November 11, 2008 – Dr. J-Water
Well can he? Can 6’9″ Tayshaun Prince play point guard for the first time in his career? Well we are about to find out folks. They are calling it more of a ‘point forward’, but for all intents and purposes Prince will be the Detroit Pistons point man, initiating the offense and feeding Rip Hamilton and Allen Iverson the rock.
Without a true point guard since the departure of Chauncey Billups the Pistons have struggled a bit with offense. Pistons Coach Michael Curry is assuring everyone that it is just about making the necessary changes to help transition Allen Iverson into their offense. It’s true that Iverson is bigger volume scorer than Chauncey Billups, but they have very different styles. Whereas Chauncey would use lots of ball movement and people movement for setting of screens to initiate the offensive sequences, with Allen Iverson now in the mix he likes to break the defense down in more of a one on one sense with his speed and ball handling ability. In theory, with Rip Hamilton in the mix (a true catch and shoot guy, a-la Reggie Miller) the Pistons should have the best of both worlds with Iverson and Rip playing contrasting offensive styles. So it will all come down to who will step up and take on the responsibility for deciding when they need to get Iverson the ball, and when they need to use a set play to get Rip the ball coming off a curl. That is no easy task, and certainly a heavy responsibility to keep everyone happy.
Here is what Tayshaun had to say about the possibility of playing the point:
“Just having me with the opportunity to run the offense, I can see over top of the defense,” he said. “I can see what’s going on and read how they are playing Rip and AI. I would definitely like to have that opportunity.”
Personally I think Tayshaun will be successful in that role, as he is a very intelligent ball player. Probably more than most, he thinks the game and doesn’t just play the game. However with that being said, it’s still a big risk to take Prince away from his strengths which are taking advantage of his length on both offense and defense. He may become so preoccupied with looking for his teammates and setting up plays, it may affect his aggressiveness on offense and looking for his own shot. One of the last things the Pistons need, is Rasheed Wallace thinking he needs to make up for this gap by leaving the paint and shooting MORE three’s!
But IF Tayshaun can continue to look for his own shot on offense when its there and he has a smaller defender on him, as well as keep Iverson and Rip happy with their number of touches, this ‘Point Forward’ thing could really be a successful strategy for the Pistons.
We could find out as early as tonight against the Sacramento Kings. Seems like as good as an opponent as any to try out an experiment on, huh?
