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Post  BallinD Fri Mar 01, 2019 11:28 pm

@Oracle: I wonder, can you score and assist in efforts to win a game, regardless of scheme. Making the right pass for a pg should not be an either or proposition, but should be about making the right basketball play, regardless of scheme.

I agree though that there may be limited opportunities for an assist with the gang who could not shoot straight, but recently with the team making 40 percent on 3s for example, you’d think he could scrabble up at minimum an assist or two especially when you are consistently falling short on that end even b4 this new scheme was rolled out.

But hey I get it he’s a scoring guard who’s calling card is pounding the air out of the ball. When the ball moves and we produce assists we usually win, so winning basketball should be the choice regardless of scheme. Just something to keep an eye on when the Weggie B Weggie scheme is in full iso-play This is one of the reasons Casey took the ball out of his hands methinks.

Go Pistons
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Post  Oracle Fri Mar 01, 2019 4:30 am

Mostly agree, but not about Reggie.

Reggie's new role is more of a shooter and ball handler, not so much a distributor anymore, however, I do agree that 0 assists sounds bad, but in the flow of the game, it didn't look like he was doing anything wrong, because assists are like loyalty, it doesn't work one way. He passed the ball, but if guys don't make shots, it's not his fault.

Don was right about Drummond, he didn't seem like himself and I was really upset when he was getting beat down the floor and guys a lot slower than he is are getting layups.

I hadn't thought about it, but you're right about Blake, he hasn't been Blake since the break, and in the last two games he's been on the floor on his keister way too much... not a good sign.

But that Spurs game also looked to me like our main guys other than Reggie just thought they could phone this one in and that they were the guys the press clippings said were this offensive juggernaut. They were tossing fancy passes and taking bad shots, I just didn't like the vibe of the team against the Spurs.
BallinD wrote:Hope: Dre and Weggie are not coming down to earth at the worst possible time.  

Cool and Oracle, yes Weggie got us 22 points but 0 assists and his 22 points came on 18 shots, 3rd mediocre game in a row, totaling 7 assists in the last three.  While Dre has played ok lately, we need more than 10 points.  Small sample size, but there’s not much time left in the season.

Hope: Blake is not in an ill-timed slump with his HeroBall heroics a distant menory.  He’s playing down to earth at the worst possible time and in fact has been lackluster since the all-star break; he looked gassed.

Hope Im wrong.

Hope:  I just hope the three are not crashing or coasting as we make our run towards the sixth seed.  

Its a long season, too long; 60 game season sounds about right, but that would leave us with the seventh seed and playing Toronto.  Not so bad.
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Post  BallinD Fri Mar 01, 2019 12:51 am

Hope: Dre and Weggie are not coming down to earth at the worst possible time.

Cool and Oracle, yes Weggie got us 22 points but 0 assists and his 22 points came on 18 shots, 3rd mediocre game in a row, totaling 7 assists in the last three. While Dre has played ok lately, we need more than 10 points. Small sample size, but there’s not much time left in the season.

Hope: Blake is not in an ill-timed slump with his HeroBall heroics a distant menory. He’s playing down to earth at the worst possible time and in fact has been lackluster since the all-star break; he looked gassed.

Hope Im wrong.

Hope: I just hope the three are not crashing or coasting as we make our run towards the sixth seed.

Its a long season, too long; 60 game season sounds about right, but that would leave us with the seventh seed and playing Toronto. Not so bad.
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Post  cool breeze Thu Feb 28, 2019 5:31 pm

Oracle wrote:Heat: For whatever reason, the Heat really matchup with the Warriors really well. They damn near beat them on the road, and did beat them last night.

Pistons vs Spurs: This one was hard to watch because we missed a lot of easy shots, layups and bunnies, we were in full 3 stooges mode early and often. We did settle down and had some good runs, but there were a few things we just couldn't overcome.

1. As I mentioned, this game would have been won if not for the blown shots, bad passes, and yes, I'll never understand the fancy passing attempts that nearly always eff up.
2. We miss Stanley Johnson in these situations. We lack size at the SF position, and even if we still had Bullock we'd be better off, but we will struggle with teams that can throw 6'7 and 6'8 guys at us. I know Svi is a rookie and he likely doesn't possess the speed to defend right now, but he does have the size, and IMO, that's at least worth trying since we struggle anyway.
3. If Kennard is going to get big minutes, we're not going to survive him going 0-6 from the 3 point line.

Even with all of that, we managed to pull to within 2 points(88-86) in the 4th, but then they went on a run we couldn't match. BTW, Reggie continues to play well, dropping 22 points on the Spurs to lead the team.

We missed an opportunity to move to within a half game of 6th place.

Good post on the Spurs game Oracle. I agree that Reggie Jackson has been playing well and offering scoring at important times in games. He is playing better defense and I even saw him working in the back court to deny the basketball on the inbounds pass.

Luke Kennard's first few minutes in the first half were forgettable but what I really like about him is his ability to score against pressure in the paint and his much improved defense. That was a sweet steal in the 4th quarter when he went coast to coast to score and caused the following inbounds pass by the Spurs to go out of bounds. Luke has a high basketball IQ and is a keeper.

My biggest disappointment was the play of Andre Drummond. Against weak teams that have a below average or extremely young center, AD can shine and he has played with superior energy in the 4th quarter for most of the season. But this game brought out the old AD who looked beat by the middle of the 3rd quarter. He actually looked sluggish for the entire game to me. But in the 3rd and 4th quarters, AD could not summon the energy to get back quickly in the paint or present any opposition to drivers. Note that the Spurs were targeting AD's lazy ass lack of movement in the low post. His role in the rotation is to go quickly to the opposite low block and his his feet outside the circle to await the driver. AD had at least 2.5 seconds to run three feet and get set but he failed to do it every time the Spurs drove on the left wing. AD also was ineffective on the offensive boards and was easily boxed out. That is where AD is supposed to shine. Overall I an excited about AD's improvement in effort but I thought AD was mostly responsible for this loss by not giving 100% like he does against some of the Eastern conference teams. The biggest problem I see is that AD is carrying perhaps 35 pounds of excess weight. Imagine what kind of athlete he could be if he could do the work to get himself in superior physical condition and not carry so much weight. Will AD ever become the best player he could be before his career is over? Blake needs a teammate in the low post who can do the things Ben Wallace used to do. If they had a player like Big Ben who could anticipate where the play was going in the paint and get to those spots before opponent players to either block a shot or take a charge, Blake could rest a bit on defense and become even more effective in crunch time. AD is a better player this season but had a rough night against the Spurs.

I am really enjoying the games lately not because the Pistons have won more than their share but because they are playing smarter and harder and seem to have a much better chemistry as a team. AD was not the only big man to have a tough night. Thon Maker was not effective either. Maker must give 100% high effort on the defensive end. He has shown that he can be a different maker in the paint in past games. AD, Maker and ZaZa have to be at their best in every game now. This game showed the flaws this Piston team has on the defensive end. There were way to many uncontested mid range jump shots and the Spurs made the Pistons pay. Also, it seemed easy to score with layups after the Pistons had set up their half court defense. Go Pistons!

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Post  Oracle Thu Feb 28, 2019 6:33 am

Heat: For whatever reason, the Heat really matchup with the Warriors really well. They damn near beat them on the road, and did beat them last night.

Pistons vs Spurs: This one was hard to watch because we missed a lot of easy shots, layups and bunnies, we were in full 3 stooges mode early and often. We did settle down and had some good runs, but there were a few things we just couldn't overcome.

1. As I mentioned, this game would have been won if not for the blown shots, bad passes, and yes, I'll never understand the fancy passing attempts that nearly always eff up.
2. We miss Stanley Johnson in these situations. We lack size at the SF position, and even if we still had Bullock we'd be better off, but we will struggle with teams that can throw 6'7 and 6'8 guys at us. I know Svi is a rookie and he likely doesn't possess the speed to defend right now, but he does have the size, and IMO, that's at least worth trying since we struggle anyway.
3. If Kennard is going to get big minutes, we're not going to survive him going 0-6 from the 3 point line.

Even with all of that, we managed to pull to within 2 points(88-86) in the 4th, but then they went on a run we couldn't match. BTW, Reggie continues to play well, dropping 22 points on the Spurs to lead the team.

We missed an opportunity to move to within a half game of 6th place.
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Post  cool breeze Wed Feb 27, 2019 11:02 am

Murph wrote:
Oracle wrote:I initially mostly agreed with Don that this is a mature team, only adding that we have some up and comers in there as well.

After more thought, I'd like to further revise that. Mature teams can have a HUGE upside, and that occurs in exactly the situation the Pistons are in.

It takes time for mature teams that have players that haven't played together long and in a new coaching situation to develop any chemistry.

The early word was that the Blake/Drummond paring was a failure, but now, it looks like a very good pairing with even more upside to come.

I think we're just scratching the surface of what this team could be and hopefully they can catch lightning in a bottle by season end.

Oracle...yes, we are a mature team, but yes we also have room for improvement  Our chemistry among our veterans has and will continue to improve.  And if our superstar Griffin can stay healthy and plateau here at a high level for a few years, while we build around him with younger players (Drummond, Kennard, Brown, Maker, Thomas, Svi and our draft picks), we could improve for several years.  And let's not forget all of those expiring contracts (Jackson, Galloway, Leuer and the Smiths).  At least some of that $44 million in expiring contracts can be spent on a star free agent or two.


It will please Don that Henry Ellenson had his best game of the season last night, and one of the best games of his career.  Ellenson signed a 10 day contract with the Knicks last week.  Last night he had 13 pts, 9 rbds, 5 asts and steal in 36 minutes off the bench.  And the Knicks won for only the 13th time this season.  

That effort should be enough to get Henry picked up by the Knicks for the rest of the season.

The Knicks bench unit of Ellenson, Trier, Robinson, Mudiay and Jenkins won the game.

I have been out of town for awhile but just caught up watching the last two Piston games. The players that I criticize the most, Smith and Galloway, shot well. That means everything to Dwayne Casey. Smith turned the ball over a few times but also set up teammates several times and made his shots. Neither opponent could take advantage of Smith's small size on offense very often. Galloway shot some off balance low percentage shots that went in the basket. That is why Casey plays Galloway it appears along with the size of Galloway's contract. I hope both players keep playing well because the Pistons are hard to beat when they don't screw up. Shooting early in the shot clock and missing results in lower team chemistry and easy transition baskets but Piston opponents. But when the ball goes in, those players who shoot early are heroes. I don't blame those players who shoot 3 point shots early. That is today's game like it or not. Smith creates a nice rhythm. When Galloway runs around screens and gets the ball at the right spot, he looks great if it goes in or not. Those are the kind of shots I like to see from him.

The players who play the right way and give their teammates the opportunity to at least set up and have some fun on the offensive end and resist those early low percentage long distance off balance jump shots are often forgotten but the coach. What I like is the way Luke kennard plays basketball. He is a two way player now. Luke is doing the little things on defense and never gives up. He anticipates inbound passes and gets steals. He recovers when his man gets around him. Also, luke is clever around the basket working with Blake often to create easy shots for both.

Murph thanks for providing the information on Henry Ellenson. Both SVG and Dwayne Casey did not do the right thing for the Piston organization relating to this young player. It appears that Casey just wrote off Ellenson because he wasn't a star player in summer league play where everyone plays selfishly for themselves. Relating to big men, it is very difficult to determine the value of a player like Henry in summer league. What Neither SVG or Casey did much of is coach Henry. Exactly what is the role of a head coach in the NBA? Are they just supposed to show up looking great in a new suit and bring a clip board? Henry could have played many games in the G League to get his rhythm and game conditioning perfected. A lot of fans don't know anything about "game conditioning". You just can't dublicate anything resembling being in proper game shape by practicing. Both SVG and Casey should get flunking grades from this owner for their negligence. Gross misconduct relating to picking Jon Leuer to play over Ellenson is unjust and tragic because the Pistons lost an extremely young big player who was ignored and humiliated instead of doing the right thing by encouraging and building his confidence by playing him if not in the Pistons arena then why not Grand Rapids where he could acquire fans who would pull for him to improve. How the owner could stand by and let this all happen is inexcusable.

I hope Henry gets his revenge like Spencer Dinwiddie has done. We all watched the way Spencer was handled by SVG. When Stan's chosen dysfunctional point guards were injured and Dinwiddie had the opportunity to get minutes and start in some games, He was outstanding. He played good defense which of course none of Van Gundy's selected point guards could muster the effort to play. Dinwiddie didn't push the ball after a made basket which was a cardinal sin according to the world of SVG. Push the basketball before your teammates are positioned properly in the half court offense. Casey likes that as well and I just don't understand the logic of doing that. Dinwiddie didn't either. He is a winning type player and not a show off crowd pleaser or coach pleaser. The NBA has sanctioned simpleton type AAU basketball that few older fans like. What I especially like about Spencer Dinwiddie is his mental game approach and how he has stayed true to himself and not changed what made him an exceptional college player. I think every time Spencer Dinwiddie player against the Pistons he must conjure up a lot of emotions of the days when he sat on the bench watching SVG's point guards stink it up with turnovers and selfish offensive play as well as of course failing to give an honest effort on defense. How SVG was ever hired in all of those roles was beyond stupid. Watching SVG and his Pal hired as the figure head GM strut around at the Chicago being the two most obese human beings allowed in the building was comical. If you are that over weight, how do you do your job? They looked tired and slow and of course other GMs took advantage of them. It is difficult to recover from having dysfunctional people running a program. At least Casey is a little more creative but the Pistons could do better.

Sorry for the rant on negative stuff. I am very happy to see the Pistons winning games. But I do like how tough the Pacers are this season with their best player out for the year. They play physical hard nosed basketball in every game. That was a great win for the Pistons.

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Post  Murph Wed Feb 27, 2019 7:10 am

Oracle wrote:I initially mostly agreed with Don that this is a mature team, only adding that we have some up and comers in there as well.

After more thought, I'd like to further revise that. Mature teams can have a HUGE upside, and that occurs in exactly the situation the Pistons are in.

It takes time for mature teams that have players that haven't played together long and in a new coaching situation to develop any chemistry.

The early word was that the Blake/Drummond paring was a failure, but now, it looks like a very good pairing with even more upside to come.

I think we're just scratching the surface of what this team could be and hopefully they can catch lightning in a bottle by season end.

Oracle...yes, we are a mature team, but yes we also have room for improvement Our chemistry among our veterans has and will continue to improve. And if our superstar Griffin can stay healthy and plateau here at a high level for a few years, while we build around him with younger players (Drummond, Kennard, Brown, Maker, Thomas, Svi and our draft picks), we could improve for several years. And let's not forget all of those expiring contracts (Jackson, Galloway, Leuer and the Smiths). At least some of that $44 million in expiring contracts can be spent on a star free agent or two.


It will please Don that Henry Ellenson had his best game of the season last night, and one of the best games of his career. Ellenson signed a 10 day contract with the Knicks last week. Last night he had 13 pts, 9 rbds, 5 asts and steal in 36 minutes off the bench. And the Knicks won for only the 13th time this season.

That effort should be enough to get Henry picked up by the Knicks for the rest of the season.

The Knicks bench unit of Ellenson, Trier, Robinson, Mudiay and Jenkins won the game.

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Post  Oracle Tue Feb 26, 2019 9:09 am

I initially mostly agreed with Don that this is a mature team, only adding that we have some up and comers in there as well.

After more thought, I'd like to further revise that. Mature teams can have a HUGE upside, and that occurs in exactly the situation the Pistons are in.

It takes time for mature teams that have players that haven't played together long and in a new coaching situation to develop any chemistry.

The early word was that the Blake/Drummond paring was a failure, but now, it looks like a very good pairing with even more upside to come.

I think we're just scratching the surface of what this team could be and hopefully they can catch lightning in a bottle by season end.

Notes:
1. I saw Blake go down in the 4th and he took a long time to get up, which can cause a Piston fan to damn near drop a load  lol
2. I'm still pissed that we weren't smart enough under SVG to pick up Collison, I still like his game.
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Post  Oracle Tue Feb 26, 2019 8:52 am

For the Pistons, the question is better play or confidence, and it's clear that their better play has led to higher confidence, the confidence that winning always brings.

However, there's a bit more to this story for a team that all of a sudden is FUN to watch again.

It started with Blake: He set a high standard! He doesn't take games off, he never backs down and he fights all game to win, and of course he's very talented with a high BBall IQ. None of that excellence appeared to rub off on the rest of the Pistons... until recently. Now the infection has spread, but it's the first person that got infected by Blake who is keying a lot more activity.

Drummond: All of a sudden Drummond has settled into who he always was and added a nasty defensive focus to his game. Drummond at his core offensively is, and always was a pick and roll lob dunk player. He lives on garbage and those dunks, he doesn't need 3 point shots or a deadly midrange game to get 20 points, he's going to get his the old fashioned way, and that's exactly the game he's been playing.

That's fine and well, but he's doing three other thing that catapult him into all star territory: He defending like a demon by blocking shots and cementing that focus with steals as well. All while still dominating the boards! When you add his ability to hit FT's, this cat is looking like a nightmare to play as he moves forward.

He's not all there yet, because we remember Ben & Sheed. They defended so well, the best players in the league feared going in the paint to challenge them. Drummond hasn't instilled that level of fear into the league yet, but if he and Maker ever get any chemistry going, it'll be a good start, with those two possessing a massive size increase over Ben & Sheed!

Reggie: Quietly doing his job and making an impact. I'm happy for him and for us as he's finally found his place, and it's a good one. His 3 point shooting is doing very well and his defense has progressed to acceptable. As we all know, his fate has always been tied to Drummond, and when Drummond is doing well, Reggie is likely in the mix somewhere.

Kennard: I'm convinced that this kid is going to be a star in this league. I confess I was a bit of a Kennard hater early on. I hated his college for reasons any Michigan fan understands, and I also wanted Mitchell in the draft, so pardon me if it took time to warm up to the kid. Fast forward to his first summer league and I was getting more excited. But now I'm really excited because I can see the talent getting better.

I don't see him as a PG, but he's a good ball handler. We all know he can shoot, but he's been playing defense so much better that you can't keep him off the floor anymore. Just like everything with Kennard, he's deceptively quick. Quick and fast are two different things, he doesn't have speed, but quickness works even better in a lot of situations.

3 Point Shooting: Our 3 point shooting has really picked up, and winning is always easier when the shots are falling. However, if all that's happening here is that the shots are falling, then you'd expect that once they stop we're back in the same old funk.

While that could happen, there's a big difference happening here. You always hope the shots fall, but when they are falling it's important to note who they're falling for.

If Drummond or Brown or Leuer, etc. were hitting 3's, then it's mostly a fluke. But that isn't the case with the Pistons, the players hitting the 3's are players that are known 3 point shooters. Reggie, Blake, Kennard, and now Ellington. That's 4 players known to be 3 point shooters, and if you add Galloway, the microwave with the faulty power cord, we've got a decent core of shooters to keep us in games.

Casey: Finally there's Casey. I give the first credit for this turn around to Blake for his consistent excellence, but a smart coach has to adapt when the dynamics of the team changes. This has allowed Casey to diversify his offense and play a more aggressive defensive game. He's managing this team very well, and you can't discount the steady hand and quiet confidence of your floor general to any success the team has.

BBallIQ: Rumors or this team being a low IQ team were premature. I know it appeared that way, but like most things, you need a critical mass, a witch's brew of confidence and winning to cement the principles they all know, but weren't getting a real chance to display.

@Lemonpen noticed the same thing that I did, this game was absolutely played at a close to playoff level. Indy is a well coached good team, playing at a level that we need to get to, and we will. They're not going to win every game, but they're learning how they're going to have to play to make a difference and secure a good playoff berth.
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Post  lemonpen Tue Feb 26, 2019 12:08 am

Big win !!!

Best team defense I have seen in years.  Against a well coached, tough minded opponent no less.

The rough and tumble nature generated a playoff feel.
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Post  Sparma Sun Feb 24, 2019 11:04 pm

Since joining the Pelicans, Stanley Johnson's declined as a 3 pt shooter, going 0-8 in 5 games (13.6 min per game). His PER, having reaching a career high of 9.8 in Detroit this season (up for the fourth season in a row, after a nice rookie start and a big decline the 2nd year) sits at -0.2 in NO (in quite a small sample size).

A Laker site describes Reggie B as the "missing piece" in the rotation, praising his D vs James Harden, and noting he's gone 7/16 (43.8%) from 3 since arriving.
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Post  Sparma Sun Feb 24, 2019 9:11 pm

mlive reports: "The Pistons are exactly 28-30 after 58 games for the third consecutive year. They were 29-29 at this point in 2015-16. ..."

They did end up with 42 wins, and a playoff spot in 2015-16, so there's that.

That's some remarkable consistency over a 3 (or 4) year span from a team that been so, so erratic within at least the last two seasons.

Murph on Ish: "You can’t do much better than that." Blaha said something like: "he's having nearly a perfect game." Ish can be, and often is, a major contributor in spite of his limitations.

And I've had to warm up to Reggie J in the last ten games or so in spite of my standing reservations, because he's been outstanding.

Murph wrote:This is what I’ve been saying about Ish.  Yes he has his flaws.  He will always be a defensive liability.  And he can sometimes over-dribble and kill chemistry.   But when he’s “on”, he can absolutely carry the 2nd unit.  

Last night, he had a monster game.  He had 22 points on 8-9 shooting, with 9 assists and a steal.  And he was +20 on the night.  You can’t do much better than that.
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Post  Murph Sun Feb 24, 2019 10:58 am

This is what I’ve been saying about Ish. Yes he has his flaws. He will always be a defensive liability. And he can sometimes over-dribble and kill chemistry. But when he’s “on”, he can absolutely carry the 2nd unit.

Last night, he had a monster game. He had 22 points on 8-9 shooting, with 9 assists and a steal. And he was +20 on the night. You can’t do much better than that.

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Post  Sparma Sat Feb 23, 2019 11:18 pm

Good to have you back on the forum, Oracle.

Galloway, Ish, and Kennard each outstanding tonight.

A rare easy win, and an important one.

Indiana's continued to play well, even with Oladipo out, so that will be interesting game on Monday.

Oracle wrote:I totally agree with Don about Maker, he needs way more burn! He's very interesting because he can defend and to my surprise, can shoot the 3 ball. I didn't start watching until the 2nd half, but he hit a 3 and I'm thinking that if he can get more burn, his shot will get better, his defense will get better and all of a sudden, what Don said about us being a mature team changes to a mature team with some up and coming players in Brown, Kennard & Maker! In addition, we still have youth to develop that we're not even using yet.

Hello 7th seed... hopefully we can keep it for some time!
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Post  Oracle Sat Feb 23, 2019 11:15 pm

I totally agree with Don about Maker, he needs way more burn! He's very interesting because he can defend and to my surprise, can shoot the 3 ball. I didn't start watching until the 2nd half, but he hit a 3 and I'm thinking that if he can get more burn, his shot will get better, his defense will get better and all of a sudden, what Don said about us being a mature team changes to a mature team with some up and coming players in Brown, Kennard & Maker! In addition, we still have youth to develop that we're not even using yet.

Hello 7th seed... hopefully we can keep it for some time!
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Post  Oracle Sat Feb 23, 2019 10:45 pm

If they can hold on tonight, the Pistons would be the 7th seed.

They're ahead right now, but Miami is starting a run!

Galloway is on FIRE and Drummond has had some really nice blocks, the last one on Wade I believe was exactly what I envisioned he should do when we drafted him.

But a LOT of good play tonight, especially the bench showing up strong!
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Post  cool breeze Sat Feb 23, 2019 2:34 pm

cool breeze wrote:
Murph wrote:Drummond has a nice game last night in Griffin’s absence.  He had 26 points and pulled down another 21 rebounds.  

With those 21 rebounds, Drummond passed the 7000 career rebounding mark.  That makes him either the youngest player to ever reach 7000 rebounds, or the 2nd youngest after Dwight Howard.

ANDRE DrUMMOND: Murph when Andre failed to go up strong in the 4th and missed what should have been an easy dunk attempt when Carter pushed him slightly from behind, I knew he was going to miss both free throws. AD's body language said it all and for sure he missed both free throws. However, what I liked was that he was pissed at himself for not going up strong. AD is becoming a real basketball player. After that play he really got his head in the game and played his ass off. Later on he made two pressure filled free throws that tied the game.

THON MAKER: I agree somewhat with what Oracle said about Maker in this game until his last stint late in the game. He was replaced by Jon Leuer which was a coaching decision that I disagreed big time with. I thought that this was the perfect game for Maker to get some real pressure experience where he would be allowed to make some mistakes regardless of the outcome of the game. I know the Pistons are in a dog fight to make the playoffs. But we need to keep our perspective about this Piston team. The Pistons are not an up and coming team. The are a mature team who has key players who have a lot of game experience. Meanwhile the Hawks are an extremely young team without Carter who are tanking and set to get a good draft pick. The Pistons are not going to get much better the way they are constructed. Knowing that this mature Piston team gave up the amount of points they gave up to an extremely young but talented team, I would have played more of Kennard and not removed Maker from the game because he missed a mid range baseline shot. If Maker needed to come out then ZaZa should have played over Leuer. Leuer did make a 3 point shot but his defense was horrible. Who knows why Casey decided to bring Maker back in the game in crunch time but hats off to him for doing it. First off I want to point out what I thought was a play maker made that was just as great as the baseline 3 he made at the end. With the game tied, Atlanta's rising star point guard drove into the lane and attempted a low percentage runner against pressure. Maker moved over to the weak side as the shot was going up and screened out an atlanta board crasher preventing him from getting the offensive rebound. How many times have the Pistons lost games at the end because nobody boxed out the weak side board crasher? Great work Thon. In the previous game, Maker was incredible on defense in the paint. In this game, he looked a bit sluggish on defense and didn't feel very comfortable on offense in the first half.
SMITH & THE COMBINATION OF SMITH,JACKSON AND GALLOWAY defies logic and reason yet Casey did it again in this game. Talk about disfunction on both offense and defense this takes the cake. Casey just will not give up on combinations that has coat him games in the past. No wonder young players like Maker and Kennard are not more effective. This doesn't work and ruins the team chemistry that is evident when that combination is not playing together. Smith who continues to get praise from the announcers is a one man chemistry killer when he runs the point on offense. The players stop moving. Smith does all the moving and dribbling dribbling dribbling. If he makes all of his shot attempts, the Pistons can survive his minutes on the floor that is if the opponent is not targeting Smith as the weak link in the defense.

BRUCE BROWN: Great game Bruce! Brown doesn't lack confidence for sure. His effort on defense against young was outstanding. Even though the Pistons gave up a lot of points, Brown should not get the blame even though the guy he guarded scored a lot of points. Brown got no help from his big men. Brown made some big shots as well but his body language and high energy is what impresses me the most. Brown suffered perhaps the rookie burn out a few weeks ago but now is back full force to kick ass and take names.  

I forgot to mention REGGIE JACKSON'S 32 points, 8 assists and no turnovers. Reggie brought the Pistons back several times in this game with his shooting. But his drive against stiff opposition at the end to make that bounce pass to Maker after Prince had moved into the edge of the paint was outstanding. Point guards are not supposed to leave their feet before knowing where to pass the basketball but RJ made three defenders commit to him on this play that decided the game. Hats off to Reggie Jackson who appears to be back from hell caused by his knee injury. The Pistons medical team should get some of the credit but Reggie is the man who has overcome so stiff criticism to play the last 10 games better than I ever expected.

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Post  cool breeze Sat Feb 23, 2019 11:35 am

Murph wrote:Drummond has a nice game last night in Griffin’s absence.  He had 26 points and pulled down another 21 rebounds.  

With those 21 rebounds, Drummond passed the 7000 career rebounding mark.  That makes him either the youngest player to ever reach 7000 rebounds, or the 2nd youngest after Dwight Howard.

ANDRE DrUMMOND: Murph when Andre failed to go up strong in the 4th and missed what should have been an easy dunk attempt when Carter pushed him slightly from behind, I knew he was going to miss both free throws. AD's body language said it all and for sure he missed both free throws. However, what I liked was that he was pissed at himself for not going up strong. AD is becoming a real basketball player. After that play he really got his head in the game and played his ass off. Later on he made two pressure filled free throws that tied the game.

THON MAKER: I agree somewhat with what Oracle said about Maker in this game until his last stint late in the game. He was replaced by Jon Leuer which was a coaching decision that I disagreed big time with. I thought that this was the perfect game for Maker to get some real pressure experience where he would be allowed to make some mistakes regardless of the outcome of the game. I know the Pistons are in a dog fight to make the playoffs. But we need to keep our perspective about this Piston team. The Pistons are not an up and coming team. The are a mature team who has key players who have a lot of game experience. Meanwhile the Hawks are an extremely young team without Carter who are tanking and set to get a good draft pick. The Pistons are not going to get much better the way they are constructed. Knowing that this mature Piston team gave up the amount of points they gave up to an extremely young but talented team, I would have played more of Kennard and not removed Maker from the game because he missed a mid range baseline shot. If Maker needed to come out then ZaZa should have played over Leuer. Leuer did make a 3 point shot but his defense was horrible. Who knows why Casey decided to bring Maker back in the game in crunch time but hats off to him for doing it. First off I want to point out what I thought was a play maker made that was just as great as the baseline 3 he made at the end. With the game tied, Atlanta's rising star point guard drove into the lane and attempted a low percentage runner against pressure. Maker moved over to the weak side as the shot was going up and screened out an atlanta board crasher preventing him from getting the offensive rebound. How many times have the Pistons lost games at the end because nobody boxed out the weak side board crasher? Great work Thon. In the previous game, Maker was incredible on defense in the paint. In this game, he looked a bit sluggish on defense and didn't feel very comfortable on offense in the first half.
SMITH & THE COMBINATION OF SMITH,JACKSON AND GALLOWAY defies logic and reason yet Casey did it again in this game. Talk about disfunction on both offense and defense this takes the cake. Casey just will not give up on combinations that has coat him games in the past. No wonder young players like Maker and Kennard are not more effective. This doesn't work and ruins the team chemistry that is evident when that combination is not playing together. Smith who continues to get praise from the announcers is a one man chemistry killer when he runs the point on offense. The players stop moving. Smith does all the moving and dribbling dribbling dribbling. If he makes all of his shot attempts, the Pistons can survive his minutes on the floor that is if the opponent is not targeting Smith as the weak link in the defense.

BRUCE BROWN: Great game Bruce! Brown doesn't lack confidence for sure. His effort on defense against young was outstanding. Even though the Pistons gave up a lot of points, Brown should not get the blame even though the guy he guarded scored a lot of points. Brown got no help from his big men. Brown made some big shots as well but his body language and high energy is what impresses me the most. Brown suffered perhaps the rookie burn out a few weeks ago but now is back full force to kick ass and take names.

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Post  Murph Sat Feb 23, 2019 9:00 am

Drummond has a nice game last night in Griffin’s absence.  He had 26 points and pulled down another 21 rebounds.  

With those 21 rebounds, Drummond passed the 7000 career rebounding mark.  That makes him either the youngest player to ever reach 7000 rebounds, or the 2nd youngest after Dwight Howard.

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Post  Oracle Fri Feb 22, 2019 11:49 pm

Thanks Don & Murph, it's good to be able to have more time. Yes I got a promotion and raise, but the money looks like it'll get eaten up by a MUCH higher cost of living out here  Smile

Don, I'm a Piston fan through and through, but when the Pistons come to town, I'll be looking to get tickets at both the Clippers and Lakers.

Game: This one was a bunch of rusty dudes playing good in stretches and horrible the other times.

Reggie played one hell of a game through 3 and a half quarters, but went back to the old Reggie in a critical stretch, but turned good late in the 4th with a great breakdown of the defense allowing Maker a clean look at a 3 which he hit for the game winner.

They said Maker got posterized, but it was more of him being out of position and not challenging like he should have, but the dunk was pretty impressive.

All of the starters were in positive territory, VERY positive last I checked in the 4th, but the bench was ALL negative. However, Brown was in a battle with Young, both rookies showing their stuff. Brown also didn't take crap off of Vince Carter, he was talking stuff as the Pistons were pissed off at Blake's ejection.

They were pretty unorganized after Blake went out, and that of course led to a lot of the bad Reggie pounding the ball and way too much one on one ball with no passing.

Fortunately Reggie found his brain and the offense worked just good enough to pull this one out, a game we should have blown those clowns out of anyway.

We're going to have to play a hell of a lot better if we're going to beat Miami!!!
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Post  Murph Fri Feb 22, 2019 5:22 am

Oracle...look at you, with a big job promotion (I assume), and moving to the West Coast. Pretty soon you'll be hangin' with Tom Gores at the Staples Center. I'm glad you're doing so well in this vibrant economy. tb

Don't be a stranger. The board has been quiet without you.


Oracle wrote:I've really missed you guys, but I got transferred back to LA, and getting everything setup, Wife on her new job, kids in school, drivers license crazy crap, car registration, change of address, and the million stress points of just moving stuff has been a Biotch, LOL.

I've finally got to a point where I'll have more time to post down the stretch. Great conversation going on and I'm cautiously optimistic about our chances.

More to come soon!!!

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Post  cool breeze Wed Feb 20, 2019 8:33 pm

Oracle wrote:I've really missed you guys, but I got transferred back to LA, and getting everything setup, Wife on her new job, kids in school, drivers license crazy crap, car registration, change of address, and the million stress points of just moving stuff has been a Biotch, LOL.

I've finally got to a point where I'll have more time to post down the stretch. Great conversation going on and I'm cautiously optimistic about our chances.

More to come soon!!!

WOW! Moving to LA and getting the family set up has to be tough. Remember your Piston roots. Don't go over to the other side and attend Laker games. Harris is in Philly so no sense attending a Clippers game. Good to hear from you Oracle. I will await your critical remarks relating to my extreme posts.

Henry has been picked up but NY. What if he comes back to stomp Casey's ass like Dinwiddie did to SVG so many times??? I have no idea what kind of player Ellenson will turn out to be but the Pistons were very foolish on the way they handled him since he was drafted. How about spending two seasons in Grand Rapids to get regular playing time. Maybe that didn't cross Casey's mind because he was spending all of his energy trying to figure out how to make Langston Galloway an All Star. Casey has to real tough players in there during crunch time.

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FORUM - Page 30 Empty I'm living in LA now, hello LeBron, KCP & Bullock :)

Post  Oracle Wed Feb 20, 2019 7:53 pm

I've really missed you guys, but I got transferred back to LA, and getting everything setup, Wife on her new job, kids in school, drivers license crazy crap, car registration, change of address, and the million stress points of just moving stuff has been a Biotch, LOL.

I've finally got to a point where I'll have more time to post down the stretch. Great conversation going on and I'm cautiously optimistic about our chances.

More to come soon!!!
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Post  BallinD Wed Feb 20, 2019 5:25 pm

Will 16-10 get the Stones a 7 or 6 seed this stretch as they move forward, it will take good health, good luck and good shooting.

I mean Weggie hasn’t missed a game n Blake only two games for rest. Kander and the new training staff probably get much credit for that.

If Gallows can hit a lick down the stretch and Dre n Weggie continue their good play and Ellington or Luke shoots his 3pt avg, it should happen. Cross your fingers.
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Post  lemonpen Wed Feb 20, 2019 1:43 pm

Murph wrote:I hate to even bring up a subject like this for fear of jinxing the team, but has anyone noticed that previously often injured players like Reggie Jackson and Blake Griffin have been healthy for almost the entire season, after being injured multiple times in past years?

Does this unexpected good health have anything to do with the Pistons re-hiring Arnie Kander as a strength and conditioning consultant last July?  Kander, a former ballet dancer, puts a huge emphasis on stretching extensively before every game and practice.  Furthermore, Kander advocates for the shorter lighter practices of Dwayne Casey, as opposed to the longer, grueling practices of SVG.  Over the course of an 8 month season, that can have a big effect.

If the Pistons make the playoffs this season, a lot of it will be because they have been mostly injury free, whether it's coincidence, good luck, or due to the expertise of Arnie Kander as a trainer.

Who was it that continually lobbied for years for the Pistons to re-hire Kander?  BallinD?


I hope it's 100% Arnie K. Better it be the result of a known commodity than totally by chance. But, yeah it is strange.
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