BallinD/Reggie B/ Stanley/Casey

[Sparma]

Sad to see Reggie B's not being regarded/ mentioned as part of that core. He may well be our most efficient player, or at least the one easiest to envision being integrated into any winning team, including the Warriors, Rockets, and Lakers. Not saying he's better than Blake, but, gosh, that's an important piece to give up on.

Earlier, BallinD passed along a critical assessment of Stanley. I've been plenty critical of Stanley, even while being fair and balanced to my own satisfaction, but not Don's.

Reviewing some stats backs Don on a couple of key issues. First, he really could shoot from distance in college, to tune of 37.1% from 3. Had he been able to translate that to the more distant NBA line, notwithstanding the frightening release point that he entered the league with, we'd be singing his praises now as a key part of the future.

Secondly, as Don has claimed, Stanley really is a pretty good shooter from middle distance even at the NBA level. His .557 from 0-3 ft isn't great, in fact it's below his career standard. Also, as I've noted, his 3% has gotten worse each season (.274 now), while he insists on hoisting up more than ever this year (hence his diminished time, presumably).

But he's shooting .510 from 3-10 ft out this year (notably far better than the 3 preceding season), and .450 from 10-16ft (even his .402 career mark strikes me as respectable relative to the league, but I'm not sure).

The 3-10 ft range seems like the sweet spot for him. You can do real damage from there. I don't think it's reasonable to expect coach Casey to adjust majorly to Stanley; still, some adjustment to his strengths would be best for all.

And of course coaches should take serious account of what their players can actually do, even while advancing a coherent overall strategy.

Blake, Dre, Kennard, Khyri, Bruce.  If this is the core, we gotta let a lotta dead weight go.  Glad to see Kennard in there.  

Let the trading begin.  Dre just might go?
OTOH
Miami loses it's starting PG to injury and thinks outside of the box to try Winslow there and found their PGOTF...

Detroit loses it’s back-up PG to injury and runs out 81-year-old Jose Calderon and went something like 3-17.

Spoelstra Woke...Casey asleep.

Might have been an opportunity to try Kennard or even Khyri Thomas at the point. Creativity is not against the
rules.

[cool breeze]

Per Zach Lowe:

Here's the blip about Stanley:

The stagnation of Stanley (Johnson)
Before this depressing season, Johnson would at least show glimpses of the player Detroit envisioned when they selected him over Booker after a draft-room debate: rapid-fire switches across three or four positions, artful drive-and-dish attacks.

Even those flashes have flickered out. Johnson loiters on the perimeter, the league’s least threatening "stretch" power forward, filling time until what feels like an inevitable divorce this summer. He’s shooting 27 percent from deep. Opponents ignore him to gum up Detroit’s offense. It’s hard to drive-and-kick into anything productive when defenses wait for you in the paint.

What’s the opposite of a stretch-4? A contracting-4? A shrink-4? Stanley Johnson is a shrink-4.

Johnson has coughed the ball up on 17 percent of his drives, the ninth-highest such rate among 256 guys who have recorded at least 50 drives, per Second Spectrum data. He doesn’t offer anything else at power forward. He’s not a screen setter. He has fewer offensive rebounds than Trae Young.

He should be able to bully wings when Detroit shifts him to small forward — rare these days — but Johnson has just 10 post touches all season, per Second Spectrum.

Johnson is a stout defender, but non-centers can’t really be on the floor if they bring zero offense.

The wing positions define Detroit’s present and (probably) future mediocrity. They spent lottery picks on Johnson and Luke Kennard. Bruce Brown is a nice story — he got love in this space last month — but not great (Bob) when a low-usage 22-year-old second-rounder starts over two lottery guys.

There is still hope for Kennard. He has drained 40 percent of his career 3s, and he has enough feel off the bounce to work as a secondary ball handler. He just needs to stay healthy and gain Dwane Casey’s trust on the other end. (Brown deservedly has it.)

Detroit will pop champagne if it snares the No. 8 seed this year — hooray for geographic luck and the crappy East! — so Casey will probably ride the guys he trusts. But it is in the Pistons’ organizational interest to see what they have in Kennard

Ballin I haven't watched the 2nd half of the Miami game yet so perhaps Stanley Johnson screwed up big time later on in the game. But what I witnessed from the moment Johnson and ZaZa entered the game was that the Pistons looked like a very tough team to beat. The combination of three high IQ players, Za Za, Johnson and Kennard along with another older player Kennard made watching the Pistons fun again. Johnson and Za Za did all the dirty work setting hard screens, running hard in transition to get back to protect the paint, and getting tons of deflections on defense, getting steals and not allowing easy points in the paint. The Pistons have been losing because they are soft in the paint on defense. That isn't on Blake Griffin. He is great at setting up to draw offensive fouls on opposing drivers. How many offensive fouls does AD draw? No a player like Za Za, maybe a younger version as time moves forward, would compliment Blake Griffin who is the first outstanding player the Pistons have had in many years. AD is not a good fit for Blake.

Both Johnson and Za Za eliminated easy point blank shots within 7 feet from the basket in the first half. The Pistons were dominating the game. The only weak player in that unit of Za Za, Johnson, Kennard, and Calderon was Galloway. Somehow the head coach didn't notice that Galloway was the weak link within that defensive unit. Brown would have been great for those other 4 players to play with. I say that the coach must have had blinders on because Langston Galloway also shot around 7 jump shots that all missed badly. He didn't make a shot that I can recall during that stretch. But what Galloway did do was shoot contested shots with everyone of his attempts. Also, before jacking up those low percentage attempts with a defender in his face, there was a wide open teammate that he didn't pass the ball to. The player that was hot was Luke. Johnson also hit his only 3 point attempt. Neither Johnson or Kennard took contested shots.

What I love about Luke Kennard is that he is not just a spot long range jump shooter. He can do a lot of things with and without the basketball, That is why he would be fantastic as an NBA point guard. He sees the floor, he can pass the ball well. He knows all about getting proper floor spacing. You look at the way Luke plays, and he appears to think a lot like Blake Griffin on offense. Both players size up the defense and take what the defensive gives them. That is how you play winning basketball. You don't go by a script that this coach employs that the Pistons must be a 3 point shooting team stocked with catch and shoot long distance shooters. Players like Bradley Beal play like Luke and Blake. While it is nice to see Bullock get hot at the beginning of the game with his long jump shots, by watching a lot of games we all know that the misses will eventually even out and those misses often lead to opposing fast breaks for easy layups. Shooting the ball early in the shot clock by players like Galloway, Bullock and Jackson make it very difficult for players who are moving without the basketball at the time to get back to defend the paint when opposing teams push the ball after a Bullock, Jackson, and Galloway miss. Usually there are Piston players close to the baseline when those long contested jump shots are attempted. It is clear that with a good coaching staff, this team could be a lot better by using the right players and limiting turnovers and shooting long contested jump shots. Cutting down on unforced errors creates wins. Luke Kennard usually shoots the ball when the floor is spaced properly and when he misses uncontested shots, his teammates are located at better spots on the floor where they can sprint back to protect the paint against easy layups.

So Ballin I am only going to write about what happens in actual games and not try to prove anything by stats because if we did that AD would actually look like an All Star player. I wish him well but wish that he could get those stats on another team because he is not a winning type of player. Also. Galloway, Bullock, Smith, Jackson, and Leuer are all part of the problem. They are not winning caliber high basketball IQ players. But the biggest problem is the head coach, Dwayne Casey and i hate criticizing NBA coaches because the players always determine who wins and who loses in the NBA. But the coach does decide how many low basketball IQ players he is going to put in the game and play the majority of minutes and who will play as a unit. I still can't forget earlier on in the season when Dwayne Casey was determined to play both Jackson and Smith together in crunch time against starting caliber guards on opposing teams. take your pick as to who you want to score on in those moments Dwayne. That was when I lost respect for this coach and believed that Toronto made the correct decision on firing him. Toronto was always an easy out when the playoff season started. It was how he used those players at Toronto that caused his team to lose so easily. I like the fact that he is playing his two rookies but when ZaZa was out, this team suffered big time and Casey refused to bring up a G League big man or even dress Henry Ellenson. Leuer played horribly during that period and could not guard centers or power forwards. How could Henry have played any worse. He is bigger and stronger than Leuer. and I am sure there were big men in the minor league who could have helped this team during that period. The Pistons lost big time without Za Za and Calderon was to me at least a better fit for the Pistons than Ish Smith and his out of control up tempo nonsense. But maybe they were trying to sell other teams on Smith before the trade deadline. But the fans should want the coach to play the players who have the best chance to win.

One last comment on Johnson and that will be it for me. Johnson is 22 years old and is a prime time defender, screener, passer and an overall high basketball IQ player. He has been used in the wrong way since he arrived. But in fact other NBA teams really like him a lot and see his potential. He is not a disappointment at the draft position he was drifted in so I feel that someone should point that out when posters blame him for the way the Pistons have performed. This coach as pushed Johnson out of any future with the Pistons. He is playing very small minutes since Casey decided to only use him as back up at power forward for Griffin. Maybe he stunk it up in the 2nd half of this last game and something different happened that a caused you to focus on Johnson as a screw up. But please believe the devil is in the details. Johnson's shooting percentage is not good but he seldom touches the ball much. When he does touch it, he is forced to shoot a 3 point shot because the shot clock is winding down below 7 seconds. Other stat driven players don't like shooting shots that have a low percentage chance of going in to protect their shooting average. This is the modern game where agents tell their clients how to be successful in the league. Get your shooting percentage up. Don't shoot it at the end of the shot clock. Pass the ball to another player and make him be the sucker. Johnson is a team player who has a long history of being on winning teams. That type of thing is not in his nature. Johnson will find a home in another city and become a star player. He will have a long career is nothing else being a crush time hard nosed defender who shuts down opposing shooters in important moments. You win when you have players who can do that one thing. But in Detroit, Johnson is not on the floor in crunch time. with the long string of loses, the Pistons have lost those games because they give up easy shots in the paint especially with neither Za Za or Johnson on the floor while Jackson, Smith, Bullock and Galloway give up dribble penetration and there are no big men in position to provide a 2nd line of defense that Big Ben provided. Basketball is simple but the Pistons coaching staff have made it very difficult for the Pistons to win because of the players they have decided to play especially in crunch time.

Hats off to Dwayne Wade who was the players Joe Dumars failed to notice when he selected the chain smoking teenager, Darko. But of course Joe was planning ahead for the day that Rodney Stuckey could take over the team. Great career Mr. Wade!

[BallinD]

Blake, Dre, Kennard, Khyri, Bruce. If this is the core, we gotta let a lotta dead weight go. Glad to see Kennard in there.

Let the trading begin. Dre just might go?
OTOH
Miami loses it's starting PG to injury and thinks outside of the box to try Winslow there and found their PGOTF...

Detroit loses it’s back-up PG to injury and runs out 81-year-old Jose Calderon and went something like 3-17.

Spoelstra Woke...Casey asleep.

Might have been an opportunity to try Kennard or even Khyri Thomas at the point. Creativity is not against the
rules.

[BallinD]

Per Zach Lowe:

Here's the blip about Stanley:

The stagnation of Stanley (Johnson)
Before this depressing season, Johnson would at least show glimpses of the player Detroit envisioned when they selected him over Booker after a draft-room debate: rapid-fire switches across three or four positions, artful drive-and-dish attacks.

Even those flashes have flickered out. Johnson loiters on the perimeter, the league’s least threatening "stretch" power forward, filling time until what feels like an inevitable divorce this summer. He’s shooting 27 percent from deep. Opponents ignore him to gum up Detroit’s offense. It’s hard to drive-and-kick into anything productive when defenses wait for you in the paint.

What’s the opposite of a stretch-4? A contracting-4? A shrink-4? Stanley Johnson is a shrink-4.

Johnson has coughed the ball up on 17 percent of his drives, the ninth-highest such rate among 256 guys who have recorded at least 50 drives, per Second Spectrum data. He doesn’t offer anything else at power forward. He’s not a screen setter. He has fewer offensive rebounds than Trae Young.

He should be able to bully wings when Detroit shifts him to small forward — rare these days — but Johnson has just 10 post touches all season, per Second Spectrum.

Johnson is a stout defender, but non-centers can’t really be on the floor if they bring zero offense.

The wing positions define Detroit’s present and (probably) future mediocrity. They spent lottery picks on Johnson and Luke Kennard. Bruce Brown is a nice story — he got love in this space last month — but not great (Bob) when a low-usage 22-year-old second-rounder starts over two lottery guys.

There is still hope for Kennard. He has drained 40 percent of his career 3s, and he has enough feel off the bounce to work as a secondary ball handler. He just needs to stay healthy and gain Dwane Casey’s trust on the other end. (Brown deservedly has it.)

Detroit will pop champagne if it snares the No. 8 seed this year — hooray for geographic luck and the crappy East! — so Casey will probably ride the guys he trusts. But it is in the Pistons’ organizational interest to see what they have in Kennard

[lemonpen]

I know we should all be believers in Piston front office propaganda. What can they do when they have a payroll full of players who have contracts that cannot be traded. Based on the amount of the payroll the Pistons should be at least the 3rd best team in the extremely weak Eastern conference. One of the fringe teams like the Pistons is Orlando. I like their players and their potential better than the Pistons. The only way the Pistons won that game is the combination of Blake Griffin's willingness to take another beating as well as Orlando's center missing shots close to the basket while their point guard, Augustine missed a wide open layup. Then a third shot was missed on a wide open shot by their 2 guard at the end so the Pistons won. WOW!

It is becoming pitiful how stubborn this head coach really is with his player combinations. He never made game time decisions in crunch time being in his best defensive players when the Pistons needed a stop. Casey is determined to force fans to watch his selection of specialists attempt to play defense in important moments of the game when everyone knows they are horrible defenders who have a slim chance of stopping anyone at any time. In this game Casey took out Kennard to improve the defense by bring in Brown to defend Ross. Brown might be a better defender than Luke but Luke is taller and Brown is much shorter than Ross. Two players who Casey just couldn't part with were Bullock and Jackson. Meanwhile, both Bullock and Jackson are well known as having the reputation of not being able to stop dribble penetration. Also, neither Bullock or Jackson were on target with their long distance shooting last night. Bullock kept missing and screwing up on defense. Jackson penetrated too far with no plan too many times and also could not knock down his outside shots. Everything was on Blake on offense. Fortunately AD got some offensive rebounds and also made a nice baseline shot in the 4th quarter. Still, what was this coach thinking about in overtime? If you get a tiny lead and a time out is called. Why not bring in ZaZa to play defense at the center position. He boxes out well on the defensive boards and challenges shots in the paint. What would be wrong with placing both Bullock and Jackson on the bench and bringing in the team's best overall defender Stanley Johnson, Brown the 2nd best defender, and Thomas the 3rd best defender along with Griffin. That could present problems for any team when they most need to get a basket. Instead, Dwayne uses his weakest defenders a the most important time in the game. I am sure if Jackson was injured Casey would use Ish Smith ignoring the fact that Smith is always a liability on defense because of his size. How in hell do coaches like Dwayne Casey find employment at the alleged highest level of basketball? Maybe the answer is that the NBA is not the highest level of basketball at all.

Greg Kelser needs to stop the nonsense about the value of Ish Smith. Smith did not play a good game last night. He does push the tempo well but he is often out of control and his insistence on dominating the basketball and shooting too many contested shots along with his inability to guard anyone should cause Greg to notify his comments about the value of Ish Smith to the Pistons overall future. If the Pistons sign Smith again, we should all know that the owner is not serious about building a championship caliber team within the next 6 years.

The Pistons remain a below average team who might not make the 8th seed again in the extremely weak Eastern conference. I for one believe that the NBA should select the best 16 teams for playoff consideration instead of using the current formula. Detroit doesn't belong in the playoffs based on their performance over the past two months. The Piston front office should have a plan to re build the Pistons. That should start by trading AD who might have enough value to create a positive situation relating to improving the Piston's talent level. The Pistons also need a new head coach. Casey is worse than SVG as a bench coach. He might create a nice atmosphere for the players but Detroit needs a smarter coach like Pop or Boston's head coach. And the Pistons need to acquire a superior back court and not spend all their money on an inept front court.

My prediction as to what the Pistons are going to do before the trade deadline. They will trade Stanley Johnson for sure. He is not part of their future plans with Casey as the head coach. Johnson's role continues to diminish as the season moves forward. When he did play in crunch time, the Pistons won more than they lost. So the plan must have been hatched about a month ago where the Piston front office advised Casey that Johnson is going to be traded so gradually reduce his role as a rotation player. Now Johnson is only used as a back up for Blake Griffin who is the most important player on the team and cannot be off the floor for many minutes. Johnson has been forced to play power forward. He will gladly take any minutes without complaint knowing the hand writing is on the wall. It really doesn't matter what Johnson does on the court. Even Thomas has beat him out for playing time at small forward and shooting guard. At least Johnson has had experience playing three positions during his stay with the Pistons. But it is clear to me that Detroit would have won several more basketball games if Stanley had been on the floor instead of Casey's pets who are only shooting specialists. The Pistons lose because they give up too many easy shots around the rim from both dribble penetration and lack of effort or ability to defend by both Drummond and Griffin. They need at least two high end defenders to have any chance to win in crunch time. Instead Casey continues to use combinations that will never work. But Dwayne is proud after this game even though he knows he should have lost this last game if not for three Orlando players missing easy open shots around the basket that they would normally make 90% of the time. "The Pistons showed toughness". No Dwayne,  Blake Griffin showed toughness not you. You were an idiot.

According to NBA.com Bruce and Luke are nearly identical in size. Both are 6'5" and differ in weight by only 4 lbs. Ain't it nice to know we are tougher than our 8th seed competition.

[cool breeze]

Langston Galloway, Reggie Bullock, Ish Smith and Reggie Jackson are the most probable candidates to be traded before the trade deadline. Is that why they are playing so many minutes now to show them off possibly. Maybe so and if so then I have more respect for Dwayne Casey and the Pistons front office.

There is no way the Pistons can move Leuer who is now receiving considerable playing time. So he as been playing purely because of ZaZa's injury and as a back up occasionally for Blake. So cross lever off the list of likely players who will not be in uniform after the deadline.

ISH SMITH - There was incredible hype on social media about how Ish Smith's injury affected the Pistons during his absence. I thought they played better without him. Nothing Smith could have brought to those games the Pistons lost could have helped them win. The Pistons were beaten in every one of those loses because they were unable to protect the paint. Every team that beat them won because they were able to make easy shots around the basket and get a lot of 2nd chance opportunities. Back when SVG decided to over pay Smith, he thought the team needed to push the ball more to get easier shots in transition. But the flaw in that logic was the fact that the Pistons were not able to push the ball much because opponents were getting too many easy shots around the basket way back in that first year that Smith was signed. His overall contributions in a starting role is horrible as pointed out in some of the social media trade sites. This idea that players like Smith can make a team better when the team cannot get stops or protect the paint is insane. Is it helpful to push the ball after an opponent makes a basket? That is what happens most of the time with Smith. Opponents get easy shots with dribble penetration or lack of ability for our starting center to role to the basket and stay with his man on pick and roll plays. Our starting center switches out on the perimeter too much when the player he switches on is properly covered by his own teammates. AD makes bogus decisions to screw up the defensive rotation system. Winning players do the right thing to create a winning situation. Stat players do their own thing to create good stats for themselves. Ish Smith was not the missing piece during this year's slide into the toilet. The same thing has been happening now for 3 years. Opponents are not beating the Pistons with outside shots. They know it is pretty easy to get shots very close to the basket and that is their strategy. Ish Smith's ability to push the ball has no impact at all. So why the hype? Maybe they can trade Smith for something. I hope so because I am still puzzled by SVG's insane decision to part company with Spencer Dinwiddie. Dinwiddie did not push the ball enough for SVG. Dinwiddie is smart and plays the game according to what the defensive is giving up and then exploits that weakness. I know that is not an accepted concept for the GMs and coaches like Dwayne Casey to comprehend. Win with speed and 3 point shooting at all cost. The Pistons are surrounded by idiots and refuse to create a team that has any chance of winning. They want to create a circus act. So my biggest worry is that the Pistons will sign Smith to a new contract and not trade him. The Pistons owner loves entertainment and must think the fans are complete idiots. Either that or the Front office and owner are getting smarter and have been trying to put out a media blitz to improve Smith's trade value. But most likely Reggie Jackson is the trade bait because of his lack of ability to hit 3 point shots and his contract.

LANGSTON GALLOWAY - This name has been listed as a guy the Pistons want to trade also because of his contract. Galloway can play point guard but coach Casey has not used him in that role because of his decision to make Jackson and Smith his one two punch. In fact, Dwayne was so in love with both Reggie and Ish that he played them together in crunch time a lot earlier in the season. That never worked out very well but for sure those two players are not in Casey's dog house regardless of the amount of turnovers they make in crunch time or how they cause the offense to sputter in the half court. Possibly if this coach had played Galloway instead of either Smith or Jackson, the Pistons would be a better team now. But I could believe that if Casey had played Luke Kennard at point guard after he recovered from his early season injury, the Pistons might now be much more difficult to beat. No chance to experimenting though because Casey must not be bothered much when his team loses after he continues to use the same combinations. I would trade Galloway if possible to just get rid of his contract. Galloway is just another limited specialist type of player who was signed to shoot long range jump shots. But what if Casey had played Langston at the point for one month and sat either Jackson or Smith? We will never know. But what we do know is that Casey's team is not very good and can only beat up on bottom feeders.

REGGIE BULLOCK - Bullock is the most tradeable player on this team. He has an expiring contract and has hit a lot of 3 point shots this season. His current contract is really low which is exactly what other GMs are looking for.

the bottom line is that Andre Drummond's value is not very high as a trade piece. His contract is too high for GMs to gamble on knowing that AD is not a high IQ type NBA player. His stats are amazing for sure but other teams have very smart front office leaders who see through the very things that impress our Piston's owner. AD is not a winning type player. He is not a good decision maker on either offense or defense. Teams that are looking for a center want one who can defend the paint, get defensive rebounds and not turn the ball over for the most part. Today's game also involves spreading the floor and if teams are blessed with a center who can do all the things listed above and also hit an occasional 3 point shot or jump shot around the feee throw line, then they are ll in. His pal Reggie Jackson is a player the top teams would not bite on before the trade deadline because of his need to dominated the basketball, low percentage 3 point shooting skill, and inferior defensive ability. But the biggest obstacle that shuts down any trade is his contract even though there is only one year left after this season.

I will not be surprised if none of the above mentioned players are traded before the trade deadline. However, one player in Casey's dog house most likely will be traded and that guy is Stanley Johnson. Earlier in the season especially during the Pistons - Toronto game where Johnson shut down their All Star player, many GMs knew what the Pistons had that they are missing. Every team needs a strong perimeter player in crunch time. When was the last time Dayne Casey had had Johnson on the floor in those situations? Johnson replaces Blake Griffin when he rests. Johnson seldom touches the basketball on offense when playing power forward by design. The Pistons have lost a lot of games in crunch time with Johnson on the bench. The combination of Griffin and Drummond is not good in many respects but especially relating to paint protection. Drummond is unpredictable and Griffin is tired as hell because he has to produce offense in crunch time. Who does Casey have on the floor as that one player who can make up for both Blake's and Andre's defensive weaknesses? He brings in Brown at times for defense but Brown cannot defend bigger and stronger players who are scoring in the paint. Nobody is this dumb. The coach must know that the Pistons would have a better chance to win if Johnson were playing in crunch time but the decision has been made to trade Johnson before the trade deadline so Casey is working with what he will have after the deadline. This is my guess of course but nothing Dwayne Casey has done lately makes any sense at all if you are serious about winning games. Even the Magic should have won the last game if they had not missed 3 untested layups in overtime. The Pistons were lucky and that was it. Meanwhile Dwayne Casey says Ish Smith is the spirit of the team. Yes the Pistons are surrounded by idiots. No it is not likely the Pistons can sell any GM on the defective players they have signed for big amounts of money.

[cool breeze]

I know we should all be believers in Piston front office propaganda. What can they do when they have a payroll full of players who have contracts that cannot be traded. Based on the amount of the payroll the Pistons should be at least the 3rd best team in the extremely weak Eastern conference. One of the fringe teams like the Pistons is Orlando. I like their players and their potential better than the Pistons. The only way the Pistons won that game is the combination of Blake Griffin's willingness to take another beating as well as Orlando's center missing shots close to the basket while their point guard, Augustine missed a wide open layup. Then a third shot was missed on a wide open shot by their 2 guard at the end so the Pistons won. WOW!

It is becoming pitiful how stubborn this head coach really is with his player combinations. He never made game time decisions in crunch time being in his best defensive players when the Pistons needed a stop. Casey is determined to force fans to watch his selection of specialists attempt to play defense in important moments of the game when everyone knows they are horrible defenders who have a slim chance of stopping anyone at any time. In this game Casey took out Kennard to improve the defense by bring in Brown to defend Ross. Brown might be a better defender than Luke but Luke is taller and Brown is much shorter than Ross. Two players who Casey just couldn't part with were Bullock and Jackson. Meanwhile, both Bullock and Jackson are well known as having the reputation of not being able to stop dribble penetration. Also, neither Bullock or Jackson were on target with their long distance shooting last night. Bullock kept missing and screwing up on defense. Jackson penetrated too far with no plan too many times and also could not knock down his outside shots. Everything was on Blake on offense. Fortunately AD got some offensive rebounds and also made a nice baseline shot in the 4th quarter. Still, what was this coach thinking about in overtime? If you get a tiny lead and a time out is called. Why not bring in ZaZa to play defense at the center position. He boxes out well on the defensive boards and challenges shots in the paint. What would be wrong with placing both Bullock and Jackson on the bench and bringing in the team's best overall defender Stanley Johnson, Brown the 2nd best defender, and Thomas the 3rd best defender along with Griffin. That could present problems for any team when they most need to get a basket. Instead, Dwayne uses his weakest defenders a the most important time in the game. I am sure if Jackson was injured Casey would use Ish Smith ignoring the fact that Smith is always a liability on defense because of his size. How in hell do coaches like Dwayne Casey find employment at the alleged highest level of basketball? Maybe the answer is that the NBA is not the highest level of basketball at all.

Greg Kelser needs to stop the nonsense about the value of Ish Smith. Smith did not play a good game last night. He does push the tempo well but he is often out of control and his insistence on dominating the basketball and shooting too many contested shots along with his inability to guard anyone should cause Greg to notify his comments about the value of Ish Smith to the Pistons overall future. If the Pistons sign Smith again, we should all know that the owner is not serious about building a championship caliber team within the next 6 years.

The Pistons remain a below average team who might not make the 8th seed again in the extremely weak Eastern conference. I for one believe that the NBA should select the best 16 teams for playoff consideration instead of using the current formula. Detroit doesn't belong in the playoffs based on their performance over the past two months. The Piston front office should have a plan to re build the Pistons. That should start by trading AD who might have enough value to create a positive situation relating to improving the Piston's talent level. The Pistons also need a new head coach. Casey is worse than SVG as a bench coach. He might create a nice atmosphere for the players but Detroit needs a smarter coach like Pop or Boston's head coach. And the Pistons need to acquire a superior back court and not spend all their money on an inept front court.

My prediction as to what the Pistons are going to do before the trade deadline. They will trade Stanley Johnson for sure. He is not part of their future plans with Casey as the head coach. Johnson's role continues to diminish as the season moves forward. When he did play in crunch time, the Pistons won more than they lost. So the plan must have been hatched about a month ago where the Piston front office advised Casey that Johnson is going to be traded so gradually reduce his role as a rotation player. Now Johnson is only used as a back up for Blake Griffin who is the most important player on the team and cannot be off the floor for many minutes. Johnson has been forced to play power forward. He will gladly take any minutes without complaint knowing the hand writing is on the wall. It really doesn't matter what Johnson does on the court. Even Thomas has beat him out for playing time at small forward and shooting guard. At least Johnson has had experience playing three positions during his stay with the Pistons. But it is clear to me that Detroit would have won several more basketball games if Stanley had been on the floor instead of Casey's pets who are only shooting specialists. The Pistons lose because they give up too many easy shots around the rim from both dribble penetration and lack of effort or ability to defend by both Drummond and Griffin. They need at least two high end defenders to have any chance to win in crunch time. Instead Casey continues to use combinations that will never work. But Dwayne is proud after this game even though he knows he should have lost this last game if not for three Orlando players missing easy open shots around the basket that they would normally make 90% of the time. "The Pistons showed toughness". No Dwayne, Blake Griffin showed toughness not you. You were an idiot.

[cool breeze]

I saw Allan Houston a couple of nights ago.  My son's high school was playing his son's high school.  His son, Allan Houston III, looks exactly like his father with the same picture perfect feathery jump shot, but he's only 6'1 and so he was recruited to play wide receiver and safety for Brown.  

I was going to go up to Houston and read him the riot act for leaving Grant Hill and the Pistons in the lurch for the Knicks.  But then I decided to let him watch his son's game in peace.  

Great story Murph. Isn't it refreshing to follow your son's high school team? Enjoy it while you can. I attend some high school games here with no relative to worry about. The players keep getting better and the tactics and strategy the high school kids employ is very interesting and much less predictable than watch NBA games.

[Murph]

Nice OT win last night. I mean as long as we aren't going to tank, we might as well shoot for .500 and the 8th seed.

Griffin had 30. Drummond had 22 rebounds. Bullock led the team in assists, along with 13 points. Galloway and Kennard provided efficient scoring off the bench. And Zaza returned from injury and was a team high +16 on the night.

[Murph]

Sparma, needless to say I was just kidding.  I'm not the confrontational type, and I would never create a scene at a high school basketball game.  And my all accounts Allan Houston is a nice guy and a class act.

But what might have been...  I went back and looked at that teal era Pistons team, and man what talent....Hill, Houston, Dumars (still only 32 at the time), Hunter, Thorpe, Ratliff, Reid and Terry Mills, who really wasn't that bad.  And the coach was of course Doug Collins.

The team won 46 games in Houston's final year, and then 54 games the next year.  Then it all fell apart.  Houston left.  Hill ruined his ankle. Dumars got old.  Hunter never developed.  Thorpe freaked out at Collins and got shipped out of town.  Ratliff got traded.  Collins got fired.  And Mills got replaced by Brian Williams who become Bison Dele, who then quit basketball to sail around the world with his schizophrenic brother, who threw him overboard (you can't make this stuff up.)

Wasn't it Grant, along with Houston and Lindsey Hunter?  As I remember NY made Houston an outrageous offer for the time.
What could have been!  I'm guessing you wouldn't have been the first to confront him.

I saw Allan Houston a couple of nights ago.  My son's high school was playing his son's high school.  His son, Allan Houston III, looks exactly like his father with the same picture perfect feathery jump shot, but he's only 6'1 and so he was recruited to play wide receiver and safety for Brown.  

I was going to go up to Houston and read him the riot act for leaving Grant Hill and the Pistons in the lurch for the Knicks.  But then I decided to let him watch his son's game in peace.  

[Sparma]

Wasn't it Grant, along with Houston and Lindsey Hunter? As I remember NY made Houston an outrageous offer for the time.
What could have been! I'm guessing you wouldn't have been the first to confront him.

I saw Allan Houston a couple of nights ago.  My son's high school was playing his son's high school.  His son, Allan Houston III, looks exactly like his father with the same picture perfect feathery jump shot, but he's only 6'1 and so he was recruited to play wide receiver and safety for Brown.  

I was going to go up to Houston and read him the riot act for leaving Grant Hill and the Pistons in the lurch for the Knicks.  But then I decided to let him watch his son's game in peace.  

[Murph]

I saw Allan Houston a couple of nights ago.  My son's high school was playing his son's high school.  His son, Allan Houston III, looks exactly like his father with the same picture perfect feathery jump shot, but he's only 6'1 and so he was recruited to play wide receiver and safety for Brown.  

I was going to go up to Houston and read him the riot act for leaving Grant Hill and the Pistons in the lurch for the Knicks.  But then I decided to let him watch his son's game in peace.  

[BallinD]

DX: Loved Oubre, even in the draft, though it was clear even then he would be a bit of a project, but now he's coming into his own, while SJ has mimmicked Weggie and Dre on the teeter totter, up and down, up and down. Makes me question the FO for sure. He was truly just what we needed; oh well.

What SF on the Pistons roster was better than Kelly Oubre Jr. and no one heard me...he was traded for scraps that we could've come up with and continues to play within a team concept, at a higher level than our SF's! It was "Beal or bust!"

GRIII is dog doo-doo. Nowhere near as good as advertised and having played for Michigan doesn't change my mind.

Some are wringing their hands at the thought of losing Stanley Johnson, so we can wait through another contract for him to be more than a bust..."I saw signs of a good player, 10 games ago."

Meanwhile

We (the delusional media) talk about trading Bullock ($2.5 million) and keeping Jackson for another year or two ($17 first year and $18 the last)....what's the value of analytics if we can't determine the Reggie that gives us value. Oh, Jackson raised hell in 2015. I know, it's unbelievable, but OTOH, we could get a late first round pick for him if it looks like the season is going in the ****...again! Not buying we can't trade Weggie, I think its mostly fear and stupid nostalgia keeping him here, but that's just me; you know that 2015 thing is like Voodoo or something, it's got a spell on some folks.

Casey preaches consistency and the bench is consistently inconsistent. I'm not going to mention Galloway, only because Jackson is still on the team with a contract that dwarfs Galloways...numbers do matter.

The 2nd round rookies are outplaying the highly paid, clock eating, vets but, there's only room to play one consistently (and he's a starter)….it makes sense to play the weaker one, right? Preaching to the choir, but I do love BB's energy and spunk. I definitely wanna see more Khyri. Been arguing this for weeks.

Questions

Why can't Drummond hold onto the ball? Are all the coaches afraid to tell this nincompoop to stop with that ugly "hook shot?" If half those unforced errors and turnovers by Drummond weren't made, our record would be better right now!

Why isn't the ball hogging, hero ball playing, Reggie Jackson not averaging at least 20 points....he is a member of the BIG3 isn't he? Why is Griffin the only 20 point scorer? Is he that dominate? Nope. I believe Reggie is undermining the team with his piss-poor production and there's no reason for the game he's playing!

Well

No one got behind the Oubre Jr. trade, okay, let's all jump on the Dennis Smith Jr. trade by any means necessary....who do we value more than what Dennis Smith Jr., can mean to the Pistons future? I remember when we turned our noses up at James Harden, when we could've had him for more than what Houston gave up for him! It's a high-risk, high reward strategy, but at this poing, we gotta take calculated risks. Dre and SJ and Weggie for Smith and Deandre plus filler Wes Matthews? Those two are expiring I believe.

With all that being said, I'm still a passionate Pistons fan and ain't ashamed of it either.

[deusXango]

What SF on the Pistons roster was better than Kelly Oubre Jr. and no one heard me...he was traded for scraps that we could've come up with and continues to play within a team concept, at a higher level than our SF's! It was "Beal or bust!"

GRIII is dog doo-doo. Nowhere near as good as advertised and having played for Michigan doesn't change my mind.

Some are wringing their hands at the thought of losing Stanley Johnson, so we can wait through another contract for him to be more than a bust..."I saw signs of a good player, 10 games ago."

Meanwhile

We (the delusional media) talk about trading Bullock ($2.5 million) and keeping Jackson for another year or two ($17 first year and $18 the last)....what's the value of analytics if we can't determine the Reggie that gives us value. Oh, Jackson raised hell in 2015.

Casey preaches consistency and the bench is consistently inconsistent. I'm not going to mention Galloway, only because Jackson is still on the team with a contract that dwarfs Galloways...numbers do matter.

The 2nd round rookies are outplaying the highly paid, clock eating, vets but, there's only room to play one consistently (and he's a starter)….it makes sense to play the weaker one, right?

Questions

Why can't Drummond hold onto the ball? Are all the coaches afraid to tell this nincompoop to stop with that ugly "hook shot?" If half those unforced errors and turnovers by Drummond weren't made, our record would be better right now!

Why isn't the ball hogging, hero ball playing, Reggie Jackson not averaging at least 20 points....he is a member of the BIG3 isn't he? Why is Griffin the only 20 point scorer? Is he that dominate? Nope. I believe Reggie is undermining the team with his piss-poor production and there's no reason for the game he's playing!

Well

No one got behind the Oubre Jr. trade, okay, let's all jump on the Dennis Smith Jr. trade by any means necessary....who do we value more than what Dennis Smith Jr., can mean to the Pistons future? I remember when we turned our noses up at James Harden, when we could've had him for more than what Houston gave up for him!

With all that being said, I'm still a passionate Pistons fan and ain't ashamed of it either.

[Sparma]

Excellent post, Murph. If they do go 8-5 or so, I would be in favor of tweaking, like re-acquiring Tolliver, but I agree entirely that they shouldn't mortgage the future for this mediocre year.

We are finally finished with the brutal schedule that began on December 1st and ran through last night.  We ended up going a dreadful 6-18 in that stretch.  The injuries to Ish and Zaza did not help.

It looks as if we have a relatively easy schedule coming up for the next month.  We should be able to win 8 or 9 out of the next 13 games, and climb back into playoff contention.

I have mixed emotions about this.  If we go 8-5 or 9-4, and climb back into playoff contention as the 7th or 8th seed, it will only convince management that we are on the right track.  

The podcast by Derey is shocking.     It is shocking to think that the Pistons will be buyers ahead of the trade deadline.  That means that management is convinced that this team is improving and headed in the right direction.  No tankathon will be forthcoming.

If we are buyers at the trade deadline, I just hope we don't trade away any 1st round picks or any player younger 25 years old or younger.  We cannot keep mortgaging our future for a shot at the 8th seed.

[cool breeze]

The Pistons played well in the first half in most respects. Then came the 3rd quarter and the brain dead Andre Drummond playing like he belonged acting in the Adams Family playing Lurch. I am not referring to AD's temptation when everything is going sour and you really need a bucket to launch a 3 point shot. He of course shot an air ball. What was most puzzling is that AD sabotaged the Pistons rotation system for the entire 3rd quarter. He would play based on impulse instead of what was happening when playing defense. When guards were in good position in front of the man they were defending, AD would suddenly jump out on that opposing guard to allow Gobert (number 27) roll and get wide open next to the basket. Players like Kennard and Bullock were left scratching their heads. Also, AD had been scouted really well because everyone on both teams knew that AD never checks his man when an opposing shot goes up. He never turns to see what is behind him. That must be too much work for our All Star. But Gobert must have thought throughout this game that he was playing against the most powerful but dumbest player he has ever played against. When AD would get a pass from Blake and other that should be a sure fire easy dunk, AD instead would jump about one inch and try to shoot a lazy shot at the rim which of course always missed. During some game, take a look at AD's hands. How could he not dunk the ball powerfully if he cares at all about his teammates? Blake Griffin must feel the pain to have to play next to Andre Drummond. I do not believe that AD has the capability to ever learn a defensive rotation system and make the right decisions that all NBA players must make to allow the defensive strategy to work. One smart thing the coach did in this game was sit AD as long as Possible at the start of the 4th. AD was better in one regard, he made two free throws.

A lot of players played well and really hard in this game. It was great to see Thomas out there playing great defense in crunch time. But it was obvious to me that the Pistons were doomed once Dwayne Casey made the move to bring in Ish Smith against Utah's first unit. For the fans who have watched the torture of bogus coaching decisions this season, I guess nothing should be shocking for us. The big question for this coach who was desperate to pin all of the recent loses on injuries to Ish Smith and ZaZa, was why he hasn't figured out that the Pistons do not do well with a ball dominate point guard in crunch time. Reggie Jackson played well for most of this game. He missed two straight defensive assignments and didn't connect on two long distance jump shots. But for most of the game I was very impressed with his defensive effort and decision making on offense. He was seldom guilty of hogging the basketball if at all. must be this coach loves players who hog the basketball and miss 4 or 5 straight shots in crunch time while creating horrible floor spacing and burning up the shot clock. NEWS FLASH DWAYNE!!! YOU HAVE BLAKE GRIFFIN ON YOUR TEAM. Did you forget Dwayne? The opposing team had fun allowing Ish to dribble around which allowed them to have two players on Blake. The floor spacing for every possession was incredibly bad. But still Casey seemed to love it even more because he never made a change. Dwayne was determined to make his story line work. Ish Smith is up beat. He is a catalyst for this team with his quickness an spirit. We have missed him so much. Ish of course has never been a good shooter. He is a guy who can get his team rolling in transition. But in crunch time you need to make stops to do that. There was nobody on the floor that Ish Smith could guard. He looked like a small child out there against Utah.

Players that must be traded before the deadline is Andre Drummond and Ish Smith. What I am most worried about is that this owner who most likely watches the Clippers more than the Pistons might keep the story line alive that a healthy Ish Smith is the cats ass. Other thought differently especially Philly who didn't sign Smith because they decided to keep the un drafted TJ Mc Connell because Ish was too ball dominate and a player who could not match up with any NBA caliber point guard on defense. Reggie Jackson is not my choice of being a crunch time point guard because he has been a horrible defender and too ball dominate in the past. But Reggie is for sure superior to Ish Smith as a basketball player. For this coach to not take Smith out after 4 straight misses he for sure gets the dunce cap award for this game. Dwayne Casey is responsible for this loss and he didn't play one second of the game.

[Murph]

In the long run, small market teams like to the Pistons are going to have to build winners through the draft.  To successful, the Pistons are going to have to draft well, and develop their picks.  And if Bruce Brown and Khyri Thomas are any indication, Ed Stefanski is excellent at drafting.  Both Brown and Thomas should have been taken in the mid to late 1st round, but Stefanski snagged them in the mid 2nd round.

I'm trying to think who the last GM we had who could draft well, and I think you have to go all the way back to Trader Jack McClosky, who took HOFers Joe Dumars at #18 and Dennis Rodman at #27.

And so far Casey has been great at giving Brown and Thomas playing time and developing them.

Now let's see if Stefanski is as good at making 1st round picks as he is at finding under-valued talent in the mid 2nd round.

[Murph]

We are finally finished with the brutal schedule that began on December 1st and ran through last night.  We ended up going a dreadful 6-18 in that stretch.  The injuries to Ish and Zaza did not help.

It looks as if we have a relatively easy schedule coming up for the next month.  We should be able to win 8 or 9 out of the next 13 games, and climb back into playoff contention.

I have mixed emotions about this.  If we go 8-5 or 9-4, and climb back into playoff contention as the 7th or 8th seed, it will only convince management that we are on the right track.  

The podcast by Derey is shocking.     It is shocking to think that the Pistons will be buyers ahead of the trade deadline.  That means that management is convinced that this team is improving and headed in the right direction.  No tankathon will be forthcoming.

If we are buyers at the trade deadline, I just hope we don't trade away any 1st round picks or any player younger 25 years old or younger.  We cannot keep mortgaging our future for a shot at the 8th seed.

[Sparma]

Out to a 9-2 lead, and a very nice half.

The outcome felt inevitable throughout though.

[Sparma]

Fantastic performance by Blake. Vengence is sweet. But you're right, BallinD, that the very victory points to a problem with the ordinary level of performance. I understand not everyone is going to go all out all of the time; I heard an ex-NBAer saying it happens all the time that players take it easy on D during the regular season, then step it up in the playoffs. Still, I think that effort's been a serious problem a lot this season, eg, vs the Lakers and the Kings. I listened to the Lakers' broadcast, and the suspect Piston effort was brought up repeatedly. Not Blake's though. Flawed as his game is, with his susceptibility to TOs, he goes all out, playing with spirit. Refreshing.

Hard to believe we're halfway done with this miserable season.  Telling statements at the end of that exciting Clippers game when Blake said the difference was the team "played hard" that's why they won!  Casey said they maybe need a revenge opponent (LAC, TOR) to get it up for the game, basically saying the same thing, different words.  Pathetic Team. Pathetic culture created by Dre and Weggie, Dos Amigoes.  Deserves to be blown up, but...

On the Pistons Wired podcast, Matt Dery chatted with ESPN's Brian Windhorst who said the team will be buyers at the deadline if anything in an effort to make a push for the playoffs and he agreed with the strategy.  Other pundits speculate that they are waiting for an Ish push to see if the team can compete with Ish and Zaza back, before deciding the next move.

Team grade D

Stay Tuned.  Go Pistons!

[cool breeze]

[quote="BallinD"]Hard to believe we're halfway done with this miserable season.  Telling statements at the end of that exciting Clippers game when Blake said the difference was the team "played hard" that's why they won!  Casey said they maybe need a revenge opponent (LAC, TOR) to get it up for the game, basically saying the same thing, different words.  Pathetic Team. Pathetic culture created by Dre and Weggie, Dos Amigoes.  Deserves to be blown up, but...

On the Pistons Wired podcast, Matt Dery chatted with ESPN's Brian Windhorst who said the team will be buyers at the deadline if anything in an effort to make a push for the playoffs and he agreed with the strategy.  Other pundits speculate that they are waiting for an Ish push to see if the team can compete with Ish and Zaza back, before deciding the next move.

Team grade D

Stay Tuned.  Go Pistons!

Thanks for the info about the podcast. It is of course insane to think that a healthy Ish Smith will offer any solution to the problems with this team. He was in the rotation when this team looked horrible. Too many players cannot defend and have little interest in playing defense and although Smith tries harder than some of the defective players, he is way too small to defend NBA caliber players for the most part. However, ZaZa is another matter. I thought hat ZaZa was too old to offer much help as a back up to Drummond but it is up in the air for me to decide if starting a healthy ZaZa might be better than the combination of AD and BG. AD has problems getting back in transition. Blake is often the last player to touch the ball on offense which gives him an excuse for getting back a bit late. ZaZa is a much better all around defender than AD and is more consistent in his effort on defense.

What is making the Pistons an easy out in most games now is that Jon Leuer is playing with the 2nd unit and at times is the only big man on the floor. The coach has decided that Johnson's only value now is to back up Blake playing power forward for a few minutes a game now. Most likely Stanley Johnson is the odd man out if the Pistons try to Move Reggie Jackson's contract. Washington wants to move Wall and Beal or at least that was the talk awhile back. Fans and perhaps this owner might believe that AD has a really high trade value. I have my doubts. To make that trade adding a superior back court to play with Griffin next season, the Pistons might have to give Washington AD, RJ, SJ, and Ish Smith's expiring contract. Tom Gores won't give up on keeping his favorite player, AD so of course the party line will be "just wait until Ish Smith gets healthy. Forget what happened when he was playing shortly before the injury. I will throw up if this coach decides to commit the biggest sin of all to repeat his mistake of playing Smith and Reggie at the same time in crunch time. Add Bullock to that mix and then the team has 4 inferior defenders playing together in the most important moments of the games. i believe that if SVG had not been fired and had played some of the combinations that Dwayne Casey has come up with, SVG would have been fired before Christmas.

The Pistons owner has lacked the vision to create a winning team since he bought the team. How can anyone expect he will do the right thing before the trade deadline? But at least Tom Gores did bring in one player who at times can play incredibly well. I haven't seen any Piston player in the last 6 years play like Blake played in this last game. His contract is a killer but if the owner will part with AD and RJ and bring in a superior back court, the Pistons could be fun to watch again. This team will need a center. I wish the Pistons could get Holmes who is a back up for Ayton on the Suns team. He looks like a young Ben Wallace at times and not only plays hard as hell on defense but is developing some offensive skills.

[BallinD]

Hard to believe we're halfway done with this miserable season. Telling statements at the end of that exciting Clippers game when Blake said the difference was the team "played hard" that's why they won! Casey said they maybe need a revenge opponent (LAC, TOR) to get it up for the game, basically saying the same thing, different words. Pathetic Team. Pathetic culture created by Dre and Weggie, Dos Amigoes. Deserves to be blown up, but...

On the Pistons Wired podcast, Matt Dery chatted with ESPN's Brian Windhorst who said the team will be buyers at the deadline if anything in an effort to make a push for the playoffs and he agreed with the strategy. Other pundits speculate that they are waiting for an Ish push to see if the team can compete with Ish and Zaza back, before deciding the next move.

Team grade D

Stay Tuned. Go Pistons!

[Sparma]

They worked hard and long (as starters) and the shots were falling. Outstanding effort.

A game for the ages for Blake.

And, yes, let's hope it doesn't distract from the rebuild moving forward.

I had no idea Blake was this talented. Most importantly, I had no Idea Blake was this competitive.

It's been so long since the Pistons had competitive, talented players. Maybe since RIP Hamilton and Ben Wallace.

I was nice to see the guy rally around Blake and give him some effort and not embarrass him in LA.

Now, on with the rebuild...

[Phil-Good]

I had no idea Blake was this talented. Most importantly, I had no Idea Blake was this competitive.

It's been so long since the Pistons had competitive, talented players. Maybe since RIP Hamilton and Ben Wallace.

I was nice to see the guy rally around Blake and give him some effort and not embarrass him in LA.

Now, on with the rebuild...

[cool breeze]

Don, I think you are willfully missing the point of my post.  Regardless of what you think of Reggie Jackson, the problem was fixable up until the time we traded Harris, a 1st rounder and filler for Griffin.  We could have brought in another PG and/or another coach to run a different offense.  We still would have had a very young core, anchored by the 25 year old Drummond and 25 year old Harris, to build around.  Once we made the trade, we instantly went from a young, improving team with potential to an older, declining team that is financially capped out.

What we needed to do when Jackson got hurt was acquire another PG, not acquire the Griffin and his albatross of a contract.

Sorry Murph. I failed to read your post carefully. I agree with everything you said here.

Tom Gores ignored both SVG's and the GM's advise not to make that Blake Griffin trade. This is all on Tom Gores. But what can Tom do now to get the Pistons back on track? I believe it is time to end the era of Reggie Jackson and Andre Drummond. You can get rid of RG without including AD. They are buddies and will be happy to join another team if they can be together. What if Washington might be interested in acquiring AD and RJ knowing that RJ has only one year left on his contract after this season. I doubt they are interested because Gortat always got the best of AD in their matchups. Washington brain trust saw AD's faults up close. But I wonder still if they might agree to trade Beal and Wall's contract to the Pistons. They could move AD and buy out Jackson and solve their financial problems. Wall has a heal injury but is it career ending? If not by acquiring two top tier back court players to play with Griffin would really energize the fan base. Old time Piston fans have not bonded with either Jackson or Drummond. Fans would bond with Wall and Beal. The Pistons could include Bullock and Smith's contracts as well which are expiring. I would like to get into the sweepstakes involving Anthony Davis but that would be asking for too much. Getting two good solid players at point and the 2 would remind fans of the past. They would get behind the Pistons and come out of the woodwork. But with that said, the Pistons would also need a center out of the Beal and Wall deal. Yet they could draft a center next summer if they do not give up another first round pick. There must be some deal out there that can make the Pistons better. What is it?

I am about at the point where I am going to stop watching this Piston team and just follow the college teams. It is no longer fun. Our billionaire owner might have already stopped watching and could be having his management team send out instructions to the announcers and the supporting cast to make excuses. The Lakers game where Labron was in street clothes was humiliating for the players and fans. Yet with all the tough talk about playing harder by Casey in the pre game interview, the Kings made the Pistons look like a G League team. The Kings were having a lot of fun while our Piston players looked as if they wanted to crawl into a big hole and hide.

I know you don't like Henry Ellenson but last night was for sure a game where Henry should have started and played a lot of minutes. But this coach picked Jon Leuer. And Leuer looked horrible against the lakers. Maybe Ellenson didn't make the West Coast trip. With ZaZa out and only AD and Leuer healthy, how can anyone support this coach when he fails to bring up a G League big man or play Ellenson?? And Casey rejected signing Moreland. Where is Eric Moreland?

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