Great effort and better team chemistry is a positive sign of real character

[cool breeze]

This was an ugly game for Cleveland. But Piston defense had something to do with that, I noticed Andre Drummond getting back a little faster and spreading his big body out in the middle of the paint with his arms extended before Cleveland set up their half court offense. KCP stopped gambling and hung in to make the play of the game stealing the ball from Labron on one of his head down bull dozing style drives to the hoop and then going full court to make that layup. Stanley Johnson bodied Labron and almost shut him down the entire time he guarded James. Harris showing his ability to stay in front of drivers on defense. What a turn around relating to playing smarter on defense by our Pistons.

There were shaky times again in this game with 4 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter, Detroit managed to lose that big lead by going brain dead. It started with KCP making a nice drive from the wing having an easy layup with nobody guarding him. Instead of making the layup, Pope instead passes the ball to Morris on the opposite baseline where he stood beyond the 3 point line. This was at a time when Drummond received a great pass right under the basket where somehow Andre didn't gather himself and make an easy dunk. He missed the easy shot because he gave half an effort attempting the shot. He got fouled but missed both free throws. On it went with a sudden spree of stupid turnovers by Reggie Jackson. It seemed that all was lost is just under 3 minutes of brain dead basketball. Then our Pistons came to life again in the 4th looking really great but then broke down again passing the basketball directly into the hands of their opponent. I was not confident right up to the last minute.

This is the way it is going to be this season for our young Pistons. But over the past two games, something really good has been happening. Our players are showing character. When this group gets a lot more experience and perfects individuals weaknesses, they are capable of beating any team in the league. Andre Drummond has somehow changed his free throw shooting style and he is looking so much better at the line. He stepped out from under the basket to challenge open shooters on help defense to challenge those 3 to 4 foot jump shots that teams have been killing the Pistons on all season.

Pope has responded well to people like me who have been hounding him. You can bet the coaching staff has been on his butt big time. The way players respond to tough love is telling, Pope does have some real guts. He needs to bring this every night.

The addition of Harris is mind blowing for me, This guy knows how to play the game. In time, I believe he will be the crunch time killer for our Pistons. He can create his own shot, drive and finish at the hoop and make the right pass after he breaks down the defense. In the future, Reggie Jackson's life is going to be a lot easier with Harris around.

And speaking of Jackson, he played an incredible game on both ends, Reggie was making the extra effort to get down to the baseline on help defense to help our power forwards on defense and ran hard to recover to prevent an open 3 point shot. He made some silly mistakes that led to turnovers but was there to make the critical shots and plays when it mattered all night long.

Morris cannot be overlooked in this game. He also played strong defense and made big plays on offense. Great job!

The only player who struggled in this game was Hilliard. He couldn't make a play or shot in that game. However, SVG needs to have faith in this guy for the remainder of the season.

Our Pistons did not miss Tolliver, In fact perhaps the Washington loss had a lot to do with Tolliver being inserted into the starting lineup. I am wondering what SVG will do once Tolliver is healthy again. The Pistons big weakness is at the power forward position for sure especially relating to defense. Guards have to help whoever is playing power forward like they did last night. Great win and way to go Piston players!

[Phil-Good]

And by some miracle from the basketball Gods, when KCP looks like A pro player and not A F.U.C.K.I.N.G rookie, The Pistons win. WOW!

Then S.Johnson goes down with A bum shoulder. That injury is no joke. Watch your azz S.Johnson. That injury ends people seasons.

Not A good looking win but A win. If Detroit gets to 41 and 41. I think Stan is the FREAKING coach of the year. The Pistons look A mess right now.

And the VOID Trade does not help. But on the bright side, look for Detroit to be A MAJOR..MAJOR.. TRADE player all summer long. Everybody knows Detroit is not looking to keep the 2016 pick if the right guys become available.

[Oracle]

They won, but honestly, I was mad as hell at the way they get sloppy when they get a big lead, but I'll take it

The nail in the coffin came with just under two minutes left in the game when KCP collapsed on the lane to strip a driving LeBron James (5-for-18 shooting, 6 turnovers) and take it to rack on the other end for a layup and to give the Pistons a 10-point lead after a clutch Reggie Jackson floater made it eight. Jackson sealed the game with late free throws.

CLEVELAND, Ohio – With his team down eight with under a minute to play, LeBron James drove hard to his right and cradled the ball. It's an overpower moving he has converted countless times throughout his career.

He was in the process of rising up for a transition layup, but out of nowhere Kentavious Caldwell-Pope managed to wrestle the ball out of James' hands from behind. And then Caldwell-Pope finished a layup on the other end.

[Oracle]

I am really happy SVG did his homework on this trade. This is not the end of the world. I am with you relating to keeping our first round pick.

Good story on J. Fredette who just signed a 10 day contract with New York. NY needs shooters. I attended a college game where Fredette scored 50 plus points and was taken out with about 7 minutes left in the game. He was an amazing college player. Only 6 foot 2 inches tall, he has had a tough time making a rotation at 2 guard. This kid has a great basketball mind and has not given up getting high marks from his D League coach. Maybe our Pistons need to explore young players who are under the radar to fill the roster for the rest of the season.

You can't be serious!

If SVG had done his homework he wouldn't have put this organization through this trade in the first place! Sadly, that's not all the damage he caused.

A costly miscalculation by the 76ers resulted in the loss of their best perimeter defender when a three-team trade fell through.

JaKarr Sampson agreed to a two-year deal with the Denver Nuggets on Monday instead of waiting to re-sign with Sixers. The 6-foot-9 guard's deal is guaranteed through the rest of the season and nonguaranteed next season.

Please... bringing up that loser James Taft "Jimmer" Fredette is a total non-starter, although I guess I'd rather have him than the corpse that is Steve Blake!

It's really time to see what the status of Augustin is, somebody said he could get waived, but that's likely too good to be true!

I'm looking for much better games from 3 players tonight, they all need to wake the eff up! Those guys are KCP, Stanley Johnson, and Morris!

My message to them is that it's crunch time, we have ZERO margin for error and we need maximum production out of everybody!

On the coaching front, I'd like to see some!!!

Where's the adjustments? I don't expect Larry Brown level stuff, but SVG has got to get his ass in gear as well!

[cool breeze]

Now that this decision has been made, GM Stan may as well as pick-up Jason Thompson who was waived by the Warriors to create a roster spot for Anderson Varejao.

I know Thompson is not all that, but his chump change salary ($2,350,000) will be strectched over the next 2 or 3 years and Piston Pals, WE need bodies. Hell, GM Stan can waive Bullock to create room, as Joel Anthony's return will complete the 13-man roster.

Damn! Back to the drawing board, but WE keep OUR 2016 First Round Pick that becomes more valuable with each "L" that WE take going forward.

I am really happy SVG did his homework on this trade. This is not the end of the world. I am with you relating to keeping our first round pick.

Good story on J. Fredette who just signed a 10 day contract with New York. NY needs shooters. I attended a college game where Fredette scored 50 plus points and was taken out with about 7 minutes left in the game. He was an amazing college player. Only 6 foot 2 inches tall, he has had a tough time making a rotation at 2 guard. This kid has a great basketball mind and has not given up getting high marks from his D League coach. Maybe our Pistons need to explore young players who are under the radar to fill the roster for the rest of the season.

[Sebastian]

Now that this decision has been made, GM Stan may as well as pick-up Jason Thompson who was waived by the Warriors to create a roster spot for Anderson Varejao.

I know Thompson is not all that, but his chump change salary ($2,350,000) will be strectched over the next 2 or 3 years and Piston Pals, WE need bodies. Hell, GM Stan can waive Bullock to create room, as Joel Anthony's return will complete the 13-man roster.

Damn! Back to the drawing board, but WE keep OUR 2016 First Round Pick that becomes more valuable with each "L" that WE take going forward.

[Oracle]

SVG trades for a guy with back problems and voids the trade because he has back problems!

You can't make up stuff like that! Want more irony? A guy called Donuts to a team where the Ex-GM was a Jelly fan, and the new GM delivers a greater than Dumars Clunker!

It's not looking good, and we're looking like an organization that's grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory!

I'm not going to go into all of the bad things this leads to, and it's NOT the end of the world, but short term, it certainly doesn't look good!

[Sebastian]

OUR Pistons are currently a tremendously flawed team.

I want rewrite all of the areas, where are Pistons are inferior as my Pistons Pals have detailed the relevant issues all, rather sharply.

But, will somebody tell please tell Blaha and Kelser that they work for the Detroit Pistons and not the opponents. I cannot stand watching a Pistons game that is covered by these two. They always speak, glowingly, about the opponent and their team.

I mean at one point doing yesterday's telecast, they were getting all wet about the 2-1 record that the Wizards have had since the the Break.

Yes, the Brow had a spectacular game, but tell US about how the Pistons should best defend he and his teammates.

Just present the game from the perspective of OUR Pistons, please!

[cool breeze]

What game were you watching?

Granted, KCP could have been better coming off an injury and shaking off near 3 weeks of rust, and if he was better, maybe Davis doesn't go off for 60 points and ISIS decides to break bread with their Jewish buddies, and maybe the sun is shining where the sun don't shine!

Yup, 14 points, 4 steals just won't cut it in this league!

But let's not talk about the Pistons getting 9, count them 9 assists from the ENTIRE team! Forget that our point guard dished ONE assist through more than 3 quarters, and finally squeezed out 3 more in the 4th!

Forget that KCP was our BEST player before he went down, when Reggie couldn't score and Drummond was so ineffective!

Forget that team chemistry is totally out the door with the trades that has us now a VERY small team, losing height and weight in the frontcourt, and a decent PG coming off the bench... must not count for anything!

Forget the fact that having Steve Blake as your backup PG is the same as holding up a sign saying that "We're not serious about the Playoffs... or winning!"

Forget the fact that if this trade gets voided, we're SCREWED for the rest of the season! We're also screwed because Toliver is down, and that pesky trade thing has up so depleted SVG may have to suit up... Don't laugh, it's either him or Lee357! Somebody's got to hit half court shots!

Not to mention Stanley Johnson who's playing really bad since before the break and still getting minutes over Hilliard who's playing much better! SVG needs to sit Stanley for a bit until he gets a grip on defense, offense or anything else going on! And no, I'm not picking on Stanley, this applies to all non-starters, and some starters, although they do get a bit more leash!

Morris only snags 2 points???

And all you guys can talk about is KCP? Player haters rag on players, that's what they do, but Phillip, I'm surprised at you.

And I totally agree that KCP didn't have a great game, and I do want and expect more out of him, but for him to be the focus the way you guys have lit into him with all of this other stuff going on is mind boggling!

Oracle I was attempting to identify why Reggie Jackson has to dominate the basketball if the Pistons have any chance of winning. He doesn't have a really competent starting 2 guard. I am not attempting to rag on anyone but SVG needs to identify the problem and reduce KCP's ridiculous amount of minutes he continues to give him. two times in the first quarter, Pope gave up layups when guarding his player on the wing. He gambled and lost. His body positioning was easy to exploit by any 2 guard in the league. At any rate I am tired of this reputation fans and media have placed on Pope as this outstanding defensive ace player. He is not a rookie so he should not be making dumb mistakes at this time in his career. As for his offensive ability, how can the point guard trust him. You never know if he will shoot an air ball, go into the lane out of control, or make a stupid pass. What I am saying is from a coaching perspective, SVG needs to recognize what is going on and not feel he needs to blow more games just to try to help KCP with his confidence. KCP needs to earn his minutes. He is leading the team in minutes played. There would be nothing wrong with changing things a bit and reducing Pope's minutes to around 25 until he is a more consistent player on both ends. I still like Pope but he has a long way to go until he should be playing more than any other player on the team.

Regarding the trade, I am OK with it not going through. If our Pistons do not make the playoffs, we could get a good player with our draft pick which might turn out to be much better than having a restricted free agent big man who recently has had back surgery. Perhaps, Motiejunas doesn't want to play for the Pistons and is saying that his back is still giving him problems to the docs. Would you really want to give up our pick under those circumstances? The guard included is just average at best. If SVG cancels this trade, he will not be an idiot. Stan will do the smart thing for the Pistons future. We got the one big boost for this team moving forward to next season by bringing in Harris. I wish we had Ily. too but Harris might now be the best player on the team next to Reggie Jackson.

The Pistons have played flat until this last game against the Pelicans. We lost but the Piston players came to play that game. You are right Oracle relating to the fact that everything is not on KCP but of all the core players, I am more worried about his success than the others. I am not giving up on him but he sure looks at lot like he did last season relating to his inconsistency with shooting and his defense has not offered enough to keep him on the floor for the amount of minutes he is getting. My take on both Hilliard and Johnson is that they are rookies and shouldn't be judged yet. Whatever they bring to help the team should be a blessing this season. I thought Johnson played really hard in this last game. No plays are being run for him so he has been making some great passes to open teammates. Johnson does make the right rotations on defense and he is a good rebounder. The rest will come if SVG decides he wants Stanley to be a bigger part of the offense. I would like that to happen this season. And I think that Johnson can match up with some power forwards on defense and was hoping SVG would have tried Stanley on Davis. SVG should take some of the blame regarding the Davis explosion. There was too much switching going on. You have to stay on a hot player really tight and I think that at least Stanley Johnson would and could do that and at least not give the guy so many wide open looks. If Davis decides to post up in the paint, then the Pistons needed to double him. We have real amateurs playing defense for the Detroit Pistons.

This is a perfect opportunity for Spencer Dinwiddie if his body will cooperate. His injury must be severe to be out this long.

[Oracle]

Wanting this trade to be voided is shear lunacy, it would be a total kiss of death!

Here's what I hope will happen(other than DMo getting a clean bill of health)

I prefer that we renegotiate the deal, and make the pick lottery protected for this coming draft, and call it a day unless something really disturbing shows up in the exam!

The lunacy of wanting it voided is that it would leave us totally screwed up in terms of everything we hoped to accomplish, and quite frankly, it looms as a disaster bigger than anything Joe Dumars ever effed up, or at least in that arena!

This is real GM malpractice if this trade blows up in our face, so everybody is holding their breath!

Personally, I'm really hoping this works out, but SVG needs to get a grip and stop requiring practice time before playing dudes!

Markieff didn't even get a chance to get a freaking meal and take a decent dump before the Wizards had him on the court and dropping 22 points on our asses! Come on SVG, get with the modern NBA!!!

[Oracle]

What game were you watching?

Granted, KCP could have been better coming off an injury and shaking off near 3 weeks of rust, and if he was better, maybe Davis doesn't go off for 60 points and ISIS decides to break bread with their Jewish buddies, and maybe the sun is shining where the sun don't shine!

Yup, 14 points, 4 steals just won't cut it in this league!

But let's not talk about the Pistons getting 9, count them 9 assists from the ENTIRE team! Forget that our point guard dished ONE assist through more than 3 quarters, and finally squeezed out 3 more in the 4th!

Forget that KCP was our BEST player before he went down, when Reggie couldn't score and Drummond was so ineffective!

Forget that team chemistry is totally out the door with the trades that has us now a VERY small team, losing height and weight in the frontcourt, and a decent PG coming off the bench... must not count for anything!

Forget the fact that having Steve Blake as your backup PG is the same as holding up a sign saying that "We're not serious about the Playoffs... or winning!"

Forget the fact that if this trade gets voided, we're SCREWED for the rest of the season! We're also screwed because Toliver is down, and that pesky trade thing has up so depleted SVG may have to suit up... Don't laugh, it's either him or Lee357! Somebody's got to hit half court shots!

Not to mention Stanley Johnson who's playing really bad since before the break and still getting minutes over Hilliard who's playing much better! SVG needs to sit Stanley for a bit until he gets a grip on defense, offense or anything else going on! And no, I'm not picking on Stanley, this applies to all non-starters, and some starters, although they do get a bit more leash!

Morris only snags 2 points???

And all you guys can talk about is KCP? Player haters rag on players, that's what they do, but Phillip, I'm surprised at you.

And I totally agree that KCP didn't have a great game, and I do want and expect more out of him, but for him to be the focus the way you guys have lit into him with all of this other stuff going on is mind boggling!

[Phil-Good]

This guy is like top 5 in minutes in the league and this is the best we can get??? He was "Rusty" Damn. Some guys would call that two weeks off A good time to rest. I just want to see more out of KCP. I know he young but I wish he had more to offer on the offensive end of the floor.

And Stanley Johnson. WOW! This guy looks bad. But atleast he A rookie not leading the league in minutes played.

Let's try not to forget. KCP was the 8th pick in the NBA Draft. It's Ok to like what he does but want more out of him.

If KCP could offer some type of ability to score points night in and night out. That would make Detroit that much harder to defend. When KCP stole that ball and pull up for that 3ball. I was like O..S.H.I.T.

AIR...BALL!!! I turn my LEAGUE PASS OFF!! GOOD NIGHT!!

[cool breeze]

Coach might as well face it, making the playoffs is a long shot knowing that this next group of away games should crush this team into the middle of March. Perhaps now the coach needs to become more rational relating to forcing players to earn minutes for the rest of the season. This might establish more trust in the entire organization.

Van Gundy doesn't want to look at KCP's stats. This was supposed to be his breakout season. The coach is trying hard to protect him but the stats don't lie. And you can't keep talking about what Pope is bringing to the defense because he is not a solid defender. With Pope leading the team in minutes played at 36.8 his scoring average for a NBA 2 guard is only 14.4. He is shooting .416% from inside the 3 point line. And it very difficult to play the type of offense coach wants to play when your 2 guard is shooting only .305% from beyond the arc. This is turning out to be a nightmare season for KCP and for SVG who counted on Pope to be a strong consistent player this season. Fans talk about coaching but it all comes down to who can you trust on the floor if you are an NBA coach. It is time to make Pope earn his minutes, As Detroit is not likely to make the playoffs this year, why not reduce Pope's minutes to around 25 minutes. Maybe he will play better with fewer minutes. Maybe players like Johnson and Hilliard will get valuable experience getting some of those 36.8 minutes. This is becoming silly Stan.

Maybe Morris is upset that his brother was not traded to the Pistons. Who knows what is going on with him but he is not the same player he was a few weeks ago. I know he is spending time at the 4 but that is no excuse. Again if Morris is not producing, then his minutes need to be reduced. Give the minutes to Harris and Johnson. Try Johnson at the 4 with that powerful wide body.

I fully expect that Steve Blake will really help this team after he gets in game shape. He was on the bench too long and that was a mistake by SVG as a coach. And Baynes has to pick up his game. It is going to be interesting to see what our young players are made of now. This has become the toughest part of the season for the Detroit Pistons. Take a beating in Cleveland and draw the line and say, we have taken enough ass kickings and are not going to take it anymore.

I will not be unhappy if the trade involving Motiejunas does not happen. We get our number one pick back. Back surgery is not an easy thing to overcome if you are a big guy trying to earn a living playing basketball in the NBA.

[cool breeze]

Both Andre and Reggie fought hard in this game unlike the previous game. So that is a positive as far as I am concerned. Harris also is for sure going to be a really good player for the Pistons. As he gets more time with the rest of the team, Harris might turn out to be the best player on the team. This was one o those nights where Anthony Davis was unstoppable. Towards the end when Andre did challenge Anthony's jump shot, he still made an impossible jump shot. That was good defense on Andre's part. Now if only he would play defense like that more often, opponents would crap in their pants. Playing defense on that one possession is better than not doing it at all. Something to build on Andre. You gave an honest effort and that is all fans ask for.

My fault with the coaching of Stan Van Gundy in this game was his obsession of keeping KCP in the game regardless of how he was playing, Pope was horrible on defense in the first quarter and most of the first half of that game. So how did he earn so many Minutes Stan? Was it Pope's offense that turned you on? This is becoming crazy. I would play either Johnson or Hilliard. Johnson played some strong defense in this game. He also rebounded well. He made one 3 point shot too. Johnson plays better defense by far than Pope. Pope gave up dribble penetration in the first quarter several times where his assigned man made easy layups. You can't gamble when you are playing weak side defense. His stupid decision to pull back late in the 4th quarter and shoot that 3 ball killed the Pistons chances.

In the end, this was another game where the Piston players revealed that they are horrible defenders. Now they will get another ass kicking by Labron's crew. It is never easy to add or subtract a starter for sure. This team needs to focus on just trying to improve over the next two weeks and try to gather themselves to put on a final push to get the last spot in the playoffs.

A lot of pressure was again placed on Reggie Jackson to create scoring because we have no competent shooting guard. It sure doesn't appear that Pope will be a player the team can count on this season. We have to hope he can do it next year. Based on his play, Pope should not get more than 23 minutes a game. So this loss was partly Stan Van Gundy's fault and partly because of the fantastic game by Anthony Davis.

Reggie Jackson is also not getting much help on offense from Morris who continues to struggle making shots. It is amazing that Reggie was able to get his shots with the Pelicans knowing that so many Piston players are in scoring slumps. With the scoring slumps is sloppy mindless defensive effort by our player. Pretty sad state of affairs for all Piston fans right now. This team needs to get their chemistry back.

[Phil-Good]

Anthony Davis is one of the best players I have ever seen so I'm not going to say anything about his amazing talent or ability. We all know if he stays healthy he will be in the hall of fame one day.

The Pistons defense is TERRIBLE!! Penetration, pass, score.. Penetrate, pass, pass back, DUNK or WIDE Open 3!

If you can beat Detroit first line of defense and then make the extra pass. It's easy baskets. Easy work. Easy night.

The offense has not flow.. No MOVEMENT!! ZERO!

And it looks like this Houston trade is not going to go through. That's really wild!!

Still looking from something from KCP on A night to night basis. Jackson is the only productive Guard the Pistons have on the roster right now!! KCP and Johnson have taking two steps back since all star break. Both look below average at best.... Come on guys! The Pistons need points from the 2 position. Not just OK defense.

[Oracle]

Ok, he won't cop to everything, but this is a start!

DETROIT PISTONS HEAD COACH STAN VAN GUNDY:  (On Anthony Davis scoring 59 points): “No he did, but that one’s on me. You’ve got to come up with something, the guy can’t get 59. That’s on me. That’s terrible coaching, terrible.”

[Oracle]

Wise has pointed it out, I've pointed it out, Merc is starting to see it, but it's really bad!

If I had to say the single problem with SVG's coaching? It's that he's coaching for the players he wished he had, not for the players he has!

His entire offense is based on 3 point shooting! It's designed to get the cleanest 3 point shot possible, and if you're hitting those 3's, there's very few teams that can compete with you! However, if you can't hit those 3's with some degree of regularity, you're going to fall further and further behind as the game goes on!

He makes no plays for players cutting to the rim, in fact, it's basically discouraged because he really only wants 2 players in the paint, Reggie & Drummond, and if they can't score in the paint, it's 3 point boogie time!

To his credit, when Steve Blake is in the game, he does look for cutters and encourages them with his passing ability, but he's limited as opposing guards will always attack him and he's easily disrupted by quicker and bigger defenders!

I'm not letting the players off the hook, but just like working anywhere, you have to play within the system, you can't walk into any job and start freelancing unless you're some kind of superstar!

SVG has work to do!

BTW, why in the world doesn't he double Davis and force somebody else on the Pelicans to beat you? He's just whining on the sidelines and letting one guy go off like that without doing anything but spectating... I don't get it!

I intentionally wrote this before the end of the game because I don't care if they win, the issues are the same, only magnified if they lose!

[Oracle]

Drummond's defense is seriously hurt by the way guards blow by Reggie so easily!

Sure Drummond over commits and can't recover to his man, but he's forced to provide the help defense when a guard is running freely in the paint!

Any guard with a good first step or fake seems to get by Reggie! IMO, he plays too close when they're far out on the perimeter!

I used to love it when somebody got up in my grill so far out, they're easy to get by, even for slow asses like me

[Oracle]

If this trade gets voided, there's good news and bad news!

Good News: We keep our first round pick

Bad News: We're really screwed! We've lost Ersan & Jennings, which will be costly! Add to that that SVG would have effectively lost our chance to shore up the bench, which results in a weaker bench than we had before the trade!

I wasn't only looking forward to Donuts, I wanted to get Thornton working off the bench as a spark!

This would be a disastrous set of events, looking like the Pistons did almost no homework before jumping at this trade! I know they couldn't examine him prior to the trade, but there are ways to get information, and get Houston on the record as telling you all they know!

Obviously the medical data has some HUGE questions, or we wouldn't be here! IMO, if there are that many questions, I would prefer to NOT take that big a risk... void this sucker ASAP!

Now get out there an bring back some Pelican Soup

[cool breeze]

Love what SVG brings, tough, no nonsense, blunt, pushes hard, not afraid to move players, but on the coaching front, a few troubling questions in my mind.  

1. He says he wont just throw DMo into the game without practice.  Well Markieff Morris played for the Wizards straight after he got off the plane, with no practice or walk through and he hit 22 and helped lead them to victory, so Stan.... quit pussyfooting around and let's get our weapons on deck and get to winning, if DMo is indeed healthy and ready.

2. He said, KCP was terrible on both ends of the floor, but he kept him on the floor, with no rhythm.  I know there were few options, but damn... even KCP said he was surprised he played that many minutes as much as he sucked.  Sure we need Meeks back and Thornton would have helped of course, but this would have been a time for Hilliard, Johnson, or hell even Bullock to get some burn to see who can help.  Really wanna see how Thornton can help, he is a pro-type scorer, and since we have no lock-down defender, I'll take one of those for now.

3. When Dre and Jax are sleepwalking through a game, please do something Stan.  Send a message to these boys, be creative, take a risk.

4,  Looks like a loss vs Pelicans.  They usually handle us pretty well, and the BigBrow likes to give it to lil Dre, so yeah.  Come on Go Pistons!  Wake up Dre.  

Maybe there are questions relating to the back problem and Stan wants to make sure he doesn't lose our first round pick for nothing. Looks like the players still have not been cleared to play.

[BallinD]

Love what SVG brings, tough, no nonsense, blunt, pushes hard, not afraid to move players, but on the coaching front, a few troubling questions in my mind.

1. He says he wont just throw DMo into the game without practice. Well Markieff Morris played for the Wizards straight after he got off the plane, with no practice or walk through and he hit 22 and helped lead them to victory, so Stan.... quit pussyfooting around and let's get our weapons on deck and get to winning, if DMo is indeed healthy and ready.

2. He said, KCP was terrible on both ends of the floor, but he kept him on the floor, with no rhythm. I know there were few options, but damn... even KCP said he was surprised he played that many minutes as much as he sucked. Sure we need Meeks back and Thornton would have helped of course, but this would have been a time for Hilliard, Johnson, or hell even Bullock to get some burn to see who can help. Really wanna see how Thornton can help, he is a pro-type scorer, and since we have no lock-down defender, I'll take one of those for now.

3. When Dre and Jax are sleepwalking through a game, please do something Stan. Send a message to these boys, be creative, take a risk.

4, Looks like a loss vs Pelicans. They usually handle us pretty well, and the BigBrow likes to give it to lil Dre, so yeah. Come on Go Pistons! Wake up Dre.

[cool breeze]

OC, yeah I'm gonna have to agree with you on this one... so far SVG has been a better exec than coach... as Ballin' said there ain't much excuses when you're loaded with individual offensive talent... but we should allow the new guys time to build consistency.
I'm not sure that more trades is the answer.... there has to be more that 3 or 4 basic sets... this won't happen with a revolving door of new players... but the radar is active to see if the message is right and understood.

Sorry but I am DISAPPOINTED with the players not the coaches relating to this last game and the big losing streak that is going on right now. We cannot forget that the NBA is a players league. Opposing players on the Washington team, kicked our players asses big time in this last game. Our players were not prepared to play much like the previous games before the break. No coach could have helped in this last loss. SVG needs to examine his core group of young guys and determine if they have great potential or are just average with no interest in improvement. If you have been around for 3 seasons and play like they did in the last game especially on defense, then you have to question a lot of things about the CORE group. I really like to study history. And when I take a look at some of our core player's history on previous teams, I don't see many winners with the exception of Stanley Johnson. So who on this team can Stanley Johnson look up to so far this season? These players need to make big changes mentally or move on. Maybe the Pistons need more trades.

[cool breeze]

How many times will these Pistons Sh!t the bed when they need to simply show up and play.  Out of the gate for the second half of the season and this is what they do, lay an egg.  Stan will be bald by June at this rate.

So yeah, where is the leadership.  Jennings was right.  Jackson and Dre are so buddy buddy they cant get on each other and say what needs to be said when there is no life, no fight, no urgency.  Who will hold these players accountable?

Isaiah said they could not win until he and Laimbeer policed the locker room and the team.  Chauncey said the Pistons had no chance for a championship till Sheed came, barking out defensive assignments, positioning, picks, screens, etc., essentially providing that extra leadership spark to compliment Chauncey's cool and collected "what me worry" style.  

Who will do that for these Pistons?  No tired leg excuses now.  No "we don't have the talent" excuses.

And I sure as hell don't want to see them continue to sh!t the bed now during the stretch run, only to get hot after its too late to earn a playoff berth...we've seen that year-after-year.

Washington was on the second game of a back-to-back and we couldn't jump down their throat!

BTW Jennings hit 18 and Illy 16 in an overtime thriller over Dallas, but Dre and Jackson couldn't get out of bed

Troubling!  Love Tobias Harris debut, but without consistent efforts from Dre and Jackson, we're going backwards fast.

BallinD you make a lot of sense here. Who are the team leaders? I have difficulty believing that Andre Drummond is a leader type player. Has he ever been a leader? You can't lead until you have the fundamentals down so you react automatically in game situations. It is clear that Andre has not been able to get the best out of his many physical gifts. So he has a mental issue and appears to reject what his coaches (college and pro) have been asking him to do on the defensive end. You have to lead by example in the NBA or no player will respect you. The opposing teams all know how Drummond performs on defense. They do not fear him. Someone else has to step up and lead this team. Andre is still a kid mentally.

Jackson has done some amazing things on the court. However, he needs an All Star type 2 guard who can get his ass open and make shots consistently from game to game. We do not have that player yet so it puts extra pressure on Reggie Jackson. He becomes exhausted trying to make plays himself and has no energy on defense. The accumulation of games has caused him to look as if he is ready to pass out at times. So with Jackson, I say we have a guy who is capable of leading a team in the future. However, as of now, the Pistons do not have the necessary pieces so our team will continue to struggle. You need a competent group of players before you can talk about that extra push a great leader can bring to a team.

One example of why this team hasn't a clue what it takes to become a winner is the comments that KCP recently made when talking about finding his rhythm. He said that he didn't touch a basketball for 2 and a half weeks before the Washington game. Really he did that and he is a professional player? That tells me a lot. If Zeke or other successful players had the type of injury Pope sustained, they would have been out on the court shooting the basketball on one leg or doing anything he could to keep the hand-eye coordination up to speed. You lay in bed shooting a puff ball into a ting hoop. And another telling thing about Pope that he has no clue as to what it takes to become really successful in the NBA is what SVG said after the game. He stated that Pope was horrible on both offense and defense. That is what I saw as well.

As far as I am concerned, this team needs an outstanding 2 guard to make Reggie Jackson fully effective as a player and leader. We also need a starting center who is not brain dead on defense. Until that happens the Detroit Pistons will not be respected and will never make the playoffs. It takes time to build a good team. This team is better than they were when Will Bynum was featured as the circus act to get fans to show up but we still have some clowns who have been wearing the Piston uniform for 3 years that have not developed much mentally. I am wondering if those 3 year guys have helped make Stanley Johnson's rookie year easier or harder. Rookies need direction and players around them need to instill confidence by the way they act on and off the court. I noticed that Johnson decided to stay here in Tucson throughout the NBA All Star break. He felt at home and secure working out hard with people fully has trust in. Imagine what a guy like Zeke or Mr. BigShot could do for Stanley Johnson right now if they were in their prime as players. Johnson is watching experienced Piston players arriving in the locker room before games who have not even a thought to the game and what in hell they are supposed to do in the game. This group of players look like they are not prepared to play hard with purpose. You can bring in as many new guys as you want, but if you have decided on the core group for the future, you better make sure they are not craping in their pants like you said BallinD like small children and playing video games instead of looking on their IPad to see what the coaches are asking them to do in real life. This is a game for real men who want to play harder then their opponents all the time and not once every 6 ball games. Right now our core sucks. They have had adversity because of some injuries but how did they react to the adversity? BADLY

[merc]

OC, yeah I'm gonna have to agree with you on this one... so far SVG has been a better exec than coach... as Ballin' said there ain't much excuses when you're loaded with individual offensive talent... but we should allow the new guys time to build consistency.
I'm not sure that more trades is the answer.... there has to be more that 3 or 4 basic sets... this won't happen with a revolving door of new players... but the radar is active to see if the message is right and understood.

[Oracle]

He looks pretty good to me, it's hard to tell he's coming off of surgery!

BTW, he's listed at 7' 222lbs, so he really isn't a center bruiser that light in the pants, he's a stretch 4!

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