Ballin

[Oracle]

@Ballin: Good stuff, I'd prefer the Holiday deal, but only because Conley, while a better fit,  could never live up to that contract. Isiah Thomas may be looking for redemption, but would he come off the bench as a better Ish?

Just say no to Bullock, although Hood, Rivers, Curry may work.

All in all, nice food for thought.

Here we go into our summer of hopefullness:

Coaching: Igor Kokosov to be Casey’s new Nick Nurse

Trades:
a. Conley for RJ n change (Leuer/Gallows + 2nd round pick.
b. Jrue Holiday: Rjax n change.


c. Free agents:
Brook Lopez, (I know, it may be too soon to consider) Derrick Rose, Terrence Ross, Marcus Morris, Jeremy Lamb, Rodney Hood, Austin Rivers, Bullock, Darren Collison, Tyreke Evans, Mario Hezonja, Seth Curry, Noah Vonleh, Rishaun Holmes, and Isaiah Thomas

[BallinD]

Here we go into our summer of hopefullness:

Coaching: Igor Kokosov to be Casey’s new Nick Nurse

Trades:
a. Conley for RJ n change (Leuer/Gallows + 2nd round pick.
b. Jrue Holiday: Rjax n change.


c. Free agents:
Brook Lopez, (I know, it may be too soon to consider) Derrick Rose, Terrence Ross, Marcus Morris, Jeremy Lamb, Rodney Hood, Austin Rivers, Bullock, Darren Collison, Tyreke Evans, Mario Hezonja, Seth Curry, Noah Vonleh, Rishaun Holmes, and Isaiah Thomas

[Oracle]

He is alleged to have groped and pressed his hard erection against her body. but never got busy. She was a friend of his wife when they competed in volleyball.

She's a tall, 6'5 in heels, woman, with legs that go on forever(this leg man is getting excited  )

Oh BTW, she waited 10+ years and is still disturbed, however, some CASH may help her start the long process of forgetting Walton's massive hard erection... Obviously she's never seen or felt anything like that before.

Links:
1. Report: Kings coach Walton sued for sexual assault
2. Kelli Tennant says she waited to bring up Luke Walton sexual assault allegations because she was scared

Pics:

[cool breeze]

I am sure that no basketball fan who just wanted to watch incredible basketball would have tuned into any of the Bucks-Pistons games unless they were Piston fans or Bucks fans. But who wouldn't enjoy the effort provided by the Nets even though they came up short. What Piston fan would exchange the Pistons roster for the Nets roster? Those players play extremely hard. No Nets fan is worried that their players might not give the extreme effort that the playoffs demand. How long would AD last with Portland players regardless of the amount of rebounds AD gets? AD is not the only low basketball IQ player on the Piston roster but he is the 2nd highest paid player. Fans need to keep that in mind when thinking of exactly what AD does provide relating to winning. AD is seldom the player who plays 100% focused for an entire game. When teams score in the paint and your franchise player is nowhere to be seen than something is wrong. In the last game toward the final minutes both AD and RJ scored and ran the court harder. But the game had already been decided. They piled up those stats that some fans are still checking. I don't need to check the stats. I see that AD has no clue how to play defense. The Bucks knew that and made sure they drove into the paint when AD was jogging back on defense. God I am going to hate watching this low basketball IQ team do the same thing next season. Maybe Casey will need to construct a zone of some type where AD does not do any switching because he has no clue when it is appropriate to switch. And of course the old defect always comes back to bite the Pistons when AD fails to box out. I am still waiting for him to anticipate where the board crashers will attracting the rim. And the Pistons have no other athletic big man to help AD.

Portland - OKC series was exciting. Lillard hit that long distance 3 ball to win it in the end. WOW both teams had amazing athletes who had amazing energy. I think that is what has been missing with our Pistons now for many years. Some players just have that extra endurance, speed, courage, and skill and they somehow put it all together and create beautiful moments for their fans. We Piston fans get the scraps because the owner and his various front office thinkers have not figured out that you just don't get those incredible athletes unless you endure the pain of tanking so as to set the team on the right course through the draft. Many of us keep saying it but somehow nothing changes and another season begins with perhaps one or two new fringe players who have old tire legs and little motivation. You get that when you have a coach who only can think about how he can get more scoring from beyond the 3 point line. The Pistons could not score against the Bucks in the paint in this playoff series but they were heavily scored upon by the Bucks players. I am sure it can have nothing to do with how AD approaches playing defense. Just look at his stats. He is great. Not his fault. He was injured. Maybe if the Pistons had Stanley Johnson in this series, he might have contained some of that paint scoring. Maker was about as useless as AD in providing paint defense. Johnson had to go because he couldn't hit those 3 point shots. But he was developing a mid range game yet the offense didn't allow anyone to excel in scoring closer to the basket. The Bucks had the Pistons number. They knew all about Dwayne Casey's insane strategy and the type of players Casey selects to be in the rotation.

I dread what might be coming next season. Another fake team trying to get that 8th spot for sure. And it won't be as easy next season for the Pistons to make the playoffs unless they retool in a big way. And that is not going to happen. After all, Tom Gores says the Pistons accomplished their mission. Everything is great in Piston land even though the Pistons are now in the record book as being one of two teams that got their asses kicked worse than any other NBA team in playoff history. The Pistons were the Washington Generals.

[Sparma]

Thanks for checking on that, Murph! Interesting.

I'd infer that he may well have had a genuine injury, but that it didn't negatively affect his numbers vs the Bucks (btw, after the 3rd game, I saw that he was second in the league among rebounders in the playoffs.)

Sparma...good point.  

Drummond averaged:
14 pts, 11 rbds and 2 asts during the regular season
14 pts, 13 rbds and 2 asts during the playoffs

[Murph]

Sparma...good point.  

Drummond averaged:
14 pts, 11 rbds and 2 asts during the regular season
14 pts, 13 rbds and 2 asts during the playoffs

[Sparma]

Those are fair points, Murph.

And it would help explain his performance.

On the other hand, the Bucks blitzed the Pistons during the regular season too, when Drummond would have been healthy. It might be illuminating to go back to Drummond's performance in those games and compare them with these. For instance, consistent with what you say, I think Drummond has regularly struggled with Lopez, especially when he goes outside. But I'm guessing he did some more bounce in those blowouts.

Let's assume that is true.  While Langlois has always been a homer and a Pistons flunky, he has never been caught lying outright.  I have no reason to believe Langlois is lying now.

A hurt quad would not have effected Drummonds perimeter defense on Lopez.  Lopez still would have torched him for those 3 pointers, even if Drummond were healthy.  However, it might explain Drummond's inability to score in the paint.

Let me put it this way.  If Griffin gets a pass due to injury, then at least some consideration should be given to Drummond due to injury.

[Murph]

Let's assume that is true.  While Langlois has always been a homer and a Pistons flunky, he has never been caught lying outright.  I have no reason to believe Langlois is lying now.

A hurt quad would not have effected Drummonds perimeter defense on Lopez.  Lopez still would have torched him for those 3 pointers, even if Drummond were healthy.  However, it might explain Drummond's inability to score in the paint.

Let me put it this way. If Griffin gets a pass due to injury, then at least some consideration should be given to Drummond due to injury.

[Sparma]

That was lost in the shuffle! I guess Langlois's just the guy to get the story out.

[Oracle]

[Sparma]

Lots of good posts. Maybe the forum's got some good miles left in it!

A couple of things, one of which is minor. BallinD, Svi's out right, so Casey couldn't use him in the playoffs. I do agree entirely that he and Thomas should have gotten more minutes during the season.

While citing the Clippers as a model, I'm focusing mainly on cap management and resource acquisition. I see Indiana (with the George trade) and San Antonio (post-Kawhi) as models of what realistically might be feasible for us. One thing I like about the Spurs is that they're trying to buck the trend, resurrecting medium range shooting. Some of what I'd advocate could and should have an old time Piston flavor: playing tough and smart, and building a deep squad. Some of the brilliance of McCloskey would seem almost impossible to replicate today. If transposed to the present day, I'd think that Trader Jack would be sitting on three max salaries in Isiah, Dantley, and Laimbeer before reaching the championship stage, making it well nigh impossible to have the depth of those great champions, except through incorporation of youngsters like Rodman and Salley.

As Oracle reminds us, we can hope to move on from expiring contracts during the season next year. Maybe Jackson and Leuer's contracts will prove to have some value then. I'd still maintain that we're in a really tough spot, one requiring tremendous FO finesse.

Don, you raised the difficulty of trading Blake, something I'm hoping they can do next year while working towards a deep going restructuring (without tanking). I'm sure you're right that it would be difficult. Further, I don't get the sense that the FO, let alone the owner, are looking to move on from him. Here's how I think it might happen: a) next year, he'd need to demonstrate a full recovery from the knee woes and be playing at an All-Star level again, b) a team like Phoenix would need to have struck out with major FAs over the summer, but would be showing signs of the core of Ayton, Booker, and others coming together, c) a team like that with plenty of cap space (and willing to use Bird Rights with Ayton and Booker to go over the cap later), just might be willing to trade Blake for a large, but shorter contract, a solid (young) player, and a pick. That's nothing like the haul the Clippers got for Blake (once they sent on Harris and Boban), but I do think a decent trade just might be out there mid-season. A team like the Lakers could go for him too, if they strike out in free agency (except that the match with LeBron wouldn't work!), or maybe the Knicks if they sign one star over the summer -- Kyrie Irving -- and sit with a lot of cap space, and one of the top draft picks. And if a good deal can be swung for Andre, go for it.

That's all likely idle speculation, because I think our Front Office will either tweak what we have, or double down by bringing in someone like Conley. I'm hoping not.

[Oracle]

The Boss: 
I'm good with Gores (for now). After all it's his J-O-B to set the high level objective. Maybe now is the time Tommy G should replace the concept of "GETTING INTO" with "ADVANCING THROUGH". Hope he stays out of the way allowing his people to beat bushes, flip rocks, find diamonds. So maybe next year we have an even fight.

I'm good with him too, because I don't believe in tanking either, but there were a couple of seasons where it would have been better to legitimately do young player development that would likely result in losing and have it be a GOOD thing.

Other Games: Ok, a conventional sweep looks bad, but is it any worse than the 5 Game Sweeps going on elsewhere? The only difference is that they got lucky and caught their opponent napping and stole one before they got swept!

[cool breeze]

1. Was it worth it to get in get swept? ill say absolutely for roster evaluation reasons but also coaching foibles.
Casey was exposed a bit and should snag phx coach Igor Kokosov a good offensive mind to help casey get over the hump.  His refusal to even try Khyri and Svi, when our wing play was so wretched and tiny.  Having Thon hoisting more 3s than Luke is beyond IDIOTIC.

2. Roster as many here agree needs a deep overhaul with keeping The young guns and Blake my only priority...bye Weggie n Dre, Ish, Ellington, LG, though I recognize Dre is likely here till his player option surfaces after next year, though even his biggest backers have to admit he was more than exposed.  FO battle looming as Lemonpen says, is bout to begin on that front.  Dre’s gonna want a max extension after next year.  Not!

3. Draft best player available, uber athletic, long, hates losing, bball IQ.  Quit playing it safe.  We can get a good prospect at 15. (Giannis?)

4. Luke / Svi at summer league pg tryout development camp. We need playmaking.  

5. Try and snag Patrick Beverley, Brogdon, Oubre, Gores said he would go over the cap.  We need major impact player on offense or defense.  Get one or the other. Blake deserves that.

There are a lot of great posts and I like this one along with Oracle remembering what Gores has done in the past to screw up the Pistons. How can the team advance if the owner continues to consult with AD before he makes a move. It seems that every time something big happens. the press indicates that the owner has met with Andre Drummond. He would be the last person I would seek advice from.

[BallinD]

1. Was it worth it to get in get swept? ill say absolutely for roster evaluation reasons but also coaching foibles.
Casey was exposed a bit and should snag phx coach Igor Kokosov a good offensive mind to help casey get over the hump. His refusal to even try Khyri and Svi, when our wing play was so wretched and tiny. Having Thon hoisting more 3s than Luke is beyond IDIOTIC.

2. Roster as many here agree needs a deep overhaul with keeping The young guns and Blake my only priority...bye Weggie n Dre, Ish, Ellington, LG, though I recognize Dre is likely here till his player option surfaces after next year, though even his biggest backers have to admit he was more than exposed. FO battle looming as Lemonpen says, is bout to begin on that front. Dre’s gonna want a max extension after next year. Not!

3. Draft best player available, uber athletic, long, hates losing, bball IQ. Quit playing it safe. We can get a good prospect at 15. (Giannis?)

4. Luke / Svi at summer league pg tryout development camp. We need playmaking.

5. Try and snag Patrick Beverley, Brogdon, Oubre, Gores said he would go over the cap. We need major impact player on offense or defense. Get one or the other. Blake deserves that.

[lemonpen]

Streak:
I couldn't give a rats arse about playoff losing streaks. For those laughing at us maybe they ought to consider 3 ships and 5 trips. Before the game Shaq caught a feeling for our situation when he disclosed having been swept 5 times, then proudly remind all of his set of 5 matching rings.

The Boss:
I'm good with Gores (for now). After all it's his J-O-B to set the high level objective. Maybe now is the time Tommy G should replace the concept of "GETTING INTO" with "ADVANCING THROUGH". Hope he stays out of the way allowing his people to beat bushes, flip rocks, find diamonds. So maybe next year we have an even fight.

Sweeps:
As ugly as this run has been at least we face the off-season more educated about our roster & staff than otherwise. Disperse the scouts and use the remaining games to identify one potential FA candidate flying under the radar.

Fans
Kudos to um. They showed up and showed out. The first playoff game in LCA was EEElectric and LOUD, just like old times.

[WTF]

Anyway, on to my point.  I looked it up.  The Bad Boys had the following progression to being 2 time NBA Champs:

1984:  Lost in the 1st round
1985:  Lost in the 2nd round
1986:  Lost in the 1st round
1987:  Lost in the 3rd round
1988:  Lost in the Finals
1989:  Won the Finals
1990:  Won the Finals
1991:  Lost in the 3rd round
1992:  Lost in the 1st round

Not only that, in their 1st year of the playoffs, the Pistons were starting Zeke, Long, Tripuka, Benson and Laimbeer.
By their 4th year, they were starting Zeke, Dumars, Dantley, Sidney Green and Laimbeer.
By their 6th year, they were starting Zeke, Dumars, Aguirre, Mahorn and Laimbeer.
And by their 7th year, they were starting Zeke, Dumars, Rodman, Edwards and Laimbeer.

Obviously, my point is that the long march to being playoff contenders is a marathon, not a sprint.  And the team will go through a myriad of changes along the way.  All you can hope for is that they keep together a core of young players who can grow and mature together, and add talented players to that core, as needed.

Okay this made me bang my head against the wall   

So when does the actual progression starts with team?  where is our Zeke certainly you not considering it to be AD?   This team lead by our alleged so-called Franchise player hasn't had a consistent run in the playoffs.  He certainly hasn't perform on a level of Zeke.

You're showing 9 straight seasons Zeke led his team into the playoffs, each season getting better and better.  AD was tagged Franchise player his second season he's in his 7th now and have 1 playoff appearance. 

The biggest thing missing is the consistency starting with keeping a HOF Coach during that stretch,  they also weren't being swept.  I know anything to grasp on to make one feel better but when does the marathon start

[Oracle]

@Murph - You left off Gores, he gets a big fat F in my book! More on him later.

@Sparma:
"The Pistons are in a tough spot, one in which tremendous finesse will be needed to make things better. I've got some confidence in Stefanski, but our troubles begin at the top where Gores continues to inspire no confidence in me. That said, I am happy to hear he plans to go over the cap. There's a good chance next year will be worse than this year, with the real (cap) hope showing up in two years (unless we saddle ourselves with someone like Conley). But maybe some savvy maneuvers get us headed in the right way as contracts begin coming off the books?"

Not true, we have flexibility because we'll have expiring contracts, and they're desired by teams for reasons we all know. So for our GM, it represents a way to get things righted even before these guys come off the books. 

However, I totally agree about Gores! He continues to drive the franchise to make horrible decisions for our future. He rode Dumars to get into the playoffs or else and that saddled us with Josh Smith and forced the trade of Knight & Middleton. He did the same to SVG and that got us Blake, which worked better, but made the future tougher. So hopefully going over the CAP is a recognition of his mistakes, and is the least he can do to clean up his mess.

@Don - I think the Casey grade is about right, D or D- seems fair. I don't think he performed as well as he could have, even with the bad hand he was dealt.

[cool breeze]

Gores: "We just want to go and win — and we did."

??

We did make the playoffs, but with a .500 record, then were swept.  How is that winning?

The Pistons are in a tough spot, one in which tremendous finesse will be needed to make things better.  I've got some confidence in Stefanski, but our troubles begin at the top where Gores continues to inspire no confidence in me.  That said, I am happy to hear he plans to go over the cap.  There's a good chance next year will be worse than this year, with the real (cap) hope showing up in two years (unless we saddle ourselves with someone like Conley).  But maybe some savvy maneuvers get us headed in the right way as contracts begin coming off the books?

The Pistons are in a tight spot especially when you have an owner who doesn't know that he doesn't know squat.

[cool breeze]

Team Grade D
The Pistons got blown out of every single game on their way to getting swept.  Still, they qualified for the playoffs, and gained valuable playoff experience.  One thing is for sure.  To avoid this kind of embarrassing playoff performance next year, we desperately need a higher playoff seeding.

Dwaine Casey D
Had no answers.

Reggie Jackson B
Was the surprise star of the team.  Upped his scoring average to 17.8 ppg in the playoffs.  Registered 7 apg, and shot 46% from 3 point land.  

Luke Kennard B
Along with Jackson, the only other Piston to show up.  Increased his scoring average and played solid D.  Shot 44% from the 3 pt line.  Maybe the first big step toward becoming a very good NBA player.

Black Griffin C
Played well when he was on the floor, but missed the first 2 games due to injury.

Andre Drummond D
Put up decent numbers of 14 and 13.  But he was thoroughly outplayed by Lopez, and put on an embarrassing performance in game 3.

Bruce Brown D-
Played tenacious defense at times, but shot poorly.

Wayne Ellington D-
Hit a few 3 pointers to keep the Pistons in game 3 until halftime.

Ish Smith F

Thon Maker F

Langton Galloway F

I think your final grades almost perfect with the exception of Dwayne Casey. After listening to comments by Chauncey both on NBA TV before the playoffs and when he was one of the announcers in this series, it was clear to me that there would be no way in hell that if Billups had been either the head coach or the Pistons GM, that Ish Smith, Reggie Jackson or Langston Galloway would be prime time players for the Pistons. Casey didn't have any say in the make up of this roster but he did have control of who played. By using those 3 players as key players throughout the season, Casey sealed the Pistons fate when they went up against the Bucks. I am not saying that the Pistons would not have lost this series and perhaps lost every game but for sure the Pistons would not be in the record books as being tied with only one other team for highest point differential in the history of the NBA playoffs. This was a fake team from the start of the season but Casey was sold on the idea that Smith and Jackson could be winning type point guards in big games against the best teams. While you graded Jackson pretty high because he did prove that he could score in the playoffs, Jackson was a liability on defense. No team can win in the playoffs when they have perimeter defenders like Jackson, Smith and Galloway. Casey should have known that from the get go but didn't. He could have gambled on a player like Thomas assuming that he would make big mistakes early in the season but perhaps shine by playoff time. The Pistons without Blake Griffin would be rated as perhaps the worst or the bottom 5 NBA teams in both conferences. For that I grade Casey with an F for creating the worst overall strategy for this roster and for his use of the players he had available. Why didn't Robinson play over Galloway in the 3rd quarter of this last game or any of the games in this series? He is a better defender and a better all around player. Casey just doesn't believe that defense wins. He played Galloway on a hope and prayer that Langston could hit those off balance 3 point shots. And I believe that Casey will come back with the same strategy using the same three players again next year. I could see this coming at the start of this season. The Pistons would sneak into the playoffs with a team that had limited potential based upon the coaches overall strategy and the players he would select to make his strategy work.

The Pistons seemed to be a lock on making the playoffs because a lot of teams would be rebuilding and Blake was healthy. Who could have guessed it that the Pistons almost didn't make the playoffs after going into a tailspin after Blake hurt his knee? Are the Pistons on their way upward? Was Casey's fake team designed to fool what Piston fans still existed after what had happened for the two previous seasons where basic lack of overall effort was obvious by the highest paid athletes on the roster at the time? They were Tom Gores pet players who were designated as the Pistons team leaders before Blake arrived. One of those players signed a huge contract but was quoted after missing the playoffs because he failed to box out Whiteside in the Miami game that all he and his teammates needed to do over the summer was "REST". Meanwhile I saw Blake while on his rest period after diving for balls and taking heavy punishment when he forced his way into the paint, looking at his I-Pad trying to find out how he can attack an opponent's defense better. Blake is a worker. Both Reggie Jackson and Andre Drummond have demonstrated that they are highlight players who have no desire to improve on the defensive end where games are won or lost. Maybe they will train a bit over the summer because contract time is approaching. Imagine ever saying that about Zeke or any of the players who played on Piston championship teams. I just wish this owner had selected a more serious head coach to guide the Pistons in a better direction.

[Sparma]

Gores: "We just want to go and win — and we did."

??

We did make the playoffs, but with a .500 record, then were swept. How is that winning?

The Pistons are in a tough spot, one in which tremendous finesse will be needed to make things better. I've got some confidence in Stefanski, but our troubles begin at the top where Gores continues to inspire no confidence in me. That said, I am happy to hear he plans to go over the cap. There's a good chance next year will be worse than this year, with the real (cap) hope showing up in two years (unless we saddle ourselves with someone like Conley). But maybe some savvy maneuvers get us headed in the right way as contracts begin coming off the books?

[Murph]

Team Grade D
The Pistons got blown out of every single game on their way to getting swept.  Still, they qualified for the playoffs, and gained valuable playoff experience. One thing is for sure. To avoid this kind of embarrassing playoff performance next year, we desperately need a higher playoff seeding.

Dwaine Casey D
Had no answers.

Reggie Jackson B
Was the surprise star of the team.  Upped his scoring average to 17.8 ppg in the playoffs.  Registered 7 apg, and shot 46% from 3 point land.  

Luke Kennard B
Along with Jackson, the only other Piston to show up.  Increased his scoring average and played solid D.  Shot 44% from the 3 pt line.  Maybe the first big step toward becoming a very good NBA player.

Black Griffin C
Played well when he was on the floor, but missed the first 2 games due to injury.

Andre Drummond D
Put up decent numbers of 14 and 13.  But he was thoroughly outplayed by Lopez, and put on an embarrassing performance in game 3.

Bruce Brown D-
Played tenacious defense at times, but shot poorly.

Wayne Ellington D-
Hit a few 3 pointers to keep the Pistons in game 3 until halftime.

Ish Smith F

Thon Maker F

Langton Galloway F

[Murph]

Yikes!  That was certainly ugly.  I hope Blake Griffin didn't do any permanent damage to that knee of his.  I admire his character and his will to compete, but it might have been wiser to sit out those last two games.

I hope the Bucks end up going all the way.  I was listening to Kornheiser  and Wilbon blather on about Lebron yesterday.  They were going on about how the playoffs just aren't the same without Lebron.  I disagree 100%.  I for one am tired of seeing the Cavs and Warriors in the Finals year after year after year.  IMO, Giannis is really fun to watch, and he's still likeable.  He hasn't become mean and nasty yet.  I'd like to see Giannis take over for Lebron.



Anyway, on to my point.  I looked it up.  The Bad Boys had the following progression to being 2 time NBA Champs:

1984:  Lost in the 1st round
1985:  Lost in the 2nd round
1986:  Lost in the 1st round
1987:  Lost in the 3rd round
1988:  Lost in the Finals
1989:  Won the Finals
1990:  Won the Finals
1991:  Lost in the 3rd round
1992:  Lost in the 1st round

Not only that, in their 1st year of the playoffs, the Pistons were starting Zeke, Long, Tripuka, Benson and Laimbeer.
By their 4th year, they were starting Zeke, Dumars, Dantley, Sidney Green and Laimbeer.
By their 6th year, they were starting Zeke, Dumars, Aguirre, Mahorn and Laimbeer.
And by their 7th year, they were starting Zeke, Dumars, Rodman, Edwards and Laimbeer.

Obviously, my point is that the long march to being playoff contenders is a marathon, not a sprint.  And the team will go through a myriad of changes along the way.  All you can hope for is that they keep together a core of young players who can grow and mature together, and add talented players to that core, as needed.


To me, the young core of this current version of the Pistons is:  Drummond, Kennard, Brown, Maker, Thomas and Mykhailiuk.  We just need to add the right pieces along the way, as the core grows and matures.

[Oracle]

@Don - Agree, Ish isn't a playoff caliber PG, but he's a great change of pace PG, and would fit perfectly as the 3rd PG on a playoff team. I also agree that the Stankston Galloway experiment is really over! I can't count the number of times this guy comes up dry when you need him. He's a streaky player and streaky isn't so bad if the on times are more than the off times. This guys switch is either broken or has too many miles on it.

@Wise - I really liked your post because I can mostly agree with it. In the early days of computer programming, if you made one simple mistake you'd get a page of errors that was so ugly it was hard to figure out the simple thing you did wrong. It's like a car dead on the road, totally unusable, but the only thing wrong is the water hose came loose. Only needing a simple fix, but it's really bad that you can't go anywhere.

That's how I see this team, just a few more water hoses than one. If you watched this game, through 3 quarters the Pistons were really competitive and leading, but late in the 3rd when Blake went out, it all unraveled. Watching this game we were eventually exposed, and that will be the closing of this post.

@DX - Good to see you posting old friend! You're speaking my language when you say it's Svi & Khyri time. This series showed us what we need, and we may have some of it already have it already if we just start developing what we have. Face it, we can't turn this all the way around with FA's only, some wise soul knew that and invented the draft! BTW, Svi is at a minimum the SF we need, but word is that he also may have PG potential, but we'll never know if he keeps riding the bench.

Also, I'm with you on bringing back Ish. I'd keep Ellington, but not as a starter and only if he doesn't cost much, he is unrestricted, so who knows, others like him and he's likely to go anyway. Maker has been an upgrade over Stanley, and I don't blame him for getting totally out played by the Freak, I haven't seen anybody that good in a long time, he's got everything except a jumper.

So what did the playoffs teach us: It's important to see what Blake actually gives us, even on one good leg... Scoring and Playmaking!

As DX said, Reggie has had a very good year and a fantastic highlight put back, but other than lobs to Drummond, and assists, he's NOT a playmaker!

Passing the ball is not playmaking, and whenever Blake is not on the floor, the playmaking ends... First order of business is getting a real playmaking PG in here!

It's a tall order, but you also want him to be able to break down the defense and shoot the 3 ball effectively.

That single move makes this team a LOT better, while taking the load off of Blake to do everything.

We also learned who to keep, so let's see what we can do over the long offseason...

[deusXango]

Reggie Jackson has enjoyed his best season in years and was injury free at the final buzzer; can we finally trade his ass?! At this point, for anything we can get in the way of lowering our payroll. His trade value is higher than it's been; no viable excuse for not pulling the trigger.

Can we acknowledge that Blake Griffin is by far the best PF Andre Drummond has played with in his career, in Detroit? Far better than Jason Maxiell, and his overrated "Thunder Dunk," and the lazy ass Greg Monroe, who some fans still have the hots for.

Will Casey stop bullsh!t!ng and play Svi (a 6' 8" shooting SF who we traded our most reliable, starting, SF to obtain and on a rookie contract) instead of going to war with none defensive, sub 6' 5" SG's and talking sh!t about turning him into a PG. He's a ballhandler with a high basketball I.Q and our best wing prospect with length. Because he has court vision and can pass the ball is no reason to play him out of position.

Thon Maker, who we obtained in the Stanley Johnson trade, went right into the rotation and didn't bring anymore than Stanley did, they're just physically packaged different, what are the plans for him going forward? Package him with Jon Leuer in a trade?

Can we get on with playing Khyri Thomas and let Robinson III, and Wayne Ellington walk? At their best, they're mediocre and standing in the way of a drafted Piston who can play a better brand of basketball.

Bring Ish Smith back on the same contract, he won't command more elsewhere, trust me. With an upgrade at starting PG, Ish won't see the floor as much and he's a reliable backup.

This offseason will determine just how effective the Pistons front office is; who they draft, the quality of FA's they pursue (Malcolm Brogdon perhaps), and they stop making excuses about the shape SVG left the franchise in. Can they talk some sense into Gores?

[WTF]

I understand the frustration and some of the logic. Ugly? Yeah, but seriously, things aren't near as bad as people seem to want to believe it is.

Having said that, this game tonight hopefully should be the most competitive of all.

It's pretty bad our eyes don't deceive us.    Not much is going to change if we don't get a coach that thinks in a traditional fashion of running an offense and defense.   

We can't keep waiting on AD and RJ to develop a winning mentality that pushes them to play the right way for an entire season, but we can't even get it for a full 48 minutes in a single game.  We can't keep waiting for AD to discover a heart and RJ to find a brain in this bad version of the OZ.

I don't like Casey as a coach nothing about his coaching seems any better than SVG from the previous season.  Watching him coach this team is like watching someone open a box from Ikea and there's no instructions inside.   

There's no guarantee that with a healthy BG that they've would have done better than the 41 win season nor avoided this 1st round sweep.  I get it the talent isn't hard to see so I understand one might conclude it isn't as bad.  But none of the intangibles are there which leaves me feeling it's hopeless

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