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  • May 09, 2008 08:59 PM ET

If Chauncey Billups misses Game 4 with his game time decision, the Pistons will lose Game 4.

Mets Fan: www.sportsnoise.com (59-27-3) vs thehemogoblin- Gone (81-25-7)
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State 1st argue 2nd and 3rd.

I agree with this statement.

Disagree? Let's throwdown.


I disagree.

First off, nothing's automatic in the NBA. Teams anywhere can win any game, especially teams with as much depth as the Detroit Pistons.

Regular rotation players Rasheed Wallace, Jason Maxiell, Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton are all able to fill in the scoring void that Billups' injury caused. Wallace, Antonio McDyess, and Hamilton can fill in the leadership gap.

As for the point guard position itself, Rodney Stuckey, Arron Afflalo, and Lindsey Hunter are all more than capable of running Detroit's offense. Stuckey and Afflalo have the athletic ability and the size, Hunter the intelligence, savvy, and shooting ability. Whatever the Pistons need from that position can be found right now.

Plus, it's not as if Detroit's down 3-0, they won the first two games relatively well, and lost game three which can easily be explained... in my next argument.


Billups will not return for a couple of games because of a hamstring injury. See this link: http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/8115538?MSNHPHMA

Rodney Stuckey, arron afflalo, and Hunter are all good choices for replacement point guard. But none of these players can lead the Pistons like Billups has done so far.

Billups leaded the Pistons with assists in the playoffs with 6.8 per game. He was the Pistons Steve Nash. He made the players around him better.

while players were double teaming Billups it was easy for him to dish it out to Rip Hamilton, Rasheed, McDyess,etc.

Now he's gone for couple of games, maybe the series. In game 3, Billups played not very well scoring only 2 points in the Detroit loss 111-86.

Imagine what could happen without Billups playing at all.


You said "game time decision" in the title.

The replacement point guards don't have to lead. The leadership can fall evenly over every player, like I explained. All of the Pistons' rotation players are capable at any time of leading the team.

You say that Billups being gone is like losing Steve Nash. Billups isn't a pass-first point guard like Nash is, Billups is more of a scorer. The passing from that position will be the same when Stuckey or Hunter is playing, so really, the Pistons will only have to worry about covering the points loss, which they are very capable of doing.

Hunter's a capable playoff performer, with more than 130 games under his belt when the games matter most.

Wallace, Prince, and Hamilton have higher ceilings than where they play now, asking for 3 more points a game from each of them isn't a reach, and would, along with the scoring that the replacement point guards do, more than cover the loss of Billups' scoring ability.


Any rotation players are not capable of leading Detroit. The way the team is built, they Billups in the slot. I'm not saying he's like Nash, but it's a useful comparison.

The passing won't be the same without Billups. Billups sets picks, rolls around them. Most plays are built around him. Most plays include Chauncey feeding the ball to another player.

But, the replacement point guards won't score. They will only dish out the ball. Sure, Hunter will get more than 5 points if he starts instead of Billups. But, Hunter is getting older. He can't dominate like he used to be able to.

wallace, Prince, and Rip Hamilton can cover the loss of a point guard. But, you can't do that without Billups. He's their playmaker. He holds the team together.

Case Closed.


Most plays include Billups BECAUSE HE'S THE POINT GUARD. It has nothing to do with who's in that position, it has something to do with the fact that the ball's in his hands every play.

The replacement guards will score. Stuckey played shooting guard in college, and Hunter's spent a lot of his career backing up shooting guards and point guards. Hunter has an outside shot that's probably better than Billups'.

Hunter doesn't have to dominate. 8 points and 3 assists and the Pistons will be happy with his statistics.



""wallace, Prince, and Rip Hamilton can cover the loss of a point guard. ""

Thanks for the help. I absolutely love it when you're debating and your opponent states your thesis.

Comments (8) Add A Comment

May 9, 2008  09:21 PM ET
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Good Luck

May 9, 2008  09:36 PM ET
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You too.

May 9, 2008  09:43 PM ET
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You gonna challenge me to our tourney TD Hemo?

May 9, 2008  10:54 PM ET
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Good TD. I'm a Pistons fan, and I'm just rooting for Billups to play. If he can't play in game 4, then I hope he comes back for game 5 at 100%. But I do think the Pistons are still a better team than the Magic, even without Chauncey.

May 9, 2008  11:21 PM ET
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Billups is key... but we'll have to see

May 10, 2008  12:39 AM ET
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College doesn't have anything to do with the NBA, thehemogoblin. You say Stuckey and Hunter should score. Well ,they're not. If you watched Game 1and 2 of the Detroit Orlando series, prove me wrong, but wasn't it Billups 3 point shot that won the games for the Pistons.

May 10, 2008  12:40 AM ET
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Like I said, Hunter's old. He can't dominate like he used to.

 
May 10, 2008  12:49 PM ET
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Stuckey has been better than many thought he would this year. I think if Billups misses game 4, Stuckey will fill in nicely, and Sheed should come in through the clutch

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