Detroit Pistons Quietly Getting Stronger

When Detroit traded Chauncey Billups and (technically) Antonio McDyess for Allen Iverson, the NBA could talk about little else for weeks on end.

The media lapped it up when Iverson took three games to earn a win in Motown and when the team went 7-9. They loved it when Iverson missed 'practice'...Could there have been any other incident that made ESPN smile more?

The team seemed to be falling apart. Chemistry was nowhere to be seen. New coach Micheal Curry tinkered with the lineup, even putting Tayshaun Prince at the point guard position.

Rip Hamilton, one of the most consistent players of the last five years, was caught completely out of his element. Suddenly, Chauncey wasn't getting him the ball in the same place all the time.

For the first time in what seems forever, Detroit looked like a team that could never even contend for the title.

Perhaps not even the playoffs.

It didn't help that Denver went off over in the West.

Chauncey Billups fit in perfectly in his return to the Mile-High City, Denver held the third spot in the playoff race for around two weeks, and the Nuggets finally seemed to be headed to something other than a first-round playoff loss.

But it is now nearly half way through the NBA season, and other stories have started to take the limelight. Bostons woes, the Lakers regaining form, and the Hornets getting back on track have all stole away from Detroit and they have gone largely unnoticed in the last couple of weeks.

They had a largely unnoticed seven game winning streak which came to a close on Tuesday against Portland, losing by just a point.

The Pistons also knocked off Orlando during that streak, one of the elite teams in the East. Detroit have gone 7-3 in their last 10 games, and would have moved up the Eastern ladder had Atlanta not also gone on a 7-3 streak.

Let's not get too excited. That streak didn't include any wins against plus-500. teams, other than the Orlando game.

But thats not the point. A win is a win and the team needed some confidence boosters.

Richard Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace have each been injured most of this stretch, but it has allowed the younger guys to get in the game and start getting a rhythm. Rodney Stuckney has had some amazing scoring games and has been given a lot more freedom in running the point.

Tayshaun Prince has shared that point guard role with Stuckey but has also been hitting the glass, averaging over seven boards a game, easily his career high. Micheal Curry has gone so far as to call Tayshaun ''our best player this season'.'

And then there is the man himself: Allen Iverson. He became the NBA's biggest scapegoat in the weeks that followed the trade, which was incredibly unfair. Did he pull the trigger on the trade?

No. Did he specifically ask to be traded to the Pistons? No. He is the same player he has been, yet suddenly the Pistons faithful wanted him to be a Chauncey Billups type?

If they wanted that, they probably should have kept Chauncey Billups.

It was Pistons management who made a mistake in trading for a player who didn't fit into the system, and is their responsibility for making the pieces fit.

And fit is exactly what the pieces have started to do, all because of Allen Iverson.

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?