Remember when the Detroit News closed down "Piston Talk Forum"?

Fans were venting and upset with the direction our Piston organization was going. The owner Bill Davidson passed away and his wife was AWOL. John Hammond had moved to the Bucks organization. Greg Monroe and Jason Maxiell were the starting big men. Brandon Knight was blamed for every loss. Joe Dumars brought in a vet point guard from Toronto. Nothing changed. Every summer we were waiting for a breakthrough by Rodney Stuckey. Dumars signed Charlie V, Ben Gordon and Will Bynum. Neither Knight or the vet point guard from Toronto could make a pick and roll play work. Knight continues to be blamed for all losses because fans were used to the likes of Thomas and Billups. But no attention was ever brought to the real problem that the Pistons had the worst front court in basketball with two players who were not capable or running a pick and roll play and they also could not defend a pick and roll play. Fans waited hopelessly for the variety of coaches hired and fired to play Middleton and Knight together.

Due to pressure from Piston management with all of the negative talk going on in the Detroit Piston Forum, the entire thing was shut down. Joe Dumars had some real power in those days. Suddenly this forum is created by the grace of God. True Piston fans were again able to question the direction Piston management was going and to point out the facts when we watched fake effort by the ultra rich fake players who wore the Piston uniform. Through all of the dark moments of Piston history, we fans would always hope for a sign that the Pistons were finally on an upward trend. The owner hired Stan Van Gundy and gave him real power to run the team. Better players were drafted and signed as free agents. Yet what really needed to be done all along was what should have taken place a long time before SVG ever arrived. This Piston team needed to crash and burn completely and start over. We never saw a real fall like the fans in Philly experienced. Instead whoever ran the show for the Pistons tried like hell to avoid being a cellar dweller. Therefore we never secured first rate talent in the draft. Whoever was in charge either Dumars or Van Gundy were afraid to get the team down to the bottom of the heap and do the right thing. Instead, we have a team that is half in and half out with no real NBA star or stars like some teams have on their rosters. Do any of you really believe that somehow Piston leadership will ever land a top tier NBA player in free agency? Will we ever see the day when Detroit will get a top 2 pick in the draft? This has only happened twice in my lifetime with Zeke and Darko. The two extremes with one GM making the right pick and the other GM taking a chain smoking Euro player who had never been a key player on any team in his entire life.

It is what it is Piston fans. We have a dysfunctional basketball team with a 22 million dollar a year center who continues to get out foxed on defense especially the defensive boards when games are on the line. Then we have a coach who watches his hand picked point guards play the one man game. And he wonders about problems with team chemistry??? I am tired of Stan Van Gundy's press conferences. He is just a smoke and mirrors type of person who thinks all Piston fans are fools. His idea of making adjustments is to switch out Smith for Jackson or Jackson for Smith. The last Piston possession in the last game says it all for me. Stan Van Gundy must have created the play because he had called the timeout. Four players stand at the 4 corners of the court and watch as Ish Smith does his thing attacking the rim against 5 defenders. Smith makes the wild shot so SVG deems this to be a successful play he will use in the next game if necessary. What does that say about the other 4 Piston players who were on the court at the time Stan? Who in hell would want to play on this team when you create a play that lame? Exactly what role do the other players have? Are they all decoys in your grand plan? Who enjoys being a decoy and playing a part of your simpleton style of basketball? There is no teamwork or positive team chemistry on this team if Stan Hasn't noticed. All the players are being paid so they just go home and watch television while they await the next game. There is no real interest by the players and for good reason. If you are not Andre Drummond, Ish Smith or Reggie Jackson what do you have to get excited about? Basketball players need to feel like they are part of something before you get their real passion. Most of the players are just decoys Stan. Stan has a point guard dominated team. He inherited one selfish one on one player in Brandon Jennings and got another version of the same thing in Reggie Jackson and Ish Smith. Jackson has such an ego that he will never be a good teammate and I can't imagine any player on this Piston team with the exception of Andre Drummond who would miss him if he were kicked off the team. Ish Smith is not a $6 million dollar a year type player. He causes massive problems on the defensive end. But I think Smith can play Offense a lot better but he is being coached by Stan Van Gundy. That is his problem. It must be true that Ish Smith is doing exactly what Stan Van Gundy wants him to do on offense. Stan wants Ish to up the tempo to the max even if he gets out of control and loses his mind when he decides to over penetrate. When Smith has a horrible game has missed a lot of shots, it seems that the next game, he plays better and actually shares the basketball more. But then there is some off days and the team practices. That next game, we then see Smith trying to play like Reggie often never making one pass after he dribbles the ball down the court. Pope sees this so whenever he grabs a rebound, Pope comes down determined to get his OWN. On we go with players doing their own thing. Shots coming from everywhere on the court early in the shot clock. Meanwhile opposing teams do not have to play any defense at all and can rest so they can have more energy when Piston players miss those long range bombs. Of course Detroit seldom ever gets 2nd chance opportunities so the players shuffle back down on defense with Andre going at half speed at times. Drummond sometimes doesn't even have time to set up in the post before a Piston shot goes up. Meanwhile Stan Paces on the sidelines and vents to the players who are not playing disrupting their view of the game action. The players on the bench are bing paid so they willingly accept the blame for all things that are not working on the court.

After some games the coach never mentions that he must make some changes with the point guard situation. That must mean that is fully on board with the type of play his point guards are showing him during the games. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Stans thinks the way his point guards play is beautiful. He would never change a thing such as starting Stanley Johnson at point guard and featuring a offense that is more sophisticated with all five players actually feeling like they are important when playing offense. Johnson brings the ball up the court and passes it to the 2 guard on the wing or baseline and then sets a pick for the 2 guard or goes opposite and sets a pick for the small forward who comes around the screen for an open look or a pass for an easy dunk to Andre. Or how about a 2nd or 3rd option that could be run before the shot clock reaches the 7 second mark. Opposing teams have to play defense and cannot get out on the break so easily. The opposing players are tired from playing defense and are not making those 3 point shots as easily. God this coaching staff is so stupid I have a hard time watching this team anymore. Again, who would want to play for Stan Van Gundy if you are not his point guard? Jackson does throw Andre Drummond a bone once and awhile so he always has a happy face. It doesn't hurt that he is making 22 mil and doesn't have to perform on defense.