Stack show now, but all alone
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Team page/schedule | Stats: Preseason / 1999 | Roster
Last year: 42-40, fourth in Central, seventh in conference
Coach/GM: George Irvine/Rick Sund
Arena, first game: Palace of Auburn Hills (22,076); Nov. 5, 1988
All-time franchise record/NBA titles: 1,945-2,127/2
Notable: Hill-Stack was second-highest NBA scoring tandem
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THE TOP EIGHT
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Pos
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Player
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Key Stat
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Skinny
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PG
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Chucky Atkins
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3.7 apg
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Sparkplug could be like Darrell Armstrong
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SG
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Jerry Stackhouse
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23.6 ppg
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He thinks he can top 30 regularly now
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SF
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Cedric Ceballos
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6.7 rpg
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Speaking of scoring; can anyone defend?
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PF
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Jerome Williams
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9.6 rpg
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Jumping jack makes what he takes (.562)
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C
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Ben Wallace
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8.2 rpg
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Won't score, but will bang; Bad from line
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6th
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John Wallace
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6.5 ppg
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A young Ceballos? Can shoot, score
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7th
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Mateen Cleeves
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--
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Not ready to start; lotsa turnovers
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8th
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Billy Owens
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.419 FG
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Man, this guy always seems to find work
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The loss of Grant Hill hurts the Pistons badly. Hill was the franchise player in Detroit. The Pistons must find a way to overcome his absence. They will be left to Jerry Stackhouse and some average talent to carry the load. Although he's not on Hill's level, Stackhouse is a talented player. But no one player can win games on his own. It appears the Pistons don't have enough quality players to get to the playoffs this season.
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By Jeffrey Denberg
Special to ESPN.com
The Good
Joe Dumars stared doom in the face in August when he was lured in as a fourth party to the failed bid to send Patrick Ewing to the Sonics for Vin Baker. Dumars, operating at the controls of the team with which he won two titles, declined to take on a boat full of ordinary players with bad contracts. Instead, he opted for a chance to dump the highly unpopular Christian Laettner and stiff-backed Loy Vaught on Mark Cuban's Mavericks. As a result, the Pistons have some wiggle room coming, even though they aren't going to be very good this season. What Dumars is going to see is how well Jerry Stackhouse can carry the load on a struggling squad. Stackhouse is young and athletic enough to mesh well with scramblers Ben Wallace and Chucky Atkins, Detroit's consolation prizes in the Grant Hill sweepstakes. The Pistons are versatile. They have a number of players who can man two or even three positions. They picked up some perimeter scoring with Dana Barros in the Vaught deal and they hope they can get enough out of rookie point guard Mateen Cleaves to rebuild their fan base.
The Bad
The Pistons are making a transition from marginal contender to rebuilding team. The only positive identity they can seemingly muster is that of a bunch of average guys who play hard. That makes a for a couple of nice human interest stories but it doesn't do much to stoke declining attendance that slipped under 17,000 for the regular season and down to around 12,000 for their playoff game last spring. Cleaves, a stubby shooter, is going to have to come along very fast to live up to the hype the club is stoking for the guy won the NCAA title at Michigan State. And George Irvine, now the full-time coach, is going to have to find ways to supplement Stackhouse's scoring. Stack is a terrific penetrator, one of the best in the league in drawing fouls as his 9.2 free throw attempts a game would suggest. But that was augmented by the double teams that Hill commanded last season and you can look high and low at the roster here and not find another player who will command a consistent double team. And here's a question? If the Pistons had so much faith in Cleaves why did they give Atkins a six-year deal.
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THE BIG QUESTION |
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Is Stackhouse going to step up as a big time player without Hill to watch his back? Stackhouse couldn't carry the 76ers when he was younger and he may not have the total game to do it now, but he will try. Can the Pistons enjoy any success with Stackhouse in an average year? No.
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Whose team is this?
Stackhouse is the guy here. Brash and combative, he averaged 23.6 ppg last season and he believes he can hitch this club to his shoulders and pull it to the playoffs. That's not likely to happen and the 6-6 swingman may find his numbers diving as defensives focus on him, but that won't stop him from trying. But don't discount Dumars' impact on this team as well. Quiet and classy, Dumars is the last direct link to the glory days when the Pistons made it the Finals three straight years and won their two titles. He's the guy who will bring the Pistons back into the top rank of contenders or preside over their demise. Right now, Stackhouse is his best argument.
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| Stackhouse |
How they'll play
The Pistons will scramble. It's the only way they can play. There is no low post game here, so the shooters better carry the day. Watch them spread the floor in their half-court game. With Junkyard Dog Jerome Williams, Stackhouse, Atkins, Ben Wallace and Co. you can bet they will extend the defense and get after people. If they play straight, they'd lose the matchups and perish.
Projection
The Pistons with Hill had to fight to make it into the playoffs, unable to gain home court in a playoff series. They had an early exit year after year. They will be fighting to get a sniff at the postseason this time and they probably won't be good enough to get there. At best, they'll win 35 and get some help from the lottery.
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