Just Joshing :)

[Oracle]

SVG isn't going to fins another LeBron, DWade & Carmelo in the draft, free agency, or trade in one offseason... let's get real!

However, SVG will get us a lot better, it's a PROCESS folks, not a revolution!!!

How quickly people forget the STEPS we went through to get to 2004!

The Alternatorz, the crap out in the playoff with Stackhouse vs Boston!

The loss to the Nets in the ECF, THEN finally Larry Brown & Sheed complete the picture. Lots of losses, but progress in steps!

Stop looking for miracles, it takes hard work and a little bit of luck!

That's what SVG is doing!!!

[Oracle]

Who the F**k is running this franchise

[Oracle]

You really need to stop comparing LeBron to Jordan, they're way too different, Jordan compares to Kobe, NOT LeBron!

LeBron did as much as humanly possible considering who he had after Irving & Love were gone! It was him all by himself with a bunch of needy dwarfs!

I will say that a Kobe or Jordan would have said, to hell with these scrubs and tried to put the team on their backs, and IMO, would have had a better chance to win, but we'll never know!

I really do agree about how good this Warrior team is, but the fact of the matter is that you play whoever they put in front of you and if you win, it's in the books!

But looking at this finals, it boiled down to LeBron vs Curry, because after Curry, Barnes, Iggy, and to a lesser extent Green were only slightly better than the Cavs scrubs! Hell, it looked like somebody woke up Smith and said look f**ker, you're a roach, wtf are you doing here, and he crapped out after that!

I don't need a crystal ball to tell you that the Bulls, Celtics & Pistons of the 80's/90's would wipe the floor with either of these teams, and likely sweep them into the trash bin of history!

But give the Warriors credit! After being down 2-1, they came back to kick LeBron's ass 3 straight games, and that's hard to do at any level, let alone in the finals!

BTW, now would be a good time for LeBron to tell us what his "Secret" motivation was  And YES, it's time for some FOOTBALL!

Okay GS are Champions and I applaud them but lets not over-kill the build up of greatness and remember that the Cavs were without basically 3 starters from it's lineup with 2 of the 3 being Kyrie and Kevin.   GS won but I wasn't all that confident they could even with the Cavs being under-gunned in this Finals.  

GS had a hell of a season all completed by topping it off with a title but with the Brain Farts by both the Clippers and Rockets, an Old Memphis team, and the Spur or OKC not being on their radar they Warriors did great for themselves.  You can't get lost on the fact that an undermanned Cavs team took them to 6 games and had Lebron not suffered a couple of Brain Farts himself in games 1 and 4 my prediction of a Cavs sweep would have been possible.

I can only imagine the Cavs feel like had both Love and Kyrie were both healthy this thing would have been over in 4 games.  Not sure why the media wants to take shots at RJ or any other Cavs players this was Lebron and a bunch of role players and just as stars need role players so does role players need stars so again no Kyrie and no Love and no Varejo end of story.  

Now one more run at the comparison thing.  The difference with Jordan and Lebron is that MJ would have never had those Brain Farts Lebron had in games 1 and 4 and the Finals would have been over in 4 games.  As I said I've grown to respect Lebron a great deal, he's an incredible players and 36pt 13rebs and 9ast is nothing to sneeze at.   But please casual fans and dumb as media no more mentioning of these 2 players in the same breath.

Now is it time for some Lions Football YET!

[Sebastian]

She is going to get paid!!! Clay Thompson will come off some of that salary to keep her happy.

Damn. They make them so damn fine, these days!!!

  [/qu


IF THAT'S HIS LADY!!! WINNING!!!!!!!!!!!

[deusXango]

"Think about the Lakers Aldridge and Love could be playing on the Lakers next season with a refreshed Kobe and whoever the hell they drafted, NY could be in the process of these same type of moves as well. IMO SVG should be screwing around with this dumb waiting games of players potentially turning in to things they've never been before."

Wise...I hear you and agree with you.  I don't have any pretenses that Ilyasova or Carroll will turn into superstars or even all stars.  The best we ccould hope for out of Ilyasova and Carroll is that they continue to be good or very good starters.  They will likely never be all stars, and we'll likely never win a championship with them.

But I just can't see guys like Aldridge and Love ever signing in Detroit.  There's a reason the Lakers have won so many championships.  Superstars want to play in LA.

So until SVG can land a star, the best we can hope for is to improve our record and make the playoffs for the first time in 7 years.

Where'd those championships the Pistons have come from? The only flashy super star/all-stars we've had are Isiah Thomas and Grant Hill, and only one of them was apart of a championship team, but both were drafted by Detroit; we've always been a team of hard working, hard nosed players, with something to prove and that something was, "we can play this damn game and win!!!!" Doubters beware of what Drummond, Jackson, KCP, Ilyasova, and this years #8 will be about in a couple of years.

This is a new day in Pistons Land and the new sheriff in town is not "standing pat" like the old dog we had, who watched the team fall down all around him, but is proactive in all phases of the game; we're not used to what's going on now. Wouldn't it be something if Aldridge DID sign with Detroit and Ilyasova was his backup? We can't imagine that because we've already got Tolliver penciled in as a rotational player....a damn bench player makes more sense than a legit starter? I hold this team and city in higher esteem than that, and don't really care how many lineup in opposition to that.

[Murph]

"Think about the Lakers Aldridge and Love could be playing on the Lakers next season with a refreshed Kobe and whoever the hell they drafted, NY could be in the process of these same type of moves as well. IMO SVG should be screwing around with this dumb waiting games of players potentially turning in to things they've never been before."

Wise...I hear you and agree with you. I don't have any pretenses that Ilyasova or Carroll will turn into superstars or even all stars. The best we ccould hope for out of Ilyasova and Carroll is that they continue to be good or very good starters. They will likely never be all stars, and we'll likely never win a championship with them.

But I just can't see guys like Aldridge and Love ever signing in Detroit. There's a reason the Lakers have won so many championships. Superstars want to play in LA.

So until SVG can land a star, the best we can hope for is to improve our record and make the playoffs for the first time in 7 years.

[Phil-Good]

Ersan llyasova full press conference.. Does anybody have A link?? I can't find it anywhere!!!!!!

[Phil-Good]

[quote="Oracle"]  [/qu


IF THAT'S HIS LADY!!! WINNING!!!!!!!!!!!

[WTF]

How much would it cost to land Carroll?  5 years at $65 million? Would he consider Detroit?

That would give us the following rotation:

Jackson, Jennings, Dinwiddie
KCP, Meeks, Martin
Carroll, Johnson, 2nd round pick
Ilyasova, Tolliver, Miller
Drummond, ?, Gray

I would hope our roster looks a lot better than this next season and SVG needs to get real freaking bold and creative quickly considering whats might be available. Rest assure that all the other teams aren't thinking this small and counting pennies and might be willing to take a Lux Tax Hit this season knowing the relief will come next season. SVG needs to take a proactive approach and get his ass in gear.

Think about the Lakers Aldridge and Love could be playing on the Lakers next season with a refreshed Kobe and whoever the hell they drafted, NY could be in the process of these same type of moves as well. IMO SVG should be screwing around with this dumb waiting games of players potentially turning in to things they've never been before.

Remove Andre from the roster and what do we have left. There are a ton of things that SVG can do beyond another year of hoping a bnch of role players turn into All Stars. They need to spend money and spend it now because next year it will be even more harder to acquire the talented needed to contend yet alone make the playoffs. I have no confidence that KCP will be the next D-Wade or that Meeks will channel his inner Kobe or the rest of these turds will be better than a Sixth Man.

SVG needs to figure out how to land a player actually on the cusp of stardom and not in the wishful world of many imaginations of fans or the product of media hype. Gores and SVG stop counting freaking pennies and confining your thinking to the rules and perception about cap space other teams find ways around this stuff you guys are acting like Joe and Davison and fans are willing to keep buying in to the crap. Who cares about cap space when you're winning titles? Certainly not teams like LA and Miami and so on.

[WTF]

Okay GS are Champions and I applaud them but lets not over-kill the build up of greatness and remember that the Cavs were without basically 3 starters from it's lineup with 2 of the 3 being Kyrie and Kevin.   GS won but I wasn't all that confident they could even with the Cavs being under-gunned in this Finals.  

GS had a hell of a season all completed by topping it off with a title but with the Brain Farts by both the Clippers and Rockets, an Old Memphis team, and the Spur or OKC not being on their radar they Warriors did great for themselves.  You can't get lost on the fact that an undermanned Cavs team took them to 6 games and had Lebron not suffered a couple of Brain Farts himself in games 1 and 4 my prediction of a Cavs sweep would have been possible.

I can only imagine the Cavs feel like had both Love and Kyrie were both healthy this thing would have been over in 4 games.  Not sure why the media wants to take shots at RJ or any other Cavs players this was Lebron and a bunch of role players and just as stars need role players so does role players need stars so again no Kyrie and no Love and no Varejo end of story.  

Now one more run at the comparison thing.  The difference with Jordan and Lebron is that MJ would have never had those Brain Farts Lebron had in games 1 and 4 and the Finals would have been over in 4 games.  As I said I've grown to respect Lebron a great deal, he's an incredible players and 36pt 13rebs and 9ast is nothing to sneeze at.   But please casual fans and dumb as media no more mentioning of these 2 players in the same breath.

Now is it time for some Lions Football YET!

[Murph]

How much would it cost to land Carroll? 5 years at $65 million? Would he consider Detroit?

That would give us the following rotation:

Jackson, Jennings, Dinwiddie
KCP, Meeks, Martin
Carroll, Johnson, 2nd round pick
Ilyasova, Tolliver, Miller
Drummond, ?, Gray

[Oracle]

Jordan had...



The evolution of Delly

[Oracle]

 

[Oracle]

CHARLOTTE, N.C.  — Charlotte Hornets General Manager Rich Cho announced Monday night that the team has acquired center Spencer Hawes and forward Matt Barnes from the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for guard Lance Stephenson.

Very risky & interesting - Hornets deal Stephenson to Clippers for Barnes, Hawes

Finals: Interesting that 2 small market teams have done this - Finals continue to set TV ratings marks for ABC

BTW, if I'm the Clippers, I do this deal in a heartbeat! They have to do something to shake things up if they want to get to the finals!!!

[Oracle]

Getting back to Bobby Portis...   I kind of have my sights set on Stanley Johnson.  But if we do take a tradition PF, I would have no objections to taking Portis.

I guess my draft board of those players likely to still be there at #8 would look like this:

Johnson
Turner
Oubre
Portis
Dekker

I like Portis too, but I thought this was a bit ironic from the article on the side.

"Q: To which current or past NBA player would you compare him?

Reaves: Greg Monroe seems to be the consensus. Portis is the kind of player the Hawks' management likes. He works hard, as evidenced by his growth from his freshman to sophomore seasons. 

Don't expect him to be a perennial NBA All-Star but understand that he will be in league for a long time as a high-impact role player. No one seems to be able to pinpoint his ceiling long term, but whichever team selects him will get a tremendous rebounder, a sound offensive game with a willingness and aptitude to learn how to get better."

[Oracle]

Yo, Lemon, great work with the numbers. (I would like to know, the source.)

But, the instances of Ersan playing SF is the reason why I am more interested in GM Stan drafting Bobby Portis (and Oracle, I don't care if he is projected at #16).

Bobby Portis the SEC Player of the Year can  ball!

I'm not sure our decisions regarding future positional acquisitions are as clear as the Ilyasova stories indicate.  Forty six percent of Ersans regular season PT was spent at SF.  It increased to 72% in the playoffs.  At 6' 9" / 235 lbs Ersan falls within the dimensional sweet spot of SF's.  With that said it is conceivable that the door is still open to draft BIG.  

I'm still liking Frank Kaminski @ #8.  Imagine a starting unit that is bigger at every position, and still mobile, and skilled.

Check it out.  Complements of Merc
Basketball Reference.com

I never knew that level of detail was there, and I've used that reference for YEARS!!!

However, after looking at the data, it's clear that he's ONLY been used at SF during the latest playoffs for any significant time, and it ballooned in the playoffs!

IMO, that was likely due to them attempting to counter Chicago's size, because that high level of play at SF wasn't done during the season!

[Murph]

Getting back to Bobby Portis...   I kind of have my sights set on Stanley Johnson.  But if we do take a tradition PF, I would have no objections to taking Portis.

I guess my draft board of those players likely to still be there at #8 would look like this:

Johnson
Turner
Oubre
Portis
Dekker

[Murph]

It's true that Ilyasova played both forward positions for the Bucks, but it seems as if the Pistons intend to play him at PF. I think a lot of that has to do with SVG, and his inclination to go small at the PF position. In Orlando, SVG started Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu up front with Dwight Howard. Both Lewis and Turkoglu were listed as SF/PF, and both played both positions for the Magic.

SVG was brought in to build a team around Drummond, much in the same way he built a team around Howard in Orlando. So it shouldn't surprise anyone that SVG if building around Drummond with players like Ilyasova, who are similar to Lewis and Turkoglu...guys that can shoot, but who are not traditional PFs in terms of their weight, strength and physicality.

[lemonpen]

Yo, Lemon, great work with the numbers. (I would like to know, the source.)

But, the instances of Ersan playing SF is the reason why I am more interested in GM Stan drafting Bobby Portis (and Oracle, I don't care if he is projected at #16).

Bobby Portis the SEC Player of the Year can  ball!

I'm not sure our decisions regarding future positional acquisitions are as clear as the Ilyasova stories indicate.  Forty six percent of Ersans regular season PT was spent at SF.  It increased to 72% in the playoffs.  At 6' 9" / 235 lbs Ersan falls within the dimensional sweet spot of SF's.  With that said it is conceivable that the door is still open to draft BIG.  

I'm still liking Frank Kaminski @ #8.  Imagine a starting unit that is bigger at every position, and still mobile, and skilled.

Check it out.  Complements of Merc
Basketball Reference.com

[Oracle]

John Lucas wants to return to the Pistons? Gee, let me think about that... HELL NO!!!

Finals:

• LeBron is putting on a show
  
• Green is playing himself out of a max contract, but may be saved by a rising CAP
  

The Warrior are not a very intelligent team, they haven't adjusted to the way the ref's are calling the game, and they haven't adjusted to the level of defense being played by the Cavs.

Any really good team would be beating a team missing Love & Irving pretty badly! However, the Warriors keep getting the ball stolen, way too many dumb turnovers, and the misses at the rim are embarrassing.

I also think they're a poor FT shooting team, but who am I to talk! After closely observing them, they have one GREAT shooter in Curry, and one good shooter in Thompson, and a bunch of poor to average shooters that are pretty good garbage players(not said in a bad way, that's good).

IMO, Cleveland needs to stop playing small ball, and focus on what got them there!

[Sebastian]

Yo, Lemon, great work with the numbers. (I would like to know, the source.)

But, the instances of Ersan playing SF is the reason why I am more interested in GM Stan drafting Bobby Portis (and Oracle, I don't care if he is projected at #16).

Bobby Portis the SEC Player of the Year can ball!

I'm not sure our decisions regarding future positional acquisitions are as clear as the Ilyasova stories indicate.  Forty six percent of Ersans regular season PT was spent at SF.  It increased to 72% in the playoffs.  At 6' 9" / 235 lbs Ersan falls within the dimensional sweet spot of SF's.  With that said it is conceivable that the door is still open to draft BIG.  

I'm still liking Frank Kaminski @ #8.  Imagine a starting unit that is bigger at every position, and still mobile, and skilled.

[deusXango]

However, the down side is that this reeks of Austin Daye! The very fact that you can consider him as a SF, implies that he has an undetermined position... Like Daye! Now he does appear to be more athletic than Daye, but for Piston fans, that comparison will linger for years

Okay, okay, this ain't a pimp move, but AUSTIN DAYE?! I don't see any comparison to Austin Daye with Porzingis, other than height. True Daye didn't have a position, but neither did he have speed, quickness, athleticism, or was he known for his outside shooting, like Porzingis is. Hell, he didn't possess the hops you'd expect from a guy that came into the league under 200 lbs., at 6' 11". Austin Daye was more of Joe Dumars folly, much like Darko, Rodney White, and Mateen Cleaves, to name a few.

I look at Porzingis as today's Larry Nance; a player who was taller, much quicker, jumped higher, and was as athletic as any SF he played against, plus you add in that deadly outside shot and we've got something special. Just MHO.

So we stay at #8, twiddle our thumbs, and hold onto Jennings, and see how that works out...I'm hoping for the best because I'm sick of this losing as much as anyone else. Oh, by the way, didn't Jennings come to Detroit talking sh!t about the horrible play of the big men in Milwaukee? It seems I read that somewhere.

Lemon, that "out the box" post was right on target for me...Kaminsky if Porzingis doesn't make sense or is available.

[lemonpen]

I'm not sure our decisions regarding future positional acquisitions are as clear as the Ilyasova stories indicate. Forty six percent of Ersans regular season PT was spent at SF. It increased to 72% in the playoffs. At 6' 9" / 235 lbs Ersan falls within the dimensional sweet spot of SF's. With that said it is conceivable that the door is still open to draft BIG.

I'm still liking Frank Kaminski @ #8. Imagine a starting unit that is bigger at every position, and still mobile, and skilled.

[Sebastian]

Yo, DX, Oracle, and my other Pistons Pals. It is going to be interesting, indeed, to see what GM Stan does with the #8 Pick.

The idea to have two mobile, interchangeable Forwards on the floor along with Dre Drum would appear to be a lethal set with a couple of dynamic PGs (Reggie and B. Jennings) and a still developing SG (KCP).

I kind of like the idea of hanging on to B. Jennings. (I can't get the "Second Coming of 'Tiny' Nate Archabald" out of my memory. B. Jennings was rolling before that damn Achillies injury. And, I would like to see if B. Jennings and Illysova can recapture the little groove that they had going back in Milwaukee.

I don't know about you guys, but I think that there are going to be at least 3 trades on Draft Night, before the Lottery (first 14 picks) are called.

And, finally, I don't think that GM/Head Coach Stan is willing to taking another losing season and WE damn sure can't take another one.

Trade #8 and Brandon Jennings to New York for #4 and draft Porzingis, or better still, New York drafts him, if he's still on the board and we draft for them at #8 then work out the particulars. A 7 foot SF that can shot the ball and move like a cat? Child please!

This is the Ilyasova effect; two tall floor stretchers, like SVG had in Orlando. At SF we don't have to worry about Porzingis weight or rebounding numbers and I believe he'd be a holy terror on perimeter defense, playing with KCP and Jackson. IMHO he's a better prospect than Hezonja, Winslow, and Johnson as SF candidates and anyone other than those 3 are trash at #8. Is that a pimp move or what?

I know that there's going to be some concerns raised about Jennings health (probably by some who love to see him in a Pistons uniform), but there could be a sweetener attached to the deal, to get it done; let Phillip and Stanley work it out.

Let me say that this is at least a very interesting, though risky reframing of the argument!

You've made a very good change in the dynamic by saying that he's a SF instead of a PF. That small change makes the thought of drafting him make a bit more sense, since he won't be able to guard PF's for a few years. But on offense, he'd be close to unstoppable, a matchup nightmare!

A 7'1 SF with decent athleticism would be a dangerous defender against average SF's but likely a liability against the faster SF's. He'll still struggle with the power SF's like LeBron & Carmelo, but who doesn't?

However, the down side is that this reeks of Austin Daye! The very fact that you can consider him as a SF, implies that he has an undetermined position... Like Daye! Now he does appear to be more athletic than Daye, but for Piston fans, that comparison will linger for years

So, is this a pimp move? I have to say no, only because unlike Ilyasova, this is less of a guaranteed thing, and carries a lot of risk, especially losing Jennings, who I want to keep because his value is too low to move right now.

Also, I know, with about 99.999% certainty that he won't start the season, and IMO, he will be one of the best backup PG's in the league, and would threaten to start if healthy! Jennings is still the best working with Drummond and for the team particularly because of his ability to hit the 3 point shot!

[Oracle]

Trade #8 and Brandon Jennings to New York for #4 and draft Porzingis, or better still, New York drafts him, if he's still on the board and we draft for them at #8 then work out the particulars. A 7 foot SF that can shot the ball and move like a cat? Child please!

This is the Ilyasova effect; two tall floor stretchers, like SVG had in Orlando. At SF we don't have to worry about Porzingis weight or rebounding numbers and I believe he'd be a holy terror on perimeter defense, playing with KCP and Jackson. IMHO he's a better prospect than Hezonja, Winslow, and Johnson as SF candidates and anyone other than those 3 are trash at #8. Is that a pimp move or what?

I know that there's going to be some concerns raised about Jennings health (probably by some who love to see him in a Pistons uniform), but there could be a sweetener attached to the deal, to get it done; let Phillip and Stanley work it out.

Let me say that this is at least a very interesting, though risky reframing of the argument!

You've made a very good change in the dynamic by saying that he's a SF instead of a PF. That small change makes the thought of drafting him make a bit more sense, since he won't be able to guard PF's for a few years. But on offense, he'd be close to unstoppable, a matchup nightmare!

A 7'1 SF with decent athleticism would be a dangerous defender against average SF's but likely a liability against the faster SF's. He'll still struggle with the power SF's like LeBron & Carmelo, but who doesn't?

However, the down side is that this reeks of Austin Daye! The very fact that you can consider him as a SF, implies that he has an undetermined position... Like Daye! Now he does appear to be more athletic than Daye, but for Piston fans, that comparison will linger for years

So, is this a pimp move? I have to say no, only because unlike Ilyasova, this is less of a guaranteed thing, and carries a lot of risk, especially losing Jennings, who I want to keep because his value is too low to move right now.

Also, I know, with about 99.999% certainty that he won't start the season, and IMO, he will be one of the best backup PG's in the league, and would threaten to start if healthy! Jennings is still the best working with Drummond and for the team particularly because of his ability to hit the 3 point shot!

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