When Allen Iverson was acquired last week for Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess people sized up the trade right away. Was it good for Detroit? Could Iverson mesh with his new teammates?
Iverson is a pro, and is hungry for a championship. While he might take a lot of shots, and even demand the ball at times, the Piston were winners in this trade. It's hard giving up Billups, but in my opinion he was a step slower, and inconsistent in the playoffs. With 3 years remaining on his contract, Joe Dumars had to pull the trigger. Not to mention the development of Rodney Stuckey. Iverson is on the the last year of his deal, and freeing up that cap money could be huge with the caliber of free agents in the upcoming years. Hopefully McDyess will make his way back to the Pistons. They miss him already, and he is a very important piece of the puzzle here.
So after two games the Pistons have two losses with Iverson. Watching the games though, it's not his fault. While Iverson and Stuckey will take the ball to the whole, the rest of the team has settled on too many jump shots. And when they're not falling, the Pistons aren't winning. Another big problem I have noticed is Michael Curry's on the job training. His idea of wholesale substitutions is ridiculous. Play the matchups, but mix the players in better. He is going to have to get better for this team to have a chance to get to the Finals.
Iverson will fit in, it's going to take 10 or 20 games to really gel together, but there is a lot of basketball to still be played. These guys need to find their roles, and stick with them.
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