Don on Cheeks

[Oracle]

I agree, even for those of us that felt that Cheeks should be fired, the timing was really bad and somewhat stupid, especially because the team was beginning to respond.

I made my apologies to Cheeks, but here are a few things I noticed.

1. It was only under Cheeks that I thought that this team was just a win streak away from doing something good and making the playoffs.

2. Josh Smith actually looked good under Cheeks. He has some of his greatest success with Cheeks and down the toilet since then. That can't be by accident!

3. Bynum was finally moving to the role he filled best... sitting on the bench, under Cheeks, and we were starting to win some games.

4. Jennings was finally at the beginning of learning what a true PG is supposed to be. It was going to take the rest of the season to get him right, but firing Cheeks has totally derailed that effort, and unless they can move him, will likely hurt the future of this team for no good reason.

Make no mistake about it, this was Gores all the way! I know Joe has the firing coach rep, but Gores is idiot #1 right out of the box!

Gores, the bully, picked on the one guy he could easily scapegoat and promptly threw him under the bus, likely just to get at the one he really was sick of in Joe, but couldn't fire for political reasons.

Sure Cheeks was the initial victim, but in doing that, Gores also inflicted a mortal wound in this teams season and likely beyond... SAD!!!

[cool breeze]

After reading the article today relating to Brandon Jennings and his relationship with Mo Cheeks I can't help but get a little pissed off about the timing of his firing. There was no valid reason to fire Cheeks. I think Cheeks had the right idea that he his main focus had to be on Brandon Jennings. Dumars and the owner decided on making that stupid trade involving Middleton and Knight for Jennings not Cheeks. Cheeks noticed in training camp that this team was in big trouble because of their lack of competent point guards. Joe stocked the team with shooting guards. Bynum is no point guard. Jennings is a shooting guard. Plus they are both small horrible defenders. If I were the head coach, that fact would keep me up at night. Not Joe or Mr. Gores though they thought they had pulled off something really great with those two players running the team. Cheeks decided he had to spent a great deal of his time trying to improve Jennings. Jennings was receptive of what Cheeks was trying to do. What if Cheeks had not been fired? How good would Jennings be today if that hadn't happened? No good came out of the firing but the owner is proud of what he did. The new coach now had a new plan maybe created by Mr. Gores himself. Gores must be in love with Bynum. Must be coach Cheeks was fired because he had enough of Bynum and knew the future was not going to be with him running things. Gores thinks otherwise and this might be the most important thing we can get out of this whole mess about the firing. Gores must think that next season Bynum will be a top flight point guard and get the Pistons into the playoffs. No Mr. Gores, Bynum only looks good at times because the opposition has decided to let Bynum do what he does. He can easily be stopped in his tracks if the opposition decides to create a defense to force him to dribble around and eat up the shot clock. Opposing teams like it when Bynum is running things. Great job Mr. Gores.

[cool breeze]

As I see it, at this moment the Pistons are a rudderless ship with no Captain. Joe Dumars expects to be fired. That means he is doing nothing relating to having a plan to improve this franchise. 

A smart GM or owner should be doing one thing right now relating to who plays the rest of the games. If I were the owner and had no GM, I would step in before this important game tonight and advise the head coach that now is the time for the rookies to play. If the owner wants to find out if the rookies have any potential to become real NBA players, this this is the moment to allow them to play most of the remaining minutes. The games are meaningless to everyone and there is everything to gain by losing. There is also everything to gain by playing Siva and the rest of the rookies. 

Who will step in and lead? We read about the Bad Boys and their coach who insisted on people at the top making a change relating to Dantley for the good of the team. This is a different era in basketball management with the Pistons which reminds me of how college administrators have screwed up the functioning of universities. It is all about the behind the scenes administrators who do no work and make all the decisions that are always wrong because the administrators have never done any real work. Our Piston owner is removed and the people he has hired are not competent. That is why we will see the same players play in this game tonight. Great job coach. Bring in Bynum and Stuckey to win this game tonight. Play all the regulars and win a game that no fan wants you to win. Celebrate in the locker room players and act like you are as good as the Bad Boys. We fans would celebrate even in a loss if management did the right thing for once and played the young players to find out if they are capable of playing in the NBA.

[WTF]

Yeah nothing like bashing on the Pistons but I'm going to talk Tigers and Lions for a moment.   

I'll start with the Tigers by saying as I sits and watch Mike and Mike and looking at the side scrolling rankings of MLB players by positions I'm amazed at the number of top ranking players we have on the team at various position or even the same positions in a few cases. It's no surprise here that this team was voted Top 5 in MLB and projected to win a World Series only behind the Cardinals. This team has Star appeal, man it has three 20 win pitchers in it's rotation that alone speaks of a team well above a .500 record and playoff bound.

Now to my Favorite Detroit Team......My Lions!!!!!    I'm going to take this time to focus on the coach Mr. Jim Caldwell and the impression and vibe I'm getting. I like this man from the time they interviewed him for the position of Head Coach and been impressed with each interview he's done since being hired. The man speaks in a definitive manner and it's not much guess work in his message because it's clearly spoken, direct and to its point. You can tell he has a plan, and that he knows how he's going to execute it, and that he doesn't just believe it will work he knows it's going to work. I can't think of one coach other than Bobby Ross that was no nonsense and actually had a game plan. I'm back on the Bandwagon ready to Roar for another season. This team is loaded with talent and star appeal and I think the new coach is the thing that will get them over the top.

The Pistons need to take a good hard look at both of these teams and take note on how they've done things past, present and future. Both these teams draft well, trade well, and work free agency well consistently. No they're not perfect but they don't stink at it like the Pistons have the past 8 or 9 seasons. When they draft bad it doesn't impact or kill what they have in pace, they're no holding on to players not performing to standards. Pistons will fu@k up a draft pick and hoold on to a piece sh!t and resign it over and over. The best thing for this team is at season end Joe will be going and that whole front office needs to be revamped and the roster reshaped.

[Oracle]

While I'm fresh out of lucky charms, please allow me to make a suggestion for those two special people you mentioned.

While the VR headset and smart watches are no brainers and a wise gift I might add, my suggestion for the other items, while not conventional, just might be what the doctor(or Arnie) would order for those two! Here it is...

First, the magic 8 ball is perfect, but only works when combined with the 4 leaf clover, which we provide as a cooling salve that the user rubs on their anus, not Uranus! I only mention that because during this exercise, it's best to stay clear of these dudes.

Then while they work the magic 8 ball, they also work the genuine 4 leaf clover salve with our top quality smart dildo for maximum mojo effect!

Following this procedure twice a week is sure to help them make wise draft and FA choices in the future.

And if it doesn't, the worst thing you'll have is two executives with permanent smiles on their faces... not bad considering the performance of this franchise in recent years!

[Fennis Dembo]

I'd like to order a virtual headset and smart watch for Dumars and Gores. They really, really need them. Do you have any good luck charms and four leaf clovers for sale? If not the Magic Eight Ball could be helpful to their future decision making. It couldn't be any worse than the decisions they have made lately.

[Oracle]

Watching the Cavs game against Toronto!

They pulled it out, but it was close down the stretch as they looked like the Pistons, finding new ways to scare the crap out of you, but they WON!!!

Hopefully they can do the same job on us, and they better get some cooperation from Loyer!

[Oracle]

I'm releasing my latest Smart Watch technology for only 35 bucks!

[Oracle]

I'm introducing, for the low price of 25 cents, my new high tech virtual reality headset!



Happy Losing!!!

[Oracle]

@Wise - You're spot on about KCP! The decision was, to be generous, baffling! Joe knew we needed a PG, he said as much! He interviewed MCW and talked about how he could work together with Knight!

MCW might have gone earlier, but it appeared that MCW was the pick, because there appeared at that time, no way Burke would be there for the picking!

Shocker, BOTH Burke & MCW were there, and while most fans wanted Burke, I can't imagine anyone being too down if MCW was the pick(except Don).

Then Joe pulls KCP out of his ass, and the rest is history.... stunningly stupid! I won't go into the psychology of Joe wanting a poor man's AI guard in Jennings, I guess he never got over those AI jock sniffing fumes!

On the coach: If it's Izzo, Gores man crush, I wouldn't worry, he'll be given everything he wants to succeed... that won't be a problem!

@Sparma - Please keep that under your hat! There are a lot of folks on this board that will say it's all the players, the coach has little or no effect! We know better, but we have to keep quiet so as to not frighten uninformed minds

BTW, I'm glad for Daye getting a chance to shine. Let's see if he can help them in the playoffs!

@Don - Yes Don, it's baked in to the management, and that's why Joe has to go!

@Gores - Please fire that dumb ass Loyer! How in the hell does he try to win games? For what? Ok, show that you can kick ass & take names in the 1st half, but you better tank in the 2nd!

And this is coming from one of the DX hated fans that doesn't believe in tanking... NORMALLY! But this isn't a normal season, the future of the franchise will be negatively affected if we have to turn over that pick!

Loyer should know and understand this fact, and to do what he did is close to treason! Screw it, kick his ass THEN fire him!!!

[WTF]

I'm not against it or any other coach really being hired. The problem will be if he's allowed to coach without the restraints of political bullshit. Is he coaching contracts or will he be allow to coach players because there is a big difference.

[WTF]

1. I really don't care how much the NCAA makes though I strongly advocate the paying of student athletes beyond a free education. Yes they're clocking Billions yearly and spending millions but I believe in all my heart that there has to be a reasonable and effective way to get this done. I believe an across the board amount is possible.

2. I have no issues with the NBA adopting a 2 year requirement of college or increasing the age requirements, so I say the hell with the dumb ass argument if a player can be drafted into war that they should have the right to enter the NBA, yet they still are required to be 21 to drink. Money makes us argue some dumb ****. The NBA owners have every right to determine who's eligible to participate in their league and set whatever rules they want.

3. Anyone that's thinking sports in general especially in basketball hasn't decline greatly in skills and fundamental are insane. I think in the NBA efforts to create more revenue by expanding the league teams from 26 to 32 they forgot about maintaining the quality of the product. There was a time they encourage players to stay in school longer but somehow forgot that and thinking that more Kobe's, KG's and Durants and Lebrons were just the next draft pick away. These are exceptions not the rule.

Just piss me off every time this subject comes up and I have to listen to all the dumb ass reasons why these kid should not have to be required to stay in school longer.

[Sparma]

When the coach actually runs the team, good things can happen for a lot of the players.

[cool breeze]

Management just cannot figure out how to create a winning organization. One dumb decision leads to another and another and another. Our players repeat the same formula for losing every season. And management above just can't figure out what to do about it. Our players for the past 5 years have done the same thing. They make statements that everyone wants to hear about how hard they are going to play in the coming season during training camp. Players say they are going to change and eliminate their flaws. They are going to give an amazing effort and be consistent players. Everyone sucks it up and has high expectations. Then the regular season begins and the players are not ready to compete from game to game. They take nights off and don't seem to be effected by losing at all. But early on in October and November the players do give a reasonable effort. The players are just not good enough players to win games during this period. They blame losing on coaching and the team having so many new players trying to blend together. Then comes December, January and Feb. In December, the players are looking forward to Christmas and New Years and spending some of their loot. You can clearly see that many of the players are not giving an honest effort in games. They take entire nights off not even trying to compete during crunch time. The owner looks around and notices the empty seats but continues to bring in amazing talent to perform at halftime. The reason why the players don't like playing games in January and Feb. is the fact that they are depressed and sick and tired of their coach bitching at them. They give even less effort during games during those months then they did in December. Then there is talk about a possible coaching change. It must be the coach. When it is clear that the Pistons are among the worst teams in the league during March, the players then feel a little heat and know that the season is winding down and are counting the remainder of the games and looking forward to what they will do with their time until next September. Other teams who are making the playoffs are resting or fighting for a higher position. Really bad teams like the Pistons are trying to position themselves for a higher draft pick. That is something the fans can look forward to in June when some other lucky fans are watching the Finals. Meanwhile our players band together during March and April and decide to play as hard as possible to win as many games as possible so as to destroy all prospects of a high draft pick for the fans. Sure enough our brain trust management team doesn't mess with the lineups and cheers those players on thinking the fans are as dumb as a box of rocks. Not so this time around Mr. Gores. Pistons fans are pissed off big time. It is unlikely we fans will get to see Detroit draft a player in the first round. We won't forget it or forgive you for screwing up the future of the team we have loved for many years.

[deusXango]

"I love the game, no matter if I'm playing or not," Caldwell-Pope said.  "I've reached my goal.  It's a blessing just to be here so I'm going to just take full advantage of it, if I'm playing or not.  So I just try to stay positive, keep a smile on my face and just keep moving."[/i]

As expected the local media still trying to convince Pistons fan that passing on Burke and MCW and selecting KCP was an okay thing to do.   Why can't they just honestly write and print one good article of truth and report what the real problem was with not selecting Burke or MCW, and the real issue with drafting KCP.  

While reading KCP above comments made me cringe to the point of painful gut cramps and assurance that the wrong decision was made in drafting him, the real issue to the passing of Burke and MCW is that we needed a fu@kin PG in the worst way and as expected again our dumb ass GM makes a series of dumb decisions.  Ask any fans which PG we would rather have Burke, MCW or fu@kin Jennings and see what the answer would be?  

True many fans of the Pistons and Wolverines would have loved to see Burke in a Pistons uniform and there is no doubt in my mind that collectively this team would have performed better being lead by Burke but even those fans wouldn't be to upset if we were debating the merits of drafting MCW over Burke as bad as we wanted him on this team.  This isn't as much about Burke being passed on for KCP than it is about the dumb ass reasons why the GM made the decision and the thought process in making it because the selection failed to meet at least 2 requirements. 1. We needed a PG and 2. We needed a shooter which KCP is neither.  

IMO KCP's above comment over-shadows the fact that it was a bad selection for the obvious reasons I mention.  The kid said it doesn't matter if he plays or not that he's happy to be in the league and feels like he met his goal as an athlete and this is coming from a lottery pick no less.  I could understand if this comment was coming from an un-drafted player or the last pick in the draft but from a fu@kin lottery player is amazing.  Real media folks would be eating him up on those comments alone but here our local media is writing some bullsh!t about all things being even in some made up match up of Burke and KCP when one players desires to lead his team to a title one day and the other just happy to wear a uniform rather he plays or not.  Fu@k you Joe Dumars and good riddance

Preach brother, preach! Wise, this is something that needs to be said out loud, and not avoided, like it has been, because it tends to soften the madness of Joe Dumars decision making when the selection of KCP is not ripped...no offense to KCP, but he has no business in a Pistons uniform!

What was that sh!t last night all about? Why in the hell would we go into Utah and win??!! We'll look back on last nights game with regret, I betcha'. Now wait for the ignorant come out who support the line of thinking, "win when you can...I'm not for losing or intentionally tanking." Yeah, we've had a losing season, so let's top it all off by losing our LOTTERY DRAFT PICK! Sheesh.

[WTF]

"I love the game, no matter if I'm playing or not," Caldwell-Pope said.  "I've reached my goal.  It's a blessing just to be here so I'm going to just take full advantage of it, if I'm playing or not.  So I just try to stay positive, keep a smile on my face and just keep moving."[/i]

As expected the local media still trying to convince Pistons fan that passing on Burke and MCW and selecting KCP was an okay thing to do.   Why can't they just honestly write and print one good article of truth and report what the real problem was with not selecting Burke or MCW, and the real issue with drafting KCP.  

While reading KCP above comments made me cringe to the point of painful gut cramps and assurance that the wrong decision was made in drafting him, the real issue to the passing of Burke and MCW is that we needed a fu@kin PG in the worst way and as expected again our dumb ass GM makes a series of dumb decisions.  Ask any fans which PG we would rather have Burke, MCW or fu@kin Jennings and see what the answer would be?  

True many fans of the Pistons and Wolverines would have loved to see Burke in a Pistons uniform and there is no doubt in my mind that collectively this team would have performed better being lead by Burke but even those fans wouldn't be to upset if we were debating the merits of drafting MCW over Burke as bad as we wanted him on this team.  This isn't as much about Burke being passed on for KCP than it is about the dumb ass reasons why the GM made the decision and the thought process in making it because the selection failed to meet at least 2 requirements. 1. We needed a PG and 2. We needed a shooter which KCP is neither.  

IMO KCP's above comment over-shadows the fact that it was a bad selection for the obvious reasons I mention.  [i]The kid said it doesn't matter if he plays or not that he's happy to be in the league and feels like he met his goal as an athlete and this is coming from a lottery pick no less.  I could understand if this comment was coming from an un-drafted player or the last pick in the draft but from a fu@kin lottery player is amazing.  Real media folks would be eating him up on those comments alone but here our local media is writing some bullsh!t about all things being even in some made up match up of Burke and KCP when one players desires to lead his team to a title one day and the other just happy to wear a uniform rather he plays or not.  Fu@k you Joe Dumars and good riddance

[WTF]

Decided to win this game really isn't winning at all when they need to be fu@king tanking games. Man I hate this team at times!!!   

[Oracle]

Man, this isn't good!

The Pistons up by 20(60-40) at the half!!! Even they'll have a hard time blowing this one!

Drummond already has 16pts, 9 boards and 2 steals... what a revolting development!

Trey Burke is looking like a busted fa##ot, and our bigs are dominating their woeful crew!

How could Loyer let this crap happen???

He needs to insert some rookies, and I mean quick! Let the starters have the rest of the game off!

Play only 5 guys, and NEVER spell them for any reason except death  , and even then demand a doctors note or see if the corpse can be wheeled around for some handicap action... F.U.C.K, let's get creative!!!


Winning is NOT an option!!!!

[Oracle]

tank this mother out!!!!



 TANK...This Mother OUT!!   TANK...This Mother OUT!!   TANK...This Mother OUT!! TANK...This Mother OUT!!   


            

That's EXACTLY the song in my head  

[Phil-Good]

tank this mother out!!!!



 TANK...This Mother OUT!! TANK...This Mother OUT!! TANK...This Mother OUT!! TANK...This Mother OUT!!   


            

[Oracle]

This is going to be hard, but a loss tonight would tie us for 7th with Sacramento, so some combination of us losing and them winning, could result in us getting the 7th pick, which is likely the safest position possible.

Man, I just know we're big enough losers to get this done!

Please, leave the false bravado in the bathroom where it belongs and tank this mother out!!!!

[Oracle]

How Cleveland managed to beat the Knicks in NY baffles me to no end!

However, I should be way past being surprised by anything that passes for real basketball in the east this year.

I can't EVER remember a conference this weak and full of the worst organized teams on the planet!

Having said that, it's a priority that we lose tonight in Utah! Cleveland has provided us with a great opportunity to stay behind them, all we have to do is lose and make sure when we have those two head to heads with Cleveland, that we lose both of them!

Going down the stretch of this season should be very interesting as teams impersonate the 3 stooges in an effort to lose games!

Instead of fighting for loose ball, they'll be accusing each other of intentional turnovers! Josh Smith will be attempting to increase his range by shooting 3's from nearer to half court!

Jennings, trying to keep his assist to turnover ratio low will jack up shots 2 seconds into the clock, and will practice pounding the ball for a full 23 seconds before passing to Josh for a contested 3!

But don't leave Stuckey out, he'll be looking to set a single season charging record, while Bynum will be showing that he truly doesn't need anyone playing with him, and just take all of the available shots!

Monroe, in an attempt to up Dre's stats, will just let dudes go right by him, hoping that Dre will get the block or the rebound.

Come on guys, we can do this......

[deusXango]

After seeing the unexpected impact MCW has had on the 76ers, I'm willing to take a look outside the box (Jennings, Bynum, Billups, Stuckey, and Siva are who we've been depending on at PG) and Kyle Anderson, from UCLA, all 6' 9" of him, is who I'm more than willing to take a long hard look at. He's cheaper than the top 3 by far, is a scorer and rebounder, and get this...he's a hell of an offensive facilitator who sees the floor extremely well!!! Before anyone jumps up and starts talking about his defensive deficiencies, who the hell has played any defense in our backcourt lately? The thing is, he'll bring an end to stupidity and ball-hogging, plus be a credit to a rebuilding process...another gifted athletic freak to go along with Andre Drummond. (I'd love to see him play with Drummond.)

[Sparma]

You make a lot of good points.

I have the sense that NBA players just don't put up with significant in game changes the way college players do. It looks really hard for coaches to get a lot of NBA players to subordinate their game to the well being of the team. It happened under Larry Brown, but how much since? And evidently there are financial incentives to putting yourself first, as the case of this year's Stuckey illustrates. He must feel that he's got to score nearly as much as he can to have a shot at another decent contract. Maybe once Monroe gets his big payday, we can at least get a more workable big man rotation going.

[WTF]

In the second half, Stauskas played the high post for a spell, repeatedly finding cutters or else creating a good opportunities for himself.  The commentator said that often the big men placed there sometimes have difficulty shooting [Monroe?], passing, or dribbling well enough to exploit the spot.  I like the idea of giving a more skilled, non-big man, some opportunities near the free throw line.  Not sure who that would be for the Pistons.  Singler?  From what I've seen Datome might do well there.

In any case, I enjoyed watched creative coaching that attempted to exploit mismatches.

Yeah but we first who have to get a coach as smart as Beilein who gets the most out of his players. Those Wolverine players are constantly in motion these Pistons stand around, those Wolverine players constanly swing that ball around the perimeter and more so Levert, Robinson, Stauskas, and Walton are all a threat beyond the arc and the Pistons don't have an outside threat. The Pistons have ball hogs that don't know the concept of swinging the around the court from one corner to the other and they certainly don't have the ability to make those cuts.

That was a smart in game adjustment by Beilein because they needed to get inside once they went zone on his team the Pistons coaches the last four had no clue about making that kind of adjustment. What Beilein did was to say hey I need to do something, had an idea and tried it and got great results from it. Pistons coach just do the same dumb thing over and over.

More importantly that Michigan team is fundamentally sound there's no Josh Smith running wild, there's no lazy ass Monroe with no movement, there's no Jennings holding the ball dribbling out shot clock. Sadly I think the Wolverines and Spartans could out smart our current roster and beat 'em

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