Oh this is rich, if he even thinks for a min. that I'm going to buy that Walsh will now become a daredevil risk taker to build the team he has lost his mind.
That is the entire falicy of this article he has written. In a short time span, very short, Joe Dumars took an also ran team to the top & has kept them there for several season.
However it totally contridicts the entire way that the bunny has told us for years & years & years how you build a team. Massive risk taking trades were done by Dumars & it has paid off. Now to be fair risk does not always bring reward.
By Mark Montieth
mark.montieth@indystar.com
The path the Detroit Pistons have taken to NBA supremacy might be depressing for Indiana Pacers fans, who not so long ago viewed their team as an equal force.
But it offers hope, too.
Through insight and fate, Pistons president Joe Dumars has assembled a team that is chasing history. The 39-6 record they take into tonight's game at Conseco Fieldhouse puts them in the same conversation with the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls team that finished an all-time best 72-10.
The Bulls built their dynasty by drafting Michael Jordan and later making a clever draft-day deal for Scottie Pippen.
The Pistons have done it differently. Their starting lineup features one player they drafted and four castoffs, all of whom came to Detroit with something to prove.
"They've picked out the right guys who at that time were not star-quality players," Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh said. "But if you really look back on them, there was a lot of reason to believe they were going to be better than they were at that point. And they all have turned out."
Early last season, it appeared Walsh had assembled a team in a similar manner that could compete with the Pistons. The Pacers, remember, dominated Detroit on that fateful night -- Nov. 19, 2004 -- at the Palace of Auburn Hills, when a historic brawl set off events that still reverberate through the franchise.
But if a championship contender can be built through spare parts and a late first-round draft pick, it can be done again. It's simply a matter of finding the hidden talent, a not-so-simple challenge fraught with peril.
Are future versions of Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton and Ben Wallace out there, waiting to be plucked?
"They are," Walsh said. "They definitely are. Right now there are the same kind of players."
Renovation begins with Ben
When Dumars took over as the Pistons president in the summer of 2000, shortly after the Pacers had lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals, he inherited a team in disarray. Detroit had finished 42-40 and lost in the first round of the playoffs. Worse, it was losing free agent Grant Hill to Orlando.
Hill allowed the Pistons to work a sign-and-trade, however, and Dumars insisted that Ben Wallace be part of the deal.
Wallace, undrafted out of college, had averaged 4.8 points and 8.2 rebounds for the Magic that season. He was the first building block.
Further breakthroughs came in the summer of 2002, after Dumars' first team finished 32-50. He drafted Tayshaun Prince with the 23rd overall pick in June. He signed Billups in July after Minnesota's coach at the time, Flip Saunders -- who now coaches the Pistons -- couldn't guarantee Billups extensive playing time.
"The real question at the time was whether Chauncey could be a true starting point guard," said Carlisle, who took over the Pacers after Dumars fired him to hire Larry Brown in 2003. "We thought he could."
Then in September, Washington Wizards president Michael Jordan called Dumars and offered Richard Hamilton in a deal for Jerry Stackhouse. Carlisle recalls driving home from Stackhouse's charity golf outing on a Monday when Dumars called to tell him about the possible trade. Two days later, those players were the centerpieces of a six-player deal.
Stackhouse, coming off his best season, was clearly better at the time, but Hamilton gave Detroit a younger, more team-oriented shooting guard and carried a smaller financial obligation.
The Pistons found their missing piece in February 2004 when they obtained Rasheed Wallace in a three-team deal. Ironically, it was former Pacers forward and assistant general manager Billy Knight, now in charge of Atlanta's personnel, who helped broker the trade.
Lucky and good
The Pistons are a macho team, full of sharp angles and hard edges. They are the league's most competitive team on a nightly basis, and despite winning a title in 2004 and falling one game short last season, they still play like guys with something to prove.
Above all else, they perform a successful chemistry experiment in every game they play.
"Talent is obvious," Dumars told the Detroit News. "You can see talent a mile away. You've got to get beyond that. You are talking about cohesive basketball and there is no sport that takes more cohesion than basketball."
Oh, and one more thing. Unlike the Pacers, the Pistons seem to never get hurt.
"I'm envious," Walsh said. "These guys haven't had an injury in three years."
Despite his obvious savvy, Dumars doesn't deny the value of good fortune. He once agreed to a multiplayer three-way trade for Philadelphia's Allen Iverson, but the 76ers' backup center, Matt Geiger, nullified the deal by refusing to drop the contract clause that would have raised his salary had he been traded.
Dumars also offered a maximum contract to Chris Webber when the Detroit native was a free agent in 2001.
Had he succeeded in either transaction, the Pistons probably would be just another team -- perhaps like the 76ers, for whom Iverson and Webber now play.
Dumars also invested the No. 2 overall draft pick in Darko Milicic in 2003, passing on Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. While those three are stars, Milicic labors along with a 1.6-point career scoring average.
"For me to sit here and make it sound like everything we did was part of some master plan would be insincere," Dumars told the News. "We got some breaks."
It should be reassuring for the Pacers and other teams in the league to know you don't have to be perfect to build a championship team.
Foresight and a little luck are enough.
Tale of the tape
Pistons president Joe Dumars has built a championship team in Detroit. But is it the best ever?
Ben Wallace is one tough defender, but could he stop Wilt Chamberlain? Could the Pistons' team approach take
NBA's best team built from scrap
Richard Hamilton
Acquired from Washington in September 2002 trade along with Bobby Simmons and Hubert Davis for Jerry Stackhouse, Brian Cardinal and Ratko Varda.
Tayshaun Prince
Lone draftee among starters, chosen with 23rd pick in June 2002. Busts such as Dajuan Wagner and Marcus Haislip went well ahead of him.
Chauncey Billups
He's an MVP candidate now. But he played for four teams in five seasons before signing with the Pistons as a free agent in July 2002.
Rasheed Wallace
Acquired in trade-deadline deal in February 2004 from Atlanta. Pistons also got Mike James for Chucky Atkins, Lindsey Hunter and 2004 draft pick.
Ben Wallace
Not drafted out of college. Then-four-year veteran acquired from Orlando along with Chucky Atkins in August 2000 after free agent Grant Hill bailed on Pistons.
That is the entire falicy of this article he has written. In a short time span, very short, Joe Dumars took an also ran team to the top & has kept them there for several season.
However it totally contridicts the entire way that the bunny has told us for years & years & years how you build a team. Massive risk taking trades were done by Dumars & it has paid off. Now to be fair risk does not always bring reward.
By Mark Montieth
mark.montieth@indystar.com
The path the Detroit Pistons have taken to NBA supremacy might be depressing for Indiana Pacers fans, who not so long ago viewed their team as an equal force.
But it offers hope, too.
Through insight and fate, Pistons president Joe Dumars has assembled a team that is chasing history. The 39-6 record they take into tonight's game at Conseco Fieldhouse puts them in the same conversation with the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls team that finished an all-time best 72-10.
The Bulls built their dynasty by drafting Michael Jordan and later making a clever draft-day deal for Scottie Pippen.
The Pistons have done it differently. Their starting lineup features one player they drafted and four castoffs, all of whom came to Detroit with something to prove.
"They've picked out the right guys who at that time were not star-quality players," Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh said. "But if you really look back on them, there was a lot of reason to believe they were going to be better than they were at that point. And they all have turned out."
Early last season, it appeared Walsh had assembled a team in a similar manner that could compete with the Pistons. The Pacers, remember, dominated Detroit on that fateful night -- Nov. 19, 2004 -- at the Palace of Auburn Hills, when a historic brawl set off events that still reverberate through the franchise.
But if a championship contender can be built through spare parts and a late first-round draft pick, it can be done again. It's simply a matter of finding the hidden talent, a not-so-simple challenge fraught with peril.
Are future versions of Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton and Ben Wallace out there, waiting to be plucked?
"They are," Walsh said. "They definitely are. Right now there are the same kind of players."
Renovation begins with Ben
When Dumars took over as the Pistons president in the summer of 2000, shortly after the Pacers had lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals, he inherited a team in disarray. Detroit had finished 42-40 and lost in the first round of the playoffs. Worse, it was losing free agent Grant Hill to Orlando.
Hill allowed the Pistons to work a sign-and-trade, however, and Dumars insisted that Ben Wallace be part of the deal.
Wallace, undrafted out of college, had averaged 4.8 points and 8.2 rebounds for the Magic that season. He was the first building block.
Further breakthroughs came in the summer of 2002, after Dumars' first team finished 32-50. He drafted Tayshaun Prince with the 23rd overall pick in June. He signed Billups in July after Minnesota's coach at the time, Flip Saunders -- who now coaches the Pistons -- couldn't guarantee Billups extensive playing time.
"The real question at the time was whether Chauncey could be a true starting point guard," said Carlisle, who took over the Pacers after Dumars fired him to hire Larry Brown in 2003. "We thought he could."
Then in September, Washington Wizards president Michael Jordan called Dumars and offered Richard Hamilton in a deal for Jerry Stackhouse. Carlisle recalls driving home from Stackhouse's charity golf outing on a Monday when Dumars called to tell him about the possible trade. Two days later, those players were the centerpieces of a six-player deal.
Stackhouse, coming off his best season, was clearly better at the time, but Hamilton gave Detroit a younger, more team-oriented shooting guard and carried a smaller financial obligation.
The Pistons found their missing piece in February 2004 when they obtained Rasheed Wallace in a three-team deal. Ironically, it was former Pacers forward and assistant general manager Billy Knight, now in charge of Atlanta's personnel, who helped broker the trade.
Lucky and good
The Pistons are a macho team, full of sharp angles and hard edges. They are the league's most competitive team on a nightly basis, and despite winning a title in 2004 and falling one game short last season, they still play like guys with something to prove.
Above all else, they perform a successful chemistry experiment in every game they play.
"Talent is obvious," Dumars told the Detroit News. "You can see talent a mile away. You've got to get beyond that. You are talking about cohesive basketball and there is no sport that takes more cohesion than basketball."
Oh, and one more thing. Unlike the Pacers, the Pistons seem to never get hurt.
"I'm envious," Walsh said. "These guys haven't had an injury in three years."
Despite his obvious savvy, Dumars doesn't deny the value of good fortune. He once agreed to a multiplayer three-way trade for Philadelphia's Allen Iverson, but the 76ers' backup center, Matt Geiger, nullified the deal by refusing to drop the contract clause that would have raised his salary had he been traded.
Dumars also offered a maximum contract to Chris Webber when the Detroit native was a free agent in 2001.
Had he succeeded in either transaction, the Pistons probably would be just another team -- perhaps like the 76ers, for whom Iverson and Webber now play.
Dumars also invested the No. 2 overall draft pick in Darko Milicic in 2003, passing on Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. While those three are stars, Milicic labors along with a 1.6-point career scoring average.
"For me to sit here and make it sound like everything we did was part of some master plan would be insincere," Dumars told the News. "We got some breaks."
It should be reassuring for the Pacers and other teams in the league to know you don't have to be perfect to build a championship team.
Foresight and a little luck are enough.
Tale of the tape
Pistons president Joe Dumars has built a championship team in Detroit. But is it the best ever?
Ben Wallace is one tough defender, but could he stop Wilt Chamberlain? Could the Pistons' team approach take
NBA's best team built from scrap
Richard Hamilton
Acquired from Washington in September 2002 trade along with Bobby Simmons and Hubert Davis for Jerry Stackhouse, Brian Cardinal and Ratko Varda.
Tayshaun Prince
Lone draftee among starters, chosen with 23rd pick in June 2002. Busts such as Dajuan Wagner and Marcus Haislip went well ahead of him.
Chauncey Billups
He's an MVP candidate now. But he played for four teams in five seasons before signing with the Pistons as a free agent in July 2002.
Rasheed Wallace
Acquired in trade-deadline deal in February 2004 from Atlanta. Pistons also got Mike James for Chucky Atkins, Lindsey Hunter and 2004 draft pick.
Ben Wallace
Not drafted out of college. Then-four-year veteran acquired from Orlando along with Chucky Atkins in August 2000 after free agent Grant Hill bailed on Pistons.
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