Michael Sam switches to baseball after seeing Prince Fielders pic!

[Oracle]

[Oracle]

Wise/Murph: When Josh & Jennings were playing great, we generally won, we needed great games from those two to get over the hump! We also did well with Drummond/Monroe, but while they played well together, we rarely won!

Don, I haven't seen a rumor that made any sense to me about Monroe, and they never made sense as soon as they were announced! Go back and see, I didn't go for any of them because they make no sense, unless you believe that Monroe is as good as he thinks he is!

DX, exactly! If he's a 20/10 player, STFU and show us!!!

Don/Wise/DX: Of course neither Monroe or Josh fits SVG's offense as you seem to believe it is!

While Monroe doesn't fit anybody's defense, there's not a defensive scheme that couldn't use Josh!

So I'm inclined to believe that SVG will alter his 1 in 4 out offense to be 2 in 3 out to accommodate both Josh & Monroe on offense, but start Josh because he can play defense, and if you can't you need to come off the bench and play against the other chumps that can't!

[WTF]

Smith doesn't fit Van Gundy's offensive system. Monroe doesn't fit SVG's system if he plays power forward. Opposing teams would love it if Josh returns next season as the same player he was last year. SVG likes to spread the floor and what coach wants Josh Smith to jack up outside jump shots? Also, throughout Smith's career, he has been a problem at times in the locker room.  Last season he didn't create any fights but was did not make much of an effort to get to know his teammates. As it seems that Monroe will return, this team will look much the same unless either Monroe or Smith leaves. Could the Kings or Celtics still be interested??

Don, back to lying on Josh again. Please Don give me one that's all I'm asking just one player or coach that openly complain about Josh as a team you have yet to do so. Give me one story that's not media fabricated and made up about Josh.

SVG has already stated Josh won't be jacking up threes and that he will use Josh the correct way which was the way he played in his 2009 and 2010 seasons.

Josh never hid behind an agent and openly stated he wanted out of Atlanta and did not cause a single issue there even though he openly stated it so if Atlanta had an issue with it that's their fault because they were hell bent on keeping him.

Don just say you don't like him that's fine but stop making up stuff

[deusXango]

Smith doesn't fit Van Gundy's offensive system. Monroe doesn't fit SVG's system if he plays power forward. Opposing teams would love it if Josh returns next season as the same player he was last year. SVG likes to spread the floor and what coach wants Josh Smith to jack up outside jump shots? Also, throughout Smith's career, he has been a problem at times in the locker room.  Last season he didn't create any fights but was did not make much of an effort to get to know his teammates. As it seems that Monroe will return, this team will look much the same unless either Monroe or Smith leaves. Could the Kings or Celtics still be interested??

Don, I'm surprised with your position on our PF position right now....you're the most defensive minded poster on this site and you don't know who the best suited starter at PF is on this team? I believe in my heart of hearts that you do, yet you want to trade him at this late a date and hold out hope for a player who obviously doesn't want to be here. I don't know what you're referring to about Josh being a locker room problem when Atlanta's best player is his best friend and known for his mild-mannered level headedness...is Al Horford a fool? The only problem I remember Josh having in Atlanta was the outrageous contract they gave Joe Johnson but, offered him peanuts. That wasn't a locker room problem, that was with management.

SVG has what he didn't have in Orlando to compliment Howard and that's an athletic beast to play alongside Drummond in Smith. Why don't/can't we show the patience to see the outcome of this pairing? Why we got to jump the gun because of last years poor performance when Monroe was in the way and Smith was playing out of position?

Why can't a sign & trade be settled on? If David Falk is all that, why isn't there movement with his client? His max contract client! Something stinks!!

[deusXango]

"It's rooted in his effort and how he comes to play game in and game out it doesn't matter that Jennings, Josh or anyone else for that matter they brought consistent effort. There is no way on God's Green Earth that with the talented level of Monroe that he should not be a 20-10 guy if he came to play every night for 48 real minutes of basketball.

Also Monroe stats are padded when you get right down to it and measure with little to no impact in games."

I could not disagree more on Jennings' consistency.  Jennings is the definition of inconsistent.  He'll score 21 one night, and 2 the next.  He's dish 14 assists one night, and 2 the next.  He'll take 24 shots one night, and 3 the next.  There's no consistency to Jennings game at all.

And I agree with you that Monroe should be a 20 - 10 guy.  And I'm sure Monroe thinks he should be a 20 - 10 guy also.  That's the problem.  With Drummond sucking up most of the rebounds, and with Jennings and Smith insisting on leading the team in scoring (in spite of their low FG percentages), and with Jennings dishing the rock inconsistently...there's no way Monroe is ever going to be a 20 - 10 guys here in Detroit.  That's undoubtedly why he wants to move on.

Murph, what was his excuse for the first three years before Drummond, Smith, and Jennings were starting? Monroe had 3-years as our starting center and couldn't accomplish on the boards what Drummond did last year, and didn't call for the ball enough to average 20+ points when there was no one else to be relied on to score.

On this team Monroe is a great 6th man (like Stuckey was last year) but, he starts as a detriment to the team....this is not taking anything away from Monroe but, as a bench player, he's adding to the potency of the team.

If Monroe thinks he should be a 20/10 guy then why don't he stop thinking about it and just do it?

[cool breeze]

Smith doesn't fit Van Gundy's offensive system. Monroe doesn't fit SVG's system if he plays power forward. Opposing teams would love it if Josh returns next season as the same player he was last year. SVG likes to spread the floor and what coach wants Josh Smith to jack up outside jump shots? Also, throughout Smith's career, he has been a problem at times in the locker room.  Last season he didn't create any fights but was did not make much of an effort to get to know his teammates. As it seems that Monroe will return, this team will look much the same unless either Monroe or Smith leaves. Could the Kings or Celtics still be interested??

[cool breeze]

It would be a dumb idea to make a trade for Greg Monroe especially if they give up Paul Millsap. It appears that the Hawks GM might be thinking the same way as SVG. Greg Monroe's agent believes Greg has a high value and should be rewarded with a big contract. Sure Greg saw how little Josh Smith gave this past season and look what Joe gave Josh. But no other GM is like Joe Dumars Mr. Falk. The firing of Joe Dumars must have given David Falk a big headache. No longer could he pull the wool over a Piston GM. And it is bad news that the NBA doesn't have more GMs like Joe Dumars or maybe SVG could be successful with a sign and trade. I was so excited with the prospect of Monroe going to Atlanta but must now face reality of another season with Monroe. Let him play for the 5 mil and hope for the best. That might be the best plan because unless some team suffers a key injury before the trade deadline, it looks like we will have Monroe for an entire season. Millsap has one year left on his contract as well but according to Atlanta rumors, most believe it would be foolish to sign Monroe after the outstanding season Millsap had. 

Most likely in a week or two, Monroe will be saying that he is looking forward to playing for the Pistons next season.

[cool breeze]

Rodney Stuckey playing for a veterans minimum now has an opportunity to step in, in a big way with the Pacers.  George's unfortunate injury and without Stephenson leaves Stuckey with a lot of opportunity to excel this season.  I'm going to predict that he carries the Pacers this season and be the player we all thought he was capable of being.  His stats will increase significantly this year with the Pacers sometime being humbled and a change of scenery is all a player needs.

Yo, Wise, thanks for submitting this post. I, the Grand Poohbah of the Rodney Stuckey Fan Club, wanted to submit a very similar declaration, upon learning of Paul George's unfortunate injury, but I didn't want to get lambasted by my fellow Pistons Pals.

I agree with you, totally, as I predicted when Stuckey was signed by the Pacers, he will be awarded the MIP (Most Improved Player) for the '14-'15 NBA Season.

And, he will piss on OUR Pistons and Coach SVG, like he always has when Stan was coaching the Magic. Lookout, F@ckin' Jodie Meeks!

I see that there are still many Rodney Stuckey fans alive and well. Maybe if Joe Dumars had given 12 mil a year we would have seen a different player while he wore the Piston uniform. What I liked about Stuckey was his seemingly mild personality. He had a nice smile and was never a bully. But he either didn't like the players and coaches who were also involved with the Pistons or he is just not as good as Joe Dumars predicted. Teams will still defend Rodney the same way they did when he was in Detroit. Maybe Stuckey will make a better effort on defense and go all out relating to energy even to the team, but for the life of me, I can't understand why every summer fans feel they have the need to predict that this will be the year that Stuckey will be the 2nd Coming. I remember way back when that I wrote on this forum saying that Detroit gave away the wrong player when they gave away Affalo. Why didn't Joe send Stuckey to Denver?? That didn't happen because Billups was in Denver and liked Affalo's dedication to playing the right way especially on defense. How much better would Detroit have been if Dumars had signed Affalo again and let Stuckey go? For sure Joe wouldn't have signed Ben Gordon. Indiana's big mistake that they will go on to regret for many years will be not signing lance Stephenson. That was really dumb. And now they will have to depend on Stuckey. My bet is that they will try to sign another guard real quick. I would never depend on Stuckey but do wish him better luck then he had in Detroit. Any by the way, Stuckey did not carry the Pistons last season. Remember Detroit was a horrible team and Stuckey couldn't make the starting lineup. He did play better than previous seasons but has never been a ALL IN type player. He signed for the minimum this year because he gave the minimum for many seasons as a Piston.

[Murph]

"It's rooted in his effort and how he comes to play game in and game out it doesn't matter that Jennings, Josh or anyone else for that matter they brought consistent effort. There is no way on God's Green Earth that with the talented level of Monroe that he should not be a 20-10 guy if he came to play every night for 48 real minutes of basketball.

Also Monroe stats are padded when you get right down to it and measure with little to no impact in games."

I could not disagree more on Jennings' consistency. Jennings is the definition of inconsistent. He'll score 21 one night, and 2 the next. He's dish 14 assists one night, and 2 the next. He'll take 24 shots one night, and 3 the next. There's no consistency to Jennings game at all.

And I agree with you that Monroe should be a 20 - 10 guy. And I'm sure Monroe thinks he should be a 20 - 10 guy also. That's the problem. With Drummond sucking up most of the rebounds, and with Jennings and Smith insisting on leading the team in scoring (in spite of their low FG percentages), and with Jennings dishing the rock inconsistently...there's no way Monroe is ever going to be a 20 - 10 guys here in Detroit. That's undoubtedly why he wants to move on.

[WTF]

"Actually Josh, Jennings, Stuckey and Andre carried the team it was crappy coaching and the inconsistency of Monroe and crappy shooting that doomed the team."

Monroe shot 50% from the field, which is hardly inconsistent.  Jennings shot 37% which is very inconsistent.

But I agree with you that Meeks is  NOT an upgrade over Stuckey.

And I've never been impressed with SVG's coaching..  I always thought the Magic under-achieved, with SVG at the helm.

Murph, Monroe inconsistencies lies far beyond a FG% . It's rooted in his effort and how he comes to play game in and game out it doesn't matter that Jennings, Josh or anyone else for that matter they brought consistent effort. There is no way on God's Green Earth that with the talented level of Monroe that he should not be a 20-10 guy if he came to play every night for 48 real minutes of basketball.

Also Monroe stats are padded when you get right down to it and measure with little to no impact in games.

[Murph]

"Actually Josh, Jennings, Stuckey and Andre carried the team it was crappy coaching and the inconsistency of Monroe and crappy shooting that doomed the team."

Monroe shot 50% from the field, which is hardly inconsistent.  Jennings shot 37% which is very inconsistent.

But I agree with you that Meeks is NOT an upgrade over Stuckey.

And I've never been impressed with SVG's coaching..  I always thought the Magic under-achieved, with SVG at the helm.

[Sebastian]

Rodney Stuckey playing for a veterans minimum now has an opportunity to step in, in a big way with the Pacers.  George's unfortunate injury and without Stephenson leaves Stuckey with a lot of opportunity to excel this season.  I'm going to predict that he carries the Pacers this season and be the player we all thought he was capable of being.  His stats will increase significantly this year with the Pacers sometime being humbled and a change of scenery is all a player needs.

Yo, Wise, thanks for submitting this post. I, the Grand Poohbah of the Rodney Stuckey Fan Club, wanted to submit a very similar declaration, upon learning of Paul George's unfortunate injury, but I didn't want to get lambasted by my fellow Pistons Pals.

I agree with you, totally, as I predicted when Stuckey was signed by the Pacers, he will be awarded the MIP (Most Improved Player) for the '14-'15 NBA Season.

And, he will piss on OUR Pistons and Coach SVG, like he always has when Stan was coaching the Magic. Lookout, F@ckin' Jodie Meeks!

[WTF]

Rodney Stuckey playing for a veterans minimum now has an opportunity to step in, in a big way with the Pacers. George's unfortunate injury and without Stephenson leaves Stuckey with a lot of opportunity to excel this season. I'm going to predict that he carries the Pacers this season and be the player we all thought he was capable of being. His stats will increase significantly this year with the Pacers sometime being humbled and a change of scenery is all a player needs.

[WTF]

Oh the joy I get when I read comments like the above by Mr. Oracle concerning Josh and Jennings because regardless to the occasional bonehead plays they carried this team with very little or no back up but often take the large amount of blame for the losses and not nearly enough for the wins.  

Don I to believe that if SVG can somehow get it into that head of Jennings we could have something special.  We know Jennings has talent, we know he can pass the ball but if we can stop all the gambling he does defensively and pay more attention he could be as good as CB once was for us in his own way.  

Josh and Jennings????  Carried the team???  They carried the team to a 29 win season!

Now I know most of this isn't SVG's fault.  I know most of it's Dumars' fault or Monroe's fault or Falks' fault.  But if we go into next season with Jennings still running the show, with a supporting cast of Jody Meeks and Caron Bulter...and without Monroe...I just don't see how this is an upgrade in talent in any way shape or form.  

If this is how the team is shaping up, SVG's entire off season will have been a bust.  No first round draft pick, no new PG, lame-assed free agents...and the loss of Greg Monroe.    

It would be an upgrade in chemistry, this team doesn't need Monroe as much as many of you tend to think it does. All is not lost if Monroe isn't on this team this coming season. Actually Josh, Jennings, Stuckey and Andre carried the team it was crappy coaching and the inconsistency of Monroe and crappy shooting that doomed the team.

1. Coaching has been corrected (this likely) correct any issues with Josh and Jennings
2. Shooters have been added Meek, Butler and Augustin
3. The only thing left is S&T Monroe or he STFU and accepts his back up role either way works for me. But we don't need him

I would say we improved talent wise as well.

[Murph]

Oh the joy I get when I read comments like the above by Mr. Oracle concerning Josh and Jennings because regardless to the occasional bonehead plays they carried this team with very little or no back up but often take the large amount of blame for the losses and not nearly enough for the wins.  

Don I to believe that if SVG can somehow get it into that head of Jennings we could have something special.  We know Jennings has talent, we know he can pass the ball but if we can stop all the gambling he does defensively and pay more attention he could be as good as CB once was for us in his own way.  

Josh and Jennings???? Carried the team??? They carried the team to a 29 win season!

Now I know most of this isn't SVG's fault. I know most of it's Dumars' fault or Monroe's fault or Falks' fault. But if we go into next season with Jennings still running the show, with a supporting cast of Jody Meeks and Caron Bulter...and without Monroe...I just don't see how this is an upgrade in talent in any way shape or form.

If this is how the team is shaping up, SVG's entire off season will have been a bust. No first round draft pick, no new PG, lame-assed free agents...and the loss of Greg Monroe.   

[WTF]

Have you guys notice that there's been very few if any articles at all on the Monroe situation? Could it be because Mr. Goodwill put his foot in his mouth on July 17th with his Smith rumored trade and his dumb tweet? Perhaps. But overall Monroe seems to be an off subject topic for the Detroit News while everyone else has been yakking it up on speculations and analysis. Not since the very start of free agency has the news said much about Monroe it just seems weird that's all.

Speaking of it's been eerily quiet the past couple of days concerning this clown can we please hurry up and get a sign and trade done with someone anyone please! Can we revisit the Portland deal or even the New Orleans deal? Just do something SVG get to begging because IMO there are a ton of perfect fit players we could get right now. I think everyone should be at the point including Monroe in understand he's not worth the big cheese you all tricked yourselves to believe he was.

As I said I don't care what the trade scenario is or who it is with just as long as we get a above serviceable big back in return because both Andre and Josh need accomplished players backing them up. I think once Monroe, Falk and SVG all come to their collective senses that other teams might take some serious interest in what they have to say.

1. Teams don't want to commit max dollars and we get that and Monroe doesn't want to commit long term and based on stories being printed commit long or short term with the Pistons which I'm fine with so just except a deal like Stephenson with whoever and lets call it the day.   

2. SVG accept the fact that you must let him go because he's not signing the 60M/5Yr deal you so wrongly tabled to begin with or just resign to the idea he may sign his QO. Stop overvaluing the guy the league has spoken on Monroe's Market Value it not as high as you're imagining   

3. Falk STFU! because you've been in the way of things getting done since day 1 of free agency not in the interest of your client but lining your on pockets and if you were getting a set fee instead of a percentage Monroe would have already signed an offer somewhere.   

[WTF]

Comes great responsibility!!!

If you're going to be the alpha dog like Josh was supposed to be, you can't and shouldn't run from the responsibility of failure!

To Josh's credit, I've never seen him run from anything, he stood up and took the heat! You don't see Josh anywhere making excuses for anything that happened! A man takes the good with the bad and the bitter with the sweet and moves on!

Now the president of the Josh Smith fan club... well, that's another story  

As President of the Josh Smith fan club selling Josh has been as complex and as difficult to manage as it was when I head the Kwame Brown fan club and the Charlie V    But somehow we're surviving   

[Oracle]

Comes great responsibility!!!

If you're going to be the alpha dog like Josh was supposed to be, you can't and shouldn't run from the responsibility of failure!

To Josh's credit, I've never seen him run from anything, he stood up and took the heat! You don't see Josh anywhere making excuses for anything that happened! A man takes the good with the bad and the bitter with the sweet and moves on!

Now the president of the Josh Smith fan club... well, that's another story  

[WTF]

If I'm to be honest, the clear fact is that as those two went, so did the Pistons! When they played well at the same time, we were a very good team and hard to beat, but when they were off, we were junk!

So a solid case could be made that it wasn't all them, but they lacked the support from the rest of the team... in short, we lacked good enough role players! Poor coaching would have likely doomed us anyway, but we certainly could have won more games if other players could step up when Josh & Jennings were having off night, instead of having them force everything to compensate for a poor team!

That's why I can agree with Don when he said...

One last comment on Brandon Jennings. It appears that there is no way that SVG can move him based on his performance last season and his crazy contract. But I do know that Jennings hates the idea of not being a starter and might be doing more work this summer than he has ever done in his entire life. He has put on at least 20 pounds and that extra weight is not fat. Jennings is capable of being a really good point guard with his God given talent and if he connects well with Stan relating to playing pick and roll and losing his bad habits on defense, we might have a real surprise in store for us.

In addition to what Don said, the competition from Augustin should fuel a new level of competition at the PG position, which we should all benefit from!

I've already said that I believe that a Josh/Drummond pairing could spark a defensive chemistry that could positively change our fortunes, but if we couple that with a resurgence in Jennings, backed up by a more than competent Augustin, the rest may take care of itself.

BTW, we do have a lot to be hopeful about this coming season! In addition to the two things I've mentioned, here are a few others to look forward to.

1. Meeks continuing to develop and proving that last year wasn't a fluke!
2. The emergence of KCP as a true floor leader and go to scorer
3. The growth of Singler maturing into either a starting SF, or a more than complementary backup SF
4. Grey becoming Shaq lite... WTF, ok, I've put down the pipe   

But you get the drift, with good coaching, we're not the slugs the talking heads seem to think we are!

If we can get even 2-3 of those things to happen, it transforms us from pushovers to tough outs, and that's good progress!!!

Oh the joy I get when I read comments like the above by Mr. Oracle concerning Josh and Jennings because regardless to the occasional bonehead plays they carried this team with very little or no back up but often take the large amount of blame for the losses and not nearly enough for the wins.

Don I to believe that if SVG can somehow get it into that head of Jennings we could have something special. We know Jennings has talent, we know he can pass the ball but if we can stop all the gambling he does defensively and pay more attention he could be as good as CB once was for us in his own way.

[Oracle]

If I'm to be honest, the clear fact is that as those two went, so did the Pistons! When they played well at the same time, we were a very good team and hard to beat, but when they were off, we were junk!

So a solid case could be made that it wasn't all them, but they lacked the support from the rest of the team... in short, we lacked good enough role players! Poor coaching would have likely doomed us anyway, but we certainly could have won more games if other players could step up when Josh & Jennings were having off night, instead of having them force everything to compensate for a poor team!

That's why I can agree with Don when he said...

One last comment on Brandon Jennings. It appears that there is no way that SVG can move him based on his performance last season and his crazy contract. But I do know that Jennings hates the idea of not being a starter and might be doing more work this summer than he has ever done in his entire life. He has put on at least 20 pounds and that extra weight is not fat. Jennings is capable of being a really good point guard with his God given talent and if he connects well with Stan relating to playing pick and roll and losing his bad habits on defense, we might have a real surprise in store for us.

In addition to what Don said, the competition from Augustin should fuel a new level of competition at the PG position, which we should all benefit from!

I've already said that I believe that a Josh/Drummond pairing could spark a defensive chemistry that could positively change our fortunes, but if we couple that with a resurgence in Jennings, backed up by a more than competent Augustin, the rest may take care of itself.

BTW, we do have a lot to be hopeful about this coming season! In addition to the two things I've mentioned, here are a few others to look forward to.

1. Meeks continuing to develop and proving that last year wasn't a fluke!
2. The emergence of KCP as a true floor leader and go to scorer
3. The growth of Singler maturing into either a starting SF, or a more than complementary backup SF
4. Grey becoming Shaq lite... WTF, ok, I've put down the pipe   

But you get the drift, with good coaching, we're not the slugs the talking heads seem to think we are!

If we can get even 2-3 of those things to happen, it transforms us from pushovers to tough outs, and that's good progress!!!

[cool breeze]

My wife and I watched a bio on a channel called REELS last night which featured Kobe  in a series called "Hollywood Scandals". Whoever did the research on this work did a fantastic job. There was a lot I didn't know especially about his early years growing up and his relationship with his Dad who also played in the NBA as a bench player for awhile before moving overseas. It couldn't have been easy to have been one of Kobe's teammates for the first 10 years of his career. In the end he will be remembered as a man who won a lot of trophies but few will admire him as a person especially that gal in Colorado. It will be interesting if he is able to come back from his injury and how he will interact with his teammates this time around. The world according to Kobe Bryant is not something many of us want to identify with. Maybe if we fans knew more about some of the players currently playing in the league, we would stop following NBA basketball. According to Kobe fans are there to adore and admire him. Maybe we can watch players like Kobe and appreciate what they can do on the floor but identify that we actually don't like them much as human beings.

[cool breeze]

It's a shame that such a young and promising NBA star like Paul George, should sustain as horrific an injury as witnessed here. Looking at the size and athletic prowess of these young men we (I) often forget that they're just that...young! How hard and well formed is the bone structure of a 20 something year old athlete? Basketball is a contact sport (football is a collision sport) that's basically played in t-shirts, short pants, and a pair of gym shoes, at a very high rate of speed. I'm not saying this because I'm not fool enough to say "sh!t happens" but, am compassionate enough and cautious enough to say we should bring Drummond home.

Our future hopes for a star player is wrapped up in this guy...he's not had the opportunity to earn his worth...excellent character from where I sit...he has nothing to prove but, everything to gain...he's a Piston and Pistons rarely get the respect they deserve...I'm looking at God tapping on our hood with the short youtube picture above!

Anyone remember Phil Hubbard? Arguably the best big man in America on both ends of the floor playing for U of M; going into his senior year and playing in an international exhibition game, he sustained an injury he NEVER fully recovered from, cutting short all the wonderful promise he had. Oh, he played in the NBA but, his major contribution to the sport (as far as my selfishness is concerned) was being traded from the Pistons for Kenny Carr and BILL LAIMBEER. Poor testament for such a great young man. Bring Drummond home; there are other ways to develop his game.

I know the feeling of having my basketball career taken away in one second when a 6 foot 10 inch 260 pound center performed a jump stop on my left foot which severed my ACL as I was driving to the basket. Before that happened I could not imagine that even ever happening to me. And that is the way you have to think to be able to play the game fearlessly. 

Phil Hubbard was one of my favorite players. His quickness was amazing. After that horrible injury, he was never the same player and everyone but Dick Vitale knew it. Remember when Vitale was hired as the Piston's coach the year Detroit had 3 number one draft picks. First off he was responsible for creating Bird Rights and presented the gift of Larry Bird to the Celtics because he was determined to sign Bob MacAdoo who told the press that he didn't want to play for Detroit. Vitale then make Hubbard his number one pick for the Pistons and used the other two picks on his former U of D players. A close friend gave up his highly successful high school coaching job to take an assistant coaching position with U of Detroit during Vitale's last two years as their coach. Soon after fall practice began, my friend said that his decision to take that job was the biggest mistake in his life. Dick was able to get some players at U of D, bring in the fans and put U of D on the map but apparently had little knowledge relating to teaching or strategy. As my friend said while shaking his head the man doesn't have a clue as to how to coach players but sure does yell a lot and he gives him a headache every day that he had to be around him.  So when Piston management hired Vitale, I knew the Pistons were in big trouble. He didn't last long but crazy things happen and he found his true calling when ESPN hired him as an announcer. We sure to live in a wild and crazy world. But to this day, I find myself turning off the sound whenever he is on the air. There goes another dapper dandy baby. Why do people like that nonsense??? On the other hand, I listen to every word that Steve Kerr says. Can most fans notice the difference?

Don, man you hit chord today... I too blew out my ACL trying to jump over a fallen player... back then it would limit your future mobility by 20-30% ... they just told me you won't ever play again so make other plans after therapy. It was my junior year at UM (Missouri)... I was devastated... makes ya wonder what would have happened if they had today's procedures.
Then you had to mention Vitale in the same post (which I completely agree with)... I believe the net effect was the C's used the picks to acquire Parrish & McHale... to this day I feel nauseous when I hear Vitale talk and change the Chanel no matter how good the game is.... he did indeed set the franchise back by at least a decade.
Hubbard was a solid player... his style was like a mobile Milsap before injuries (with a jump hook).... we ended up trading him for Laim.

Sorry about your injury Mercury.  That was killer pain I will never forget at the moment my ACL was severed. My attempts to comeback caused me many weeks on crutches until I finally faced the fact that nothing was going to change with my knee.  I finally turned in the basketball shoes for running shoes and have had no problems with my knee through many years of running marathons. Just cannot make those instinctive cuts I took for granted before the injury. 

I forgot about how Laimbeer came to the Pistons. Good memory.

[merc]

It's a shame that such a young and promising NBA star like Paul George, should sustain as horrific an injury as witnessed here. Looking at the size and athletic prowess of these young men we (I) often forget that they're just that...young! How hard and well formed is the bone structure of a 20 something year old athlete? Basketball is a contact sport (football is a collision sport) that's basically played in t-shirts, short pants, and a pair of gym shoes, at a very high rate of speed. I'm not saying this because I'm not fool enough to say "sh!t happens" but, am compassionate enough and cautious enough to say we should bring Drummond home.

Our future hopes for a star player is wrapped up in this guy...he's not had the opportunity to earn his worth...excellent character from where I sit...he has nothing to prove but, everything to gain...he's a Piston and Pistons rarely get the respect they deserve...I'm looking at God tapping on our hood with the short youtube picture above!

Anyone remember Phil Hubbard? Arguably the best big man in America on both ends of the floor playing for U of M; going into his senior year and playing in an international exhibition game, he sustained an injury he NEVER fully recovered from, cutting short all the wonderful promise he had. Oh, he played in the NBA but, his major contribution to the sport (as far as my selfishness is concerned) was being traded from the Pistons for Kenny Carr and BILL LAIMBEER. Poor testament for such a great young man. Bring Drummond home; there are other ways to develop his game.

I know the feeling of having my basketball career taken away in one second when a 6 foot 10 inch 260 pound center performed a jump stop on my left foot which severed my ACL as I was driving to the basket. Before that happened I could not imagine that even ever happening to me. And that is the way you have to think to be able to play the game fearlessly. 

Phil Hubbard was one of my favorite players. His quickness was amazing. After that horrible injury, he was never the same player and everyone but Dick Vitale knew it. Remember when Vitale was hired as the Piston's coach the year Detroit had 3 number one draft picks. First off he was responsible for creating Bird Rights and presented the gift of Larry Bird to the Celtics because he was determined to sign Bob MacAdoo who told the press that he didn't want to play for Detroit. Vitale then make Hubbard his number one pick for the Pistons and used the other two picks on his former U of D players. A close friend gave up his highly successful high school coaching job to take an assistant coaching position with U of Detroit during Vitale's last two years as their coach. Soon after fall practice began, my friend said that his decision to take that job was the biggest mistake in his life. Dick was able to get some players at U of D, bring in the fans and put U of D on the map but apparently had little knowledge relating to teaching or strategy. As my friend said while shaking his head the man doesn't have a clue as to how to coach players but sure does yell a lot and he gives him a headache every day that he had to be around him.  So when Piston management hired Vitale, I knew the Pistons were in big trouble. He didn't last long but crazy things happen and he found his true calling when ESPN hired him as an announcer. We sure to live in a wild and crazy world. But to this day, I find myself turning off the sound whenever he is on the air. There goes another dapper dandy baby. Why do people like that nonsense??? On the other hand, I listen to every word that Steve Kerr says. Can most fans notice the difference?

Don, man you hit chord today... I too blew out my ACL trying to jump over a fallen player... back then it would limit your future mobility by 20-30% ... they just told me you won't ever play again so make other plans after therapy. It was my junior year at UM (Missouri)... I was devastated... makes ya wonder what would have happened if they had today's procedures.
Then you had to mention Vitale in the same post (which I completely agree with)... I believe the net effect was the C's used the picks to acquire Parrish & McHale... to this day I feel nauseous when I hear Vitale talk and change the Chanel no matter how good the game is.... he did indeed set the franchise back by at least a decade.
Hubbard was a solid player... his style was like a mobile Milsap before injuries (with a jump hook).... we ended up trading him for Laim.

[cool breeze]

If Rondo and JSmith want to be teammates, why not work it out with Boston for this to happen?  Keep in mind that Rondo is a free agent next year and Boston may see the handwriting on the wall...OR, they may want to keep him by acquiring JSmith.  

I bet Monroe would work out great for the Boston Cs.  They have Smart to fill Rondo's void.  I'm sure they would rather have Rondo mentor Smart this year.

Rondo, Jennings, DJ Augustin, Rookie, Bynum
Meeks, KCP
Butler, Singler
Smith, JJ, Datome, Mithell
Dre, Gray

This is a very capable squad with a combination of vets and young at all positions!  SVG could make some trades to assist in converting excessive PGs (Bynum, Jennings) into more quality depth at PF/SF.  Some of the PGs could also convert over to SG too.  

I would love to have Rondo no doubt about that, but there is no way we move Monroe in any trade scenario with replacing his size and some of that talent in return.  These players I've highlighted are not going to cut it and Andre and Josh require proven players backing them up not unproven players.  

I agree 100% with this post Wisefan relating to your comment about the players that are listed in Red. I am still hoping for a S&T with Atlanta involving Monroe. However, it appears that defense does matter with most GMs with the exception of Joe Dumars. Did Monroe really believe he could fool experts with his padding of stats in quarters when the opposing team is sleeping? Now with many fans firmly against Monroe rejoining the Piston team, it will be interesting if no other team is willing to take him on. If only Dumars had the expertise of SVG, perhaps the Pistons wouldn't have signed Stuckey to his last contract deal. 

It is interesting to listen to the talk of college players who are working out over the summer and hope to have a career in the NBA. Everyone of those players who are working out for Arizona here are talking about how they need to improve their ability to defend. That is a ticket to the NBA for sure and we have had about 7 years where that has not been the focus of young high school and college players. Everything changes as will the quality of play in the NBA moving forward. Players like Monroe have been able to skate in college and with the Pistons under Joe Dumars. Now Stan The Man awaits and Greg Monroe wants no part of a SVG training  camp. Monroe is not the only one. Jennings took his first year off from high school playing in Europe and avoided the rigors of playing under a demanding college coach. Who was it, Tom Gores group or Joe Dumars  who called the shots on that trade where Jennings secured his new Detroit contract without ever showing he can defend a fly. I have heard that Dumars was not behind the Knight-Middleton for Jennings giveaway. Jennings has no where to go. He must face the music in training camp. That is why he has gained 20 plus pounds and is working his butt off this summer. Jennings will finally have to prove himself worthy of being a NBA starter. Jennings has potential to become a good player. He has the gift of quickness that Monroe lacks. You have to have an extremely high basketball IQ and a great work ethic to compensate for slow feet as a basketball player. One thing is clear about Greg Monroe. He never returned from a summer off while playing for Detroit showing that he had become a better defender. He improved in other areas for sure but failed to recognize how much work he actually needed to do to become an average NBA defender. Maybe his agent is somewhat at fault for not telling Greg about the facts of life.

[WTF]

If Rondo and JSmith want to be teammates, why not work it out with Boston for this to happen?  Keep in mind that Rondo is a free agent next year and Boston may see the handwriting on the wall...OR, they may want to keep him by acquiring JSmith.  

I bet Monroe would work out great for the Boston Cs.  They have Smart to fill Rondo's void.  I'm sure they would rather have Rondo mentor Smart this year.

Rondo, Jennings, DJ Augustin, Rookie, Bynum
Meeks, KCP
Butler, Singler
Smith, JJ, Datome, Mithell
Dre, Gray

This is a very capable squad with a combination of vets and young at all positions!  SVG could make some trades to assist in converting excessive PGs (Bynum, Jennings) into more quality depth at PF/SF.  Some of the PGs could also convert over to SG too.  

I would love to have Rondo no doubt about that, but there is no way we move Monroe in any trade scenario without replacing his size and some of that talent in return.  These players I've highlighted are not going to cut it and Andre and Josh require proven players backing them up not unproven players.

Boston would have to include some size in a sigh and trade scenario and I said this with any team. SVG really needs to be on his begging knees asking Portland to reconsider by sending us Batum and Lopez in exchange for Monroe. At this point I would settle on them just sending Batum and a pick.

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