Coaching Search

[lemonpen]

I can't wait until the details of this selection process are finally revealed.     Jackson ????   Gores ????   Shaw ????  McMillan ????

[lemonpen]

-  "And then we’ll see what Dumars can do in free agency and via trades, where he promises to be aggressive without repeating the mistakes he made in 2009. He’ll have between $20-25 million in cap space this summer, and the phone already is ringing with teams searching for luxury-tax relief, but Dumars insists he won’t spend “just for the sake of it.”

Oh, how must Charlie V feel when he reads that. 
Can we count on him arriving to camp very committed to a successful Piston season?  

Parting will be such sweet sorrow.

[lemonpen]

Untapped, under developed talent.  Room to grow physically, mentally and emotionally. 
Team timeline and direction may dictate where he fits in for the short term. 
Makes no sense sweating it until his offseason growth is assessed in summer league or preseason.

[lemonpen]

Trade Bait !!!!
Pair him with the #8 pick to garner a top 3 spot.  Draft the college player of the year. 

Rodneys' trajectory flattened long ago.  His ceiling has been revealed.  He is consistently inconsistent. 
I'm convinced a lesser player (with an equal ceiling) that brings what he has on a nightly basis is of greater value, both now and later.

[lemonpen]

Decent choice.  He has the pedigree I hoped a capable retread would.  

- former player.  check
- former head coach.  check
- playoff experience as player.  check
- playoff experience as head coach.  check
- deep playoff experience as head coach.  nope.  but as an assistant.  check
- developed a significant player.  check (Russell Westbrook)

Cheeks has stepped into a difficult position, in that there is an expectation of immediate improvement, record wise.  Maybe even a 2014 playoff berth.
It will be interesting to hear his comments in about 6 weeks when most of his roster is set.

[Oracle]

I don't mind what Cheeks said about Knight, because it's 100% true, he is like both a PG and a SG!

What I didn't like was that there was no follow up! He talked about his stamp on the team, but given an opportunity to give us something from 30,000 feet, he punted and started talking about Stuckey?

That sounds like he's had his Cheeks a bit too close the Joe's Butt Cheeks(then again, Joe's butt does fill a room )!

[Oracle]

It's beyond silly on their part, IMO(I'm not calling your questioning silly, since it's in the press, it's fair game)!

I buy a hammer! After I get it I don't know if I should use it to hit nails, hit screws, or hit my annoying neighbor over the head?

It becomes obvious that I don't know why I bought the hammer because I simply don't know how to use it!

Look, I'm not even close to believing the pure PG theory that underlies the comments made by a lot of posters!

The best PG in the game was considered by almost everybody to really be a SG, Tony Parker! He didn't magically get better, he was coached!

Russell Westbrook is really an SG, but on OKC, I could average 7 assists just by tossing the rock to Durant, Hardin & company!

Miami is probably at their best when they dump the PG and just play!

Our history ironically is one of having great shooting guards that happen to be able to play PG! BTW, today's NBA favors PG that can score and just do enough of the traditional PG tasks, not purity! In fact, the PG most people want is one that will NOT involve others! The ideal PG is one like Zeke, who can take over a game on his own, no passing or setting up plays involved(btw, we've seen BK7 do that more than once)!

The bottom line is that there is no teaching going on here, and hasn't been any since Larry Brown took off for parts unknown!

So you can join Joe on his quest to land perfection in the draft instead of doing the hard work of turning talent into better talent, but it's not only fools gold, it's the lazy way to success.

BTW, since Knight believes he's a PG and has played PG all of his life, just who is going to provide the training to do any of the things you suggested? Oh, probably the same dude that helped our boy Stuckey transition from PG to SG!

If you can't teach, or you don't have the time, you're left with three possible positions.
1. Nurture the skills that already exist
2. Pray that they learn a new position all on their own
3. Just give up and let Joe do a trade to someone that can do better

As I keep saying, it's all about coaching! You get that right and a lot of "Problems" suddenly don't exist, or age greatly reduced.

Did we learn nothing from losing Carlisle, Larry Brown & Flip, who could teach, but didn't get the chance with a solidly veteran team, and in Washington, nobody was listening!

[Sparma]

I do hope that's not a silly question, because I'm returning to it. 

I do so partly because I have a far clearer sense from Dumars, and now from Cheeks, that they see an issue than of what their constructive solution is.

Thinking about the options, it occurs me that seeing him as a PG or as a SG is a false dilemma.  Consequently, even saying that he needs to learn to be a PG or something else may be misleading.  I see three intriguing alternatives in which he could flourish as combo guard, at least for the time being.

1) Sixth man, as discussed.  Granted, he'd need to sharpen his passing skills.  But basically, he could do his thing, at least for a spell.

2) Being a guard with varied responsibilities in a multi-pronged, motion, offense.

3) (This one's likely the most temporary.)  In a conventionally divided offence, he could play part of the time at PG and part of the time at SG.  Let's say if Carter-Williams joined us, playing 27 minutes a game, Knight could put in 16 minutes at PG and 16 at SG.  That could be done by playing them at different times or by doing some rotating of their roles (as happened with Calderon a bit).  Ideally, you'd draw from what he can bring without exposing his weaknesses overly.

So, it looks to me like there are a range of intriguing possibilities.  While I hope that Cheeks considers them all, I also hope he settles on one, with 6th man being the main candidate in my mind.

[Oracle]

That's a simple one to answer: You don't trade hard workers, you don't trade kids that can flat out play and have less than 2 years experience.

In short, you don't ask that question if you're Joe or Cheeks, because if you do, you're not a smart GM or Coach. Here's why I say that.

Winning is mostly about coaching, and less about talent in the NBA!

The level of talent pretty close, and is easily overcome by coaching unless the you have a rare case like the Heat when DWade is cooking, that's just too much talent! But that's the edge case!

Great players do have really good talent, but that's not why they're successful! They succeed because they are capable of coaching themselves, and only need coaches to provide the structure for the team around them! So it's always coaching, the only variable is if it's produced externally or internally!

Extrapolate that to life where some people need someone over them pushing to get anything to happen, and some people are self regulators, they need no one to produce on their own!

Even great talent is useless until the EXPERIENCE level required to succeed is reached, and that rarely happens before 4-5 years of experience!

If you've ever had a complex job, you know this! In my business we assume that when we get an Engineer from college, we know it takes about 3 years before we're going to get a real Engineer. Hell, in some companies it takes a year just to know how to get anything from the corporate system!

The same applies to the NBA, so how can it be that people that are supposed to know these things can look at ANY of the kids on this team that have demonstrated that they can actually produce in the NBA, and have these silly questions?

Well, the answer is clear, Joe needs to produce results now, and Cheeks is going to have to do it or he's likely on the way out with Joe!

This is a situation that could either produce great results, or screw this whole thing up! Don't believe that ALL of the players aren't watching what they do to good players! There was blow back when Afflalo got screwed, because any CLOWN knew you don't get rid of guys like that! Chauncey immediately wanted that level of player with him since Joe was so stupid!

Don't get fooled by these false arguments! What you do with Knight is what you do with any player that can play, you give them opportunities and you don't sugar coat anything! knight has to learn to be a PG, or he needs to learn to fit in somewhere else, it's that simple!

What you don't do after less than 2 years is make the mistake of saying what a player is, because that's just as bad as forcing Stuckey into a role he wasn't ready for and then jumping down his throat for not being who you hoped he was!

[WTF]

I have read all the stuff about Stuckey being the best option and that Knight should be coming off the bench. Yet those of you who write this crap must not actually watch the game much. All of the past coaches can't be wrong about Stuckey. - cool breeze

Sorry but the fact that all 4 coaches have been fired any opinion they can offer on Stuckey can't be worth much with perhaps Flip being the only exception and the coach in which Stuckey showed the most promise.  

Don, if it wasn't for this Love Jones you have for Knight you wouldn't find the comment about Stuckey so off based. 

DX, you made it clear you just plain hate Stuckey mainly for a lot of things he didn't have control over, with all the sh!t he's been through I'm surprise he didn't fake injuries all season.  

[WTF]

IMO, Stuckey is the best PG on this team by far right now! Stuckey is capable of averaging 7-9 assists and close to 20 PPG, and we've all seen him do it!

Where is the evidence of that?? A dot here and a dot there game performances? This is a position that requires consistency, more than any on the floor.  - DX

The evidence would be found in Stuckey's first 2 seasons here in which his play in Year 1 gave Joe a Brain Fart causing him to trade Chauncey.  Year 2 wasn't as bad as it looked but there was so much chaos in the back-court in Year 2 all the way to current. If you thought Year 2 was bad Year 3 blew the ship out of the water with the Rip Storm, trading away Affalo, and signing Gordon toppled off the drafting of Knight.

My biggest problem with Stuckey wasn't with his play because I understood most of what his issues were  trying to adapt to 2 dumb coaches and a crowded back court.  My issues were with the handling and over hyping by both Joe and the media.  IMO Joe owes Stuckey a real opportunity to turn it around. 

 

[deusXango]

I have read all the stuff about Stuckey being the best option and that Knight should be coming off the bench. Yet those of you who write this crap must not actually watch the game much. All of the past coaches can't be wrong about Stuckey. And have you ever asked yourself if any of the Piston players like playing with Stuckey? That is important to me. It appears that they don't really respect him at all. Nothing changes in basketball at any level. This is what happens. You come to the gym to start training camp. You listen to your coaches to find out what they want to run and how they want you to play as a team. Then you start practice. The coaches watch the players and  the players watch each other to find out who is serious about wanting to be successful as a team. Then things start falling in place as to which players play best together. So for the past 3 seasons, Stuckey as been the odd man out hasn't he? It is hard to break bad habits. And fans are no exception. It seems that every damn summer some fans start a rant about Stuckey being the best guard and this time around with of course a different coach, he will excel. So why not just start him and forget about the team and the process. Will that make you Stuckey fans happy to ignore the facts? I don't care if the new coach is a players coach or not, he is a former All Star NBA point guard. He knows the right way to play the game and he won't put up with Stuckey's nonsense for one minute. Stuckey just doesn't connect with his teammates. He is too passive and will never know what it is like to play to win at all cost for two games in a row. I believe that Detroit needs a new vet shooting guard. That is all Brandon Knight needs to be successful along with big men who care about moving their asses on defense.

Don, why is it that the very same fans who find so much fault with Joe, when they list his shortcomings they always fail to mention that year after year he has Stuckey at the forefront of whatever the Pistons are trying to do and he f#(ks it up every year? All these basketball guru's miss the point that a coach doesn't come in and hand a jump shot to Stuckey (that's something he should be working on during off seasons) and if doesn't have it after six years, he's a lazy MF! He can't read the floor any better now than his rookie year. What coach had plays designed for Stuckey to dribble out the shot clock at the top of the key, going needlessly back and forth between his legs, before an unsuccessful drive to the basket? All that wasted offensive opportunity for one player to average 16 pts., because fans get a kick out of him in attack mode; bullsh!t.

Oracle, you're right, I got plenty of strong feelings on Stuckey; I got to take up the slack for those who're still sleeping on facts! 

[Sparma]

“Brandon has some point-guard skills, and he has some 2-guard skills,” said Cheeks"

I'm not getting from that that he's planning to groom Knight into a 6'3" shooting guard (let alone a 6'1.5" shooting guard).

For now I like the realistic acknowledgement of multiple skills (along, I think, with the tacit acknowledgement of limitations on both sides).

Cheeks out of touch with today's NBA?  Could well be.  My own view is paradoxical: I'd like the NBA (and the Pistons) to retrieve some of the versatility of guards from the Mo/Joe era, but also to become more specialized (a la Weaver's Orioles).  Knight could be an interesting test case.

How can Knight's skills be used effectively without him being expected to become a radically different player than he is?

I've long liked the 6th man role for Knight, because it fits realistically with the dual profile Cheeks paints (for now!), and because it allows naturally for development and redirection according to how he does in the role.

There's another possibility which I like too, which is as secondary point guard.  Dumars filled that role splendidly with his 4.5 career assist average.  Early on, it looks to me like Knight might click in that role alongside Calderon, exploiting openings that developed because of Calderon's strong passing and shooting (their joint height was a concern though).

Without being the (sole) PG, Knight could be part of a team that moved the ball a lot with Monroe and Calderon (or Carter-Williams?) being other key ball movers.

[Oracle]

John Niyo's story provides assurance that Cheeks has some good sense after all, Dan Feldman notwithstanding.  I'd started to worry that Knight was our new Stuckey in the sense of being the designated, rather than earned, franchise pillar, with various moves being made to try to make it work for him, like hiring the coach who can make him into a good PG.  He'll have a good NBA career, but he's not starting guard PG worthy, at least at this point.  I'm glad to learn Cheeks' appointment wasn't predicated on him turning water into wine, but rather on a realistic assessment of who he's working with, at least as concerns Knight (and Stuckey).

"The conventional wisdom seems to be the Pistons new coach will be tasked with nurturing Knight’s growth into a bonafide NBA point guard, based on his All-Star playing career as well a his mentoring work as a coach, most recently with Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City.
But neither Cheeks nor Dumars sounded ready to fully commit to that project Thursday.
“Brandon has some point-guard skills, and he has some 2-guard skills,” said Cheeks, who still ranks among the NBA’s top 10 all-time in assists and steals 20 years after his retirement.
“So I’m not gonna label Brandon as just a point guard. Stuckey can also play some point guard. To say (Knight) can just be a point guard, I don’t think so.


From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130614/SPORTS0102/306140021#ixzz2WF07E1Zh"

Sparma, what Cheeks said is the strangest level of stupidity I ever heard, and sounds like somebody that has absolutely no understanding of today's NBA! Who can believe that crap he's attempting to sell!

In what NBA do you attempt to groom 6'3 shooting guards? Are you freaking kidding me???

I can understand people saying he's not a PG right now, that's just the truth! I can understand what DX says, that he could be a 6th man, or those that say he could be the PG of the 2nd unit! Those opinions have a strong basis in logic, IMO.

But to sit there and say he's a possible SG? I don't get that, because it won't work and if that's all you can think of, it's time to trade that player for a real SG!

That's the glass half empty, the half full argument that you latched on to is a good one.

I'm also glad they aren't trying to fit a square peg into a round hole! The fact is that we don't know for sure where Knight fits, and we're going to have to let that be determined by his play!

One thing for sure, if Calderon isn't here and Knight isn't traded, he's the starting PG of this team unless Stuckey starts there, no matter who gets drafted!

[Oracle]

@Don - I'd like to see what Cheeks can do with Stuckey for half a season if Stuckey sticks around! IMO, the reason they haven't been as strong publicly supporting Knight is that they don't know who they will be able to pick at #8!

I doubt that Joe wants Burke, but he may draft him if he's there, and judging the way his stock is falling, Burke is likely to be there. NBA teams are reluctant to pass on bigger guards to go for guards smaller than 6'2, and Burke's combine numbers are simple unimpressive!

However, if a guard is drafted, it's possible that it would alter who would be available to ship out in trade for quality players. Knight has little value in the money sense, but depending on a teams needs, he could represent a piece that they need, and thus would become an important part of the deal! My bottom line is that I would rather see Knight traded than get screwed over like Afflalo by one Joe Dumars!

IMO, this would be a MAJOR mistake because Knight is on the verge of "Getting It", I've seen the flashes of all star level play in Knight, and somebody is going to reap the rewards of having him, I just hope it's us! As I said before, Knight is a point guard, plain and simple! He just hasn't fully developed yet, but he will!

So I'm modifying your request and say that if Stuckey fails to perform, he should be gone by the Feb deadline!

@Seb - I'm glad you didn't include Igg-Glue-Dollar in that lineup! I agree that that's a 50 win lineup! Perkins looked like a slug loser in OKC, he just doesn't fit! But he would fit with us, because the skills he possesses is exactly what you need in a more half court game, and he protects the rim!

Iguodala would be interesting if he was cheaper, but at ~10M, we need to pass that sucker at 100MPH!

@Murph - I truly hope the Bad Boys get their due in the 30 for 30, it's about time!!!

@DX - Yeah, I get it, you have strong feelings on Stuckey, and I understand where you're coming from! I just think a half a season more will do one of 3 things.
1. Show Stuckey to be the slug you think he is
2. Make him more valuable to trade at the deadline, or
3. He fits in like he's capable of and we're all looking forward to the playoffs

[Sparma]

John Niyo's story provides assurance that Cheeks has some good sense after all, Dan Feldman notwithstanding.  I'd started to worry that Knight was our new Stuckey in the sense of being the designated, rather than earned, franchise pillar, with various moves being made to try to make it work for him, like hiring the coach who can make him into a good PG.  He'll have a good NBA career, but he's not starting guard PG worthy, at least at this point.  I'm glad to learn Cheeks' appointment wasn't predicated on him turning water into wine, but rather on a realistic assessment of who he's working with, at least as concerns Knight (and Stuckey).

"The conventional wisdom seems to be the Pistons new coach will be tasked with nurturing Knight’s growth into a bonafide NBA point guard, based on his All-Star playing career as well a his mentoring work as a coach, most recently with Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City.
But neither Cheeks nor Dumars sounded ready to fully commit to that project Thursday.
“Brandon has some point-guard skills, and he has some 2-guard skills,” said Cheeks, who still ranks among the NBA’s top 10 all-time in assists and steals 20 years after his retirement.
“So I’m not gonna label Brandon as just a point guard. Stuckey can also play some point guard. To say (Knight) can just be a point guard, I don’t think so.


From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130614/SPORTS0102/306140021#ixzz2WF07E1Zh"

[cool breeze]

I have read all the stuff about Stuckey being the best option and that Knight should be coming off the bench. Yet those of you who write this crap must not actually watch the game much. All of the past coaches can't be wrong about Stuckey. And have you ever asked yourself if any of the Piston players like playing with Stuckey? That is important to me. It appears that they don't really respect him at all. Nothing changes in basketball at any level. This is what happens. You come to the gym to start training camp. You listen to your coaches to find out what they want to run and how they want you to play as a team. Then you start practice. The coaches watch the players and  the players watch each other to find out who is serious about wanting to be successful as a team. Then things start falling in place as to which players play best together. So for the past 3 seasons, Stuckey as been the odd man out hasn't he? It is hard to break bad habits. And fans are no exception. It seems that every damn summer some fans start a rant about Stuckey being the best guard and this time around with of course a different coach, he will excel. So why not just start him and forget about the team and the process. Will that make you Stuckey fans happy to ignore the facts? I don't care if the new coach is a players coach or not, he is a former All Star NBA point guard. He knows the right way to play the game and he won't put up with Stuckey's nonsense for one minute. Stuckey just doesn't connect with his teammates. He is too passive and will never know what it is like to play to win at all cost for two games in a row. I believe that Detroit needs a new vet shooting guard. That is all Brandon Knight needs to be successful along with big men who care about moving their asses on defense.

[Sebastian]

I must admit that I am in agreement with Wise and Oracle, concerning Stuckey and B. Knight. The hiring of Mo' Cheeks has grown on me over the last few days and I am of the belief that Stuckey and B. Knight can serve as the direct beneficiary of Mo's hiring.

Starting Stuckey and bringing B. Knight off the bench could be a helleva tandem. It would be crucial to pair Stuckey with a straight-up SG. Where can WE get a legit scoring 2 guard, who can also guard the position?

What about moving the #8 Pick, #56 Pick, and Singler, to Orlando for Afflalo. I personally would love to have Afflalo back in the fold. The dude is a professional, has three point range, and can guard the position. Also, it would be an opportunity for Joe to correct a previously bad move.

Draft Ray McCallum with the #37 Pick.

We must go get Josh Smith and Maurice Speights.

Also, I would like to move Charlie V. and the Urkraine to OKC for Kendrick Perkins.

Then WE roll with:
PG - Stuckey/B. Knight/McCallum
SG - Afflalo/Middleton/English
SF - Josh Smith/Jerebko
PF - Moose/Speights
C - Dre Drummond/Perkins

I also would like for Mo' Cheeks to add: Aaron McKee, Rick Mahorn, and Lindsey Hunter to his staff.

This would be a 50+ win team that could make a deep playoff run.

DETROIT BASKETBALL!!!!

[Sebastian]

[Oracle]

These jerks attack a young kid with crazy racist crap(see article below) for singing the National Anthem? Wow, is this 2013 or 1953?

"Gregg Popovich spoke out about the incident as well.
“Well, I would like to say that I would be shocked or surprised by the comments. But given the fact that there’s still a significant element of bigotry and racism in our nation, I’m not surprised. It still plagues us, obviously. And what I was surprised by was how proud these idiots were of their ignorance, by printing their names next to their comments." - Pop

Mexican-American boy, Sebastien de la Cruz, sings encore performance of national anthem at NBA Finals in response to bigoted comments

[deusXango]

"Okay I know I'm about to get blasted for saying this but as bad as Stuckey been the past 2 seasons he still the better of all the Combo Guards on this team.  I think many of us has said that a change in scenery was what Stuckey needed. perhaps Cheeks just might be able to turn it around for Stuckey.  Maybe Cheeks get both Knight and Stuckey heading in the right direction. I think a lot of what went on with Stuckey's decline has been the result of both Kuester and Frank." - Wise

IMO, Stuckey is the best PG on this team by far right now! Stuckey is capable of averaging 7-9 assists and close to 20 PPG, and we've all seen him do it!
Where is the evidence of that?? A dot here and a dot there game performances? This is a position that requires consistency, more than any on the floor. 

BTW, the BEST time of Knight's short career, and the time we were all excited about him was when he was playing off of Stuckey in his first year! That's why I knew that him and MCW would work well together, but if Stuckey is revived, you don't need MCW(or Burke for that matter), we have the big PG that can alternate with Knight playing SG on defense.
After reading that comment, I honestly feel that the Pistons would be better off trading both Stuckey and Knight; the backcourt needs a total revamp.

We all know Stuckey is capable, it's just that he's only capable in stretches, just before he forgets what Chauncey taught him! Can Cheeks get Stuckey back on track?
Whatever Chauncey taught Stuckey it was over five years ago; how can you "sleep" that long and suddenly wake up? Stuckey's lack of usefulness goes beyond his play on the floor; he's not a vocal team leader but, he's been in coaches faces, and disrespected the entire franchise that's paying him. If he left today, it wouldn't break my heart.

It's a risky proposition for both Joe and Cheeks, but mostly for Joe! But when you think about it, it's a LOT less risky than drafting a PG and praying he gets it before you're fired!
All both of them need to do is make sound decisions as opposed to wild-eyed miscalculations, and they'll be okay.

That may be the calculation Joe is making... go back to the future, i.e. back to Knight/Stuckey running the team, keep Bynum coming off the bench, and draft either a big man or a shooter and call it a day until he hits the FA/Trade market.
Keep 'em both or trade them both (because of their value) but bring back Bynum for a reasonable price; your other suggestions are money IMHO.

Maybe Joe isn't as dumb as I thought , this could be smart!
Maybe he is as dumb as you thought, and this could be the beginning of the end.

We all know that for a lot of these Pistons it's not the talent, it's the mental aspects of the game that they fail in! If a coach can bring back what Chauncey did for our backcourt, the engine of this team would run a hell of a lot better.
Joe himself said the team needs a traditional PG to run this team; those are combo guards of middling talents who can't coordinate the growing talent around them. Oh by the way, Chauncey is not only gone but, he's been long gone, so let's leave that alone.

Between Stuckey & Knight we have all of the power and speed we need to compete with almost any backcourt, and (here's where Wise is wrong) with Monroe & Drummond, we're sitting on a frontcourt built to dominate for years!
Stuckey & Knight is debatable. Monroe & Drummond you get an A.

Trading Monroe would eventually rank up there with drafting Darko... a colossal mistake!
That statement ranks an A+.

All we'll need after that lineup is,

• A great SF to start
  
  
  
• Another backup Big
  
  
  
• Some additional shooters
  
  
  

[deusXango]

Murph, first off I want to thank you for what I believe to be an accurate update on the 30 for 30 on the "Bad Boys" and the tantalizing insight on "the captain's" feelings...good stuff!!!

The question that I ask myself is "what do fans value most in their choice for skilled, perimeter players, size or skill?" When a player has six years to demonstrate his PG skills and is found lacking, he's not a PG! When a player struggles with his mid-range game and can't stretch the floor with a reliable 3pt. shot, it's hard to call him a bona fide SG when his best weapon is attacking the basket (which is over 50% unsuccessful), and collecting the majority of his points from the FT line (which has never exceeded averaging 20pts.). We use "size, strength, and speed" as justification to call him a combo guard, which is an insult to real combo guards! That's Rodney Stuckey, who with duplicating the performances he's put on in a Detroit uniform, would have been out of the league by now; we talk about wanting an elite coach, what would Jerry Sloan, Phil Jackson, Gregg Popovich, or a young Pat Riley have done with Stuckey after one or two, at the most, years playing like he has for the Pistons? We're talking about going into year seven with the excuse making for this guys lack of development, but he's equal to or superior to a young Knight who's entering his second full season? If size has nothing to do with the selection of a legit PG, but skill does, Will Bynum is far better than Stuckey! Think about it.

Failing to draft Burke at #8 then Ray McCallum hopefully will be available to us at #37. I'm hoping Joe's next order of business is to seriously explore obtaining the #13 from Dallas. The article I read about Cheeks going into the Palace training facility and watching Middleton, English, and Jerebko work out, he dug into J.J. (for lackadaisical effort and preparation) and English had numerous comments about identification, and nothing was said about Middleton; does that mean Middleton was concentrating on working hard, and Cheeks saw something he liked in this young man? I think he'll be one of the pleasant surprises in this upcoming season. I hope that Maxiell, and Calderon are not re-signed for any reason! I think that's more important than keeping Stuckey and CV for another year (hopefully their last).

All that being said, I'm glad we got a coach (good or bad is yet to be determined), and am excited about the upcoming draft (this is going to be great drama), and can't wait to see how Joe handles the FA signings.
GO PISTONS!!!

[Sparma]

Interesting stuff on the Bad Boys, Murph.  I think that winning the championship that got away (and having the Lakers lose one) would have made the 80s an era of three nearly equal dynasties.  As is, I agree they don't get their due.

[Oracle]

"Okay I know I'm about to get blasted for saying this but as bad as Stuckey been the past 2 seasons he still the better of all the Combo Guards on this team.  I think many of us has said that a change in scenery was what Stuckey needed. perhaps Cheeks just might be able to turn it around for Stuckey.  Maybe Cheeks get both Knight and Stuckey heading in the right direction. I think a lot of what went on with Stuckey's decline has been the result of both Kuester and Frank." - Wise

IMO, Stuckey is the best PG on this team by far right now! Stuckey is capable of averaging 7-9 assists and close to 20 PPG, and we've all seen him do it!

BTW, the BEST time of Knight's short career, and the time we were all excited about him was when he was playing off of Stuckey in his first year! That's why I knew that him and MCW would work well together, but if Stuckey is revived, you don't need MCW(or Burke for that matter), we have the big PG that can alternate with Knight playing SG on defense.

We all know Stuckey is capable, it's just that he's only capable in stretches, just before he forgets what Chauncey taught him! Can Cheeks get Stuckey back on track?

It's a risky proposition for both Joe and Cheeks, but mostly for Joe! But when you think about it, it's a LOT less risky than drafting a PG and praying he gets it before you're fired!

That may be the calculation Joe is making... go back to the future, i.e. back to Knight/Stuckey running the team, keep Bynum coming off the bench, and draft either a big man or a shooter and call it a day until he hits the FA/Trade market.

Maybe Joe isn't as dumb as I thought , this could be smart!

We all know that for a lot of these Pistons it's not the talent, it's the mental aspects of the game that they fail in! If a coach can bring back what Chauncey did for our backcourt, the engine of this team would run a hell of a lot better.

Between Stuckey & Knight we have all of the power and speed we need to compete with almost any backcourt, and (here's where Wise is wrong) with Monroe & Drummond, we're sitting on a frontcourt built to dominate for years!

Trading Monroe would eventually rank up there with drafting Darko... a colossal mistake!

All we'll need after that lineup is,

• A great SF to start
  
• Another backup Big
  
• Some additional shooters
  

[Murph]

"Okay I know I'm about to get blasted for saying this but as bad as Stuckey been the past 2 seasons he still the better of all the Combo Guards on this team.  I think many of us has said that a change in scenery was what Stuckey needed. perhaps Cheeks just might be able to turn it around for Stuckey.  Maybe Cheeks get both Knight and Stuckey heading in the right direction. I think a lot of what went on with Stuckey's decline has been the result of both Kuester and Frank.

Oracle I wouldn't sour on Cheeks so fast, Joe can afford to make dumb comments about Stuckey with him sitting on a partial contract in his last seasons.  Joe can't make the same comments about Knight because he basically all but written Knight walking papers last season when he brought in Calderon.  It's almost certain that if Joe lands either Burke or MCW that Knight is gone this summer.

DX, with a Defensive Minded Coach and President I can see why Stuckey would remain a pet of Joe's.  Even as bad as Stuckey been of late he still seems to have greater upside as 6 year veteran than Knight has with a season and a half IMO.  Sadly Stuckey is better at every facet of being a combo guard than Knight is."




Wise...I'm glad to see you're finally coming around on Stuckey.  He might not be a PG, and he certainly isn't a franchise player or maybe not even a starter.  But with the right coach, who uses him correctly, he could be a valuable combo guard.

Right now, I think the best case scenario for the Pistons would be to draft Oladipo, if Burke is gone, and then start either Oadipo or Stuckey in the back court, along side Knight at PG.

Then take McCallum or Kabongo in the 2nd round at #37...as a back-up to Knight. 

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