Rebounding: The word for 07-08?

Last year, the Pistons had to deal with the loss of Ben Wallace. They lost the outstanding blocking ability, the hustle plays, but most of all the rebounding. Well, is this going to catch up to them this year? In the last two pre-season games they have allowed 46 second chance points. It is clearly unacceptable. It comes as no big surprise. Sure, McDyess is now starting, but he's never been known for his rebounding ability. Rasheed will most likely get his 10 or so rebound per night (given he stays in the game) but, after that, who is doing their job boxing out on the defensive end? Nazr Mohammad was supposed to be that guy, but he still hasn't shown me he's worth anything more than heating up the seats on the bench. Jason Maxiell has a ton of talent, but (and I hate to burst everyone's bubble) he is still only 6 foot 7. Yea, he's a Ben Wallace prototype, but I don't see him being quite as dominate on the boards as Wallace was in his prime, which was 3 years ago but that's besides the point.

The next tallest player after 'Sheed, supposing rookie Cheikh Samb doesn't make the roster, is Tayshaun Prince. Don't get me wrong I love Mr. Prince. He is not going to be gobbling up the defensive boards, however, when we need them.

There are a lot of ifs right now for the big men of this team. Nazr, it has been said, will be up for the challenge of playing 20 minutes per night as a backup. Maxiell is supposed to become the next Ben Wallace this year. Amir Johnson is hyped to be one of the best young players in the league. These are all ifs because we really haven't seen any of these guys play substantial minutes either for the Pistons or in the NBA! Let's be optimistic and say that all of the above is true. It still doesn't give me much hope in fixing our defensive rebounding woes because let's face it, this team doesn't have a true center.

If there's one thing I get worried about going into the season, it's the big men and there defensive rebounding ability. Hopefully, the pre-season is just that, the pre-season. We cannot expect to win the Central division for the fifth out of six years if we are allowing over 20 second chance points per game.