My Take On Knight...

[Oracle]

I don't really have a dog in this fight. I didn't want the Pistons to draft Knight in the first place, but I admit he's shown potential, albeit on a inconsistent basis.

My only position is that we should stick with Knight at least another year, until Rodney Stuckey can be traded or until his contract expires at the end of next year. This is because Stuckey and Knight are both combo guards, who's primary skill is scoring and not setting up their teammates, and so their skill set is redundant to a large degree.

However, I would not exercise the same amount of patience with Knight that was given to Stuckey. Stuckey was given 4 years as a starter (and 5 years in total), before the Pistons organization lost patience with their project PG, and drafted Knight. Knight should only be given 3 years, including next year, as the starting PG. If after next year, the Pistons are still not satisfied with his play at the point, Joe should dump Stuckey, move Knight to "combo guard off the bench" and draft a new pass first PG.

In the meantime, the Pistons should sign a veteran pass first PG (as an upgrade to Bynum) to help Knight develop, and to run the offense in games when Knight is struggling.

Murph, that's almost EXACTLY my position!

I wasn't a Knight fan either, and I certainly don't favor giving anybody, with the possible exception of a top 3 pick, the time Stuckey got... ridiculous!!!

My dog in the fight is the complete lunacy of the arguments being made about the kid, and the staggering contradictions, lack of logic and dual standards! It's like a tea party invasion!

When someone says you shouldn't say stuff without checking, and you bust them for not checking, and worse, they're totally wrong, it's pretty hard to communicate.

I'd be embarrassed after that, but mileage seems to vary!

The bottom line is that when the laws of physics fail to work, you're not dealing with reality... see Spock!

[WTF]

I don't really have a dog in this fight. I didn't want the Pistons to draft Knight in the first place, but I admit he's shown potential, albeit on a inconsistent basis.

My only position is that we should stick with Knight at least another year, until Rodney Stuckey can be traded or until his contract expires at the end of next year. This is because Stuckey and Knight are both combo guards, who's primary skill is scoring and not setting up their teammates, and so their skill set is redundant to a large degree.

However, I would not exercise the same amount of patience with Knight that was given to Stuckey. Stuckey was given 4 years as a starter (and 5 years in total), before the Pistons organization lost patience with their project PG, and drafted Knight. Knight should only be given 3 years, including next year, as the starting PG. If after next year, the Pistons are still not satisfied with his play at the point, Joe should dump Stuckey, move Knight to "combo guard off the bench" and draft a new pass first PG.

In the meantime, the Pistons should sign a veteran pass first PG (as an upgrade to Bynum) to help Knight develop, and to run the offense in games when Knight is struggling.

Murph, that's almost EXACTLY my position!

I wasn't a Knight fan either, and I certainly don't favor giving anybody, with the possible exception of a top 3 pick, the time Stuckey got... ridiculous!!!

My dog in the fight is the complete lunacy of the arguments being made about the kid, and the staggering contradictions, lack of logic and dual standards! It's like a tea party invasion!

When someone says you shouldn't say stuff without checking, and you bust them for not checking, and worse, they're totally wrong, it's pretty hard to communicate.

I'd be embarrassed after that, but mileage seems to vary!

The bottom line is that when the laws of physics fail to work, you're not dealing with reality... see Spock!

LMAO!

[WTF]

After reading Murph's comments regarding Knight, I am still puzzled with Piston fans who seem to have some formula regarding the amount of time it takes to become a keeper. Knight is a kid who has had some special moments his first season as a starter playing point guard on a disfunctional team who at the time was only 19 years old. He showed me more last year than Lindsey Hunter ever did as a starter or role player for the Pistons. You cannot compare the two players. Hunter just never did have what it takes to be a impact player. Knight is an impact player and he has shown it many times as a Piston. I recall last season when the team couldn't do squat and Brandon somehow took himself to another level inspiring his team to come back and win a game when they were 18 points down. His greatest moment was when he flew through the air for a loose ball and ended up behind the Piston bench where a big can of gatorade fell on top of him. Everyone started playing harder. Not too many players can inspire others to play harder. My feeling still is that there are a lot of fans who just want to talk trash. They have some concept of what a point guard should do without taking a look at the big picture especially who the point guard on a team has for teammates and coaching staff. Frank wants Brandon to push the basketball because the offense plays too slow. How do you avoid turnovers with that combination? Now the same slow players are playing faster so the coaching staff has that idea right but it all falls on Knight to make it work. You don't do it overnight and the Pistons still need better players. They need a back up point guard or combo guard who can play great defense and pass the ball well. That player should be Collison. He is a perfect fit for this young team. Too bad we don't have Affalo because those two players made a great combination in college. Speaking of Affalo, the same stuff was being said about him. What can Affalo do? Why not package him in a give away trade. He is not a good fit with the Pistons. After all, Detroit had Hamilton and Billups at the time. No, we didn't need Stuckey but the team really needed Affalo to get more playing time. Many fans were happy when Affalo was sent packing. Today I looked at the NBA stats and noticed that Arron Affalo is listed as the 20th highest scorer in the league averaging 17.8 points a game. And Affalo's real strength is defense. Can you imagine how good this current Piston team would be if Joe Dumars had not given away Affalo to appease some ignorant fans. Be careful what you wish for Piston fans. Be thankful if Knight will agree to sign with the Pistons when his contract expires. So how old will Knight be when his contract comes up? Will he be 22 or 23 years old. But as Murph said, no we must not give Knight more than one more season to show us he belongs. That is so damn sick I want to barf. Knight is the type of player who makes everyone work harder. Remember two seasons ago when we didn't have any of those type of players. Wasn't that group of losers fun to watch? And we had a couple of former All Stars in that group. Remember how Hamilton refused to play defense and bitched out the officials. Wasn't that fun Piston fans? Maybe Dumars listened to some of you before he gave away Affalo.

No one here posting wanted Affalo gone so stop making up stuff. As I recall both me and frankie were called all kind of names for suggesting Affalo be given an opportuntity at PG. I wish we had a PG, I wish we had a PG, I wish we had a PG turn around three times tap toes together twice. By the time I wake in the morning we would have trade Knight and Magette for Tony Parker

[deusXango]

I'm done with this, you guys are too far gone!

You talk about stats?

What I showed you are accomplishments!

Burke hasn't done squat! Cleaves was a monster in college, standing head and shoulders above anything Burke has done!

If somebody puts up the numbers of Bird, Zeke, or MJ, are you going to say they better unless they have the ECF's, Championships, and awards?

Give me a break, you guys are so lost on this one, it's beyond belief!

Thank you very much.

[deusXango]

Yeah that stuff about Joe is disturbing!

He distanced himself only a little bit during the Bad Boys era, but now, it's almost like he doesn't want to be around them! IMO, I think the problem is that their too dominant over Joe, and he can't deal with them.

Laimbeer & Isiah are super alphas, and Joe isn't really in that class.

[Only admins are allowed to see this image]

Oracle, not that my skin is thin (it really is), but I posted about Joe Dumars distancing himself from his ex-comrades, not Don. The reason I bring this up is it appears we have something to discuss other than Burke and Cleaves...just sayin'.

[deusXango]

In the meantime, the Pistons should sign a veteran pass first PG (as an upgrade to Bynum) to help Knight develop, and to run the offense in games when Knight is struggling.

Murph, in all honesty, the way Knight has been manning the point, we can acquire a rookie pass first PG and it will be an upgrade...Machado anyone?

[Grizz2]

After reading Murph's comments regarding Knight, I am still puzzled with Piston fans who seem to have some formula regarding the amount of time it takes to become a keeper. Knight is a kid who has had some special moments his first season as a starter playing point guard on a disfunctional team who at the time was only 19 years old. He showed me more last year than Lindsey Hunter ever did as a starter or role player for the Pistons. You cannot compare the two players. Hunter just never did have what it takes to be a impact player. Knight is an impact player and he has shown it many times as a Piston. I recall last season when the team couldn't do squat and Brandon somehow took himself to another level inspiring his team to come back and win a game when they were 18 points down. His greatest moment was when he flew through the air for a loose ball and ended up behind the Piston bench where a big can of gatorade fell on top of him. Everyone started playing harder. Not too many players can inspire others to play harder. My feeling still is that there are a lot of fans who just want to talk trash. They have some concept of what a point guard should do without taking a look at the big picture especially who the point guard on a team has for teammates and coaching staff. Frank wants Brandon to push the basketball because the offense plays too slow. How do you avoid turnovers with that combination? Now the same slow players are playing faster so the coaching staff has that idea right but it all falls on Knight to make it work. You don't do it overnight and the Pistons still need better players. They need a back up point guard or combo guard who can play great defense and pass the ball well. That player should be Collison. He is a perfect fit for this young team. Too bad we don't have Affalo because those two players made a great combination in college. Speaking of Affalo, the same stuff was being said about him. What can Affalo do? Why not package him in a give away trade. He is not a good fit with the Pistons. After all, Detroit had Hamilton and Billups at the time. No, we didn't need Stuckey but the team really needed Affalo to get more playing time. Many fans were happy when Affalo was sent packing. Today I looked at the NBA stats and noticed that Arron Affalo is listed as the 20th highest scorer in the league averaging 17.8 points a game. And Affalo's real strength is defense. Can you imagine how good this current Piston team would be if Joe Dumars had not given away Affalo to appease some ignorant fans. Be careful what you wish for Piston fans. Be thankful if Knight will agree to sign with the Pistons when his contract expires. So how old will Knight be when his contract comes up? Will he be 22 or 23 years old. But as Murph said, no we must not give Knight more than one more season to show us he belongs. That is so damn sick I want to barf. Knight is the type of player who makes everyone work harder. Remember two seasons ago when we didn't have any of those type of players. Wasn't that group of losers fun to watch? And we had a couple of former All Stars in that group. Remember how Hamilton refused to play defense and bitched out the officials. Wasn't that fun Piston fans? Maybe Dumars listened to some of you before he gave away Affalo.

No one here posting wanted Affalo gone so stop making up stuff. As I recall both me and frankie were called all kind of names for suggesting Affalo be given an opportuntity at PG. I wish we had a PG, I wish we had a PG, I wish we had a PG turn around three times tap toes together twice. By the time I wake in the morning we would have trade Knight and Magette for Tony Parker

Wise .. Not saying it is you ..(OK you said didnt care at the time) but NOT very many forum members gave a damn when AA was given away .. So DON is right in that sense but he is going a few years back obviously .. and gradually by general proclamation pretty much everyone agrees the move SUCKED and we could use AA big time for defense and outside shooting ...

Wise .. I will take your word on Burke as being a good player to be a high priority for getting onto the Pistons ..And would be happy to see him come into Piston Land and take over as PG by proving it on the court .. Appreciate your perservance on the Knight / Burke thing ... Makes it a more lively forum.. Of course we disagree, and I won the debate .. BUT So effin what?!

DON .. I wish to high hell that AA was still here .. WOULD solve a lot of problems and would fit in perfectly with Frank's best quality .. wanting his players to defend .. I would NOT feel so mad about this still but .... the general MSM in Detroit Sports NEVER pushed back at or criticized Joe D for that absolute dumbness to the Nth degree of that cursed deal .. However, Knight is going to be an outstanding player by all the evidence we can see so far ..

And yes DX and Sebastian .. I would love The Captain or Laimbeer back as GM or head coach ... And yes Joe hates them both .. .What else can you conclude? The team number giveaway crap speaks of a bitter petty man .. Joe D seemed so darn noble as a player .. What the hell happened?

Joe D has earned a reprieve with his recent draft picks but I dont feel overly sentimental about it because of all the mistakes and free passes (no media holding him to account) in the past...So only those alpha bad boys would be OK to replace anyone now ..

Oracle .. you clearly won the Battle of Knight and Cleaves Debates ... but dont brag too much .. Saved me the the trouble of going on anymore on it .. Yes .. but you dont support Knight as much as I would ... that is understood ..

[Oracle]

Yeah that stuff about Joe is disturbing!

He distanced himself only a little bit during the Bad Boys era, but now, it's almost like he doesn't want to be around them! IMO, I think the problem is that their too dominant over Joe, and he can't deal with them.

Laimbeer & Isiah are super alphas, and Joe isn't really in that class.

[Only admins are allowed to see this image]

Oracle, not that my skin is thin (it really is), but I posted about Joe Dumars distancing himself from his ex-comrades, not Don. The reason I bring this up is it appears we have something to discuss other than Burke and Cleaves...just sayin'.

Yeah, I knew Don wasn't the original poster, I was just agreeing with the last person who voiced an opinion!

BTW, I wasn't posting about Cleaves or Burke, that wasn't the focus or the point, which appears to be lost. Sad that the EVIDENCE gets confused for the case being made!

[Oracle]

They invited the Pistons to London!

The Bad Boys do have residual mojo, but in recent years, it's been the 2004 gang!

Ok, we're clinging to being a signature franchise, but if we don't win a few more Championships soon, that case will get harder to make!

If we had secured the back to back, or at least 2 'ships for the 2004 team, I would feel a lot better about the signature thing!

[deusXango]

I would love for LB (not a LB type) to return to teach the youngsters how to play "the right way," particularly BK7 but, I still hold resentments for him giving the 2005 championship to his boy Popovich...when it comes to winning "Pop" doesn't need any help. We clearly had the best team in the NBA that year!!!

I want a new coach so bad that I don't know what to do but, I read this sh!t about Mr. Frank being fired and replaced by Mike Brown, my stomach flipped! Mike Brown?! Talk about a rock and a hard place...I'll stick with Mr. Frank if that's the best we can do because I don't care for Mike Brown at all.

Why is no hell being raised for a trade, as the trade deadline draws near? We have some immediate needs that can be addressed without losing our financial stability going into the next FA summer. I'm gonna if he re-signs Maxiell, Bynum, and makes a qualifying offer to Daye with that money. Where's Sissy when you need him?

What's up with not playing English, Middleton, and Kravtsov, and why is no more noise being made by the posters on here about it? Sheesh.

[Oracle]

@Grizz - Grizz, I'm 100% in BK7's corner, but because I am, I don't want to see him have it too easy! He needs to work hard and show some significant progress by 3/4 of the season at the latest.

I think getting better coaching would be nice, but he's not stupid, he knows what he needs to do, and should figure it out.

BTW, I always back TRUE Piston players, and by true I mean a drafted player, which means born a Piston in the NBA! Until they get the opportunity they deserve, or prove they can't cut it, I back them!

Knight is a lottery pick, and deserver some leash to get it together, but I can't get behind coddling a player like Joe did Stuckey! Stuckey was accountable to no one, and that's bad!

@DX - No, I don't want LB back, that ship has sailed! I do want a LB type coach, one that has proven themselves, or shown great promise.

LB was a great coach, and a bit of a nut bag, but when you have him, he's your nut bag, lol!

[Grizz2]

I would love for LB (not a LB type) to return to teach the youngsters how to play "the right way," particularly BK7 but, I still hold resentments for him giving the 2005 championship to his boy Popovich...when it comes to winning "Pop" doesn't need any help. We clearly had the best team in the NBA that year!!!

I want a new coach so bad that I don't know what to do but, I read this sh!t about Mr. Frank being fired and replaced by Mike Brown, my stomach flipped! Mike Brown?! Talk about a rock and a hard place...I'll stick with Mr. Frank if that's the best we can do because I don't care for Mike Brown at all.

Why is no hell being raised for a trade, as the trade deadline draws near? We have some immediate needs that can be addressed without losing our financial stability going into the next FA summer. I'm gonna if he re-signs Maxiell, Bynum, and makes a qualifying offer to Daye with that money. Where's Sissy when you need him?

What's up with not playing English, Middleton, and Kravtsov, and why is no more noise being made by the posters on here about it? Sheesh.

DX .. I cannot even look at LB without getting mad ... disgusted .. he really DIDNT COACH THE RIGHT WAY in the 2005 Play-offs, did he? I hope his wife finds out about all the cheating he does on her because he certainly decided to cheat on the Pistons at the worst time possible .. All the misery he endured in the NBA after that still isnt enough payback .. SO NO WAY TO LB coming back ...

We got to the 2005 Finals despite LB, not because of him . . Billups held a team meeting and told everyone during the play-offs even if Brown didnt give a crap .. They the Team Members would work to win it for themselves and for the Pistons ..

Really Larry Brown should not have received any pay with all his backsliding ..

I will always believe we were the better team in 2005 but it wasnt by much .. but if the head coach isnt into the game .. doesnt care if we win or not .. that was all it took to sabatage the entire team ... And it wasnt JUST his attitude ..... though certainly that sucked at the time as he cheated on his wife with LBJ and Pop at dinner and in his office .... Also, What god awful moves LB made after we had the lead from the middle of the 3rd quarter onward .. !!!!!!!! Shoulda woulda coulda been a back to back championship .. EFF U LB ..

LB can never EVER look in the mirror and say he is a good coach because he effin QUIT ON and CHEATED on the Detroit Pistons of 2005 .. Demoralizing to the team and surprised they made it as far as they did dragging his worthless butt to the Finals ..

Where are you getting the story on Mike Brown replacing Frank? I really dont have an opinion on that .. Frank is so all over the place, especially at crunch time . that I wouldnt shed many tears if he were replaced by someone halfway decent .. At this point, I would not mind if Brown did replace him ..

Bynum has raised his game enough to want to keep at a reasonable 5 million or less .. Daye ... I dont know yet ... but if we do it would have to be 3 million or less a season ..

GOD we have to wait 4 more days until London games with Knicks? We will have some doozy arguments from stir-crazy by then ..

My Crazy Ideas:
(1) Start Bynum in place of Singler
(2) Start Drummond in place of Jmax

[Grizz2]

Knicks are for real. They are deep, well coached, well organized, and 2 PGs who play at the same time ..They also spread the floor by playing devastating 3-ball as well as anyone and have guys who can shoot and drive .. centered by Chandler .. Our 2nd unit is sort of a mirror image of the Knicks philosophy in that sense ... Drummond in the middle and CV, Daye, and Bynum shooting bombs away .. with Stuck and Bynum driving and kicking out to the shooters .. . Similar except the Kncks have that alpha star .... You know the guy who wasnt going to be good as Darko .. Wanted to play for the Pistons?! Too bad .. Joe said NEXT! .. Was an NCCA CHAMPION MVP? So what? The MSM grapevine did a couple stories on Darko and Joe was all ears .. And the rest is history .. We probably lost at least 2 NBA titles on that one decision ..

Would love to see our first unit mirror the Knicks even more by starting Drummond in place of Jmax ... replacing Singler with Bynum ... and putting CV/Daye in for Tayshun earlier than usual ..

I dont expect the Pistons to win even one game but .. hey they have been doing about the opposite of what we have been expecting this season . winning when you expect them to lose..... and losing when they should win ..

Looking forward to the 2 games though the time difference might make them hard to see live?

[WTF]

Sloan: Just imagine if could get Knight and Monroe playing like Stockton and Malone. No nonsense type coach just right for a young roster if Joe stays out of his way. Sloan brings immediate cred to the organization

Saunders: Contary to all the mis-belief about his coaching Flip extensive play book and patented zone defense won a lot of games in Minny and Detroit. The things Flip could do for Monroe game would be special and defensively he can hide every defensive flaw of Charlie and Daye. Only concern would be Knight learning that playbook

Cheeks: Always been a fan of Mo's never thought of him as a bad coach he just coached a group of Knuckle-heads in Philly. Former Elite NBA PG that can teach Knight how to play the right way and salvage the Stuckey Project. Problem he sits on OKC bench as an assistant.

[WTF]

It's like every time you look up Ronda has a triple double. Where is he in terms of the number of triple doubles he's accumalated in a short career so far? These things use to be rare he gets them 5 or 6 times a season it seems.

[WTF]

For Mr. Rondo

[FlyDog]

I was his biggest proponent.......just sayin. I compared him to Alvin Robertson, and was laughed off the board (GettUMadd, THA ASS CLOWN SHOW).

Who's laughin now?

And for the record, I have never compared Knight to Hunter. Stuckey to Hunter (Out of control forays to the basket resulting in a chip to the backboard).......absolutely.

[deusXango]

I was his biggest proponent.......just sayin. I compared him to Alvin Robertson, and was laughed off the board (GettUMadd, THA ASS CLOWN SHOW).

Who's laughin now?

And for the record, I have never compared Knight to Hunter. Stuckey to Hunter (Out of control forays to the basket resulting in a chip to the backboard).......absolutely.

I remember Fly, and I agreed...never cared for the favoritism shown to Hunter (Hunter started, while Houston sat; #10 and #11 picks in the draft. How could they be so different?), and then Stuckey comes along at #15 and is treated like a top 3 pick. It galls me that even to this day that people still stand behind this guy after all they've seen...can't think, poor instincts, and has never shown any pro abilities for finishing at the rim. There are high school, rec center, college, and D-league players who are better finishers than Stuckey but, some still want him to start on this team; a team that has gone down since he's been here, and it's everybodys fault but his.

Aaron Afflalo came from a superior collligate program, distinguished himself as a team player (not just an individual), and worked on his only flaw, coming into the league, his outside shot, and then we just give him away. Dumb sh!t. Not only did I not like that move but, it served to raise my expectations for Stuckey, fair or not; Afflalo represented the destruction of our team to make room for Stuckey to be the "man"...had he stayed, fans would be calling for Stuckey's head in great numbers by now. Billips wasn't traded for Iverson, as much as for making room for Stuckey to take over the reigns of the team.

[deusXango]

Sloan: Just imagine if could get Knight and Monroe playing like Stockton and Malone. No nonsense type coach just right for a young roster if Joe stays out of his way. Sloan brings immediate cred to the organization

Wise, I know you like Flip Saunders but, he's not the coach for this team, your first choice is, plus Sloan deserves a chance to finally coach a winner. Jerry Sloan wouldn't make these punk ass decisions regarding the rotation, and Knight wouldn't be playing out of control. The team would hang it's hat on defense, but they would be taught offensive schemes as well. I can only imagine what this team would look and play like with Sloan in the HC chair.

[FlyDog]

I was his biggest proponent.......just sayin. I compared him to Alvin Robertson, and was laughed off the board (GettUMadd, THA ASS CLOWN SHOW).

Who's laughin now?

And for the record, I have never compared Knight to Hunter. Stuckey to Hunter (Out of control forays to the basket resulting in a chip to the backboard).......absolutely.

I remember Fly, and I agreed...never cared for the favoritism shown to Hunter (Hunter started, while Houston sat; #10 and #11 picks in the draft. How could they be so different?), and then Stuckey comes along at #15 and is treated like a top 3 pick. It galls me that even to this day that people still stand behind this guy after all they've seen...can't think, poor instincts, and has never shown any pro abilities for finishing at the rim. There are high school, rec center, college, and D-league players who are better finishers than Stuckey but, some still want him to start on this team; a team that has gone down since he's been here, and it's everybodys fault but his.

Aaron Afflalo came from a superior collligate program, distinguished himself as a team player (not just an individual), and worked on his only flaw, coming into the league, his outside shot, and then we just give him away. Dumb sh!t. Not only did I not like that move but, it served to raise my expectations for Stuckey, fair or not; Afflalo represented the destruction of our team to make room for Stuckey to be the "man"...had he stayed, fans would be calling for Stuckey's head in great numbers by now. Billips wasn't traded for Iverson, as much as for making room for Stuckey to take over the reigns of the team.

Just Joe being Joe........kinda cute, if you like fat cuddly Jordan loving losers.......

[Murph]

After reading Murph's comments regarding Knight, I am still puzzled with Piston fans who seem to have some formula regarding the amount of time it takes to become a keeper. Knight is a kid who has had some special moments his first season as a starter playing point guard on a disfunctional team who at the time was only 19 years old. He showed me more last year than Lindsey Hunter ever did as a starter or role player for the Pistons. You cannot compare the two players. Hunter just never did have what it takes to be a impact player. Knight is an impact player and he has shown it many times as a Piston. I recall last season when the team couldn't do squat and Brandon somehow took himself to another level inspiring his team to come back and win a game when they were 18 points down. His greatest moment was when he flew through the air for a loose ball and ended up behind the Piston bench where a big can of gatorade fell on top of him. Everyone started playing harder. Not too many players can inspire others to play harder. My feeling still is that there are a lot of fans who just want to talk trash. They have some concept of what a point guard should do without taking a look at the big picture especially who the point guard on a team has for teammates and coaching staff. Frank wants Brandon to push the basketball because the offense plays too slow. How do you avoid turnovers with that combination? Now the same slow players are playing faster so the coaching staff has that idea right but it all falls on Knight to make it work. You don't do it overnight and the Pistons still need better players. They need a back up point guard or combo guard who can play great defense and pass the ball well. That player should be Collison. He is a perfect fit for this young team. Too bad we don't have Affalo because those two players made a great combination in college. Speaking of Affalo, the same stuff was being said about him. What can Affalo do? Why not package him in a give away trade. He is not a good fit with the Pistons. After all, Detroit had Hamilton and Billups at the time. No, we didn't need Stuckey but the team really needed Affalo to get more playing time. Many fans were happy when Affalo was sent packing. Today I looked at the NBA stats and noticed that Arron Affalo is listed as the 20th highest scorer in the league averaging 17.8 points a game. And Affalo's real strength is defense. Can you imagine how good this current Piston team would be if Joe Dumars had not given away Affalo to appease some ignorant fans. Be careful what you wish for Piston fans. Be thankful if Knight will agree to sign with the Pistons when his contract expires. So how old will Knight be when his contract comes up? Will he be 22 or 23 years old. But as Murph said, no we must not give Knight more than one more season to show us he belongs. That is so damn sick I want to barf. Knight is the type of player who makes everyone work harder. Remember two seasons ago when we didn't have any of those type of players. Wasn't that group of losers fun to watch? And we had a couple of former All Stars in that group. Remember how Hamilton refused to play defense and bitched out the officials. Wasn't that fun Piston fans? Maybe Dumars listened to some of you before he gave away Affalo.

After reading Don's post, I am puzzled as to wtf he's talking about.

First off, Don, get Knight's age right. He was 20 last year, he's 21 this year. Look it up.

Second, Knight showed some flashes last year, especially in the 2nd half of the season, but on whole, he did not have a great rookie year.

This year, Knight ranks 26th among PGs in the NBA in assists, 92nd among PGs in TOs, and 81st among NBA PGs in ast/to ratio. We simply need better production out of our starting PG...period.

I was never, ever a Lindsay Hunter fan. I never understood Hunter's appeal to Piston fans. He couldn't shoot and he couldn't pass. I guess he had a lot of steals. Whatever. Basically, I never got over the insane idea that Hunter was going to be Isiah's heir apparent at the PG position.

I agree that Collison would be an excellent off season acquisition. And in fact, if we did acquire Collison, I'm guessing he would probably beat out Knight as our starting PG. I'd also be in favor of signing Calderon or even taking a flyer on Machado. What's the risk in bring in Machado for a look?

I was a big Afflalo fan, and never wanted him traded. In fact, my biggest single beef with Flip Saunders was that he didn't play Afflalo and Amir enough. (BTW, has anyone noticed how well AJ has been playing for Toronto recently? He had 22 pts and 14 rbds against the Bucks last game.)

Don...name one single poster who was happy when Afflalo was given away...just one.

So how long should Knight be given the PG postion before we should expect better results? I use to have unlimited patience for a guy like Knight. (For example, I supported Stuckey as the starting PG position for 4 or 5 years.) But Sparma pointed out something a few weeks back. Sparma claimed that very few outstanding NBA PGs develop slowly (Billups being a notable exception). So I looked it up, and for the most part I found that Sparma is correct; almost all outstanding NBA PGs developed into playmakers by the time they're 22. So I'll give Knight one more season to develop. If he's still making too many mistakes next year, I think Joe should probably move in another direction.

[Sebastian]

Knicks are for real. They are deep, well coached, well organized, and 2 PGs who play at the same time ..They also spread the floor by playing devastating 3-ball as well as anyone and have guys who can shoot and drive .. centered by Chandler .. Our 2nd unit is sort of a mirror image of the Knicks philosophy in that sense ... Drummond in the middle and CV, Daye, and Bynum shooting bombs away .. with Stuck and Bynum driving and kicking out to the shooters .. . Similar except the Kncks have that alpha star .... You know the guy who wasnt going to be good as Darko .. Wanted to play for the Pistons?! Too bad .. Joe said NEXT! .. Was an NCCA CHAMPION MVP? So what? The MSM grapevine did a couple stories on Darko and Joe was all ears .. And the rest is history .. We probably lost at least 2 NBA titles on that one decision ..

Would love to see our first unit mirror the Knicks even more by starting Drummond in place of Jmax ... replacing Singler with Bynum ... and putting CV/Daye in for Tayshun earlier than usual ..

I dont expect the Pistons to win even one game but .. hey they have been doing about the opposite of what we have been expecting this season . winning when you expect them to lose..... and losing when they should win ..

Looking forward to the 2 games though the time difference might make them hard to see live?

Grizz, I think that it will only be one game played in London. Pistons actually are losing a home game, but when you think about it there probably be more Brits and Knicks fans in the arena than there would had been Pistons fans at the Palace if the game remained a "true" home game for the Pistons.

[merc]

fly... let's try this for Joe... Jordan Ass Incompetent Lover... giving JD one more chance this summer for the get outta JAIL free card.

[merc]

The game on Thursday in London is at 3:00 on NBATV.
We need to fire up the English humor... think Imma break out the Bennie Hill to set the mood.
I say ol' chap did you gander at that trey from Tay.. spot on I say.

[FlyDog]

Dont play cloy wit me.......It Amir! If me an assfollow was still 2gather, we be like the dubble dubble king!!!!!!Doin priddy good on my own thoe......new nananner seat on the schwizzin 10 speed.......and 18.5 mil in the bank, *iggas!!!!!!!! Moms says I can buy sum beef jernkey if I get anudder dubble dubble bitches!!!!!!!! Terryocki stile hoes~!!!Libbin large you pissed on kweers!!!!!!!

Aribadirchay....

Meers

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