Moose Poopie Droppings

[Sissy1946]

Monroe WHO? Have to give credit where credit is due & the Pistons played a game like they used to with Jennings at the helm after the release of Josh Smith. I figured they were going down to their 11th straight loss as all the signs were visable but then whatever Kool-Aid Stan put in their pre-game drinks actually worked for the Inconsistently Inconsistent Detroit Pistons, the hustle, the heart & playing the right way all came into perspective tonight for one game & here is where it's different.
Can they turn around tomorrow & do the same thing again, win or lose but at least play like they did tonight, we'll see but for one night Jackson had a stupendous game, KCP came out of the closet, nobody could find him for a while but he showed up tonight, Tolliver had an excellent game & Dre chipped in nicely, a definite team effort, would I do anything different? Yeah! I'd have put Quincey in with .57 seconds to go at the half, ha! You know as to not upset the others who say he didn't know all the plays, you know where he didn't hurt nobody, well, double ha-ha! Show me two back to back efforts like tonight guys, you nailed tonight. Oh & I can't forget Prince as he's had a nice two game stretch & have to give credit as much as I've dogged him, keep it up.

[cool breeze]

Monroe didn't play. The defense looked much better. Tolliver fought like a mad man on defense against a much bigger player. Drummond knew his role tonight. PROTECT THE PAINT ANDRE! And he did it. What a great effort by Drummond. Is the experiment over with Drummond and Monroe playing at the same time on the same team? Together they are horrible on defense. What is going on in Stan Van Gundy's head?

Prince played like he was 25 tonight. He was everywhere and also acted as a coach on the floor pointing to Andre as to where to set screens.

But Jackson and Dinwiddie were almost perfect in the 2nd half on both ends of the floor. Jackson looked like a different player. Jackson played like an All Star. Pope bounced back from one of the worst 3 weeks of any starting 2 guard in the history of the Detroit Pistons. How can it be a negative when our Pistons beat a really good team? But somehow the winning shouldn't continue if we want to improve the team through the draft.

[deusXango]

Could starting a stretch 4 make that much of a difference? 105 points, damn! What a game; what a comeback!!!

[Oracle]

Where the F**K did that win come from? What a comeback!!!

Reggie Jackson took offense to me calling him Tito, and took it out on the Grizzlies

A freaking 20/20 game is amazing!

Yes, he's developing chemistry with Drummond, and if we get a good stretch 4... let the ass whoopings begin

[Sparma]

Impressive, scrappy, win. I should probably root for them to do some good things but lose, but it gets tiring rooting for your team to lose year after year.

Reggie!! Two incredible drives to the basket, one flipping the ball in away from his body, one a wrap around. Twenty assists!! You can do it, Reggie! (a game after looking crummy).

Prince with the dagger basket at the end. He used his chance for vindication.

Drummond with a beautiful reverse dunk from Reggie. Those two have chemistry (unlike Moose and Reggie). Reggie's extraordinary at passes right up the middle, I've noticed.

KCP got it going.

Meeks with a chance for a 5 point play, sorta. Carter fouled on the three, which became a four when Jodie hit the FT. A bit later, Carter continued to beef about the play, which resulted in a shot for 5 points coming from one play, but Jodie missed the FT.

The Pistons will miss Monroe, but this game showed the advantage of having more space inside. Both KCP and Reggie capitalized by going inside aggressively.

Scrappy play; they picked up their D in the second half, creating openings on the other end. One of the best wins of the season.

[merc]

Reggie Jackson hits one over the tower

[cool breeze]

while many Piston fans were bad mouthing Kyle Singler or anyone who plays the small forward position for the past two seasons, some of us were focused on the real reason why our team keeps losing. Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond along with all the other big men coming off the bench who have played basketball for the Pistons over the past 5 seasons are all known as losers throughout the league. Players who don't embrace playing tough defense are always losers. Those players who fail to work on technique and physical conditioning in the off season will remain losers. Tolliver is small and gets pushed around but he shows me more effort than our other alleged talented starters.

POINTS IN THE PAINT GIVEN UP BY OUR STARTING BIG MEN DOES MATTER.
Memphis announcers advised that our starting big men average giving up 45 points per game. No team is afraid of going into the painted area against our big men. Imagine Bill Laimbeer or Ben Wallace in his prime and then you have to laugh at our big men who are worshiped as the players who the owner will build a team around. Our two big men are only interested in getting stats. They are good at it. Fans won't bother to check what is really going on in the real game within the game. Memphis announcers just advised that the Grizzles will be crashing the boards because our big men are not good defensive rebounders and like to give the opponent a lot of 2nd chance opportunities.

Start over Mr. Van Gundy. Bring us some players next fall who hate losing.

[deusXango]

DX, we all agree that QM should get PT, but you keep avoiding the question of who on this board has said otherwise.
For the record Oracle, I can't say and refuse to speak untruths against my brothers who support the Pistons.

I stated some reasons SVG might not be playing him, and they're valid reasons. He has complicated contract situations, that you will string him up on if he blows them.
This I don't understand; the most complicated contract situations are Monroe, Meeks, Jennings, and Jackson, but none of them have a thing to do with Miller's playing time. The rest of those unproductive journeymen can pack their bags, as far as I'm concerned.

What would you prefer? Have him keep players that don't fit next year, or play QM and not know if they will work with Jackson?
I think it's obvious, by now, who's not fit to come back next year, what I want to know is if Miller has what it takes to be in our camp come October.

Here's the difference between us, you & Sissy.

We want QM to play and get evaluated, but we also know that there are a lot of competing issues to be resolved, and playing a guy that's a no brainer to keep on a cheap contract and develop over the summer, isn't the most important thing to do.
??What??

It boils down to if you trust SVG to get it right or if you don't, and I think it's quite clear that you guys don't, and of course SVG's record is murky, but ONLY on guys he inherited from Joe!
SVG has lost more supporters, than many want to except, since the season started; there has been such a turnover on the roster that not much can be placed on Joe. Singler, KCP, Jerebko, Datome, Jennings, Monroe, and Drummond were the last "Joe droppings" and they weren't/aren't as bad as Butler, Prince, Martin, Williams, Gray, the wayyy over-priced Meeks, and he gave away his best and most economical acquisition in Augustin. Yeah, it's easy to be in lockstep with SVG.

It's time to experiment, and I don't pretend to know all of what SVG has to figure out, I just know that there are a lot of moving parts, and in this area, I totally defer to the coach!
It's been noted before, SVG is unreasonably, blindly, stubborn as the day is long; he stays tied to his mistakes much too long.

Oracle, give me a shout out also...I consistently said Singler should be coming off the bench and not cut loose; I got the feeling his supporters wanted him to start at all costs and him coming off the bench for us was beneath him.

[Oracle]

The Pistons have to get their 3-point shooting from their two wing positions in the starting lineup, given the staple of Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond as their anchors. While Jackson brings greater size, strength and speed to the position, he doesn't represent the same 3-point threat at point guard that D.J. Augustin did. But the Jackson trade also cost the Pistons their most accurate 3-point shooter, Kyle Singler, something the Pistons haven't been able to replace at small forward, and shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is mired in a deep slump. Over his last nine games, Caldwell-Pope is 6 of 38 from the 3-point line – 2 of 28 if you throw out his 4 of 10 night against the Lakers.

Singler was more important to the team that a lot of people realized, but that didn't mean that we didn't need a better starter. I wish we could have kept Singler on the team coming off the bench as Seb has always said, but it wasn't to be.

Augustin was also very important, and we simply can't replace either of those guys, although I believe that Dinwiddie is what we need off the bench until he forces himself into the starting lineup in a few years!

But what this trade did do for us is allow SVG, in the offseason, to fill the SF spot with his choice, and replace Monroe with a stretch 4 to fit his offense. Playing with a stretch 4, Drummonds rebounding numbers should go through the roof, and with only one guy to contend with under the basket, he's likely to put back in almost all of our misses

So while we took a few steps backwards, it has setup a VERY interesting offseason and I really want to see what DX brought up!

Two PG backcourts have shown to be damn near unstoppable; how would Jackson and Dinwiddie fare out until Jennings fully rehabbed? If that was a good look for us, then wouldn't Jackson, Jennings, and Dinwiddie make one exciting and effective 3 guard rotation? What about KCP?

This is a GREAT musing by DX, and I really would like to see what SVG can do with 3 really super guards in Jennings, Jackson & Dinwiddie, ALL different, and all matchup nightmares in their own way. Next season should be rocking!

[Oracle]

DX, we all agree that QM should get PT, but you keep avoiding the question of who on this board has said otherwise.

I stated some reasons SVG might not be playing him, and they're valid reasons. He has complicated contract situations, that you will string him up on if he blows them.

What would you prefer? Have him keep players that don't fit next year, or play QM and not know if they will work with Jackson?

Here's the difference between us, you & Sissy.

We want QM to play and get evaluated, but we also know that there are a lot of competing issues to be resolved, and playing a guy that's a no brainer to keep on a cheap contract and develop over the summer, isn't the most important thing to do.

It boils down to if you trust SVG to get it right or if you don't, and I think it's quite clear that you guys don't, and of course SVG's record is murky, but ONLY on guys he inherited from Joe!

It's time to experiment, and I don't pretend to know all of what SVG has to figure out, I just know that there are a lot of moving parts, and in this area, I totally defer to the coach!

[deusXango]

Bucks Sign Chris Johnson To 2nd 10-Day Contract
Chris Johnson has appeared in five games this season for the Bucks, averaging 4.6 points and 2.0 rebounds in 20.0 minutes.-RealGM

How is it that this Chris Johnson gets 5 games (averaging 20 minutes) on a 10 day contract, but Quincy Miller can't get a sniff in Detroit? Maybe he knows their system better than QM knows our complicated system.

More interest in the scrap heap AKA the D-League:
"The Los Angeles Clippers, Boston Celtics and Utah Jazz are showing interest in the possible call up of Eric Griffin of Texas in the NBA D-League, league sources told RealGM.

Griffin — one of the D-League’s best wing prospects — has averaged 17.9 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per night in 39 games for the Texas Legends. He joined Dallas’ affiliate after signing an offseason deal to training camp with the Mavericks.

Griffin was a starter in February’s D-League All-Star game, and met with the Clippers during the weekend in New York.

The 6-foot-8 forward played for the Miami Heat in the 2013 preseason, showcasing an elite jumping ability by jumping over the 6-foot-10 Mason Plumlee in an exhibition game."

The thing that jumps out at me first is all 3 of those teams are performing much better than the Pistons (Boston even using 2 Pistons castoffs) and the numbers aren't as great as Millers, nor is this kid as long and rangy. Why is "chance" such a bad word in Detroit?

[deusXango]

Oracle, I asked for it and I got it; the reality is, you're right.
"Simple: This season is so far above ANY of the previous 3 and it isn't even close, and shocking you can't answer this for yourself. You judge this season against the time we dumped Josh Smith to the time Jennings went down... that was the season and the team that SVG built! Everything else is something none of the other seasons had to endure... simple logic!"
You will allow me that 16 games out of 4 seasons (328 games) is an extremely small sample size and one can easily get things twisted, won't you?

Now, let the debates of the day begin.
"But the truth about QM is this: SVG has REAL players to play!
Exactly how REAL is Williams, Martin and the "here and now" duo of Prince and Butler compared to Miller? If you don't want to see him on the floor say so.
1. QM doesn't know or understand the system yet, that's what D-League was helping him with.
If he hasn't gotten it, why's he not still in the D-League? Have you ever heard that the way you learn a system is by playing in it?
2. SVG already has two players he's teaching the system to that are far more important.
I know Jackson is one, but who's the other? Here we go again, a dynamic, slashing, long athletic SF is not important. That reminds me of a statement once made by a Pistons great that, "traditional pass first PG's were a thing of the past." Where's that guy and what kind of shape did he leave us in?
3. While you could make a good argument that he should play before Prince or Butler, the simple fact that Prince would pick up the system a lot faster, makes that argument less attractive to a coach, and Butler already knows the system!"
This team is how far under .500? Are we building toward Prince or Butler being important components of the future? Do you believe knowing is enough? If our coach can't find any attractiveness in developing a 22 year old, 6' 10" skilled forward, that he's signed and indoctrinating him into his system, then my argument is null & void.-Oracle

[Oracle]

Singler is GONE.
Jerebko is GONE.
Datome is GONE.
Augustin is GONE.
Let's move on, okay? This is a wonderful site where adults, such as us highly intelligent fans (what'd you expect me to say?), can "kick the can," while we run the universe of NBA basketball and along the way, we more often than not, have differences of opinion; there's no love lost, nor is there any disrespect, but true to the spirit of the game, we trash talk and only the weak of mind fall by the wayside. We all have our favorites and there are players we can't get to, for various reasons, but at the end of the day what we're stuck with is each other. Let's move on.

Jackson is HERE.
Prince is HERE.
Williams is HERE.
Lucas III is HERE.
Miller is HERE.
The question is or should be, who's satisfied with the trade off and why? I got mixed emotions. Lucas III when we have Dinwiddie? WTF is Williams doing here and getting clock? Prince? Another corpse stinking up the place. Like I said before, he makes me miss Singler! Augustin for Jackson, I feel makes sense; we're losing with Jackson, but we weren't winning with Augustin....Jackson is insurance for an uncertain future, but damn! I've never said Miller should start, but I question the intelligence of continuing to play Prince, Butler, Martin, and Williams ahead of him...I mean what's the purpose of signing him, and wasting press time talking about how much you see in him, but won't allow the fans to see anything
I've been accused of giving it to SVG for taking a chance that backfired and that's as far from the truth as one can get; I've consistently voiced my personal displeasure at him for not taking chances (signing Robert Covington, giving Datome the clock he promised, bringing Singler off the bench with Datome for instant offense while starting Jerebko, not playing Dinwiddie, and now, not playing Miller), chances that wouldn't have our hopes of the playoffs, if they failed, any dimmer than they are right now! I'm amazed that only a few fans see that SVG consistently makes decisions that leaves him open for criticism when they got south and for the most part, they do! I have one question for Don and Oracle; how is improvement on what this team was being measured this year? I'm not taking a shot, but trust you guys valued opinion. - Simple: This season is so far above ANY of the previous 3 and it isn't even close, and shocking you can't answer this for yourself. You judge this season against the time we dumped Josh Smith to the time Jennings went down... that was the season and the team that SVG built! Everything else is something none of the other seasons had to endure... simple logic!

Am right there Bangin' the Drum

I to am not suggesting that Miller get anything he doesn't deserve(Yes you are! You're not only saying he should get PT, you're saying he should get it when you want him to get it. He hasn't earned PT, so there is no "Deserved" involved!) but if there's a right time to develop him more then why not right now as the Piston's are getting ready to go down to their 10th straight defeat, no one's saying he's better than Butler, Prince, Williams, Martin but what an opportunity to find out some things & also make the coach look like he knows what he's doing instead of leaving them sitting in the desert like he did Datome & Jerebko who at least are getting some time which SVG wouldn't do while they were here but even if Luigi's & JJ's 15 minutes are up the Boston coach is using his Brass Ballz to still play them.
Talk about corpses Deus, you hit it on the head, why is Williams, Lucas & even Prince on this team now, these players are a waste of space & to not give Miller even a little sniff over them is ridiculous. If it's for the future then let's find out a little bit now, bottom line is its only fair & the kicker is what does SVG have to lose, the fans would like to see a glimpse & see what he has now instead of waiting for the summer, true he isn't nothing & there are a lot of question marks but with all the losing going on around here it would be a breath of fresh air.
Let's see here: he can play him now or wait till the Summer League, he has the confidence in him to keep him he says but will not give up any playing time of the great Princess, Butler, Williams or Cartier, Wow!
If he's decent in the summer league that means he's still going to have to get some game time experience so why not now when things have already hit rock bottom. That's my last post on this, just thought common sense would come into play or the let's do this now because of the situation were in. Moving on now: Will the Pistons win tonight: Ahh No, Not with Prince, Williams, Lucas & Martin on the team.

So that we can be on the same page, I'll fold if you guys can just answer this question with a name!

Who on this board has said that QM shouldn't get PT? Just give me ONE example, and preferably one of the ones you're arguing with about him getting PT!

And if you can't produce a name, then can you explain to me what the problem is, because I'm lost on this one!

But the truth about QM is this: SVG has REAL players to play!
1. QM doesn't know or understand the system yet, that's what D-League was helping him with.
2. SVG already has two players he's teaching the system to that are far more important.
3. While you could make a good argument that he should play before Prince or Butler, the simple fact that Prince would pick up the system a lot faster, makes that argument less attractive to a coach, and Butler already knows the system!

[Oracle]

I don't think Jackson sucks at all.... he's been dropped in a new system after playing minor minutes for a month... you can see he's sucking wind trying to get back in shape.... he has to be given time to get comfortable with the plays & players (let alone running the team).
Maybe he doesn't work out here but I'll be damned if I'll label him so early... he's obviously a solid finisher at the rim (better than B.J)... can he shoot?.... compared to who on our roster?
Unfortunately free agents put too much pressure on themselves to be  "the man"... if they really paid attention GM's are more interested in PG's that play team ball vs. individual numbers.
I hope that we can see this experiment thru to the end so that Jackson can get a fair shake here... I def like his long arms on defense... god knows the team has sucked at letting guards get inside without resistance.
KCP has not responded well to the guard in town... they should go have dinner and talk about getting KCP into a groove.
Jackson's length is an obvious fit with Drummond... the touch on lobs the transition passes has been surprisingly good already.

Can we just agree to give the kid a minute b4 tossing him in the shark tank?

Oh, not that Jackson

Merc, I couldn't agree more! What we have here is a failure to communicate... on this forum!

Everyone is reacting to symptoms and can't diagnose the disease! These are the same players that looked so good with Jennings, but now they're trash? Odd that people forget the importance of a PG so quickly!

News Flash: A cake is made up of many things, but leave out the sugar, and folks will say a lot of things about the cake AND you, but put it in, and all you get are compliments and smiles!

The chemistry is off, and until Jackson MAKES this his team, everybody will look bad, and I guess we can expect to hear more talk about how everybody sucks, just because they aren't being used correctly right now... oh well!

[merc]

I don't think Jackson sucks at all.... he's been dropped in a new system after playing minor minutes for a month... you can see he's sucking wind trying to get back in shape.... he has to be given time to get comfortable with the plays & players (let alone running the team).
Maybe he doesn't work out here but I'll be damned if I'll label him so early... he's obviously a solid finisher at the rim (better than B.J)... can he shoot?.... compared to who on our roster?
Unfortunately free agents put too much pressure on themselves to be "the man"... if they really paid attention GM's are more interested in PG's that play team ball vs. individual numbers.
I hope that we can see this experiment thru to the end so that Jackson can get a fair shake here... I def like his long arms on defense... god knows the team has sucked at letting guards get inside without resistance.
KCP has not responded well to the guard in town... they should go have dinner and talk about getting KCP into a groove.
Jackson's length is an obvious fit with Drummond... the touch on lobs the transition passes has been surprisingly good already.

Can we just agree to give the kid a minute b4 tossing him in the shark tank?

[cool breeze]

Am I the only one sick and tired of hearing/reading about how "someone in the Pistons organization smeared me" coming from Rodney Stuckey? Is that supposed to be a bargaining ploy to get a sizable contract from Indy? He is what he is and everybody saw that.

The "Zen Master," Phillip says he's not interested in the lottery as much as he is in FA's; if he failed to get the #1 pick could he be enticed to trade it for Monroe (in a S & T) and a future first rounder, for the Knicks pick this year? Would Boston, Denver, or Phoenix be interested in taking on Monroe in a sign and trade?

If we were fortunate enough to draft Hezonja, would SVG trade KCP or Meeks? If he traded KCP, we'd know for sure just what we have in a president/coach in Van Gundy.

How many of the underperformers from this year will be back next year? The only one I'm halfway sure of is Aaron Gray. There should be a place for Tolliver, in spite of his recent sh!tty play.

Does it make sense to shut Drummond down, for the remainder of the season, and work on his FT shooting in earnest? Is it more logical to try and develop one center into an All-Star, instead of two? I'm for letting Monroe go and throwing all our resources into developing Drummond to be the athletic beast he has the potential to be. Build around Drummond, not build with Monroe and Drummond is the way to go, IMHO.

Two PG backcourts have shown to be damn near unstoppable; how would Jackson and Dinwiddie fare out until Jennings fully rehabbed? If that was a good look for us, then wouldn't Jackson, Jennings, and Dinwiddie make one exciting and effective 3 guard rotation? What about KCP?

After watching how we competed with the SF's we've had this year, I'd like to see a stronger KCP coming off the bench next year, at SF, behind Hezonja....it can't be any worse than what we're ending the year with in Prince and Butler. By the way and for the record, I'm still high on Miller!

Can SVG coach only one way? All season long I've heard how he wants 1 in 4 out and we'd be winning the Van Gundy way. If he can coach only one way, how good is he at making adjustments on the fly? That's a question better addressed by Don.

How many holes do we really need to patch? How much do we really have to work with to better this team? Will we ever truly become excited about the Pistons again?

Good question dX. We won't until we actually see at least one player we can respect as a dedicated basketball player. And I had to laugh at the stupid statement by Rodney Stuckey. Didn't he know anybody can look up his record or watch old game film of him sitting on the bench and loving it when he was wearing the Piston uniform? I hope he does well in the playoffs. But any GM will have to wonder which Rodney Stuckey will show up next fall after he signs that next contract. I would give him a one year deal.

[cool breeze]

If you have a DVR record it because that show will grab the heart of any basketball lover. The theme of the show is "I Hate Christian Laettner". WOW I had no idea where he came from and who he really was as a person. First off he wasn't from a rich family. He as involved in one nasty fight in a high school game part of which was shown. Some of the stuff behind the scenes is really good as to what he did to piss off his teammates so they would be more pissed off when they played in the games. I had forgotten that he took Duke to 4 Final 4s and was clutch every year. Amazing story!

I was thinking of our own Bill Laimbeer with the Bad Boys in the NBA when thinking about what Laettner did in college. Bill did close to the same type of stuff in the NBA and actually did get into fights with his own teammates at times. We loved Bill and everyone else had joined the "I Hate Bill Laimbeer Club". Both players acted out for a reason. They wanted to win and knew that they needed to get something extra out of their own teammates at times so they did it. Thank you Mr. Laimbeer.

One also has to reflect on this current group of Piston players and the teams we have been watching now for the past 6 years or so. We have no player who seems really emotionally involved in the actual games. That is disturbing for me. We have no player who really hates to lose enough to play with the passion it takes to lead other players. Somehow, Stan Van Gundy needs to find that one guy who can lead. That guy has to have amazing talent but also that extra edge the great players show their fans. We are never sure our players really care enough to put in the extra work so fans can respect and appreciate their dedication. Where is that guy Mr. Van Gundy???

[deusXango]

Am I the only one sick and tired of hearing/reading about how "someone in the Pistons organization smeared me" coming from Rodney Stuckey? Is that supposed to be a bargaining ploy to get a sizable contract from Indy? He is what he is and everybody saw that.

The "Zen Master," Phillip says he's not interested in the lottery as much as he is in FA's; if he failed to get the #1 pick could he be enticed to trade it for Monroe (in a S & T) and a future first rounder, for the Knicks pick this year? Would Boston, Denver, or Phoenix be interested in taking on Monroe in a sign and trade?

If we were fortunate enough to draft Hezonja, would SVG trade KCP or Meeks? If he traded KCP, we'd know for sure just what we have in a president/coach in Van Gundy.

How many of the underperformers from this year will be back next year? The only one I'm halfway sure of is Aaron Gray. There should be a place for Tolliver, in spite of his recent sh!tty play.

Does it make sense to shut Drummond down, for the remainder of the season, and work on his FT shooting in earnest? Is it more logical to try and develop one center into an All-Star, instead of two? I'm for letting Monroe go and throwing all our resources into developing Drummond to be the athletic beast he has the potential to be. Build around Drummond, not build with Monroe and Drummond is the way to go, IMHO.

Two PG backcourts have shown to be damn near unstoppable; how would Jackson and Dinwiddie fare out until Jennings fully rehabbed? If that was a good look for us, then wouldn't Jackson, Jennings, and Dinwiddie make one exciting and effective 3 guard rotation? What about KCP?

After watching how we competed with the SF's we've had this year, I'd like to see a stronger KCP coming off the bench next year, at SF, behind Hezonja....it can't be any worse than what we're ending the year with in Prince and Butler. By the way and for the record, I'm still high on Miller!

Can SVG coach only one way? All season long I've heard how he wants 1 in 4 out and we'd be winning the Van Gundy way. If he can coach only one way, how good is he at making adjustments on the fly? That's a question better addressed by Don.

How many holes do we really need to patch? How much do we really have to work with to better this team? Will we ever truly become excited about the Pistons again?

[cool breeze]

OUR Pistons have been losing in bunches, this season.

0-3 (10-29-14 -- 11-01-14)
0-3 (11-09-14 -- 11-12-14)
0-13 (11-15-14 -- 12-09-14)
0-4 (12-15-14 -- 12-21-14)
0-4 (01-24-15  -- 01-28-15)
0-10 (02-24-15 -- 03-14-15)*

* Currently in the swallows of a 10-game losing streak with the Grizzlies visiting the Palace on Monday (3-16-15).

Additional note, there have been only three times that a lost was followed with a win (Brooklyn 98-93 on Jan. 10; Indiana 98-96 on Jan. 14, and Orlando 128-118 on Jan. 21).

Damn Stan, your coaching stinks , too!

So the players have nothing to do with those loses Sebastian? I didn't know that. Maybe by now Stan Van Gundy has realized that he has substandard players at every position. Stan the GM needs to take a step back and take a look at his big men to determine if Drummond and Monroe will ever get up to the level of average defenders or should I say ever be interested in protecting the paint. Then he needs to evaluate his skill players who shoot the basketball a lot. Does he have the right guys? I know that Zeke once said that his teams knew they could always win because they were all good shooters. So far we have only seen inconsistency from both our skill players and our big men. Our starting point guard is not showing that he is a leader by example. He has mental breakdowns in the half court offense and his lack of confidence in himself has to make Stan wonder if he belongs at all. The second unit sucks as well. So it seems to me that no coach in the entire world could have squeezed any more wins out of our players. It is the players who take time outs on defense, miss shot attempts and free throws. The coaches are not playing Seb. My bet is that at least the coaches could shoot the foul shots for a better average than our alleged NBA studs. We need to lose big for the rest of the season and then Stan needs to clean house again until we get some better two way players. It appears that KCP should play in the summer league games again.

[cool breeze]

Michigan State won't forget this loss soon. The rebound and turnover at the end of regulation could give some fans a heart attack. But hopefully the players will use losing that game as motivation as they enter the NCAA tournament. I like their chances considering where they were placed and who they will play early on.

Now for our Pistons. I was just looking at the schedule. Perhaps few people are thinking about the Pistons right now after this road trip. But I am happy because they were able to lose every game. Of the 16 remaining games, most are will playoff teams. The games to worry about are away games with Philly, Orlando and NY. I would rest Drummond for the remainder of the season even if his head is OK. "You can't be too careful" could be the official statement. Meanwhile, if Orlando can beat Detroit and go on a winning streak of sorts while our players party hard before all remaining games, we might have a slim chance of getting an excellent player in the draft. That is unless Mr. Gores insists on giving away one of our players to another team with the condition that we also give up our number one pick. Just kidding it seems that Tom Gores is leaving things to a basketball guy. Stan Van Gundy might look bad right now, but he is a really smart guy who will get our Pistons on track. I didn't expect we would make the playoffs so I am not disappointed. I just want the team to move on up in the lottery.

[cool breeze]

We are now securing distance from teams competing for good fortune in the draft lottery. Our next target is moving safely ahead of the Kings. But we are only 3 games behind in the loss column from Orlando. Maybe some of those young gifted players playing for Orlando can somehow win a few games as some of the playoff teams wind down to heal up bodies for the coming playoffs. We need to hope that Stan Van Gundy adjusts his lineups to lose. The NY knicks have a really smart front office leader who knows how to make his team better. He lets his All Star player sit out most of the season and has put his team in position for the top overall pick. Under the leadership of Joe Dumars, this would be the time of year for our Pistons to go on a big winning streak. What if Joe had adjusted things a bit so we would have had a chance to get a top 2 or 3 pick in just one of those horrible seasons? We never seem to be in position to snag another Zeke do we? Or when Joe did make a good pick, he would quickly trade or give them away. How about using the rest of this season for D League tryouts. Give some 10 day contracts to any big man that might be doing well in the minor leagues. That could be fun to watch.

Did any of you notice how the Portland fans have taken to Arron Affalo? What a great fit for that team. Joe needed to make room for Austin Daye so we fans understand and besides Affalo plays good defense which is a big no no in the world according to Joe Dumars.

[cool breeze]

The Wildcats are PAC-12 Champions and well on their way! First championship since 2002? If all goes well, they'll make some noise in the NCAA's and Stanley Johnson will be a Piston; just what we need, no matter what anybody says about his shortcomings, he's the real deal! Thanks for bringing me up to speed earlier in the season Don, so I could watch this young man grow by leaps & bounds....he's a stud.

Thanks dX! The Arizona Wildcats are PAC 12 champs by 3 games and have win the PAC12 championship as well. That is difficult to do for any team that doesn't reside in the State of California. It seems that there is always a controversy over officiating in the PAC12 if a teams like UCLA, USC, Stanford, or Cal are playing against any other team in the PAC12. So I thought Arizona would blow out Oregon based on the fact that no California team would be playing in the finals. For the previous two seasons, it was Arizona in the Finals of the PAC 12 tournament playing against the 5 UCLA players and 3 refs. The PAC 12 commissioner had previously been forced to fire his handed picked head of officials when a whistler blower contacted the press to reveal that this head of officials instructed his group of officials to punish coach Sean Miller. Sure enough a key bad call in the closing moments of the finals cost Arizona the game and got UCLA another win. Meanwhile, the PAC12 commissioner hasn't secured a contract with Direct TV to broadcast football and basketball games which hurts coaches chances of getting star players to play in the PAC12. Instead this ego maniac is determined to schedule more basketball games in China. So dX, in many ways this was a great win for the team and coach Sean Miller who always tries to do the right thing in the world of basketball.

The Central Michigan loss HURTS!! Go Spartans!

[cool breeze]

A deflected pass that went into the Piston backcourt showed that there were two Jazz players who ran hard to get the ball before it went out of bounds. Meanwhile Jackson stood and watch this big effort by his opponent. To add insult to injury, Jackson didn't even try to cover the paint and a pass was directed to the Jazz cutter who make a layup. Stan Van Gundy stood on the sidelines in disbelief and then anger. He gestured for Spencer Dinwiddie to replace Jackson at the next stoppage of play. It didn't matter that Jackson made a extremely low percentage 3 point shot as time was about to expire on the 24 second shot clock on the Pistons next possession. It seemed that every time Jackson entered the game he would cause a turnover with a bad pass. I can't see how Stan van Gundy would want to risk the future of the Pistons on Jackson based on his play since he has arrived in Detroit.

Other observations of this last game revealed the the best overall player on the court was T. Prince. I can't understand why long time Piston fans would write anything negative about Prince. He is one of my favorite all time Pistons. Fans did the same thing when Billups wore the Piston uniform last season. How do you bad mouth former Piston players who gave us so much when they were in their prime. Prince is older and his shot not as accurate at times but he still is a smart ball player unlike many of our younger players like Pope, Drummond, Monroe and Jackson.

This road trip has revealed one big thing to worry about if you are Stan Van Gundy. The players he is banking on to compete for a playoff position have really sucked on this road trip and are the main cause of the long losing streak.

POPE: KCP has played like a D League guy on a 10 day contract over the past month. Last night he hit a new low. In crunch time with under a minute to go, Pope launched a 3 point shot that was an air ball. Then he came back on defense. Pope was guarding the Jazz key high scoring player at the time. The ball went to the baseline. KCP decided not to guard his man. His guy, Hayward, was standing on the wing unguarded so he decided to cut to the basket. Pope just watched for about one second as his assigned guy caught the pass and made a layup. WOW! I couldn't believe it. Who does that? It is clear to me that KCP was still thinking about that air ball he just jacked up and had zero concentration on defense. On the Jazz next possession, Burke received the ball and Dinwiddie came out fast but gave up baseline and Burke made a great bank shot. At least Dinwiddie made a good effort and you can bet that his computer like mind will remember that play the next time he is in the same situation. KCP has had many mental lapses especially when his shot is not falling. How can Van Gundy count on Pope being a major piece of his team of the future?????

MONROE, DRUMMOND AND TOLLIVER: Our starting big men seem to make all opposing big men look good when they are on offense. It doesn't matter if those opposing big men struggle against every other team in the league. Our big starters cannot guard many players or should I say they are unwilling to do the hard work it takes to play effective defense. How can Van Gundy trust our big men next season if Monroe does stay in Detroit? I enjoyed watching Anthony in this last game. Maybe Drummond is not done for the season with the concussion symptoms. Andre has had many moments of greatness this season but is far from being a consistent player especially on defense. Tolliver is also a liability on defense and cannot guard anyone in the paint and has a difficult time securing defensive rebounds. If his outside shot is not falling, how can Van Gundy play him? Yet now that Jerebco is gone, who does he bring in? I watched Kamen make 3 mid range jump shots in a row and Drummond failed to attempt to even get within 3 feet of him before the shot went up. I see no sign that anything is going on within the brain of our alleged future All Star player. We will not win with the combination of Monroe, Drummond and Tolliver.

I am sure that Stan Van Gundy now knows what he needs to do moving forward. He must look for young players with high potential who are not getting much playing time on other teams. And his draft picks must be spot on over the next two years. This last trade involving Augustin, Singler and Jerebco have made our team much weaker. How about trying to get Burke from the Jazz?? For now, Van Gundy should make Spencer Dinwiddie the starting point guard for the rest of the season.

[Sebastian]

OUR Pistons have been losing in bunches, this season.

0-3 (10-29-14 -- 11-01-14)
0-3 (11-09-14 -- 11-12-14)
0-13 (11-15-14 -- 12-09-14)
0-4 (12-15-14 -- 12-21-14)
0-4 (01-24-15 -- 01-28-15)
0-10 (02-24-15 -- 03-14-15)*

* Currently in the swallows of a 10-game losing streak with the Grizzlies visiting the Palace on Monday (3-16-15).

Additional note, there have been only three times that a lost was followed with a win (Brooklyn 98-93 on Jan. 10; Indiana 98-96 on Jan. 14, and Orlando 128-118 on Jan. 21).

Damn Stan, your coaching stinks , too!

[Sparma]

Thanks for your responses, guys.

I'd forgotten to mention the worst moment, which Sissy pointed out, when Jackson just looked back at a ball heading out of bounds.  Exum raced for it, passing to a teammate for an easy, and key, bucket.  Hadn't heard that SVG highlighted that blunder, but that's not surprising.

I agree with Fly and Oracle that the trade was worth risking.  Under the circumstances (with Monroe leaving, with Detroit not being a destination town for UFAs) it made sense to go for the home run.   I still see Jackson having a solid NBA career.  There seems to be a consensus though that we should just pay him what he's worth (which isn't nearly what he wants).  Sometimes overpaying's worth it (like when the Tigers brought in Ordonez and Pudge to try to get the franchise back on track), but this isn't one of those cases.

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