Don on Drummond

[Oracle]

Don, the biggest difference between the start of the season and now is in the on court leadership!

Drummond started the season like a man possessed on both ends of the court! That level of play raised the level of play of the entire starting unit, including Reggie Jackson!

At this point, their big man has all but left the building in game after game! I do have to say that he's only 22 years old, and I'm not only talking about the mental aspects of the game, but the physical aspect.

A 22 year old body is NOT what we'll see when he's 26-29, he'll have more stamina and strength, which is scary! Having said that, it's not an excuse for what he's doing now!

I like what you said about him being an all star, he's certainly not playing like one, and I hope the weekend inspires him to come back and play like the man we saw to start the season!

[Oracle]

Well, if he spent as much time coaching the Knicks as he does screwing Matt Barnes old Lady, he'd win more games, but he is scoring

[Oracle]

Arizona Cool Breeze Don, you're very mean to me, so I'm going to tell you the truth!

I have attained the Zika Virus, especially when I'm tired, but I am releasing my picture when it attacks.. pray for me!

[cool breeze]

Where is Andre my friend said while watching the first half of the last game. He left and drove home at halftime in dismay. There was no Andre Drummond guarding the paint. Andre only wants to secure offensive rebounds. We need offensive rebounds for sure but we also need a full time player in the paint who is wiling to play defense. Drummond showed that he is capable of defending in the last three minutes of the game so what gives with the rest of the minutes he played? Andre is sandbagging or for a better term trying to do an acting job rather than playing like he is fully engaged in the actual game. In the last game against Boston where Thomas would pull up right in front of Andre and make a jump shot 3 feet from the basket without Drummond getting his arm up in time is telling. The story being told by Drummond's lazy effort and attitude is that this team is not serious about making the playoffs. Or better yet, this team is not serious about securing at least the 7th spot to avoid playing Cleveland. The team is just showing up for the games much like the year before when Greg Monroe would look as if he was Rip van Winkle waking up from a long sleep in the first quarter. Always the same in those days with the exception of when Greg would travel with the team to New Orleans. Then he was primed and played his butt off. We would get excited and then in the very next game, Monroe would be faking again. This is now Andre Drummond playing the part of Greg Monroe. Andre is a superior athlete who is too lazy to show how athletic is really can be. What I say to the rest of the team is this. If you really care about winning, get on Andre Drummond's ass and force him to do the right thing. All that is required is to play hard all the time. If you are tired signal to the bench and the coach will give you a rest. Don't rest on the court. That is what losers do Andre.

[Phil-Good]

I'm just waiting and waiting for A Pistons trade. We need one really bad. The Pistons could use some shooting really bad.

The Pistons have two really good Rookies in Johnson and Hilliard. I love these two guys.

I hope the Pistons are not buying into the "wait till the summer bull S.H.I.T." Like we in LA or something.

IF Stan can make it happen now then do it now. Somebody out there ready to give away A really good player.

[FlyDog]

I keep waiting for this team to get at least semi-hot. Say...........win 4 in a row or 6 of 7. So far, it hasn't happened since the 1st week of the season. They just can't seem to get on a roll.. To their credit, they haven't had a bad cold streak either, and remain above .500.

I think if and when Brandon Jennings catches fire, we'll see them tear off some wins. Well................I'M WAITING!!!!!!!

[cool breeze]

I can't recall any All Star player in the past who hurt his team as much as Andre did against Indiana last night. Jordan Hill had Drummond for lunch. Hill knows that Drummond gives half an effort a lot of the time on defense. So why not attack him in every way possible. It is pathetic that Drummond cannot shoot a free throw but that is not what is so upsetting. Andre should have stayed home. He failed his team for 3 quarters of the game in lack of effort and game preparation. Andre is supposed to be a pro not a snot nosed high school kid. I know that Illy had a horrible game as well but Andre is an All Star playing like an idiot. He picked his effort up towards the end of the game but he should not be let off the hook by his teammates. He clearly let them down in this one.

Jackson played his best defense of the season in my opinion. That is a positive sign. And there is no way in hell that Stanley Johnson should not be starting regardless of KCP's health. He just brings so much more to the team than either KCP or Morris. Johnson never took one second off in that game. He was the guy setting screens in the paint. He gave incredible effort on defense. When he was called for a charge Pacer players paid a heavy price. Whenever Johnson went out of the game, the team slid further behind and that extra fire was gone. Great job!

Tolliver played perhaps his best 2nd half of any game that I seen him play so far. He was really tough on defense and knocked down a lot of big shots on the comeback. The Pistons are starting games poorly lately. The offense is too predictable with almost a total lack of player movement. But even worse is the defensive effort early on in games. Maybe Tolliver should be starting or move Morris to the 4.

I am wondering what SVG was thinking on the way home from this game about Andre Drummond. Has Andre reached his full potential. He has a lot of bad habits that will be tough to break relating to concentration and effort. Will Andre ever be a really good defender? If not, his value to a team full of really good players may be limited. As SVG builds his masterpiece will Andre Drummond fit in? I am pulling for Andre to really mature after the All Star break. This game has to be embarrassing for him. I know he cares a lot. Stanley Johnson is determined to be on a winning team. Will his strong will move Drummond to get serious about becoming a complete NBA player? Everyone who played in the 2nd half with the exception of Drummond and Illy. played like winners regardless of the fact that the ball didn't go in the hole as much as they needed it to. And the Indiana players played their asses off relating to EFFORT on the 2nd of a back to back.

This was a very painful and disturbing loss for the Piston organization.

[cool breeze]

Though not really shocks, I've seen 3 things that caused me to double take!

1. The Josh Smith Saga: I was watching a Houston game, and saw Josh Smith on the bench, then did a double take and said WTF is Josh doing in Houston? Well, the Clippers called an end to the Josh Smith era and traded him back to Houston... Wow!
   
2. MCW on the Block: The Bucks after dumping Knight, now have put his replacement on the block! The Bucks have made it known that MCW is available for anybody to take... Yikes, that love affair went south quick!
   
3. Shocker, Bucks put Monroe on the Block: Hopefully Monroe isn't pissing his pants again, but as a famous Piston Announcer says, "Don't look now, but" Monroe's ass is exposed and swinging in the wind! All of that drama with us, the odd decision to go to a small market team when both the Knicks and Lakers has interest? Monroe is looking like a clown, IMO! No one on this board will be surprised as to why they want him gone... hint, it starts with "D"
   

Report: Bucks willing to deal Carter-Williams, Monroe

Oracle it is a good thing that Mr. Dumars is no longer in charge or he might make a deal for Greg Monroe or perhaps would have offered so much money to his agent that he would still be a Piston.

Everyone was on Brandon Knights ass when Greg Monroe and Jason Maxiell were starting in the front court. "Knight will never be a real point guard" or "Knight is the reason why the Pistons suck and what a waste of a number one pick"was all I read about on the previous forum. And of course absent minded Joe watching from that corner in the upper deck believed as well. And maybe Joe thought that Middleton had something to do with the Pistons getting beat so badly as well. It couldn't be his beloved front court players who no point guard in this world could run a pick and roll play with. No the future would be bright with Josh Smith, Jason Maxiell, Greg Monroe and of course Austin Daye developing together along with the crowd pleaser, Will Bynum. And don't forget Rodney Stuckey the guy who liked getting starting salary but was happy as hell coming off the bench with Charlie V. Thank the dear Lord those days are gone.

My best guess is that the Bucks will be looking for a new GM now.

[Oracle]

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS — Changes are in store for the dreaded Hack-A-Shaq (Dwight orDeAndre or Andre) rule this summer.

Or at leas that is the sentiment from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who addressed the topic on USA Today Sports‘ NBA A-to-Z Podcast.

Like many fans, coaches, players, executives and observers, the Commissioner has grown weary of the often-used strategy, which basically consists of fouling the poorest free throw shooter on an opposing team in an effort to limit said team’s scoring opportunities.
More from USA Today Sports:

“Even for those who had not wanted to make the change, we’re being forced to that position just based on these sophisticated coaches understandably using every tactic available to them,” Silver said. “It’s just not the way we want to see the game played.”

Hack-A-Player is up this year. The number of those intentional fouls through mid-December surpassed the number of times it happened last season (164), and the league is closing in on 300 Hack-A-Player instances before the All-Star break.

Through Tuesday’s games, fouls against Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond and Houston Rockets Dwight Howard have accounted for 69% of Hack-A-Player fouls. Jordan accounts for 34%.

Silver knows the data. But the interaction with fans as he watches a game has made an impact, too.

“Again, as I travel around the league, there’s that one school of thought ‘Guys have got to make their free throws,’ ” Silver said. “But then at the end of the day, we are an entertainment property, and it’s clear that when you’re in the arena, that fans are looking at me, shrugging their shoulders with that look saying, ‘Aren’t you going to do something about this?’ ”

[Oracle]

Though not really shocks, I've seen 3 things that caused me to double take!

1. The Josh Smith Saga: I was watching a Houston game, and saw Josh Smith on the bench, then did a double take and said WTF is Josh doing in Houston? Well, the Clippers called an end to the Josh Smith era and traded him back to Houston... Wow!
   
2. MCW on the Block: The Bucks after dumping Knight, now have put his replacement on the block! The Bucks have made it known that MCW is available for anybody to take... Yikes, that love affair went south quick!
   
3. Shocker, Bucks put Monroe on the Block: Hopefully Monroe isn't pissing his pants again, but as a famous Piston Announcer says, "Don't look now, but" Monroe's ass is exposed and swinging in the wind! All of that drama with us, the odd decision to go to a small market team when both the Knicks and Lakers has interest? Monroe is looking like a clown, IMO! No one on this board will be surprised as to why they want him gone... hint, it starts with "D"
   

Report: Bucks willing to deal Carter-Williams, Monroe

[cool breeze]

@Wise(WTF) - I liked your post, especially the discussion of Andre being soft! I don't think he's soft, but he has been playing soft since his drop off from the start of the season! Shaq was like that too, early in his career, and somebody needs to get up in Drummond's grill and remind him that he needs to throw his weight around and start abusing these dudes!

@Game - What a flock of freaking butt wipes! Blowing a 27 point lead is ridiculous!!! However, if they didn't it wouldn't have setup some good heroics down the stretch.

Toliver pulled our fat out of the fire with a single shot and it was Reggie's back to back 3 pointers that stuck the fork into the Knicks!

We don't get on national TV much, oh hell, not at all, so getting the win was important, and we did! But there was a coming out party in this game... Stanley Johnson blew up!!!

I was SHOCKED that they went to a rookie down the stretch to be the closer!!!! That's HUGE, and you hardly ever see that on a team with experienced players available, but the Pistons did it not only once, but twice when we absolutely needed scores to keep pace! Just listen to what SVG said,

“I thought he was tremendous. Second start of his career, I thought he played real well. We were even going to him down the stretch there before Reggie (Jackson) hit the threes. We were running plays for him. (He’s) Fearless; getting better all the time; not afraid to make plays. Got it handed to him a little bit on the other end; he was playing hard but (Arron) Afflalo showed him what the NBA’s about. You can be playing hard, but there are some good players in this league. Afflalo had his way with him; that was a good learning experience for him. Stanley didn’t back away from the challenge. I think Stanley is going to be a really good player. He handled huge minutes tonight on the fifth game in seven nights, played 40-plus minutes, and played real well. Nine rebounds, I thought he made some really good passes, just played extremely well.

Now, Stanley likes to think he can play SG in this league, and he can in a pinch, but against Afflalo, he found out that it's hard to handle a good SG!

Still Stanley took the challenge and made him mark offensively where he clearly has the advantage. Having KCP out for 4 games may be a blessing in disguise as Stanley gets plenty of PT, and hopefully gets ready to make that final push while becoming the player we know that's lurking in that rookie body !

Oracle thanks for sharing the comments from SVG on Johnson. Johnson did a good job on Affalo in the first half and I thought he played Arron tough defense on him in the 2nd. Affalo played his ass off in the 2nd and I can't think of any current player who could have stopped him. Johnson needed some help and got it in the last 2 minutes of the game. This match up with Affalo for Johnson was a great thing for Johnson who will study the game film and find out how Affalo was able to score and incorporate some of Afflao's post up skills in his own offensive game. Johnson has been around the horn and played NBA small forwards getting to know all their tendencies up close and personal. Now he gets to find his way on defense at the 2 guard position. Johnson will have a incredible advantage playing the 2 guard as time moves on. He is as quick as any 2 guard in the league if you look at his foot work and the way he runs the court.

Another good post Oracle. I am sure that SVG tried hard to motivate his players at halftime but it didn't work at all. The two leaders, Jackson and Drummond played with zero passion. Jackson's insisted on trying to play the pick and roll play with Drummond without one thought about getting the other players involved who were wide open. It looks to me that Jackson is really unhealthy right now and is playing on pure guts in crunch time. The Pistons have 3 quality point guards on the team. Why not use them. I know that the NBA is not built that way. It is a players and star orientated league. But I believe SVG would have been doing the right thing if he had inserted Steve Blake into the lineup after watching the first 3 minutes of the 3rd quarter where point guard play on both offense and defense was horrible. Just give Blake 3 or 4 minutes when the offense or defense is killing the team. Then bring in Jennings to push tempo. Reducing the minutes of a unhealthy starting point guard should not be a negative thing. Everyone loves to play with Steve Blake because he shares the basketball more than either Jackson or Jennings. Use all of your assets SVG.

Morris should be mentioned for playing hard on both ends for the entire game. He was fouled 3 times on one possession by Anthony within 2 feet of the ref. Then Anthony puts his head down and charges through a group of players several times creating the contact but always gets the favorable call. Morris got the t because he was pissed off about the 3 arm chop blocks on his arm that were ignored by the same ref who called the T.

Finally how about the biased announcing group of turds TNT hired for this game. I noticed that Chris Webber went right along with the theme of lets talk about how crappy the Pistons are and how could they possibly have such a big lead on New York during the first half. And Webber kept saying that the team needs to keep feeding Drummond in the low post. No Chris have you watched any of the Piston games this season? Piston point guards suffer from lack of ability to see wing players and force the basketball to Andre too much to a player who is not yet a reliable inside offensive player. Did Webber ever comment on Drummond's problems on defense? I recall only one comment he made and that was to tell everyone that Drummond needs help defending the paint as if the other players are malfunctioning instead of Drummond. How about saying that for the Pistons to win consistently opposing players need to fear Andre when they come into the painted area? The entire game plan for the announcers was to talk about the future of New York. They thought that would bring higher ratings around the country for TNT. Are they living in a time warp? I like Reggie Miller but can't he remember that he played for Indiana? Who wants to hear about what the damn Knicks are doing please? And Charles Barkley stated before the game that the TNT ratings would be going down the toilet because they were broadcasting a game involving the Pistons. Thanks for that Charles.

[Oracle]

@Wise(WTF) - I liked your post, especially the discussion of Andre being soft! I don't think he's soft, but he has been playing soft since his drop off from the start of the season! Shaq was like that too, early in his career, and somebody needs to get up in Drummond's grill and remind him that he needs to throw his weight around and start abusing these dudes!

@Game - What a flock of freaking butt wipes! Blowing a 27 point lead is ridiculous!!! However, if they didn't it wouldn't have setup some good heroics down the stretch.

Toliver pulled our fat out of the fire with a single shot and it was Reggie's back to back 3 pointers that stuck the fork into the Knicks!

We don't get on national TV much, oh hell, not at all, so getting the win was important, and we did! But there was a coming out party in this game... Stanley Johnson blew up!!!

I was SHOCKED that they went to a rookie down the stretch to be the closer!!!! That's HUGE, and you hardly ever see that on a team with experienced players available, but the Pistons did it not only once, but twice when we absolutely needed scores to keep pace! Just listen to what SVG said,

“I thought he was tremendous. Second start of his career, I thought he played real well. We were even going to him down the stretch there before Reggie (Jackson) hit the threes. We were running plays for him. (He’s) Fearless; getting better all the time; not afraid to make plays. Got it handed to him a little bit on the other end; he was playing hard but (Arron) Afflalo showed him what the NBA’s about. You can be playing hard, but there are some good players in this league. Afflalo had his way with him; that was a good learning experience for him. Stanley didn’t back away from the challenge. I think Stanley is going to be a really good player. He handled huge minutes tonight on the fifth game in seven nights, played 40-plus minutes, and played real well. Nine rebounds, I thought he made some really good passes, just played extremely well.

Now, Stanley likes to think he can play SG in this league, and he can in a pinch, but against Afflalo, he found out that it's hard to handle a good SG!

Still Stanley took the challenge and made him mark offensively where he clearly has the advantage. Having KCP out for 4 games may be a blessing in disguise as Stanley gets plenty of PT, and hopefully gets ready to make that final push while becoming the player we know that's lurking in that rookie body !

[WTF]

Pistons need to make a trade and need not be scared to pull the trigger if it's a possibility it may help the team move forward and provide a playoff push do it. I'm not locked in on any of the current players being as one Fat Former GM stated "it not being any sacred cow" on the team.

Like I said I've been watching from afar and not as close, but I still see some things with this team that needs a boost badly. As I said I'm not sold on Reggie and I would prefer Jennings running the team. While I wouldn't jump to trade Andre I wouldn't shy away from a trade if I thought it was better or even slightly better.

Lemon I was tickle by your comments about Andre being soft and it reminded me how I use to go on about Moose being soft. Yes Andre needs to man up, he should be balling right now with the compassion of a young Alonzo and Mutumbo. While his stats are more meaningful and have more impact than that of Moose's he's not impacting the game the way he should be hince he's still not a leader.

Team still has weak perimeter defense and shoot far too many 3's. This team isn't a contender but they should be solidly holding onto a 4th or 5th seed spot oppose to fighting to hold on to the 8th spots.

[cool breeze]

I think one of the reasons why our twin ( Morris) is playing so well is the fact that he is away from his brother. That is based on the off court issues related to Markief in Phoenix and his hostile toxic attitude he has displayed with the Suns coaching staff. Why gamble on this guy for a short term fix?

Our Piston team has a great core of young players. But our young guys are still learning the NBA game especially Andre Drummond who had a pitiful performance on the defensive end again against Boston. Right now if Drummond doesn't figure out that he needs to be feared by all drivers in the painted area, this Piston team has no chance of being consistently successful. It is up to Andre. What does he want for his team? Does he want to be on a winning team or just stack up stats and make the All Star team? He needs to decide and the other younger players need to tell him what he needs to do. Drummond is quick as a cat when he wants to be. I know that Ben Wallace would not have allowed what happened in the paint last night. That is the difference. Drummond is just as capable but he is not focused on the right thing which is doing whatever is needed to WIN.

If we add Morris, we add more toughness for sure. But if I were on the Piston coaching staff would I risk destroying the team chemistry that is slowly building? I look at Stanley Johnson last night. This guy had a really bad shooting performance but there was no question in my mind that he alone was responsible for getting his teammates back on track to make a huge comeback. He did it through example of playing some of the toughest hard core defense that I have seen a Piston play since Dennis Rodman. It wasn't long before another and than another Piston player jacked up their effort on defense. I see this team as Stanley Johnson's team not Reggie Jackson's team when thinking of the future. Without Stanley Johnson playing on his high school varsity team for 4 years, his school would have never had a chance to make the finals in the State tournament in any of his 4 years there. It was all Stanley Johnson's spirit pushing his teammates on and off the court while playing 5 different positions during that time period. Johnson knows how to create positive team chemistry not by talking about it but by example and making basketball look like a fun way to spend your time. His spirit is contagious. And right now he is no where nearing his potential on the offensive end but does he ever stop playing hard when things are no going perfect for him? He knows this is a process which takes time and hard work in building himself into a super star player and leader. How many 19 year old players have you ever seen who play defense as hard as Stanley? The focus needs to be on finding more younger players who have that same type of spirit that also have no personality issues. We have experienced first hand many Piston players that Joe Dumars signed who have had that self destructive side that prevents them from being the best possible player they can become. I can't imagine Stanley Johnson ever blaming coaches or acting out against his coaches no matter what was going on. Johnson wants to learn and listen to get as much information he can get. Then he can evaluate the value of what he is being told. I place Markief Morris in the opposite category. If you can't get along with coach and former player Jeff H., you can't get along with anybody. You are one pissed off human being who brings that pissed off attitude into everyone's life. Remember when your parents advised you to trust your gut and stay away from certain types of people when you were a kid? Even if the Pistons could get Markief for a great price and he plays well, the guy has such a dominate personality, I worry that he could ruin everything in the long run.

Of course Stan Van Gundy knows a lot more than I do about every player in the league and what the risk-reward issues are when adding a vet from another team. Van Gundy could add Morris and then get rid of him just as easily as he did Smith. I am not happy with the inconsistent play of Tolliver especially last night in the first half. Did he provide any spark off the bench in the first half? No and he didn't deserve any minutes in the 2nd half based on his negative play in the first half of the game. Fans might laugh at my suggestion for improving this Piston team but I would try to make a trade for Arron Gordon if that could be possible. He is another young determined guy who would dramatically improve the Piston defense. His offensive game is still a work in progress but he has that crazy drive to win and has one of the best motors that I have ever seen. Do we want to add a power forward who is in the back side of their career who plays questionable defense? Can we afford another horrible defender? No I say build the team slowly with the right stuff.

Oracle it is clear to me that this group currently playing for the Celtics are far superior to our Piston team in the sense that they play the right way. The players know what to do and execute for their coaches. They are fun to watch because of that. This is a makeshift team that wasn't supposed to win many games. But the players are smart. The head coach is one of the smartest coaches in the business either college or the NBA. If only our players would not go off on their own and ignore the game plan and fulfill the duties of their individual roles. What was disturbing about last night was not the fact that the players as a group couldn't make shots, it was about what the individual players did not do when things were not going their way in the first half. All but maybe two players stopped playing defense or stopped moving without the basketball or stopped attempting to make the extra pass. This game was in my opinion one of the worst performances of any game this season especially in the first half. I hope they learn from it. It is easy to blame things on injuries. And for those who are injured they need to take themselves out of the game. But there are others who are perfectly healthy that sucked big time in the Boston game relating to lack of effort and will.

[Oracle]

Don, For sure Ainge is loading up just like he did b4 the KG deal... have to assume he's building up for a trade for a top tier vet.
Even with multiple picks we know that they are a crap shoot... honestly I would not trade their roster for ours.
As SVG mentioned there will be 30 teams with big money for free agents this year... the Pistons would be wiser not to overpay vs the competition... his gold will have to come via trades... this will be a tough road since expiring are not desirable and we have very few legitimate assets that he will be willing to move.
Hopefully the team is healthy enough to defend tonight.... the allstar break needs to get here too soon  
btw, what is your opinion on on Markief?

There are two possibilities on the horizon, one I would prefer, but the other I've changed and think might work!

Here's a very good discussion about both: BLOGTABLE: PLAYER WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO BE TRADED FIRST IS _____?

Spoiler, the two hot items are Markief & Anderson, both of whom have had huge games recently!

Obviously Anderson fits SVG's offense more, his game was born for this, and he's my first choice! However, I feel that we need a little jump start injected into the team, so I do hope we make a deal, and now I'm wanting the Lesser Morris as my 2nd choice!

His game is different, but I like him to start at PF over Ersan, and have Ersan come off the bench with that 2nd unit. The biggest thing about him is that he has yet another super friendly contract that's movable if it doesn't work out!

Don, you noticed a lot of things in the last game, and I meant to post to you that a lot of it was due to our guys playing through a few nagging injuries! As a player you know that once they get going, they can fight through it most times, but some injuries throw you off!

I agree with Merc, we need the all star break because the only one not injured(starters) appears to be Andre!

[merc]

Don, For sure Ainge is loading up just like he did b4 the KG deal... have to assume he's building up for a trade for a top tier vet.
Even with multiple picks we know that they are a crap shoot... honestly I would not trade their roster for ours.
As SVG mentioned there will be 30 teams with big money for free agents this year... the Pistons would be wiser not to overpay vs the competition... his gold will have to come via trades... this will be a tough road since expiring are not desirable and we have very few legitimate assets that he will be willing to move.
Hopefully the team is healthy enough to defend tonight.... the allstar break can't get here too soon  
btw, what is your opinion on on Markief?

[cool breeze]

Our opponent tonight has some real bargaining chips come next summer. Boston has three first round picks with the Nets pick possibly getting them top 3. Then the last time I counted the Celtics get 5 or 6 second round picks with two of them in the top 3 of the 2nd round. Is there any other GM out there that can complete with Danny A for executive of the year? And Boston's head coach might be the smartest coach in the entire league and a guy who can motivate players without getting under their skin. No wonder the current Celtics are playing so damn hard. They are worried about the new guys or the possible trades that might cost them a job next season. It will be very interesting to see what Boston decides to do and what kind of changes will take place next year. There is a changing of the guard in the NBA.

Our Pistons are a young talented team. Getting this season under their belts will be a big plus as they move on up to elite status. I am sure that Stan Van Gundy will use his first round pick wisely as usual and he might score big in the 2nd round as well. NBADRAFTNET has the Pistons taking the Spartan star D.V..

[cool breeze]

It would be interesting to be a fly on the wall when whoever is in charge of creating the schedule is actually deciding how the back to back games will play out. Why is this such a mystery where nobody gets to report on how the schedule is decided? Why is this a top secret thing? ARE KICK BACKS INVOLVED? My opposition to the concept of playing back to back games centers on one important fact. Why is it that the league doesn't match up teams who are selected to play the 2nd game of a back to back with other teams that have that same insane obligation. How well can you run a marathon two days in a row? Doesn't the runner who is fresh have at least a 80% chance of running 26 miles faster with more stamina than the athlete who has exhausted himself or herself the day before? Give players a even playing field please. You can see how schedule makers can influence the outcome of games and positioning for the playoffs. There are always dominate teams that have more talented players who can get through back to back games. But more scrutiny should be directed to the NBA Front office to create a better scheduling system to match up teams that have played the night before if it is necessary to maximize profits relating to the quantity of games desired by league owners. This way we would see two tired warn out teams playing each other. It would be a battle of survival of the toughest. Right now, teams are more evenly balanced where there is a significant edge going to the rested team over the tired team that had to play a game and then travel to get to the next game the following night.

Detroit plays New York on a back to back after the Boston game. New York will be well rested. Detroit is in a mad fight to make the playoffs. Will the ticket payers get their money's worth? Will Reggie be at his best as well as the rest of our players? There is always corruption at the highest level. Are the bookies involved in schedule making?

[cool breeze]

Good post Lemonpen, and I think most of us here can agree with most of what you posted! However, on one point, I think you're not remembering that everything, by design is relative!

Maybe you have the feeling that we aren't close to being a contender, and of course, that is also relative, because I don't know what you mean by that, but the facts on the ground say that we're 1.5 games out of 3rd seed!

Being that close would indicate that we're close to being a contender, especially if we had an injection of additional talent or if maturity set in!

Being guilty of not defining what I mean as a threat in the east, let me explain! When I say we could be a threat, I by no means think a threat to Cleveland, but simply a team capable of winning a first round game, which, IMO, would be a HUGE win for us, and put us ahead of schedule.

So I don't think you're contrary to most here, we're all seeing both progress and regression at times... we're young

I don't think this team is as close to contending as some do.

Dre  is a statistical stud but not a STUD.  He is soft.  He needs to learn to play defense in a phone booth;  body on body where size really matters.  He needs to learn to defend smaller / shorter guys 10 feet in the air, not 3 feet off of the ground with a reach.  When will he become tired of 6 footers popping uncontested J's in his eye.  When Dre toughens up we will excel.

Our starters are playing to their allotted PT.  One reason we see the all too often flat start to a game is because our starters tend to pace themselves to last their usual 8-11 minute stints.  Before becoming Ship Shape both the 89 and 04 squads had to be taken to task by Daddy Rich and LB about coasting.  Our 2015 squad must learn to go hard from the tip, trusting the reserves to carry on.

Stan complains about a lack of defense.  In some areas he is right and in other areas I see a league that has figured us out.  
(1) Keep Andre off of the offensive glass and DOWN GOES FRASIER !!!!!.   On many nights our fg% is too low to win without a massive number of second chances.  We still lack real knock down shooters that simply don't miss open looks.
(2) We rarely switch on picks.  We rarely go under picks regardless of the ball handlers deep shooting skill or lack of.  We rarely trap ball handlers.  
(3)  We often walk away from red hot shooters to do Lord knows what in the paint.
(4) We commonly turn our heads to the ball flight forgetting about boxing out.  When desperately needed the offensive rebound is many times available to our opponents.
SVG need to tighten up some stuff and add variety to P&R D.

We have no one who has started on a good team, so they are ALL learning to play significant roles against higher levels of competition while carrying greater expectations.  

Fellas,  our boys need more seasoning, polish and toughness B4 talking about being ready for primetime.  But, don't get me wrong, I love the direction we're headed and some of our personnel.

I love the details Lemonpen outlined relating to individual and team flaws. And Oracle brought out Albert Einstein's theory. Great job both of you. It is cool that we are all excited while knowing the team has a lot of work to do.

How about the old days when we were never excited before a game knowing that our players would always give a weaker effort and make more bone head mental errors than the opponent just for starters not considering the lack of talent. Joe liked the slow footed players a lot and the players who didn't like to learn how to play defense or couldn't play defense before they were drafted. t still have a fresh memory of Austin Daye playing on offense with the Pistons one point ahead with only seconds to go in the game. Being that he was beyond the 3 pint line in the center of the court, his job was to get his ass back to prevent a easy transition layup on a missed shot or errant pass. A Piston player threw up a shot as the shot clock was expiring which missed with 5 or 6 seconds left. What did Daye do? Instead of dropping back fast to protect the paint or get in front of the opposing guard streaking down the court, Daye forgot his role and went hard to the offensive glass. Opps, the other team made a layup just before time expired. Who could imagine that? The Piston coaches had to be embarrassed with that loss and of course they were blamed and should be because they had Daye in the game. Meanwhile, Austin walked off the court not knowing he was the guy who screwed up. The worst thing that can happen to a basketball player is when they don't know that they don't know crap about playing basketball the right way. They don't listen in the timeouts or in practice but think they know it all. We have had many Piston players over the past few years who had that personality trait. If only Joe Dumars had called Daye's college coach Mark Few before the draft like Stan called Sean Miller before he drafted Stanley Johnson.

[Oracle]

Good post Lemonpen, and I think most of us here can agree with most of what you posted! However, on one point, I think you're not remembering that everything, by design is relative!

Maybe you have the feeling that we aren't close to being a contender, and of course, that is also relative, because I don't know what you mean by that, but the facts on the ground say that we're 1.5 games out of 3rd seed!

Being that close would indicate that we're close to being a contender, especially if we had an injection of additional talent or if maturity set in!

Being guilty of not defining what I mean as a threat in the east, let me explain! When I say we could be a threat, I by no means think a threat to Cleveland, but simply a team capable of winning a first round game, which, IMO, would be a HUGE win for us, and put us ahead of schedule.

So I don't think you're contrary to most here, we're all seeing both progress and regression at times... we're young

I don't think this team is as close to contending as some do.

Dre  is a statistical stud but not a STUD.  He is soft.  He needs to learn to play defense in a phone booth;  body on body where size really matters.  He needs to learn to defend smaller / shorter guys 10 feet in the air, not 3 feet off of the ground with a reach.  When will he become tired of 6 footers popping uncontested J's in his eye.  When Dre toughens up we will excel.

Our starters are playing to their allotted PT.  One reason we see the all too often flat start to a game is because our starters tend to pace themselves to last their usual 8-11 minute stints.  Before becoming Ship Shape both the 89 and 04 squads had to be taken to task by Daddy Rich and LB about coasting.  Our 2015 squad must learn to go hard from the tip, trusting the reserves to carry on.

Stan complains about a lack of defense.  In some areas he is right and in other areas I see a league that has figured us out.  
(1) Keep Andre off of the offensive glass and DOWN GOES FRASIER !!!!!.   On many nights our fg% is too low to win without a massive number of second chances.  We still lack real knock down shooters that simply don't miss open looks.
(2) We rarely switch on picks.  We rarely go under picks regardless of the ball handlers deep shooting skill or lack of.  We rarely trap ball handlers.  
(3)  We often walk away from red hot shooters to do Lord knows what in the paint.
(4) We commonly turn our heads to the ball flight forgetting about boxing out.  When desperately needed the offensive rebound is many times available to our opponents.
SVG need to tighten up some stuff and add variety to P&R D.

We have no one who has started on a good team, so they are ALL learning to play significant roles against higher levels of competition while carrying greater expectations.  

Fellas,  our boys need more seasoning, polish and toughness B4 talking about being ready for primetime.  But, don't get me wrong, I love the direction we're headed and some of our personnel.

[lemonpen]

I don't think this team is as close to contending as some do.

Dre is a statistical stud but not a STUD. He is soft. He needs to learn to play defense in a phone booth; body on body where size really matters. He needs to learn to defend smaller / shorter guys 10 feet in the air, not 3 feet off of the ground with a reach. When will he become tired of 6 footers popping uncontested J's in his eye. When Dre toughens up we will excel.

Our starters are playing to their allotted PT. One reason we see the all too often flat start to a game is because our starters tend to pace themselves to last their usual 8-11 minute stints. Before becoming Ship Shape both the 89 and 04 squads had to be taken to task by Daddy Rich and LB about coasting. Our 2015 squad must learn to go hard from the tip, trusting the reserves to carry on.

Stan complains about a lack of defense. In some areas he is right and in other areas I see a league that has figured us out.
(1) Keep Andre off of the offensive glass and DOWN GOES FRASIER !!!!!. On many nights our fg% is too low to win without a massive number of second chances. We still lack real knock down shooters that simply don't miss open looks.
(2) We rarely switch on picks. We rarely go under picks regardless of the ball handlers deep shooting skill or lack of. We rarely trap ball handlers.
(3) We often walk away from red hot shooters to do Lord knows what in the paint.
(4) We commonly turn our heads to the ball flight forgetting about boxing out. When desperately needed the offensive rebound is many times available to our opponents.
SVG need to tighten up some stuff and add variety to P&R D.

We have no one who has started on a good team, so they are ALL learning to play significant roles against higher levels of competition while carrying greater expectations.

Fellas, our boys need more seasoning, polish and toughness B4 talking about being ready for primetime. But, don't get me wrong, I love the direction we're headed and some of our personnel.

[cool breeze]

The difference I see when watching the Pistons now compared to the previous 6 seasons is the fact that these players really care about playing well. I see the reaction to Pope and Jackson's missed shots in the middle of the 4th quarter and then that look by Reggie to Pope. Although KCP looked OK on the box score, I thought he had a sub par game on the defensive end where he failed to get his arms up before his assigned man when up for the shot. Reggie also struggled many times throughout that game and looked like he needed to return to the hospital. But Reggie is extremely competitive and will do anything to win. He is able to take advantage of situations on the court in crunch time. When players miss shots or assignments on defense, I see a reaction of "Damn I got to do better". How refreshing is that? These players actually care about improving and they pull for each other.

And players are gradually getting smarter and tougher. Tonight one little thing stood out to me. Andre Drummond jumped out to guard Ellington and try to adversely affect his shot attempt on the Nets next to last possession on the side out of bounds. Andre was thinking and he was reacting to the situation on defense. Wow how cool was that!

It appears that there is always more movement by players on offense when Stanley Johnson is on the floor. He sets screens and moves extremely fast and really wants the ball. At times tonight especially in the first half, it looked as if KCP had no interest in even touching the basketball. He provided no movement and was standing in the baseline corner much like Michael Curry did years ago. The 2 guard needs to touch the basketball more to keep teams honest. I thought this old pattern had ended 10 games ago but tonight KCP went more than 5 minutes in a row without touching the basketball. Am I worried? No because this team is finding their sweet spot right now. Work out all the flaws this season, add maybe one or two more players in the rotation and next season will be sweet. I love the effort this group of Pistons give every night win or lose. Go Pistons!

[Sebastian]

Okay, Oracle, after watching last night's victory in Brooklyn, I guess that I am willing to be a bit more patience with OUR boy, Dre' . I love when he has those 21 points. and 18 rebounds. And, even Reggie played like a competent NBA PG, but would like to see the assist totals increase for OUR starting PG. It is a good thing that WE have a very, very good second PG (B. Jennings) on the roster. Did you see the Ally Oop off of the glass that he served Dre'! Damn that was nice!

I think that it will be vital that B. Jennings is resigned. It doesn't hurt to have a reliable and competent second PG on the roster And remember B. Jennings and Reggie can share the floor together, at times, too, which I don't think that SVG has employed, yet. Also, if WE were to resign B. Jennings, We can always have him available as a trade piece.

I also, took a look at the video that you shared with GM Stan describing OUR position with trades and personnel decisions going forward. I agree totally with GM Stan. The Pistons need to have players that are locked up in their contracts. Small market teams and less desirable NBA destination are going to be left holding the bag this July, big time!

One more thing, thanks for reminding me about Dre's current contract situation. Since, he has yet to sign an extension, if traded he then becomes an unrestricted free agent and not remain a restricted free agent, as he will be as a member of the Pistons, come July 1. A great point that I had completely forgotten.

Now, for a trade suggestion that on the surface may appear as a lateral move, but I think that it would serve US well to offer to the Timberwolves: Joel Anthony for Adreian Payne. Payne is a more mobile PF/C that could play with Dre' or Baynes. He could even play with Morris and Illy. And, he is young (24, he turns 25 on 2/19) and cheap, currently on a very frugal contract through the 2018-2019 season. And, as you guys know, he is a Michigan State alum.

http://basketball.realgm.com/tradechecker/saved_trade/6658760

Oracle, I concede, OUR roster is damn near there, as you have mention. Two more complimentary pieces (F@ckin' Jodie Meeks and Payne) may help to complete this roster well enough to have US playing in late May.

DETROIT BASKETBALL!!!

[Oracle]

[Oracle]

It's funny because everybody on the net is talking about how the Pistons should wait to pull off A deal in the summer.

When ever has Detroit been A big time free agent player? NEVER! If Detroit can land A guy now, get him!

I agree, if the right guy is available, get him now, don't wait... but that's easy to say!

The hard part is to name the guy, and he has to be available! So I don't think people are saying that just for fun, they're surveying the field and making logical assumptions, and like me, hoping for something we don't see!

Here's how I see it: We're likely 2 players away from being a real threat, but what position do those 2 players occupy?

PF: We need a known knock down 3 point shooter at this position, and Ryan Anderson is the likely target, and while I'm not wedded to that choice, SVG may be. This is the ONLY logical position of need that jumps right off the page at me!

Unknown Position: The 2nd player is of an unknown position, at least to this poster! IMO, this player could be any of the following.

1. Jodie Meeks - If he returns and fulfills the promise that SVG had in him, that would be a game changer on the 2nd unit
2. Stanley Johnson - Should he become dominant on the 2nd unit, he may have an effect on the starting unit. How? Well an emerged Stanley could force Ersan to the bench, move Morris to PF and let Stanley be the starting SF!
3. Trade: We get that person in a single trade, or as part of the trade for the PF!

Ok, a lot of guessing there, but I hope it's calculated guessing and making some sense. However, the bigger point is that wild trades can destroy us, we're close, and next year, we may see the end of "Hack a Dre", this from the first page on NBA.com - This isn't Basketball

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