Video: NBA TV previews the 2005-06 Pistons

This year, the most notable departure was head coach Larry Brown, who, depending on what variation of the story you believe, either quit or was fired. Regardless, he’s out. And while he received a good deal of credit for the team making it over the hump, was it really Brown? Or the team?

For an answer look to Flip Saunders, charged with the task of winning an Eastern Conference championship. Anything less will be considered a disappointment. Fortunately for Flip, he has the full complement of players, with a stronger bench than last season.

Up front, the Pistons proved even deeper last year than many initially believed, bolstered by the surprising play of Antonio McDyess. The only change this season is Dale Davis will hold down the role of aging big man – better known as Shaq insurance – once held by Elden Campbell.

Davis will most certainly eat into the time Darko Milicic is expected to receive this season, but the former No. 2 pick should see his on-court time go up considerably after gaining his first summer league experience and a decent showing for Serbia-Montenegro in the European Championship.

A key addition for the team is in the backcourt, where Maurice Evans will provide valuable rest for Tayshaun Prince, who averaged 37.1 minutes per game in the regular season and 40.9 in the playoffs.

Evans will be joined in a reserve capacity by the brothers Carlos – Arroyo and Delfino – who are expected to grow into their roles this season. Arroyo, because of question marks surrounding his defensive abilities, found limited minutes backing up Chauncey Billups under Brown. Delfino, meanwhile, struggled to recover from knee surgery and ultimately was left off the Pistons’ playoff roster.

If the bench can grow and provide solid relief to one of the best starting units in the business, the Pistons could be bound for a shot at another title.

Billups

Under Brown, Billups transformed into more of a true point guard – not without some hesitation – distributing the ball, limiting turnovers and finding his shot when necessary.

Will Billups continue to be a pass-first floor general in the style of Brown, or will he look to create his own shot more often? With the team set to become more offense oriented under Saunders, for whom Billups previously played in Minnesota, look no further than the starting point guard as a predictor of the team’s success.

Saunders

Flip will build off the defensive abilities of the Pistons. It's a staple. They've gone deep in the playoffs, so they know how to execute in the halfcourt, they know how to make plays and they make big plays at big times.

McDyess and Dale Davis give them added depth in the frontcourt off the bench. And with Milicic, you don't know what you're going to get because he's an unknown quantity.

X&O WEAKNESS
Need to find more points. They're not a high scoring team. They could use a little more points from their bench. Two years ago, Corliss Williamson gave them that. Last year, I thought they missed that. Maxiell may be able to be able to give them some scoring.

They're not a great three-point shooting team. And they need to stay away from injuries. They've played a lot of basketball the past two seasons as they've gone deep in the playoffs. That's always a concern because you have players who get up in age and the biggest question is will their bench be able to step it up when they need to sub their starters. Will it provide enough offensive punch? The bench was a little thin last year.

COACHING PHILOSOPHY
Flip is an offensive oriented coach. He runs a lot of offensive sets at Minnesota with very good halfcourt execution. He'll run when he can, but he prided himself on his team's great halfcourt execution. He has experiences. He's been to the playoffs. He's a good veteran coach. He has good relationships with his players, but that's the question mark with this team: how will they respond. But, they're a veteran team and they've been there before. Will he try to be more run oriented or will he stick with the halfcourt sets. Larry Brown's teams tried to run off steals, but basically they're an excellent halfcourt team and they probably will be again.

-- Brian Winters (courtesy of the National Basketball Coaches Association)