外电网址：http://truebluepistons.blogspot.com/search/label/allen%20iverson Friday, December 5, 2008 Hold off on declaring a trade winner just yet Two nights after the Pistons went to San Antonio and won by 12 points, the Spurs went to Denver and whipped the Nuggets by 17. Does that prove that the Pistons got the better of the Chauncey Billups-Allen Iverson trade? Nope. But neither does the fact Denver is 12-4 since Billups has suited up with the Nuggets and the Pistons are 7-6 going into Friday night's game with Philadelphia since Iverson first tugged on their No. 1. The full effects of this trade can't be fairly judged for years, actually - not until the ramifications of the salary-cap space Joe Dumars cleared for the future are weighed. But even for its effects on this year's title pursuit, the Billups-Iverson deal can't be judged with any degree of certainty until the snow begins to melt, and not with any finality until the postseason unfolds. To be sure, they're thrilled in Denver with the deal. George Karl joked on ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption" this week that his assistants are telling him he has to stop gushing about Billups to the Denver media lest people think they're having a romantic liaison. Chauncey remains the most celebrated and best basketball player Denver has ever produced, and his civic-mindedness is as visible and valued there as it was here. Of course they're thrilled to have Chauncey Billups back home and helping the Nuggets win games. Why wouldn't they be? But Denver doesn't have to lose this deal for the Pistons to win it. Remember what Joe Dumars said when he made the deal. It was done with the postseason in mind. That meshes with everything Michael Curry has implemented. When Curry talked about changing the offense in training camp - even with Billups here, the idea was to do more collective playmaking and decision-making rather than cling to the predictability that characterized the Pistons these last few years - it was with becoming a more difficult team to defend in the playoffs in mind. Iverson gives the Pistons that element. When Pistons sideline reporter Eli Zaret asked Joe D in San Antonio the other day if he thought he had traded for the Iverson who's a career 27-point scorer or somebody else, Dumars referenced the game Portland's Brandon Roy played at The Palace last Sunday - getting everyone else involved for three quarters, taking over with the game on the line. The Pistons have lacked that type of player even for all of their success this decade. Iverson emphatically says he's still that guy, but he's doing his best to ease his way into the mix first. Despite the swings the Pistons have endured in the month since the trade was made, their highs have been dramatic - breaking the seven- and eight-game win streaks of the Lakers and Cavs and overwhelming the Spurs on the road in the fourth quarter. Denver really has one signature win since Billups arrived - beating Boston on the road. Denver has been steady, steady, ever so steady since infusing their lineup with Chauncey Billups. The transition from Iverson to Billups wasn't all that tough for the Nuggets, though it helped greatly that the schedule has been pretty forgiving for them this past month. But that figured all along. The Nuggets were reverting to the conventional, inserting a pure point guard into a lineup that had essentially been operating without one - a quality one, at least - since trading Andre Miller away to get Iverson. The Pistons have Rodney Stuckey, whose responsibility will continue to expand, to fill that role. But they also now have something they starkly lacked previously, even for all the 50-win seasons and conference finals appearances. It's going to take a while for it to show in full effect. They might have a few more traumatic lows to match their dramatic highs before the ship is finally and fully righted. But hold off on emphatic pronouncements about this trade's winner and loser at least until the season's most meaningful games are played. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Only the strong survive- Iverson ⊕ ═█┘ ⊕ ●╱ 　　　 Ｗ ● ●︵ ● ●)) ３╯ <３\ /３⊕ ／３﹚ ３ \\ />⊕ >/ ⊕ ╲> >> ========= http://www.wretch.cc/blog/AWEI3 ========= --

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