Hope The Lions Were Paying Attention

[WTF]

Justin Gilbert looked like a beast at the combine and I'm guessing the Lions will pick him at #10.  4.37 in the 40 means he'd be lethal on returns too.   MSU's Dennard would be a solid pick, but less exciting.  Maybe someone drops with the eagerness of those in the top 9 to draft a QB.

Man he was flying in fact the top 4 CB all looked good so I would be pleased with any of them. My hope is that the Lions could get Decker or some other top WR free agent and draft one these rookie CB.

[WTF]

You know it brings music to my ears and eyes these days reading and listening to many fans, the media, and my forum buddies all say the things I've been spouting off about Joe for almost a decade now.   Yes he sucked even when everyone was proclaiming him GM of the Decade.  

Sure from 2001 to 2004 the team took off in the right direction and it seem every thing Joe did just magically worked out for the best. He was dumping salaries and in the process came up with 50 wins in Ricks first 2 seasons as head coach but he could do nothing right after 2003. I know he he trade for Sheed which was great but he also drafted Darko which in reality was like trading 5 or 6 titles for one.  I mean do you ever just sit and wonder where the team would have been or how much better they could've been if our roster included Melo starting and Prince backing him up.   Losing Memo and Corliss wouldn't have hurt as much I mean there's no way they couldn't have ran off 4 or 5 straight titles.  **** I bet Melo sits and think about that **** and calls Joe a dumb ass when he thinks about it.  Melo legacy would have been set in stone his first 4 seasons in the league if Joe would have drafted him. If I'm Melo I'll hate Joe forever.  Lebron who? Melo would have had at least 4 titles before Lebron and D-Wade could think about winning 1 title and this is why he should be royally pissed   

I told everyone back then and I'll say it again now that entirely too much credit was given to Joe before and after 2004 and everyone been riding that 2004 title win for 10 seasons as an excuse to forgive all the dumb **** he's done during that time but now the door will be slammed in his face come April.  He deserves it should have been done back in 2006

Joe legacy even with that title say's he was an under-achiever who happen to over-achieve for one seasons in 2004.   

[Murph]

Josh at least has definable talents, he just needs focus!

But is Jennings good at anything???

He can't blow by anybody, and Steve effing Blake kept Jennings in front of him with EASE!!!

Joe traded BK7 away for this clown?

I really agree with Wise on this one, Knight with Burke or MCW would have been a MUCH better backcourt than what we have. Any of those guys is a more potent 3pt threat, and you wouldn't be able to relax because they could blow by you and get to the rack!

But the bigger thing is that they all are smart players!

Will Bynum does provide some of that, and that's why Loyer is dissing Jennings, because Bynum has a sense of urgency and can get to the rim to score... Jennings can't!

Jennings is going to be hard to move because nobody wanted him in the first place, and now he's completely exposed!

Josh I could understand, but Jennings was a colossal unforced error by Joe!

Dumars should never make a trade in the NBA. Joe is such a poor judge of talent that by definition any GM that he's trading with is a better judge of talent than Joe is. That means that by definition Joe is going to get taken advantage of in any trade he attempts...whether it's trading Billups, Afflalo, AJ, Knight, Middleton, Budinger, etc. etc. etc.

Joe should have just stuck to the draft and develped his young players. He isn't particularly good at judging draft talent either, but he frequently lucks out when players like Drummond and Monroe fall into his lap.

If Joe had just hung onto and developed every player he drafted, and never made a trade after the Rasheed Wallace trade, the Pistons would be much better off.

And one more thing, Joe...never, ever trade with your "good friend" John Hammond.

[Oracle]

Josh at least has definable talents, he just needs focus!

But is Jennings good at anything???

He can't blow by anybody, and Steve effing Blake kept Jennings in front of him with EASE!!!

Joe traded BK7 away for this clown?

I really agree with Wise on this one, Knight with Burke or MCW would have been a MUCH better backcourt than what we have. Any of those guys is a more potent 3pt threat, and you wouldn't be able to relax because they could blow by you and get to the rack!

But the bigger thing is that they all are smart players!

Will Bynum does provide some of that, and that's why Loyer is dissing Jennings, because Bynum has a sense of urgency and can get to the rim to score... Jennings can't!

Jennings is going to be hard to move because nobody wanted him in the first place, and now he's completely exposed!

Josh I could understand, but Jennings was a colossal unforced error by Joe!

[Oracle]

I thought the whole Collins Gay thing was way over played by ESPN (like there ain't gay people in sports... sheesh)... it looks like Gores missed a marketing opportunity... Collins Jerseys have been the best selling on NBA.COM... would also expect a large amount of Gays in the stands to support their cause.

More Gay they don't need  

[merc]

I thought the whole Collins Gay thing was way over played by ESPN (like there ain't gay people in sports... sheesh)... it looks like Gores missed a marketing opportunity... Collins Jerseys have been the best selling on NBA.COM... would also expect a large amount of Gays in the stands to support their cause.

[Sparma]

Justin Gilbert looked like a beast at the combine and I'm guessing the Lions will pick him at #10. 4.37 in the 40 means he'd be lethal on returns too. MSU's Dennard would be a solid pick, but less exciting. Maybe someone drops with the eagerness of those in the top 9 to draft a QB.

[Sebastian]

... and rightfully so.

Zack Lowe, Grantland.com:

The Pistons zombie-walked out of the All-Star break with consecutive dispiriting blowouts in a home-and-home against Charlotte, Detroit’s chief competition for the no. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference.

We’re nearly 60 games in, and Detroit still doesn’t have a clue defensively. Brandon Jennings and Greg Monroe have been minus defenders for their entire (and relatively short) careers, Andre Drummond is still learning, and Josh Smith hasn’t played this much small forward in years. Detroit was going to have some issues.

But holy cow, put these guys into even a single rotation and they are toast. Get even a foot of dribble penetration on a pick-and-roll and a Detroit player somewhere on the court is going to blow a rotation or lose track of his man. Have a post-up player Detroit has to double-team? Congratulations, you are definitely getting an open 3-pointer or a dunk out of it, because this team has no harmony moving around the floor.

It may just take time to mold a weird roster, get young players to learn the difficult timing of NBA defense, and find the right rotations. But there has been zero progress this season, regardless of who is coaching the team.

This has been a disappointing season and the next three moves are going to be crucial: 1) Hiring the next GM, 2) Hiring the next Head Coach, 3) What to do with Moose.

There is a haunting reality developing, as the season nears its end, that there want be a 1st round pick.

As crazy as it sounds, Ben G. and his expiring contract would be perfect for this roster (minus Chauncey and Will B.).

Damn, hindsight is so clearer!  

[cool breeze]

If I was coaching this debacle, I would play both CV and Datome together as much as possible to space the floor.

I was joking about playing Charlie V Oracle. I hate to see his lazy ass play basketball. Neither Charlie or Datome can play defense as well as the other clowns who are getting playing time. Charlie has been mis firing his flat rocket 3 point shot and he still looks like there is a turd in his shorts when he tries to run the court. Datome has been a complete disappointment. He is not a NBA ready unless he plays in pre season games. 

The player I still have faith in is Jerebco. I keep waiting for him to have a breakout game. He plays hard and is effective on defense off the bench. Just play hard and try to play tough defense and a player can win my over. After watching so many Piston players tanking and faking and looking like they have not had a good night's sleep in weeks, I lose interest in them. I am speaking of December, January and the first half of Feb when I say this. Those are the months where true character comes out. Now players can smell the end of the season coming and are playing harder. I appreciate the increase in effort but cannot forget the past. It appears that our management is very forgiving and have short memories.

[cool breeze]

They can go after Jimmer Freddette who's being released by the Kings.  He shoots 48% from 3pt land.

That would be a huge upgrade for the Pistons Moosefan. Freddette needs a change and he is a high IQ basketball player. We need more of those. Is Mr. Gores happy with his current set of guards. Does he believe everything Joe tells him? The team will continue to lose with two guards that have no future with this team, Stuckey and Bynum. But don't forget, Will Bynum wants to make the playoffs and Gores fired Cheeks after he pulled Bynum where Bynum was the worst player on the floor. Did the owner take a real look at that game to see if there was justification for sending Bynum to the bench?  None of the long time Piston fans are buying this crap the owner and Joe are selling. One thing about pro basketball if you are the owner or team President, you can't hide because your abilities show on the hardwood. If you are a bad decision maker then you will field a team like the Detroit Pistons.  In large corporations leaders who are connected to the right people can blend into the woodwork and make many screw ups without any penalties. Joe Dumars is not a good decision maker but it appears that the owner is a party animal and doesn't really care about the long term prospects for this team. 

I was thinking this morning about Mike James who came in with the Rasheed trade. James played at Boston and was a really good defender with a lot of quickness. He had no ego as well and I believe that he was a key reason why our Pistons won that Championship. I was sick when Piston management decided to pinch pennies. It cost them at least one more championship when Joe brought his buddy, Hunter in to fill the void. James was a great chemistry guy for the Pistons. Management decided to mess with the chemistry much like when they traded Billups for Iverson. It appears that Dumars doesn't believe that chemistry matters. He is wrong. Placing too many dysfunctional players on the same team has proven him wrong many times but he still doesn't seem to get it. 

The only upside of playing Joe's guys is the hope that we can keep that draft pick. The Bucks should be in great shape next season with Knight and Middleton and possibly the number one overall draft pick. And Charlotte could be a real force if our management plays things the wrong way with the rest of the season.

[WTF]

They can go after Jimmer Freddette who's being released by the Kings. He shoots 48% from 3pt land.

[WTF]

I would like to see this team handed over to him for the remainder of the season if at all possible.  Truly I was devastated in not drafting Burke or MCW and I don't think I'll ever get over it.  Siva lead his team to an NCAA Title and prior season deep into the tournament.  

By no means is he the level of either Burke and MCW but he really is a solid pass first defensive minded PG from a defensive minded program and they did put the clamps on Michigan in the finals.  IMO he did the best job on Burke than any other PG ever did so I would like to see him get a real chance.  

There are things I like about this young man starting with I love four year players and he progressed every season with the Cardinals.  Also this kid seem to have his head on straight he's married, he's a father, and a devoted to his faith you can't say that about a lot of young men his age.   This kid basically been a winner up until signing with these losers (Pistons) and deserves a real chance and since this season is going nowhere fast they should give him the chance.   JMO!

Moose, you may be on to something ... "handing the team over the Siva" for the remainder of the season would definitely help to retain OUR Top 8 protected, 2014 draft pick.

Moose do remember the last time Siva was on the Palace floor, the dude couldn't even get the ball over the half court line. Siva is not an NBA PG, my man.

I think that WE need to get a serious plan, together, to acquiring a starting level PG for the seasons to come - B. Jennings is not the answer, either.

Seb the guy played in 13 NBA games so I'm not writing him off, he went down to D-league and average 14 points, call it jitters, being a rookie second round pick or whatever but mainly it was a lack of PT, like I said he's no Burke or MCW but he no worse that Bynum and Jennings you ask me.

[WTF]

Unrestricted Free Agents I would look at if the price is right. Mario Charmers, Thabo Sefolosha, Danny Granger, Kirk Hinrich and Loul Deng. Provided the price is right.

Trades I would consider doing. A sign and trade Z-Bo and 1st round pick for Moose, Jennings for anybody, anything it doesn't matter.

If I the GM I'm not snubbing my nose at U of M and would take Nick in a heart beat, he's a shooter he spreads the floor. He's a lot faster and better defender than he looks.

[Sebastian]

I would like to see this team handed over to him for the remainder of the season if at all possible.  Truly I was devastated in not drafting Burke or MCW and I don't think I'll ever get over it.  Siva lead his team to an NCAA Title and prior season deep into the tournament.  

By no means is he the level of either Burke and MCW but he really is a solid pass first defensive minded PG from a defensive minded program and they did put the clamps on Michigan in the finals.  IMO he did the best job on Burke than any other PG ever did so I would like to see him get a real chance.  

There are things I like about this young man starting with I love four year players and he progressed every season with the Cardinals.  Also this kid seem to have his head on straight he's married, he's a father, and a devoted to his faith you can't say that about a lot of young men his age.   This kid basically been a winner up until signing with these losers (Pistons) and deserves a real chance and since this season is going nowhere fast they should give him the chance.   JMO!

Moose, you may be on to something ... "handing the team over the Siva" for the remainder of the season would definitely help to retain OUR Top 8 protected, 2014 draft pick.

Moose do remember the last time Siva was on the Palace floor, the dude couldn't even get the ball over the half court line. Siva is not an NBA PG, my man.

I think that WE need to get a serious plan, together, to acquiring a starting level PG for the seasons to come - B. Jennings is not the answer, either.

[WTF]

I would like to see this team handed over to him for the remainder of the season if at all possible. Truly I was devastated in not drafting Burke or MCW and I don't think I'll ever get over it. Siva lead his team to an NCAA Title and prior season deep into the tournament.

By no means is he the level of either Burke and MCW but he really is a solid pass first defensive minded PG from a defensive minded program and they did put the clamps on Michigan in the finals. IMO he did the best job on Burke than any other PG ever did so I would like to see him get a real chance.

There are things I like about this young man starting with I love four year players and he progressed every season with the Cardinals. Also this kid seem to have his head on straight he's married, he's a father, and a devoted to his faith you can't say that about a lot of young men his age. This kid basically been a winner up until signing with these losers (Pistons) and deserves a real chance and since this season is going nowhere fast they should give him the chance. JMO!

[Oracle]

If I was coaching this debacle, I would play both CV and Datome together as much as possible to space the floor.

[cool breeze]

No it isn't a smart thing. What is going on with this lame brain trust running our Piston organization. With the potential of Detroit's big men obvious, why is it that management insists on playing players who will not be part of the team in 2 or 3 years? Does anyone believe that the current guards have the potential to create a winning team? Every game I hope that management will actually make a decision to bring up players from the D-League who are doing well and are young. And I keep hoping that the coach will give playing time to Siva and perhaps try KCP at point guard. There is nothing to lose now. This present team sucks. Bynum is not a point guard. I don't mind watching Jennings but it is insane to keep playing Bynum even if he scores 20 or more points a game. He has no idea what he is doing on the court relating to running a team. He always goes to the left side of the court and the more he plays the more he dribbles and makes lame passes. And i caught Bynum resting on defense in the 4th quarter. Does the coaching staff or upper management believe that the more Bynum plays the better the team will be 3 years from now. It seems that everyone who makes decisions is asleep at the wheel. Is the owner serious about creating a winning team? I have given up on Joe Dumars. He obviously must like what he is seeing with the guards that he picked. Give someone else a chance and the experience they need to see if they might be a good fit for our big men. Looks like management will go to the bitter end featuring the same players. Why not bring out Charlie V to play with Bynum and Stuckey. This new head coach is not making the adjustments or player changes. He is playing the same players regardless of what is happening on the court. The point guard needs to play like a real point guard. But the coaching staff doesn't insist on that. It is OK to bring the ball up the court and dribble around before firing up a shot. Is that how the team is practicing?

[cool breeze]

If I could sum up this season in one word it would be confusing... thoughts change weekly from "ok let's go for the playoffs F### the pick"... to "no way do we want to see MJ get a good pick and we're left with Joe's mess".
One thing that has been made abundantly clear is that Joe needs to move on (apologies for the late arrival to this conclusion).
So here we are just shaking heads and cursing at the players...
Now what?
With Joe not being re-signed we get a fresh start with a GM that is not bound to past mistakes... it ain't his bed so he can throw out the mattress with the bed bugs.
If rumors are true that Josh is not movable (maybe for an expiring) we have to find a way to use him effectively... his last 10 games have been fine as he is spending much less time chucking from deep.... I think he may be able to coexist with Monroe but not much at the same time... possibly splitting time between the 3/4 and reducing his minutes.
I haven't been a big Monroe supporter (he of cement shoes)... but if you can surround him with solid defenders and some shooting it could still work (the key is bringing in a defensive PG)... If we sign him and it still doesn't work I'm fairly confident that he will still be movable... more teams will be interested if they don't have to worry about him leaving after one year.

Jennings may actually be less movable than Josh... this is Chucky Atkins Jr.... I'm ok with him becoming our next CV-DNP or at most a 10-15 minute backup... his salary be damned.... the less shots from his hands the better the team becomes by default.
After next year he becomes a movable expiring.
Singler has been earning his stripes and deserves a role as a backup SG/SF... no more "just trade him for twinkies" talk.

At this point tanking seems like the way to go... as some posters mentioned grabbing a PG like Ennis or Exum.
I'm afraid that we may have to sit out the FA frenzy this summer as we lick our wounds for Joe's crap signings.
One thing that must happen is that the new GM fields a team that can make the playoffs next year (a tough task with a rookie PG)... If MJ gets a top 3 pick all hell will break loose (zero ticket sales).
Maybe add an affordable vet PG that can run an offense like Wise says... someone that won't impede the progress of our next gen PG that can grow with the team.


Looking for more good plans.

Merc I like that Chucky Atkins comparison. If Chucky were in his prime, would he be a better choice than either Jennings or Bynum? According to my old neighbor, and former Piston assistant coach when Atkins played for the Pistons, Atkins was not coachable especially in the area of playing defense. This guy could not concentrate for over a few seconds. One story I heard several times was a moment during the playoffs where Detroit had a two point lead and a timeout was called with only seconds left in the game. My friend said he told Atkins 3 times not to leave his man and allow a 3 point shot even going as far as grabbing him as Atkins was going out on the floor as the timeout was winding down. Sure enough Atkins lost concentration and left his man while drifting in the middle of the paint and watching the action on the opposite side of the court. The ball was reversed and Atkins' man was wide open for a 3 point shot that went in and Detroit was down by one point.  With only about 5 seconds left, Atkins then made up for his blunder and drove into the lane making a wild shot to win the game. So much for coaching in the NBA. We are watching several current Piston players who played like Atkins. Great job Mercury for bringing  Chuck back to life. It appears that Joe Dumars didn't learn anything from his experience of watching Atkins in action and wants more players like him.

[cool breeze]

I was wondering when the coaching staff for the Pistons would take Stuckey and Bynum out of the game in the 2nd quarter. Stuckey was not able to hit shots. Bynum was scoring and made some good passes but always started the offense on the left side of the court. When will the coaching staff realize that it might be a good thing for the point guard to make the first pass to Singler. When that happens our Pistons look like a real team capable of playing a more complex style. Bynum dribbling through his legs driving to the rim gets tiring for me. Notice that teams that play our Pistons more completely shut down Detroit's offense when Will is on the floor. It is only teams that do not bother to scout our Pistons who allow our Street Ballers to do their thing. 

If you have a low IQ basketball management team in place then you will get low IQ players manning the skill positions. If Detroit would have picked up Steve Blake or Andre Miller, it would have been interesting to see how this team might look. We will never know as long as Joe Dumars runs this club it appears. 

It is refreshing to see Josh Smith actually giving supreme effort. He did everything well in the first quarter on both offense and defense, playing smart basketball in every area. It is also good to see Jennings playing off the ball and shooting from the wing. 

Also perhaps nobody noticed but with all the dysfunctional play in the 2nd quarter with Will Bynum playing one against five, I thought that Jerebco really dod a good job on defense. He filled the passing lanes and helped out much like Singler does when he is in the game. Too many Piston players fail to recognized and react to situations. Greg Kelser mentioned Singler as being the one player who does the right thing in that regard most of the time. To be successful, a team needs all of their players to be capable of doing that. However, it appears that upper management does not screen players before handing out contracts and somehow believe that coaching staffs can make players into different players with a higher basketball IQ. It doesn't happen at the NBA level. You either have it or you don't. Will the owner recognize what kind of leadership is needed for the Pistons to become more successful? Is Mr. Gores a real basketball person?

[Phil-Good]

Golden State needs A real NBA front-Line and Detroit has it. Drummonds and Greg Monroe need to get better but they are ready to make A deep run in the playoffs if they were on A good team with real NBA guards like Curry and Klay Thompson. Toss in Harrison Barns and you have the best young team in the NBA.


ON the other hand, Detroit needs real point guards and 2-guards BAD! BAD! BAD! BAD! Golden State has that in Barns, Thompson and Curry.

The Pistons played hard. Can't knock them for losing this game. The Pistons are also A better coached team. No questions about it!!!!

But like I keep saying. Rodney Stuckey, Will Bynum, B.Jennings. Not going to get it done full time in the NBA when it comes to winning games.

The good news is Jennings and Will Bynum contracts are not killers. They can be moved if A solid trade opportunity comes along.

[merc]

If I could sum up this season in one word it would be confusing... thoughts change weekly from "ok let's go for the playoffs F### the pick"... to "no way do we want to see MJ get a good pick and we're left with Joe's mess".
One thing that has been made abundantly clear is that Joe needs to move on (apologies for the late arrival to this conclusion).
So here we are just shaking heads and cursing at the players...
Now what?
With Joe not being re-signed we get a fresh start with a GM that is not bound to past mistakes... it ain't his bed so he can throw out the mattress with the bed bugs.
If rumors are true that Josh is not movable (maybe for an expiring) we have to find a way to use him effectively... his last 10 games have been fine as he is spending much less time chucking from deep.... I think he may be able to coexist with Monroe but not much at the same time... possibly splitting time between the 3/4 and reducing his minutes.
I haven't been a big Monroe supporter (he of cement shoes)... but if you can surround him with solid defenders and some shooting it could still work (the key is bringing in a defensive PG)... If we sign him and it still doesn't work I'm fairly confident that he will still be movable... more teams will be interested if they don't have to worry about him leaving after one year.

Jennings may actually be less movable than Josh... this is Chucky Atkins Jr.... I'm ok with him becoming our next CV-DNP or at most a 10-15 minute backup... his salary be damned.... the less shots from his hands the better the team becomes by default.
After next year he becomes a movable expiring.
Singler has been earning his stripes and deserves a role as a backup SG/SF... no more "just trade him for twinkies" talk.

At this point tanking seems like the way to go... as some posters mentioned grabbing a PG like Ennis or Exum.
I'm afraid that we may have to sit out the FA frenzy this summer as we lick our wounds for Joe's crap signings.
One thing that must happen is that the new GM fields a team that can make the playoffs next year (a tough task with a rookie PG)... If MJ gets a top 3 pick all hell will break loose (zero ticket sales).
Maybe add an affordable vet PG that can run an offense like Wise says... someone that won't impede the progress of our next gen PG that can grow with the team.


Looking for more good plans.

[Oracle]

Don is essentially correct, we have a team of dumb players, and I probably have to give Cheeks a tiny bit more credit and Gores a lot less for thinking that this team is playing below their ability.

Facts as I see them:
1. Joe did his best to get rid of every intelligent player that we've had, and replace them with very dumb players. Joe got rid of Afflalo, Chauncey, Knight, Prince, Calderon and even Maxiell to name a few! All that to keep Stuckey, get AI, Josh Smith, Jennings and some pocket change.

2. I really tried to like Jennings, but Jennings couldn't carry BK's jock strap with a fork lift, on intelligence alone, and let's not talk defense of ability to attack the basket! What a dumb ass move that lost Middleton in the process.

3. As Don pointed out, the ball watch, and don't even do a good job of that! In this game, these clowns will see one of their mated get trapped, and refuse to move over to give him someone to pass to... they just spectate like a fan... WTF is going on in their minds???

4. I haven't seen a Piston team with defense this bad in... hell, I can't remember a time! How can you have such great size and have an open lane to the basket for anyone to drive? How can Sheed stand looking at this sorry ass product on the court?

I'm sorry fellow posters, this team really sucks, and if I wasn't a die hard fan, I'd probably crochet a scarf or something instead of watch this mess!

But I warn you, watching stuff this bad could lead to rooting for Jason Collins, then who knows what else may happen  

[deusXango]

The Pistons need not drafting a PG this summer and instead need to acquire one via trade or FA this summer.  Rondo should be a target of the Pistons I think we blown our chances of getting the PG needed when we passed on first Walker then finally on  both Burke and MCW.

If we get in the lottery (and it appears we have a good chance of doing that) depending on our position, I wouldn't hesitate on going after Exum early, or Ennis late...those two are going to be as special as PG's as any we've seen lately.

Barring drafting those two freshmen, I'm making a firm offer to Vasquez (PG) and Sefalosha (SG) in free agency; sliding Smith to PF and pursuing a top flight SF (what we have now ain't the answer).

[deusXango]

I said early this season that Cheeks need to stop **** with with Josh.  Some **** was unnecessary like benching him for the miss practice under the circumstances of Josh father being ill and an unusual call for practice.  Cheeks also had a problem with Josh calling out team mates about there efforts and bench him for that as well.  

Had Cheeks taking this approach with entire team I don't think Josh and CB goes to Joe but Cheeks had it out it would seem to make an example out of Josh right or wrong.  

I wouldn't be surprised if Drummond had issues with Cheeks as well because he felt he was unfairly treated at times as well and if you're **** with the highest paid and a franchise player it can only get ugly.  Cheeks should have been Moose and Jennings asses but chose to cuddle those two who effort hurt the team more than not.  Andre and Josh play hard all the freaking time.

Practically everyone who followed the Pistons, early in the year, knew the treatment of Smith by Cheeks was totally unnecessary and was going to have damaging consequences...oddly enough the next in line for Cheeks to go after was Drummond!!! In good conscience I'd never try to justify that to protect Cheeks, but Joe did (among some on this site).

Chauncey's body is all broke down, but he knows more about this game than he's given credit for, and these are some of the reasons traction is given to the wild-eyed Vesey report.

I agree with you 100% Wise, that if an example was to be made by benching of our players (so early in the season) it should have been Monroe & Jennings...they were the ones clearly not playing up to par. What the cost of Jennings was and the fact Monroe was in a contract year should not have been Cheeks concern, but what their performances were on the court.

[cool breeze]

We are supposed to be watching the best players in the world perform. After all, the Detroit Pistons are a real NBA team. However, I keep seeing our players make basic fundamental errors that few players in my era made at the high school level. This may sound stupid or a dull topic for some of you fans who are focused on blaming coaches when players get beat by other players in real games. But the real truth is easy to see if you care to watch. 

For instance, in this last game, many of Stuckey's old bad habits came back in a big way. He lost concentration on defense losing track of his assigned man thus allowing dribble penetration. Our Big Three, Jennings, Bynum and Stuckey all seem to believe that it is all right to come to a jump stop after trying to recover out on open shooters. No you run out and take small steps keeping your balance and watching your opponent's stomach. The stomach doesn't lie as my old coach used to beat into me after someone had driven by me in high school. My coach would bench you if you made that mistake twice. There was an accounting of stupidity with players until AAU ball became so big in this country. 

The error that I keep seeing over and over with most of our Piston players is how much they like "TO BALL WATCH" on defense. Monroe is really good at ball watching instead of anticipating and blocking out someone and thinking about positioning. How can these players be in the best league in the world? Monroe was trying to play in a zone in this last game and he had no idea what was going on. So he started watching instead of playing. Was he out of gas or did he just lose concentration? He was trying to figure things out on the fly not sure of how to rotate or who to guard or where he should be when the shot went up. How can anyone expect that they can win a game if this is going on? And I saw our guards doing the same thing as the big men and it has been going on all season. The guards are getting beat on dribble penetration and they don't even attempt to recover or attempt to box out anyone to help with rebounding. It is just luck when Monroe or our guards get rebounds. Monroe is big so just by standing he will get some balls flying into his hands. Monroe has some real skill on the offensive end but hasn't improved one bit since he played at Georgetown on defense. Wouldn't you be embarrassed playing like that? 

This is a sad time in history for the Detroit Pistons. We have Will Bynum beating out the big money player Brandon Jennings for the key position on the team - point guard. Joe Dumars keeps bringing in the same type of handicapped players as he replaces his coaching staffs. Can anyone on the Piston upper management team judge players correctly. What are they looking for when they sign future Piston players? I am really tired of watching the Detroit Pistons and I can take a lot. But basic mindless passes, uninterested players faking playing defense, failure to move without the basketball on offense makes for dull entertainment. Everyone I know who currently live in Michigan have given up and refuse to watch this team.

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