Draft

[Sparma]

We did blow it last year, Deus. I still wish Dumars had taken MCW to shift the smallish (sans shoes) Knight to 6th man.

Not to clear on who they might take around #9 or 10. My idea would be to build a roster around Drummond. Having good young players on with good contracts (including KCP) will be important in doing so. Tyler Ennis is a name that's been brought up. He might well be there at 8. I see that one mock draft lists Rodney Hood at #10. A six eight guy who can shoot sounds like a nice addition to me. You might get a star at 8, but more likely a near star. If we're super lucky we might get into the top three. Good enough if you're building around a potential superstar. The draft allows you to work on fit, which is a huge problem now.

Joe likely won't be the one drafting this time, I think. He's had his draft successes and failures.

[deusXango]

Worse case scenario: they miss out this year on a star or near star at #9 who would have brought the roster together for years to come.

Last years draft afforded us just that opportunity in Trey Burke, but if the popular thinking is that Tom Gores supported Joe passing on Burke is true, then what'll we do this year that'll be so much different? Joe will be gone, but Gores will still own the team. Who could we get at say #8, that will have as much gate appeal as Burke?

We are caught in the proverbial "between a rock and a hard place." IMHO we need luck to smile on us one more time in the form of Julius Randle, find a GM who has the stones to trade Smith and Jennings for viable assets, and allow Monroe to determine his own fate as far as being a future Piston goes. Pursue a steady, heady, young veteran backcourt in FA, and don't try holding onto Jerebko, CV, Stuckey, Chauncey, or Bynum! Each of those players can be improved on for half the money...we need to fill out a starting lineup to play with Andre Drummond. We won 29 games last year and may be lucky to show a 5 game improvement this year....5 freakin' games better than last year??!! Say it ain't so.

I think a bench with Singler, KCP, Harrellson, and Datome ain't all that bad...smarter and plays harder than what we have now. That's my early morning rant.

[cool breeze]

Josh Smith was upset that cold winter day when Cheeks told him that he played as if he hadn't had any sleep or had been using a substance that would make you mellow. Smith was outranged by Cheeks critical tone. Billups heard it and put his arm around Smith's shoulders and told him not to listen to the mean old coach who played in an era when there was no compassion and players were treated like garbage. Billups had a talk with Mr. Cheeks and explained that you cannot communicate with modern players like that. Then if you can believe it, Cheeks pulled Byum in the first half of a game where Will was just getting warmed up. How could he take Bynum out even though Will had committed 4 turnovers within a 2 minute period of time and had driven into the lane in his usual manner ignoring his teammates. Will said something like go to hell coach I know how to run a team. My turnovers were caused by my stupid teammates you have playing with me. Now Drummond is extremely young and it is not cool for such a discussion to take place and was very upsetting for this young man because he likes Will Bynum because Will had thrown him several lob passes in previous games. So on it went and Smith cried his eyes out after being benched and didn't like the mean scowl on Cheeks face. So maybe there were several calls to Mr. Gores perhaps from Drummond who the owner wants to please above all other players. The team selected Billups to approach Gores and the rest is history. This is the type of players Joe Dumars has signed. They are cry baby men who never believe they can do any wrong and hate it if a coach does attempt to put them on the right path. How in hell can we watch them? Are we insane?

[Sparma]

Totally agree. I'm just trying to think of a way in which a big thing is less of a big thing.

Worse case scenario: they miss out this year on a star or near star at #9 who would have brought the roster together for years to come.

I suppose the real worse case scenario would be taking a step back next year and giving up the #2 pick to Charlotte. As many things as have gone wrong, I still can't see that happening. Missing out on a crucial player in this year's draft is a very real possibility though.

[WTF]

I foresee a 4-2 run at some point down the stretch that guarantees that we finish outside the bottom 8.

In a way, the damage has already been done and there's less drama down the stretch than I've been feeling.  Most likely, we looking at something like giving up a #10 this year rather than a #14 next year.  It's easier for me to take that way than by just thinking of giving up a #10 in this year's loaded draft.

Phil Jackson will end his career as a fool if he takes over the Knicks.  Their future is gloomier than ours.

Sparma I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that they manage to keep the pick this summer because keeping it mean they're picking in the top 8 this summer. But I don't think losing a potential #10 this season or a #14 next makes that much of a difference. But in my perfect world my thinking is we keep our pick this season and that next year pick fall far beyond the realm of it being a lottery selection. Otherwise this team would have to be engaged in some serious trade movement this summer to improve this roster.

[WTF]

"Keep in mind Pop is speaking of the in game approach. I can't prove it, but I imagine GP and staff have a way of preparing their troops much better than many others. Over the years they have succeeded with too many young guys and guys who have established themselves elsewhere." - Lemonpen

That's a critical point, and you expect that after you've prepared the players and trained them, once they're on the floor, they need to perform!

What happens with POP is that if you can't get it together during game time, you'll almost never see the floor again for quite some time.

Cheeks didn't have the luxury to do that, but I do believe he was beginning to make measurable progress! Shame on Chauncey if he hastened his departure!

Oracle I don't believe Chauncey knowingly would have done that although I can see that he would have stood up for Josh and how Cheeks was handling him. Just based on Chauncey's message to the team speaks more about the effort they've shown not a indication that its coaching from either Cheeks or Loyer.

What makes it work with the Spurs is character and accountability throughout their organization something that we no longer have. You're right about Pop because he has no problem sitting any of his players and that includes Duncan if need be. The one thing I've always said about Pop and LB as well is that neither were coaching genius but demanded there respective teams to play the right way all the time. LB was another one of those coaches that wouldn't have an issue with yanking players.

I don't think its a PG on our roster LB would be playing, he likely would be using Singler to run the offense before handing the ball over to Jennings, Bynum or Stuckey.

[Sparma]

I foresee a 4-2 run at some point down the stretch that guarantees that we finish outside the bottom 8.

In a way, the damage has already been done and there's less drama down the stretch than I've been feeling. Most likely, we looking at something like giving up a #10 this year rather than a #14 next year. It's easier for me to take that way than by just thinking of giving up a #10 in this year's loaded draft.

Phil Jackson will end his career as a fool if he takes over the Knicks. Their future is gloomier than ours.

[Fennis Dembo]

I swear this is a replay of the first half of the game against Houston.

[Oracle]

"Keep in mind Pop is speaking of the in game approach. I can't prove it, but I imagine GP and staff have a way of preparing their troops much better than many others. Over the years they have succeeded with too many young guys and guys who have established themselves elsewhere." - Lemonpen

That's a critical point, and you expect that after you've prepared the players and trained them, once they're on the floor, they need to perform!

What happens with POP is that if you can't get it together during game time, you'll almost never see the floor again for quite some time.

Cheeks didn't have the luxury to do that, but I do believe he was beginning to make measurable progress! Shame on Chauncey if he hastened his departure!

[lemonpen]

“If they’re holding the ball, they’re holding the ball. I certainly didn’t tell them to hold the ball. Just like, if they make five in a row, I didn’t do that. If they get a great rebound, I didn’t do that. It’s a players’ game and they’ve got to perform. The better you can get that across, the more they take over and the more smoothly it runs.

lemonpen, this is exactly why I never bashed Cheeks because I know he didn't coach this clowns to do the dumb **** they did and still do every night on the floor.  Cheeks isn't dumb he played the game before, won a title, and was a premier defender, a top PG of his time so he knows the game.  Played for the great Billy Cunningham, and study under LB so he knew what was needed but yeah the players have to own the **** they do on the court.

I'm sure Cheeks was teaching them how to box out, how to defend, what to do on offense, I can recall at least 4 to 5 times Cheeks commented on Monroe improve his mid range to help open up the offense, or Andre protecting the rim.  Coaches are only as good as the players around him.  Pop is correct that more times than not players decide games not coaches, no matter what play he calls or what player he sends in a game it still on the players to execute it.

Keep in mind Pop is speaking of the in game approach. I can't prove it, but I imagine GP and staff have a way of preparing their troops much better than many others. Over the years they have succeeded with too many young guys and guys who have established themselves elsewhere.

[WTF]

“If they’re holding the ball, they’re holding the ball. I certainly didn’t tell them to hold the ball. Just like, if they make five in a row, I didn’t do that. If they get a great rebound, I didn’t do that. It’s a players’ game and they’ve got to perform. The better you can get that across, the more they take over and the more smoothly it runs.

lemonpen, this is exactly why I never bashed Cheeks because I know he didn't coach this clowns to do the dumb **** they did and still do every night on the floor. Cheeks isn't dumb he played the game before, won a title, and was a premier defender, a top PG of his time so he knows the game. Played for the great Billy Cunningham, and study under LB so he knew what was needed but yeah the players have to own the **** they do on the court.

I'm sure Cheeks was teaching them how to box out, how to defend, what to do on offense, I can recall at least 4 to 5 times Cheeks commented on Monroe improve his mid range to help open up the offense, or Andre protecting the rim. Coaches are only as good as the players around him. Pop is correct that more times than not players decide games not coaches, no matter what play he calls or what player he sends in a game it still on the players to execute it.

[WTF]

It only gets worse because most of today's players only care about their money and tweeting status. When you have players in the league like Charlie V sitting on the end of the bench making almost 9 million it say's a lot about the mentality of guys playing in the league. Charlie doesn't give a **** because he'll likely be making 2 million a season doing the same thing on someone else bench (likely some contender) next season and in the big scheme of things that's still better than the average 9 to 5 grind. His ass will end up getting a championship ring riding the coat tail of some superstar.

These players don't want to lead, they're to freaking friendly to one another to be competitive to even hate losing. The only time they care is when their image is taking a hit from the media. You would think the Barkley comments would have lit a fire in our team but sadly it didn't. "However" if it was our local media lighten into them on a regular basis, and fans lighting into their asses on game day in the stands things might be different. There use to be a time a fans you could sit and hold up a sign at a game they would read "a player sucks" or wear bags over your head. Well the league and teams made sure that doesn't happen anymore. I think if the media was blasting Monroe for his effort every night and his jump shot or blasting Charlie ass for getting free money or blasting Joe for letting this happen things would have changed a long time ago.

Competition is no longer real it's all staged and made up. Things use to be real no that long ago (80's) when you knew a player didn't like another player, when a team didn't like another team, and the competition were real. Everybody hated Lamb and Rick and you knew it, Zeke wanted to beat Magic and Bird, Bird hated the whole team, Magic and Bird wanted to beat each other, MJ wanted to beat the Pistons. There were real rivalries in the league especially in the East because everybody played for the same thing (A championship) Watching KD and Lebon is like watching a catholic service on a Saturday morning compare to Magic and Bird vying for MVP.

DAMN I MISS THE 80's

[lemonpen]

An interview with Popovich.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich explains how he gets players to buy into his system

excerpt:
Q. How do you get players to take ownership of the offense? Is it a confidence thing?

Popovich: “That’s a good question. A lot depends on the competitiveness and the character of the player. Often times, I’ll appeal to that. Like, I can’t make every decision for you. I don’t have 14 timeouts. You guys got to get together and talk. You guys might see a mismatch that I don’t see. You guys need to communicate constantly — talk, talk, talk to each other about what’s going on on the court.

“I think that communication thing really helps them. It engenders a feeling that they can actually be in charge. I think competitive character people don’t want to be manipulated constantly to do what one individual wants them to do. It’s a great feeling when players get together and do things as a group. Whatever can be done to empower those people …

“Sometimes in timeouts I’ll say, ‘I’ve got nothing for you. What do you want me to do? We just turned it over six times. Everybody’s holding the ball. What else do you want me to do here? Figure it out.’ And I’ll get up and walk away. Because it’s true. There’s nothing else I can do for them. I can give them some bulls—, and act like I’m a coach or something, but it’s on them.

“If they’re holding the ball, they’re holding the ball. I certainly didn’t tell them to hold the ball. Just like, if they make five in a row, I didn’t do that. If they get a great rebound, I didn’t do that. It’s a players’ game and they’ve got to perform. The better you can get that across, the more they take over and the more smoothly it runs.

“Then you interject here or there. You call a play during the game at some point or make a substitution, that kind of thing that helps the team win. But they basically have to take charge or you never get to the top of the mountain.”

[WTF]

It's a message from Chauncey, and before I read the article, my opinion was that the only message I wanted from Chauncey was the date & location of the retirement party!

How wrong I was, because he dishes the REAL dirt on these Pistons and diplomatically calls them out for the losers they behaving as!

“It’s tough to be confident when you haven’t played well. People don’t feel sorry for you in this league. If they can beat you, they beat you. … I just feel like losing doesn’t hurt to most of our guys. It just doesn’t hurt. People don’t take it personal. And if you don’t, people are going to beat you every night. Because everybody needs a win in this league. No matter if you’re on a winning streak or a losing streak, everybody wants and needs a win. If it just doesn’t hurt, then it’s going to keep happening.” - A Message from Chauncey

I totally agree with that statement! I do think that Bynum is bad for the team, but you'll never catch me saying that Will doesn't care, or that losing doesn't hurt him! He gives his all, it's just not what we need, but his heart is in the right place... unfortunately I can't say the same for some of the others!

Read the article, trust me, there is so much more!

Finally, a small apology to Mo Cheeks: I still don't think he was a great coach, but it's become very clear what he was dealing with.

Still, Cheeks was turning the corner when he was canned, and Loyer's initial success was due to Cheeks influence still being there!

I can't prove it, but if making the playoffs  was the real goal, Cheeks may have been the best shot at it!

Oracle this is exactly what both Don and I been eluding too all season about these players. I think the two biggest culprits of Chauncey statement are Jennings, and Monroe but especially Monroe which is why I scream often for the team to trade his ass and not resign him this summer.

When I kept saying "How much does Cheek have to Dummy Down his schemes" it was for the very reason that Chauncey is stating and he's being very kind about it. You would think at some point in seeing first hand what works and doesn't work that this team would have improved.

Monroe is a lazy fu@k on both ends and it has noting to do with a coaches scheme but everything to do with the effort he shows game to game and it adversely affect the whole team and has greater impact on the outcome of games than most care to acknowledge. Monroe has neither the Will nor Heart to improve his mid-range, play better defense or move his lazy ass on offense.

Jennings not only lacks the Will and Heart but lack the necessary brain function to be a decent PG and as Barkley stated he will never get it. I don't think Charles was isolating his comments on Josh because it starts at that PG position and ends at that PF position. Both Josh and KCP were victims of an inept PG and a lazy ass PF.

If there is one player on the team that signifies Will and Heart it has been both Bynum and Josh who unfortunately can't get out of the way of bad decisions that would generally be ignore if it wasn't for the collective effort of the team being worth ****!. Josh is the only player on the team that plays hard, gets angry, and wants to win games. I'm always bringing up Sheed when I talk about Josh because we all have seen Sheed personally shoot us out games and never complained but Josh seem to get unfairly blasted and I haven't seen him one time shoot us out of game regardless to how **** he shots at time.

[Sebastian]

It's a message from Chauncey, and before I read the article, my opinion was that the only message I wanted from Chauncey was the date & location of the retirement party!

How wrong I was, because he dishes the REAL dirt on these Pistons and diplomatically calls them out for the losers they behaving as!

“It’s tough to be confident when you haven’t played well. People don’t feel sorry for you in this league. If they can beat you, they beat you. … I just feel like losing doesn’t hurt to most of our guys. It just doesn’t hurt. People don’t take it personal. And if you don’t, people are going to beat you every night. Because everybody needs a win in this league. No matter if you’re on a winning streak or a losing streak, everybody wants and needs a win. If it just doesn’t hurt, then it’s going to keep happening.” - A Message from Chauncey

I totally agree with that statement! I do think that Bynum is bad for the team, but you'll never catch me saying that Will doesn't care, or that losing doesn't hurt him! He gives his all, it's just not what we need, but his heart is in the right place... unfortunately I can't say the same for some of the others!

Read the article, trust me, there is so much more!

Finally, a small apology to Mo Cheeks: I still don't think he was a great coach, but it's become very clear what he was dealing with.

Still, Cheeks was turning the corner when he was canned, and Loyer's initial success was due to Cheeks influence still being there!

I can't prove it, but if making the playoffs  was the real goal, Cheeks may have been the best shot at it!

One of the players who doesn't feel much pain from losing is Rodney Stuckey. But he really worked hard to prepare himself this year because this year is contract year. I think he thought it would not be difficult to turn into a real player and perhaps believed that Detroit was a lock to make the playoffs which would mean he could be sitting pretty this summer in negotiations. But Rodney still has his concentration problems and has never looked as if anything gets him down such as being on a losing team. I don't want to pick on Stuckey and believe he is a really nice man off the court and on the court. But he doesn't have what Billups was talking about. And Joe Dumars has no clue how to find players who hate losing. Usually players who give up their bodies on defense are the guys who hate losing if that is any clue for Joe. And Oracle you are right about Bynum. He tries really hard for sure but just has too many flaws to help this team. Again, lack of the ability to defend if you are a guard will prevent a team from being successful. When you have three guards who cannot defend and two who are small you are in big trouble. Joe Dumars never thought of that so that tells me the owner needs a wake up call.

cool, I will have to agree, the losing has adversely effected my boy, Stuckey. All of the poor coaching and roster assortments have adversely impacted the career of one, Rodney Norvell Stuckey. It is a damn shame what Stuckey has had to endure over these failed seven years.   

[cool breeze]

It's a message from Chauncey, and before I read the article, my opinion was that the only message I wanted from Chauncey was the date & location of the retirement party!

How wrong I was, because he dishes the REAL dirt on these Pistons and diplomatically calls them out for the losers they behaving as!

“It’s tough to be confident when you haven’t played well. People don’t feel sorry for you in this league. If they can beat you, they beat you. … I just feel like losing doesn’t hurt to most of our guys. It just doesn’t hurt. People don’t take it personal. And if you don’t, people are going to beat you every night. Because everybody needs a win in this league. No matter if you’re on a winning streak or a losing streak, everybody wants and needs a win. If it just doesn’t hurt, then it’s going to keep happening.” - A Message from Chauncey

I totally agree with that statement! I do think that Bynum is bad for the team, but you'll never catch me saying that Will doesn't care, or that losing doesn't hurt him! He gives his all, it's just not what we need, but his heart is in the right place... unfortunately I can't say the same for some of the others!

Read the article, trust me, there is so much more!

Finally, a small apology to Mo Cheeks: I still don't think he was a great coach, but it's become very clear what he was dealing with.

Still, Cheeks was turning the corner when he was canned, and Loyer's initial success was due to Cheeks influence still being there!

I can't prove it, but if making the playoffs  was the real goal, Cheeks may have been the best shot at it!

One of the players who doesn't feel much pain from losing is Rodney Stuckey. But he really worked hard to prepare himself this year because this year is contract year. I think he thought it would not be difficult to turn into a real player and perhaps believed that Detroit was a lock to make the playoffs which would mean he could be sitting pretty this summer in negotiations. But Rodney still has his concentration problems and has never looked as if anything gets him down such as being on a losing team. I don't want to pick on Stuckey and believe he is a really nice man off the court and on the court. But he doesn't have what Billups was talking about. And Joe Dumars has no clue how to find players who hate losing. Usually players who give up their bodies on defense are the guys who hate losing if that is any clue for Joe. And Oracle you are right about Bynum. He tries really hard for sure but just has too many flaws to help this team. Again, lack of the ability to defend if you are a guard will prevent a team from being successful. When you have three guards who cannot defend and two who are small you are in big trouble. Joe Dumars never thought of that so that tells me the owner needs a wake up call.

[Oracle]

Why are we trying to win games again   

To tank or not to tank, if anyone on this team even thinks about tanking then I want them off this team, when you go out on that court you go to win with any team your on, to tank is a losers mentality. You play your best & let the chips fall where they may.
Besides this team has no clue on how to win let alone on how to tank, their not good enough to even fathom that thought.

I totally agree Sissy, and that goes for all of the players, they should never submit to that kind of thinking.

However, management and coaching should and do factor into tanking, and that's what everybody is talking about.

The coach may get a mandate to play rookies & youngsters, essentially guaranteeing a loss. That level of tanking comes from above, and is the only appropriate way of tanking, IMO!

[Oracle]

It's a message from Chauncey, and before I read the article, my opinion was that the only message I wanted from Chauncey was the date & location of the retirement party!

How wrong I was, because he dishes the REAL dirt on these Pistons and diplomatically calls them out for the losers they behaving as!

“It’s tough to be confident when you haven’t played well. People don’t feel sorry for you in this league. If they can beat you, they beat you. … I just feel like losing doesn’t hurt to most of our guys. It just doesn’t hurt. People don’t take it personal. And if you don’t, people are going to beat you every night. Because everybody needs a win in this league. No matter if you’re on a winning streak or a losing streak, everybody wants and needs a win. If it just doesn’t hurt, then it’s going to keep happening.” - A Message from Chauncey

I totally agree with that statement! I do think that Bynum is bad for the team, but you'll never catch me saying that Will doesn't care, or that losing doesn't hurt him! He gives his all, it's just not what we need, but his heart is in the right place... unfortunately I can't say the same for some of the others!

Read the article, trust me, there is so much more!

Finally, a small apology to Mo Cheeks: I still don't think he was a great coach, but it's become very clear what he was dealing with.

Still, Cheeks was turning the corner when he was canned, and Loyer's initial success was due to Cheeks influence still being there!

I can't prove it, but if making the playoffs  was the real goal, Cheeks may have been the best shot at it!

[Sebastian]

This years edition of the Detroit Pistons is a sad snapshot representation of what Joe Dumars decision making has been about for the last 10 years!! It started with #1, not drafting the best college player in AMERICA, and going downhill from there, until last years draft when he again passed on the NCAA's POY, in favor of an inferior player. The damnedest thing is he sold it on the general public, as the thing to do, and great numbers brought into it.

There's no team in the NBA that Ben Wallace meant more to than the Pistons (for marketing value if nothing else), and no team should have outbid us for his services, at the time Chicago signed him; Big Ben was pictured to be "greedy" by the local Dumars controlled media, but it was never mentioned that the stellar play by Wallace was done on a contract that paid him a small fraction of his worth to the Pistons. Joe could have made a case to Mr. Davidson to keep Wallace, but didn't. Who remembers the dismantling done to the team, all in the name of preparing to pay Wallace's contract? Lost Okur, lost Corliss, lost Mike James, all these subtractions were integral to our championship of 2004.

What was Joe thinking when he traded Chauncey away? What was he thinking when he brought him back 5 years and 3 surgeries later? Trades? Why break up an All-Star backcourt (without a solid plan in place) when we had Rasheed, Tayshaun, and Antonio to trade for an upgrade in our interior? Wasn't our backcourt of Billups, Hamilton, Stuckey, and Afflalo sufficient enough to have avoided Iverson and Gordon? Centers and PG's are essential to winning championships and our GM allowed two of the best get away from us within a few years.

Was Flip Saunders the best coaching hire Joe could have made? The team was so solid at the time, a 12 year old could have coached them into the ECF's. Was it the result of a nervous breakdown that Joe tapped Curry to coach this team? Who in the state of Michigan, and in their right mind, would have given Michael Curry a chance to coach the Pistons before Bill Laimbeer? No one wants Laimbeer, but how did those winners Joe brought in work out? Curry, Kuester, and Lil' Larry were more favorable choices than our own? How about this sh!t? Mo Cheeks was a much sounder choice than Lionel Hollins, or George Karl? I'm keeping in mind that Joe's job is on the line, and we need a proven playoff coach in the head chair...seems like he just didn't give a f#ck!!!

So there's no place for Isiah, or Laimbeer, or Mahorn in any administrative capacity in the Pistons organization, huh? Joe Dumars was the best fit of all the Pistons to lead this organization? I'm going to throw Isiah Thomas's name out there, regardless of what he did or didn't do in New York...I remember what he did in Toronto! Damon Stoudamire, Vince Carter (draft day trade for Antoine Jamison), Tracy McGrady, to name a few that Joe Dumars has yet to come close drafting that caliber of talent. Andre Drummond? Rodney Stuckey is Joe's pride and joy, and claim to fame as a draft pick, remember?

Yo, DX, I am down with Zeke becoming the GM, too. Hell it was my money, I would hire Zeke as the GM and get this, ask Joe to become the Head Coach, not as a form of punishment, but call me crazy, I actually think it is time for Joe to take a stab as the Head Coach of OUR Detroit Pistons. I think that together, the two can bring the music back to Motown.

[deusXango]

This years edition of the Detroit Pistons is a sad snapshot representation of what Joe Dumars decision making has been about for the last 10 years!! It started with #1, not drafting the best college player in AMERICA, and going downhill from there, until last years draft when he again passed on the NCAA's POY, in favor of an inferior player. The damnedest thing is he sold it on the general public, as the thing to do, and great numbers brought into it.

There's no team in the NBA that Ben Wallace meant more to than the Pistons (for marketing value if nothing else), and no team should have outbid us for his services, at the time Chicago signed him; Big Ben was pictured to be "greedy" by the local Dumars controlled media, but it was never mentioned that the stellar play by Wallace was done on a contract that paid him a small fraction of his worth to the Pistons. Joe could have made a case to Mr. Davidson to keep Wallace, but didn't. Who remembers the dismantling done to the team, all in the name of preparing to pay Wallace's contract? Lost Okur, lost Corliss, lost Mike James, all these subtractions were integral to our championship of 2004.

What was Joe thinking when he traded Chauncey away? What was he thinking when he brought him back 5 years and 3 surgeries later? Trades? Why break up an All-Star backcourt (without a solid plan in place) when we had Rasheed, Tayshaun, and Antonio to trade for an upgrade in our interior? Wasn't our backcourt of Billups, Hamilton, Stuckey, and Afflalo sufficient enough to have avoided Iverson and Gordon? Centers and PG's are essential to winning championships and our GM allowed two of the best get away from us within a few years.

Was Flip Saunders the best coaching hire Joe could have made? The team was so solid at the time, a 12 year old could have coached them into the ECF's. Was it the result of a nervous breakdown that Joe tapped Curry to coach this team? Who in the state of Michigan, and in their right mind, would have given Michael Curry a chance to coach the Pistons before Bill Laimbeer? No one wants Laimbeer, but how did those winners Joe brought in work out? Curry, Kuester, and Lil' Larry were more favorable choices than our own? How about this sh!t? Mo Cheeks was a much sounder choice than Lionel Hollins, or George Karl? I'm keeping in mind that Joe's job is on the line, and we need a proven playoff coach in the head chair...seems like he just didn't give a f#ck!!!

So there's no place for Isiah, or Laimbeer, or Mahorn in any administrative capacity in the Pistons organization, huh? Joe Dumars was the best fit of all the Pistons to lead this organization? I'm going to throw Isiah Thomas's name out there, regardless of what he did or didn't do in New York...I remember what he did in Toronto! Damon Stoudamire, Vince Carter (draft day trade for Antoine Jamison), Tracy McGrady, to name a few that Joe Dumars has yet to come close drafting that caliber of talent. Andre Drummond? Rodney Stuckey is Joe's pride and joy, and claim to fame as a draft pick, remember?

[Sebastian]

OUR Pistons ain't sh!t! Can you all believe that on March 5, five weeks before the regular season ends that OUR lost to the Bulls, clinched a playoff berth for the Pacers?

The Pacers, who took an "L", last night to the "former/future Hornets" in Charlotte, while WE took OUR 20th "L" (14-20) at the Palace. While OUR Pistons are currently outside of the 8th pick of this year's draft; in serious jeopardy of losing this season's pick to the "former/future Hornets" who may still make the playoffs.

The next GM is going to have to be a f@ckin' genie to correct this roster.

Damn you Joe, Gores, and the 2013-2014 Detroit Pistons!

[cool breeze]

In comes Bynum & Stuckey and POOF there goes our lead!!!

Oracle thanks for this post. No need for me to watch the 2nd half. Different game but same nonsense. At least cheeks knew better but it is clear that Joe Dumars wants to see this combination of Stuckey and Bynum more. He loves it and Mr. Gores must enjoy those two players as well. There is no other explanation because there can't be any coach who would be that dumb to play those two players together so many times for that many minutes without screaming ENOUGH! Is Loyer saying PLEASE FIRE ME Joe. In the end it will be Loyer who will get the blame so he must be an idiot to not do the right thing for this team and place both Bynum and Stuckey at the end of the bench for the rest of the season.

[cool breeze]

Is that what coach Loyer is looking for to change things up when his starters go to the bench? Bring in two guards who destroy all team chemistry by not running any offense and failing to guard opposing guards properly? Great job coaches you just might secure  that 1st round draft pick after all. 

I really think that Jennings is starting to understand that it is not a cool thing to drive into the lane constantly with no thought in mind other than launching up a low percentage shot among the big men. I noticed that the always clever Henrich gave Jennings the outside lane on every possession baiting him to make that silly drive. But to Jennings credit he didn't do it and instead reversed the basketball getting his teammates involved in the offense. Sure enough we saw player move without the basketball and look like a real professional team. And Jennings was playing smarter on the defensive end. I haven't watched the second half yet but can't help but think that Jennings is at least trying to change away from the ignorant street ball approach to running a team. 

However, the same is not true for our two guards, Bynum and Stuckey who came in and our Pistons quickly gave up a nice lead. But it wasn't the fact that our Pistons went to the locker room behind again that is important. It is the way Stuckey and Bynum destroyed the rhythm of the offense that got me again. And for sure this coach has no idea that those two players are dangerous chemistry killers. The fact that no matter what happens he doesn't make a change and keeps them in together regardless of how many turnovers take place or how many times those two players fail to guard their man. I watched both Bynum and Stuckey make a half hearted attempts to get around the high screen and allow Henrich to get off outside shots. There is no anticipation or court awareness or basic effort visible when watching those two players play defense. Maybe Stuckey and Bynum played better in the 2nd half but I had seen enough and am tired of watching lame basketball. There were several good college games on and those games were more enjoyable to watch. If Detroit's upper management doesn't get it together, I believe that many more Piston fans will be switching to the college game because those college players play with purpose and high intensity and play smarter than some of our Piston players. If only the coaching staff would place Bynum and Stuckey on the bench or at least limit their playing time, this team could be more enjoyable to watch. I can only hope for change next season. It seems always to be the same thing for Piston fans as we wait and hope for the next season to be different. But as long as we have guards who are more dysfunctional than than opposing guards, the result will be the same. The goal for any coaching staff should be that when you make substitutions you want your team to play with the same defensive intensity and have a similar rhythm. Good job by the Chicago coaching staff to recognize Detroit's defects and employ a winning game plan. I love the way Chicago baits players like Bynum and Stuckey and suckers them into doing what they want them to do. only Jennings knew what was going on at least in the first half of that game. Bynum and Stuckey never had a clue. And Detroit's coaching staff was AWOL as well. 

One final thought really gets me. Why did Joe Dumars pass so many times on Kurt Henrich? He was available as a free agent several times during his career but never seemed to be good enough in Joe's mind to play for the Detroit Pistons. This team is a reflection of Joe Dumars and his inability to understand what kind of players make teams successful.

[WTF]

 

[Phil-Good]

I give the Pistons credit. They played 3 really solid quarters. But when that 4th quarter started Detroit crumbled to the pressure of A real NBA team, that runs real NBA plays in the half court game, and plays real NBA defense.

If I'm Melo Anthony, it's no way you can keep me off this Chicago Bulls team next year. And If Chicago can get 1 more good player to come along with Melo that's A championship team.


Noah, Melo, D.Rose, Snail, J.Butler, T.Gibson, and 1 more good player.

But One thing is for sure. If you going to play for that coach in Chicago, you going to commit to playing Defense 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th!

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