If the Pistons do not get out of the stone age and acquire top draft picks for the next 3 years, the Detroit Pistons will stay in purgatory where they now rest

[cool breeze]

Will the announcers continue the propaganda that injuries are the cause of the Pistons failure to improve or have a chance to become an elite team? Ish Smith and now ZaZa seem to be the reason why Detroit is not leading the league in victories if one listens to this nonsense. The reason why Detroit continues to be inconsistent on both offense and defense is due to the fact that they do not have the right players combined with the fact that they do not have the right leadership with the head coach as well as the ownership group. In fairness to this coaching staff, they are using the hand they were dealt. With ZaZa being injured, there is direct exposure to the failings of management to hold on to Eric Moreland who can play circles around Jon Leuer. How much would that have cost the Pistons to keep Moreland? What we are seeing is pure lack of interest by Andre Drummond, Blake Griffin and Leuer to protect the paint. You have to get back in transition quickly to be an effective paint protector. You need to move your feet quickly and anticipate to stop drivers in the paint. You certainly cannot stand and watch the drivers go around you. This is what AD does best. There should be a stat for AD to show how many times per game an opponent who goes around the first line of perimeter defense also goes by AD unopposed. This is a first half habit of AD and has been for his entire career. Every NBA team is attacking and becoming successful scoring in the paint. But management has sent the message to their employees, tell them the problem is that we don't have Ish Smith.

Smith needs to be traded not re signed. Smith is a liability on defense. If the Pistons acquire some good players in the future, how good with the team be if they make the playoffs and Ish Smith plays? No the strategy will be to go at Smith when the Pistons are on defense. Now with Smith out, opposing teams are going full out against two starters, Reggie Jackson and Reggie Bullock. Neither can stop dribble penetration. Neither have any protection from their All Star center who provides zero assistance against any alien beings who enter his space. How much longer will we have to suffer watching this foolishness? The same players who cause the most turnovers and ineffective defense are still wearing Piston uniforms. But management will wait until Smith returns about the time the team plays a bottom feeder who is trying hard to lose games so as to position themselves for the next draft and then say see this team is loaded with potential.

The owner got the Pistons into this problem with signing the wrong players to impossible to move contracts. So Tom Gores needs to do something new to get the Pistons on track for future success. What is going on now is the best this team is going to play. Notice in this last game where several times the Kings were building a lead and the Pistons really needed a basket, what was the strategy? How many teams have you been on where the coach would want you to take a contested 3 point shot. You really have to score to stay in the game. So you take a contested 3 point shot as the strategy????? No somehow you have all players moving fast without the basketball setting screens and getting the correct floor spacing. You try to get an open shot as close to the basket as you possible can. But with the Pistons that is not an option. They rely so much on standing around and then going one on one before shooting an impossible 3 point attempt that it is clear either the coaching staff has absolutely no control of things or the Players are all morons. I am not buying this idea that the Players do not have a competitive fire like the teams they are playing against. I think the overall strategy is so bad that the players feel they have no hope to win at all. The players know they can't make the shots that they are getting in Casey's offense. They also know that because of the style of offense where any player can suddenly go up for a 3 point shot regardless of where his teammates are located on the floor, that opposing players will have a huge advantage when they make the charge to the basket the Pistons need to protect in transition. In Casey's offense, there are too many Piston players standing either on both baselines or in the paint under the basket.

Andre Drummond's performance against the Lakers should have put him on the trade block. He was a hotdog who was trying to show off but whenever he tried to show off, he either turned the ball over or shot an air ball. Leuer started the second half of the Lakers game. What happened at halftime in the Piston locker room? All I can say is that AD looked like he was a over confident rookie playing his first NBA game. Everything backfired for him. As the announcers were saying, what is he doing?? Your team is getting scored on at will inside the paint and your center is thinking about his next 3 point attempt??????? The ship has sailed for the Pistons. We are all waiting for the day when we don't have to watch AD and RJ ever again. I also do not want any additional moments watching Ish Smith either. And over the past two games, Jon Leuer has looked a lot like he did before that injury two seasons ago. He is ineffective playing either power forward or back up center. But I prefer watching Leuer to AD. It was fun to see Brown, Bullock, Johnson, Kennard playing together. The problem was that they had to play with Reggie Jackson. Right now this team looks a lot like the team that embarrassed all Piston fans two seasons ago. That was the time when almost every game the Pistons looked defeated in the first quarter. Then if the starters were safely on the bench the bench guys made the games somewhat closer. But then came the 3rd quarter where the starters got their asses kicked very quickly as they played in a fog of dysfunction. The team chemistry was horrible with the leadership of RJ and AD. Since those two players became the cats ass, team chemistry has continued to slide.

Message to management. Please buy out Leuer. Please trade Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson. Include Smith's expiring contract to make some type of deal work. Force the coaching staff to show they are capable of teaching the players how to play another style similar to the Spurs. Are they capable of doing that? Maybe the assistant coaches have the energy to attempt that type of change but I doubt this head coach has it in him. He seems to be the type of coach who throws out the basketball and doesn't make any waves. I might be wrong but when Casey gives a pre game interview and blames this string of pitiful performances on the lack of Ish Smith in the lineup, who in their right mind can have any faith in him???? The Pistons offer no resistance in the painted area where all teams are scoring at will even when they have a 2nd rate combination of big men. How many games does this owner actually watch? Is he watching the Clippers instead of the Pistons??

[Murph]

Don, I think you are willfully missing the point of my post.  Regardless of what you think of Reggie Jackson, the problem was fixable up until the time we traded Harris, a 1st rounder and filler for Griffin.  We could have brought in another PG and/or another coach to run a different offense.  We still would have had a very young core, anchored by the 25 year old Drummond and 25 year old Harris, to build around.  Once we made the trade, we instantly went from a young, improving team with potential to an older, declining team that is financially capped out.

What we needed to do when Jackson got hurt was acquire another PG, not acquire the Griffin and his albatross of a contract.

[cool breeze]

Murph is right, Andre Drummond looks miserable. But that is on him. Andre looks like a dinosaur who belongs in another era yet I wonder if any coach in previous time periods would tolerate the amount of turnovers he is responsible for causing. Last night the Pistons needed Drummond to get his butt back quickly on defense. He was the only big man this team had. But as in previous games. AD was AWOL seldom providing any resistance especially in the first half.

Murph I respectfully disagree with your take on this idea that the old pick and roll combination of AD and RJ would make any difference. This only worked for one half of one season the year that RJ arrived in Piston land. Opposing teams started loving it when SVG based everything on AD and RJ and their pick and roll game. The other 3 players were not part of the offense. Because of the quality of players who have come from the draft since Reggie Jackson first arrived in Detroit has created more teams that have higher end all around players. While that happened, the Pistons owner went in a different direction trying to shed draft picks and signing players like Jon Leuer who cannot guard power forwards or centers. The problem with the Pistons is management because they have not done their job in securing enough young talent while holding on to players who have a long history of being on losing teams. Last night when RJ returned in the 2nd quarter at about the 5 minute mark, he went back to his old style dribbling the ball up the court and continuing to dribble around trying to create himself but mostly trying to find AD or a hole to squeeze into to get into the paint. He had the ball swatted away towards the end of the shot clock. Johnson grabbed the ball on the baseline and passed it back to RJ. Rj fired away and shot an air ball. RJ then failed to get back on defense quickly. Johnson was still on the baseline while the Kings were sprinting back to make another easy basket. Until RJ returned during that period, the Pistons were looking more like a real team. After that play, the Kings went on a roll and the Pistons looked like the Washington Generals. Meanwhile, Reggie Jackson makes $17 Million perhaps more than any of those Kings players. Andre Drummond makes in the mid 25M range. The ineffective Jon Leuer who is one tenth the player Moreland was last season makes close to $10M. The other players who played pretty good together last night make very little money but play smarter and with more effort. The highest paid athletes on this team play with the lowest basketball IQ and effort with the exception of Blake Griffin who is a horrible fit with this team.

Another area of nonsense that needs to be cleared up is this propaganda being created by the owner and his head coach, Dwayne Casey. In pre game, Casey talked about what is wrong with the Pistons. He blamed it on Ish Smith being injured which has been the theme talked about by the announcers too much. Ish Smith is a horrible defender. The Pistons cannot stop any team in the paint. That is where they get beat night after night. Opposing teams are getting easy transition baskets because of the way the Pistons play offense as well as their biggest problem which is the lack of motivation by either Andre Drummond or Blake Griffin to sprint from baseline to baseline after an opponent gets a defensive rebound. Also, the style of play this coach uses where he insists on his players taking contested 3 point shots always creates bad spacing on the floor which prevents guards from getting their asses back in transition quick enough. Opposing teams have all scouted the Pistons. It is not a fluke that Detroit is getting their asses beat with or without Smith of ZZ. Opposing teams know they have a game plan that will work against the Pistons. They speed up the game and out two big men, AD and BG are nowhere to be seen in the paint where they belong. Dwayne Casey has his hands full trying to make this roster work. But he is also his worst enemy because he cannot create a new style or change things but benching RJ and scrapping the idea that Smith is good for the team. Casey needs to try Luke Kennard at the point guard position or someone from the G League. Also, Stanley Johnson is standing beyond the 3 point line and looks has very little part in the offense. But when he brings the ball up court after he steals the ball, something good usually happens. The coach should notice that Johnson is a good play maker and can see the floor well. He needs to be used as a facilitator and touch the ball a lot. Both Kennard and Johnson have good play making skills that are not being used. That shows me that this coach is still determined to play his big contracts and that is corrupt by any standards. The coach is a politician who is trying to please his owner and make it all work with the players who are nailing down the most money. The owner is the guy who created this mess and the coach must be a real coward or an idiot. Reggie Jackson and Ish Smith are the weakest defenders in the NBA at their positions.

The Pistons can't stop any team now. Logic and reason is long gone in Piston land. Yet when the greatest of all Pistons, Isiah Thomas speaks on NBA TV, he makes perfect sense. Why has this owner shut him out and failed to hire him in some capacity? The answer is this owner does not want to hear what Zeke will tell him. He loves AD and RJ. They were his team leaders before BG. Now we have BG, AD and RJ running the rudder less ship. The coach just throws out the basketball and says great job AD and RJ. Keep doing what you are doing. Everything will turn around. Just wait and see.

[Murph]

Sorry, I just liked this team a whole lot better when Weggie and Drummond were running the pick-n-roll, and when Drummond was the team leader.  Along with all our other problems, this version of the Pistons seems to have drained the life out of Drummond.  He no longer looks as if he's having fun.  Maybe it would have happened anyway; I mean we all get old.  But Drummond looks miserable, and he's playing like it.


IMO, our real problems started last December 26, when Reggie Jackson sprained his ankle.  Reggie was playing at the top of his game/career.  In fact, in that game before the injury, Reggie had 13 assists, and was on pace to have a career night in assists, and the Pistons were cruising with a 19-14 record.

After that injury, the Pistons predictably struggled.  But instead of finding a replacement at starting PG, the Pistons did nothing.  They started Ish Smith, and brought D-Leaguer Dwight Buycks off the bench.  The results were disastrous.  The Pistons lost their next 12 out of 15 games, fell out of playoff contention and went into panic mode.  

So then what did the Pistons do?  Did they acquire a starting PG, to try to save their season???  Nooooo.  They mortgaged their future for the next 5 years, traded away their 25 year old rising young star, Tobias Harris, along with their 1st round pick, and the valuable center Boban...for an aging, injury prone, former all-star, on the downside of his career, with the single worst contract in the NBA.  Game over.

[Sparma]

Had read a nice piece at 538 about Sac's relentless, game long, pace; figured we were in trouble even before hearing Blake was sitting.

At one point, Casey pulled Kennard after being in 10 seconds (shades of SVG!). Kennard evidently blew up, and needed to be restrained. We'll be hearing more about that. Ellis already tweeted something.

Good game by Stanley, even though he ended up at -17.

Also, maybe Bruce Brown's best game.

For me the real silver lining was that Thomas played, and played well, making impossible to bury him on the bench the next two weeks. Or...?

[Sparma]

And that's without you including Mitchell and/or Book, which takes only a little more stretch of the imagination.

Yes, we're in a terrible spot. I actually think there will be a mild turnaround soon. But the outlook for the future looks terrible.

BD cites Gores twice (!) speaking of trusting of process. Sadly delusional.

Desperate measures are needed. And I don't see them coming with Gores at the helm. He clearly isn't down with tanking. And neither is Casey. I just hope this mess doesn't end up stationed in Seattle.

I have never been less hopeful about the future of the Pistons.  Not only do we suck, but we have very few young players who are developing.  Only Kennard, Brown, Thomas and maybe Johnson are still improving.  The rest of our vets, believe it or not, are at the peaks of their careers or already on the downside and will only get worse from here.


Our chemistry is terrible.  Our ball movement it terrible.  Our shooting is terrible.  And our defense is terrible.  We are worse than the sum of our parts, and getting worse not better as the season goes on.


Really, there is nothing to do but blow this team up and start the 6 year tankathon.  And I hate tanking.  But in our case, it's the only option.  I figure it will take 6 years.

We can trade Drummond, and maybe Ish and Bullock.  But we are stuck with Griffin for 4 more years.  So that means, we are going to be just really bad, not terrible.  With Griffin, we'll continue to win like a third of our games every year, and end up with like the 8th pick in the lottery every year, until Griffin's contract finally expires in 4 years.  Then we'll be one of the worst 3 teams in the league for the next 2 years or so, until we snag a couple of bonified stars in the draft, and begin to improve.


So for the next 4 years, we'll collect something like four #8 picks, and then in years 5 and 6, we'll snag top 3 picks, and then begin to improve, and eventually get really, really good.  But I doubt I'll live to see it.



I was just fantasizing last night.  How would you like to be fielding this lineup:

Dinwiddie, Jackson, Smith
Bullock, Kennard, Brown
Harris, Johnson, Bullock
Tolliver, Harris, Moreland
Drummond, Moreland, Boban

I might be kidding myself, but I think the above team would win 50 games and make it to the 2nd round, which looks like heaven right now.  And the bizarre thing is that we had/have all of those players.  All we had to do was not give them away for nothing.  My head hurts.  


I see Jimmy Butler is beginning to work his magic in Philly. He already hates the coach, and he hates not being the man.  How long will it be before Butler and Embiid are at each other's throats?  

[Murph]

I have never been less hopeful about the future of the Pistons.  Not only do we suck, but we have very few young players who are developing.  Only Kennard, Brown, Thomas and maybe Johnson are still improving.  The rest of our vets, believe it or not, are at the peaks of their careers or already on the downside and will only get worse from here.


Our chemistry is terrible.  Our ball movement it terrible.  Our shooting is terrible.  And our defense is terrible.  We are worse than the sum of our parts, and getting worse not better as the season goes on.


Really, there is nothing to do but blow this team up and start the 6 year tankathon.  And I hate tanking.  But in our case, it's the only option.  I figure it will take 6 years.

We can trade Drummond, and maybe Ish and Bullock.  But we are stuck with Griffin for 4 more years.  So that means, we are going to be just really bad, not terrible.  With Griffin, we'll continue to win like a third of our games every year, and end up with like the 8th pick in the lottery every year, until Griffin's contract finally expires in 4 years.  Then we'll be one of the worst 3 teams in the league for the next 2 years or so, until we snag a couple of bonified stars in the draft, and begin to improve.


So for the next 4 years, we'll collect something like four #8 picks, and then in years 5 and 6, we'll snag top 3 picks, and then begin to improve, and eventually get really, really good.  But I doubt I'll live to see it.



I was just fantasizing last night.  How would you like to be fielding this lineup:

Dinwiddie, Jackson, Smith
Bullock, Kennard, Brown
Harris, Johnson, Bullock
Tolliver, Harris, Moreland
Drummond, Moreland, Boban

I might be kidding myself, but I think the above team would win 50 games and make it to the 2nd round, which looks like heaven right now.  And the bizarre thing is that we had/have all of those players.  All we had to do was not give them away for nothing.  My head hurts.  


I see Jimmy Butler is beginning to work his magic in Philly. He already hates the coach, and he hates not being the man.  How long will it be before Butler and Embiid are at each other's throats?  

[BallinD]

This sh!tshow comes to you with clueless Gores sitting there in LA watching his handiwork and the lackluster performance of his favorite sons Dre and Weggie along with Blake and the cast of minions.

Gores via Rod Beard: "I like this team.  I think we can get through adversity.  (Wut? Huh?) We have to have a culture of winning. We just have to trust the process.  We have to have a culture of winning.  We just have to do the little things and see what happens (cue fat lady singing Figaro as team freefalls into lottery). They really do care about this.  We have to trust the process." (PROCESS? Does this mean Tankathon is already underway and we just don't know it? He obviously told Casey.)

Earth to Gores:  It's gonna either take a helluva lot of "little things," or he's totally wrong (likely) and it just might take some BIG THINGS to turn this Titanic around. BTW, Casey said the team will have to go to a Zone, since they can't defend.

Anomalies:  Kuzma/Lebron went off for 41 in 3 quarters while our two stoppers Johnson and Brown flailed about.  Blake got ZERO rebounds, Dre goes 2-12 and Javale Mcgee made Dre look like he was Shaqtin-a-fool.  Casey continues to maintain "shots will fall,"  or is he really saying "Sh!t will fall? Galloway sighting; the streaker was streaking; his once-in-every-5-game wakeup call.

[Sparma]

I'd think they'd go for that trade, except for the inclusion of the second. Even so, I'd do that.

Can we take advantage of the confusion in Minny and swap one of our wings, GR3 perhaps, and Ellensen for Tolliver and a 2nd?  The Tolliver Effect is most needed in the D.  He's avg about 5.8 ppg and 40% from 3 making $4.75 mill.

This is a minor move, but come on Big Ed.  Do something.

[BallinD]

Can we take advantage of the confusion in Minny and swap one of our wings, GR3 perhaps, and Ellensen for Tolliver and a 2nd? The Tolliver Effect is most needed in the D. He's avg about 5.8 ppg and 40% from 3 making $4.75 mill.

This is a minor move, but come on Big Ed. Do something.

[cool breeze]

Don, I do think Stanley would benefit from playing with San Antonio, as many players would.  I'd bet Pops could make a real difference both to Kennard and Reggie J.

I was struck by a comment Danny Ainge made about needing to be able to play within the role given by the team.  He mentioned the number of seasons he was really happy with his role, about half.

A lot of NBA players will look look if you tailor their role to their strength.  I know you were a Will Bynum critic, but I thought that he gave some valuable minutes when allowed to do his thing.  In a more regimented role, conforming tightly to a team expectation, he would have been worthless (which you thought he was anyway).

Looking closely at his shooting numbers, I see that Stanley is pretty proficient from 16 feet in.  So I agree that SA's midrange game might suit him.

I also believe there needs to be give and take, and the coach needs to try to bring out strengths of each player (which is why I was a fan of Earl Weaver, even though he did in the Tigers repeatedly).  I agree that Casey needs to do more of that.

All that said, if you have a role (as Stanley does) and you're bad at an important part of it (SJ's now at .264 from 3!!), then you can expect your role to diminish as appears to have happened recently to him (although I'm not sure of the extent of his injury).  And if you're bad at something (.264!!) and you decide to do it a whole lot there's going to be a big problem.  Everyone misses from 3.  No big deal.  But if when you hoist up three 3s in 10 minutes, and you're bad at it, and you miss all three, projecting to a 36 minute average of 10.8 shots attempts, then there's an increasingly large issue.  And that issue concerns low BB IQ which I thought was a topic of great interest and concern to you regarding our Pistons.

Kelser's funny to listen to because even though he's pulling for the Pistons, he's an astute observer, and someone who appreciates good basketball.  I don't know how often he commented on SA's movement without the ball, and the Pistons's lack thereof (except (again!) during the first quarter when he could praise them for their movement.

I don't want to be accused again of being hung up on numbers, but dang, when your Big 2 put up numbers like that it's hard to see why your team can't do better (even if they don't win).

That Kahwi trade's looking good for SA, especially if he ends up leaving Toronto after a season.  

And, yes, Stanley with another 0-3 from deep (he sat at .270 going into the game).  His 10 minutes didn't do us in though.  But that bench!!  Galloway with -16 in 4 minutes!!!  That's almost impossible.  I've never seen that.  SJ -16 in 10, Kennard -18 in 15, Calderon -18 in 23.  

Forget what I said about the Big 2.  SA's smart team play and our horrendous bench wiped out any and all good work by the Big 2 [can they both possibly make the All Star game on a dismal team?].  And their own combined 8 TOs didn't help.

Don't worry Sparma as soon as Ish Smith gets back into the lineup, there will be nothing to worry about. Remember that was the spin about a week ago. The Pistons are losing because Ish Smith is injured. You just can't control the injury bug. I hope you don't think I am serious but most likely our idiot owner and his head coach might rely on that explanation of why the Pistons continue to suck.

This season is playing out just like the last two seasons. Other teams elevate their play in the 2nd half and always know before the games begin that Detroit is an easy prey. The composition of this roster is insane. The strategy of this coaching staff is insane. Nobody can play any defense. The player rotations are so stupid any opposing coach can easily find multiple ways to their team to score.

The Spurs continue to play basketball the right way with their solid management and coaching staff proving that there is more to the game than Dwayne Casey's or SVG's vision. Piston players cannot defend period as a team. The players this coach counts on to win are not capable of playing the right way.

I notice that you mentioned Stanley Johnson and his 0-3 from beyond the 3 point line. Johnson needs to play for the Spurs. They respect a player who is more suited to playing as a team unselfishly and also providing skill and effort on defense. I have said all season long that Dwayne Casey has not created any plays for Stanley Johnson's true strength. He can make plays for other players and score with his driving and mid range game if Casey's team explored playing both sides of the court more especially getting Johnson the ball when he is on the weak side. Johnson or nobody can be successful playing 10 minutes a game while standing in place watching the designated shooters do their thing. Why is it that Casey has not been able to solve the mystery of lack of ball or player movement that happens after the first 5 minutes of each game. When Ish Smith returns there will be no chance of improvement because Ish relies on read and react self created offense off the dribble even more so than Reggie Jackson. Why not play Luke at point with Johnson at the 3 and Brown at the 2? Reggie and Ish should fight for playing time with the 2nd unit or at least trade Smith now. The Pistons would have a better group guarding on the perimeter which they need because of the lack of interior defense offered by AD and BG. Brown is still learning how to play all the players he is matched up against this season. No rookie guard can know all the tendencies without experience. He is doing far better than I ever imagined so far. It is a waste of time to continue to play Reggie Jackson, Ish Smith, Langston Galloway, Robinson, and for sure the Pistons need to trade Reggie Bullock as soon as possible to get some positive return.

Do any of you think this Piston front office will make any moves? Will the Front office trade for more specialist type players who are weak in every other area of the game? Will they will trade Stanley Johnson who other GMs feel has good potential and can already help teams with his defensive and play making abilities. Trading Johnson would be the best thing that could happen to him but most likely the Pistons will get screwed once again because of their incompetent ownership group inability to make a smart trade. The guy that the Pistons need to trade most is Andre Drummond because he could possibly bring the Pistons a high draft pick and a competent player. But maybe I am way off on that and actually perhaps most GMs do not want what AD has to offer or his contract. And then there is the relationship AD has with the owner who will not listen to any potential trade deals involving Andre. This is not all on AD as to why the Pistons have lost so much since he arrived. The surrounding group of players are just long distance shooters who are not very accurate. The owner has no solid vision for the future of the Pistons. The Front office takes their orders from the ownership group. The press appears to be in the pocket of the owner. The fan base is depressed and losing interest. Michigan and MSU are still the front runners when it comes to basketball interest in the State of Michigan. Elsewhere, the Pistons are non existent and for sure you wouldn't want to wear a Piston hat or shirt in public for fear of being laughed at unless you still have a Championship hat. I hope you all have one for both eras when the Pistons were on top of the heap. Those were the days.

Very nice post Sparma. You know I never hated Will Bynum. In fact I might have been his biggest fan when he played for Arizona. Bynum was benched unwisely by coach Luke Olson who decided he would play a brown nose player with limited skills on either offense or defense over Bynum. I could never figure that one out because after Bynum transferred the guy Olson chose over him really caused problems for his last two seasons at Arizona. Bynum played well over seas and then came to the Pistons and provided a real spark with his dribble drives. My complaint was with Piston management who were selling snake oil much like the current situation we have now relating to Reggie Jackson and Ish Smith. The Pistons are trying to sell entertainment instead of building a real basketball team the right way. Listening to Isiah Thomas making his profound statements in a game last night between Golden State and New York, he commented on the importance of an owner to recognize when it becomes time to go all in on giving playing time to your young players and shedding contracts or at least knowing when it is time to throw in the towel on what doesn't work anymore. The young players need to get experience and make mistakes and form a bond with other young guys. This is what Phoenix is doing this season and I am envious because the Piston's front office and the head coach of the Pistons keep hanging onto the same players and ideas when every fan knows this roster will never work given the style of play and abilities the high contract players offer. We might as well be watching the teams in the past that Will Bynum played on. Maybe we can go back in time and enjoy the likes of Charlie V. There are a lot of Charlie V's on this team. They have one skill and that is shooting 3 point shots. Meanwhile, teams like the Spurs do not have the top talent but they are real basketball players who play in a smart system. How this owner selected Dwayne Casey is incredible. There is no way he will get fired. They hired a coach who would accept the composition of the roster and of course the money too. The players determine who wins and loses most of the time. But the style this coach plays and his selection of rotation players and combinations show a lot of people that he has no clue at all as to how to form a high chemistry type team. You don't win by playing 5 guys who all like to shoot and hate to defend. I think a player like Moreland would make a big impact on the 2nd unit now if the Pistons also played a solid high IQ point guard. The starting unit will improve by not playing either Jackson or Smith. Smith is Will Bynum. The Pistons wanted a circus act meaning a crowd pleaser who could dribble fast and somehow score against the big guys. If the Pistons ever make the playoffs, both Jackson and Smith will be exploited on defense. And opposing teams can also take their pick when they need a score to take advantage of Reggie Bullock, Langston Galloway and Jon Leuer not to mention AD. I think BG will rise to the occasion and play on both ends well. But the Piston brain trust must know they have a lemon and can do very little about it at this time due to the amount and length of the contracts that are sucking up most of the money.

Stanley Johnson is not sucking up much money. He has never been used correctly. I think both SVG and Dwayne have ruined his confidence and SJ used to have a terrific spirit on the hard wood. Johnson is the victim of being on the wrong team at the wrong time. He needs a smart insightful coach who will bring out the best for SJ as well as all the young players. If you were in his position what would you do knowing that to get playing time you have to shoot and make 3 point shots. Nothing else matters so regardless of Johnson's former role of defending the opponent's best offensive player in crunch time, he will sit on the bench in crunch time. The coach wants scoring out of SJ. Making a steal or assist or great screen goes un noticed. This coach wants to see players like Bullock, Galloway, Jackson, Smith and Robinson shooting the 3 point shot when Blake kicks the ball out after being triple teamed. There is no thought given by the coach to possibly create a weak side play where a teammate sets a screen for Johnson who penetrates and dishes or makes a layup on the weak side. There is no clear out for Johnson to penetrate and hit AD for a pass or shoot a mid range shot. The Pistons are easy to guard in crunch time. The team plays with a really low basketball iQ in crunch time. There is no go to play for anyone other than Blake Griffin because the players on the floor have only one thing they do in Casey's offense and that is to shoot the 3 ball. So Sparma imagine you are SJ and you have always been able to use your special skill set which is driving and making a lot of decisions with the ball in your hands that do not involve standing in one position on the court and then occasionally getting a pass. You are wide open behind the 3 point line. You don't take contested shots. You are wide open. And you know that the coach bases everything on making or missing those3 point shots. For me that would be too much pressure. I would most likely be shooting around the same percentage as Stanley Johnson. Most of the time you are only as good as your coach shows he believes in you on how you fit in his system. That is what Isiah Thomas said last night when referring to New York's coach who shows he believes in his young players. Dwayne Casey doesn't believe or have any trust in Stanley Johnson. Therefore, Piston management should give SG a break and trade him. He needs to play not rot on the bench and watch players like Reggie Jackson dance around on defense. Johnson knows how to win. That is his biggest asset and he has been a big winner before arrived on the Pistons. I always remember what Isiah Thomas said two years ago when he was sitting next to George and Greg during a home game. Stanley Johnson came up to the scorers table and said hi to Isiah before running out on the floor. Thomas then said the problem with the Pistons losing is that they need more players like Stanley Johnson. If Isiah had agreed to become the Piston's head coach at that time, we wouldn't be having this conversation about Johnson. Thomas would have made Johnson one of the key leaders and would have selected players who have multiple skills who know and love to play basketball the right way. The City of Detroit will be in love with him. He would be in love with Detroit and would have already signed a multiple year contract. Best of all the Pistons would be fun to watch while playing in an offense much like the Spurs. Fans would enjoy high IQ basketball instead of watching players dribble or jack up 3 point shots while getting beat in transition. The Pistons would have solid defenders playing center and power forward. Instead the owner has make a serious bond with the likes of AD and RJ. They ruled the way the Pistons played and determined the spirit this Pistons would have until Blake Griffin arrived. Griffin has arrived in hell but the money is great. Take a look at the article on the right side of the page "Is Andre Drummond the NBA's best true center?" AD is a player who knows how to compile some amazing stats. He shows up for almost every game. He is more engaged now than in the past. AD might be the worst center to get back in transition and provide paint protection in the history of the game who gets mentioned as an All Star player. He is unpredictable as to how he will react within the defensive rotation. Nobody knows what he might do or not do. Losing games is not all on AD but he has been an important factor because of the type of personality he has and the role this owner has given him as a team leader. Neither RJ or AD are leader types. Yet those were the leaders SJ had to deal with for too long. SJ will be moving somewhere in the West far away from those two players I suspect. SJ needs to find himself a team that likes what he does best.

[Sparma]

Don, I do think Stanley would benefit from playing with San Antonio, as many players would. I'd bet Pops could make a real difference both to Kennard and Reggie J.

I was struck by a comment Danny Ainge made about needing to be able to play within the role given by the team. He mentioned the number of seasons he was really happy with his role, about half.

A lot of NBA players will look look if you tailor their role to their strength. I know you were a Will Bynum critic, but I thought that he gave some valuable minutes when allowed to do his thing. In a more regimented role, conforming tightly to a team expectation, he would have been worthless (which you thought he was anyway).

Looking closely at his shooting numbers, I see that Stanley is pretty proficient from 16 feet in. So I agree that SA's midrange game might suit him.

I also believe there needs to be give and take, and the coach needs to try to bring out strengths of each player (which is why I was a fan of Earl Weaver, even though he did in the Tigers repeatedly). I agree that Casey needs to do more of that.

All that said, if you have a role (as Stanley does) and you're bad at an important part of it (SJ's now at .264 from 3!!), then you can expect your role to diminish as appears to have happened recently to him (although I'm not sure of the extent of his injury). And if you're bad at something (.264!!) and you decide to do it a whole lot there's going to be a big problem. Everyone misses from 3. No big deal. But if when you hoist up three 3s in 10 minutes, and you're bad at it, and you miss all three, projecting to a 36 minute average of 10.8 shots attempts, then there's an increasingly large issue. And that issue concerns low BB IQ which I thought was a topic of great interest and concern to you regarding our Pistons.

Kelser's funny to listen to because even though he's pulling for the Pistons, he's an astute observer, and someone who appreciates good basketball.  I don't know how often he commented on SA's movement without the ball, and the Pistons's lack thereof (except (again!) during the first quarter when he could praise them for their movement.

I don't want to be accused again of being hung up on numbers, but dang, when your Big 2 put up numbers like that it's hard to see why your team can't do better (even if they don't win).

That Kahwi trade's looking good for SA, especially if he ends up leaving Toronto after a season.  

And, yes, Stanley with another 0-3 from deep (he sat at .270 going into the game).  His 10 minutes didn't do us in though.  But that bench!!  Galloway with -16 in 4 minutes!!!  That's almost impossible.  I've never seen that.  SJ -16 in 10, Kennard -18 in 15, Calderon -18 in 23.  

Forget what I said about the Big 2.  SA's smart team play and our horrendous bench wiped out any and all good work by the Big 2 [can they both possibly make the All Star game on a dismal team?].  And their own combined 8 TOs didn't help.

Don't worry Sparma as soon as Ish Smith gets back into the lineup, there will be nothing to worry about. Remember that was the spin about a week ago. The Pistons are losing because Ish Smith is injured. You just can't control the injury bug. I hope you don't think I am serious but most likely our idiot owner and his head coach might rely on that explanation of why the Pistons continue to suck.

This season is playing out just like the last two seasons. Other teams elevate their play in the 2nd half and always know before the games begin that Detroit is an easy prey. The composition of this roster is insane. The strategy of this coaching staff is insane. Nobody can play any defense. The player rotations are so stupid any opposing coach can easily find multiple ways to their team to score.

The Spurs continue to play basketball the right way with their solid management and coaching staff proving that there is more to the game than Dwayne Casey's or SVG's vision. Piston players cannot defend period as a team. The players this coach counts on to win are not capable of playing the right way.

I notice that you mentioned Stanley Johnson and his 0-3 from beyond the 3 point line. Johnson needs to play for the Spurs. They respect a player who is more suited to playing as a team unselfishly and also providing skill and effort on defense. I have said all season long that Dwayne Casey has not created any plays for Stanley Johnson's true strength. He can make plays for other players and score with his driving and mid range game if Casey's team explored playing both sides of the court more especially getting Johnson the ball when he is on the weak side. Johnson or nobody can be successful playing 10 minutes a game while standing in place watching the designated shooters do their thing. Why is it that Casey has not been able to solve the mystery of lack of ball or player movement that happens after the first 5 minutes of each game. When Ish Smith returns there will be no chance of improvement because Ish relies on read and react self created offense off the dribble even more so than Reggie Jackson. Why not play Luke at point with Johnson at the 3 and Brown at the 2? Reggie and Ish should fight for playing time with the 2nd unit or at least trade Smith now. The Pistons would have a better group guarding on the perimeter which they need because of the lack of interior defense offered by AD and BG. Brown is still learning how to play all the players he is matched up against this season. No rookie guard can know all the tendencies without experience. He is doing far better than I ever imagined so far. It is a waste of time to continue to play Reggie Jackson, Ish Smith, Langston Galloway, Robinson, and for sure the Pistons need to trade Reggie Bullock as soon as possible to get some positive return.

Do any of you think this Piston front office will make any moves? Will the Front office trade for more specialist type players who are weak in every other area of the game? Will they will trade Stanley Johnson who other GMs feel has good potential and can already help teams with his defensive and play making abilities. Trading Johnson would be the best thing that could happen to him but most likely the Pistons will get screwed once again because of their incompetent ownership group inability to make a smart trade. The guy that the Pistons need to trade most is Andre Drummond because he could possibly bring the Pistons a high draft pick and a competent player. But maybe I am way off on that and actually perhaps most GMs do not want what AD has to offer or his contract. And then there is the relationship AD has with the owner who will not listen to any potential trade deals involving Andre. This is not all on AD as to why the Pistons have lost so much since he arrived. The surrounding group of players are just long distance shooters who are not very accurate. The owner has no solid vision for the future of the Pistons. The Front office takes their orders from the ownership group. The press appears to be in the pocket of the owner. The fan base is depressed and losing interest. Michigan and MSU are still the front runners when it comes to basketball interest in the State of Michigan. Elsewhere, the Pistons are non existent and for sure you wouldn't want to wear a Piston hat or shirt in public for fear of being laughed at unless you still have a Championship hat. I hope you all have one for both eras when the Pistons were on top of the heap. Those were the days.

[WTF]

This team plays like Trump is running it    LOSER!!!!!!!

[cool breeze]

Kelser's funny to listen to because even though he's pulling for the Pistons, he's an astute observer, and someone who appreciates good basketball.  I don't know how often he commented on SA's movement without the ball, and the Pistons's lack thereof (except (again!) during the first quarter when he could praise them for their movement.

I don't want to be accused again of being hung up on numbers, but dang, when your Big 2 put up numbers like that it's hard to see why your team can't do better (even if they don't win).

That Kahwi trade's looking good for SA, especially if he ends up leaving Toronto after a season.  

And, yes, Stanley with another 0-3 from deep (he sat at .270 going into the game).  His 10 minutes didn't do us in though.  But that bench!!  Galloway with -16 in 4 minutes!!!  That's almost impossible.  I've never seen that.  SJ -16 in 10, Kennard -18 in 15, Calderon -18 in 23.  

Forget what I said about the Big 2.  SA's smart team play and our horrendous bench wiped out any and all good work by the Big 2 [can they both possibly make the All Star game on a dismal team?].  And their own combined 8 TOs didn't help.

Don't worry Sparma as soon as Ish Smith gets back into the lineup, there will be nothing to worry about. Remember that was the spin about a week ago. The Pistons are losing because Ish Smith is injured. You just can't control the injury bug. I hope you don't think I am serious but most likely our idiot owner and his head coach might rely on that explanation of why the Pistons continue to suck.

This season is playing out just like the last two seasons. Other teams elevate their play in the 2nd half and always know before the games begin that Detroit is an easy prey. The composition of this roster is insane. The strategy of this coaching staff is insane. Nobody can play any defense. The player rotations are so stupid any opposing coach can easily find multiple ways to their team to score.

The Spurs continue to play basketball the right way with their solid management and coaching staff proving that there is more to the game than Dwayne Casey's or SVG's vision. Piston players cannot defend period as a team. The players this coach counts on to win are not capable of playing the right way.

I notice that you mentioned Stanley Johnson and his 0-3 from beyond the 3 point line. Johnson needs to play for the Spurs. They respect a player who is more suited to playing as a team unselfishly and also providing skill and effort on defense. I have said all season long that Dwayne Casey has not created any plays for Stanley Johnson's true strength. He can make plays for other players and score with his driving and mid range game if Casey's team explored playing both sides of the court more especially getting Johnson the ball when he is on the weak side. Johnson or nobody can be successful playing 10 minutes a game while standing in place watching the designated shooters do their thing. Why is it that Casey has not been able to solve the mystery of lack of ball or player movement that happens after the first 5 minutes of each game. When Ish Smith returns there will be no chance of improvement because Ish relies on read and react self created offense off the dribble even more so than Reggie Jackson. Why not play Luke at point with Johnson at the 3 and Brown at the 2? Reggie and Ish should fight for playing time with the 2nd unit or at least trade Smith now. The Pistons would have a better group guarding on the perimeter which they need because of the lack of interior defense offered by AD and BG. Brown is still learning how to play all the players he is matched up against this season. No rookie guard can know all the tendencies without experience. He is doing far better than I ever imagined so far. It is a waste of time to continue to play Reggie Jackson, Ish Smith, Langston Galloway, Robinson, and for sure the Pistons need to trade Reggie Bullock as soon as possible to get some positive return.

Do any of you think this Piston front office will make any moves? Will the Front office trade for more specialist type players who are weak in every other area of the game? Will they will trade Stanley Johnson who other GMs feel has good potential and can already help teams with his defensive and play making abilities. Trading Johnson would be the best thing that could happen to him but most likely the Pistons will get screwed once again because of their incompetent ownership group inability to make a smart trade. The guy that the Pistons need to trade most is Andre Drummond because he could possibly bring the Pistons a high draft pick and a competent player. But maybe I am way off on that and actually perhaps most GMs do not want what AD has to offer or his contract. And then there is the relationship AD has with the owner who will not listen to any potential trade deals involving Andre. This is not all on AD as to why the Pistons have lost so much since he arrived. The surrounding group of players are just long distance shooters who are not very accurate. The owner has no solid vision for the future of the Pistons. The Front office takes their orders from the ownership group. The press appears to be in the pocket of the owner. The fan base is depressed and losing interest. Michigan and MSU are still the front runners when it comes to basketball interest in the State of Michigan. Elsewhere, the Pistons are non existent and for sure you wouldn't want to wear a Piston hat or shirt in public for fear of being laughed at unless you still have a Championship hat. I hope you all have one for both eras when the Pistons were on top of the heap. Those were the days.

[Sparma]

Kelser's funny to listen to because even though he's pulling for the Pistons, he's an astute observer, and someone who appreciates good basketball. I don't know how often he commented on SA's movement without the ball, and the Pistons's lack thereof (except (again!) during the first quarter when he could praise them for their movement.

I don't want to be accused again of being hung up on numbers, but dang, when your Big 2 put up numbers like that it's hard to see why your team can't do better (even if they don't win).

That Kahwi trade's looking good for SA, especially if he ends up leaving Toronto after a season.

And, yes, Stanley with another 0-3 from deep (he sat at .270 going into the game). His 10 minutes didn't do us in though. But that bench!! Galloway with -16 in 4 minutes!!! That's almost impossible. I've never seen that. SJ -16 in 10, Kennard -18 in 15, Calderon -18 in 23.

Forget what I said about the Big 2. SA's smart team play and our horrendous bench wiped out any and all good work by the Big 2 [can they both possibly make the All Star game on a dismal team?]. And their own combined 8 TOs didn't help.

[BallinD]

@DX: Please disregard the quotes from the man behind the computer screen. I'm trying morbid humor to keep my blood pressure down.

Stankey Johnson: "It's a contract year, time to get paid.  Show em I'm still the best player in that draft.  And screw Bruce Brown, he's just a Stanimal wannabe."

In the words of Magglio Ordonez, "When I Try To Do Too Much, I Don't Do Too Much" .  

How long will he continue to press the issue by attempting to do things that he doesn't do well.  Not a good look for a young "VET".  When assessed by games played and minutes logged he isn't a kid anymore.  Seems like he should have a better handle on who he is and what he can & can't do by now.

BallinD, did "half man-half clown" really say that about his teammate, a rookie? All about some hopeful dollars? Helluva teammate, in whatever context he made that direct remark....the Pistons team leader should be letting him know that halfway through your final year is not the time to earn a new contract.

[deusXango]

Stankey Johnson: "It's a contract year, time to get paid.  Show em I'm still the best player in that draft.  And screw Bruce Brown, he's just a Stanimal wannabe."

In the words of Magglio Ordonez, "When I Try To Do Too Much, I Don't Do Too Much" .  

How long will he continue to press the issue by attempting to do things that he doesn't do well.  Not a good look for a young "VET".  When assessed by games played and minutes logged he isn't a kid anymore.  Seems like he should have a better handle on who he is and what he can & can't do by now.

BallinD, did "half man-half clown" really say that about his teammate, a rookie? All about some hopeful dollars? Helluva teammate, in whatever context he made that direct remark....the Pistons team leader should be letting him know that halfway through your final year is not the time to earn a new contract.

[BallinD]

Stankey Johnson: "It's a contract year, time to get paid. Show em I'm still the best player in that draft. And screw Bruce Brown, he's just a Stanimal wannabe."

In the words of Magglio Ordonez, "When I Try To Do Too Much, I Don't Do Too Much" .  

How long will he continue to press the issue by attempting to do things that he doesn't do well.  Not a good look for a young "VET".  When assessed by games played and minutes logged he isn't a kid anymore.  Seems like he should have a better handle on who he is and what he can & can't do by now.

[Sparma]

A wealth of materials suddenly!

Don, living out of state, I'm one who does not go to games. I'm jealous of Lemonpen; I'd like to attend even one of these sparsely attended games.

Hilarious stuff, BallinD, deserving of a bigger audience.

Good point about BB not being the first to get burned by Mitchell as he heated up, Lemonpen.

After a few more games, I expect the team to take a turn for the better until late February. The schedule becomes forgiving for a spell, even though we've demonstrated nothing is to be taken for granted.

In that way, I agree with Casey that we'll get better [caveats: after a while, and only for a while.]

I had a scary thought though: there's a very good chance that we'll be a worse team next year, if Bullock leaves, and even with Ish, ZaZa, and Calderon leaving. I'm not expecting great immediate impact via FA or draft. And, fingers crossed, Blake has been enjoying unusually robust health. Hope for internal improvement, I guess, with Luke, Stanley, Bruce, and Kyrie. I see potential there, but not a bunch of world beaters.

[cool breeze]

Don: "However, I like Brown's basketball IQ a lot and the fact that he is a confident type of player with a high energy type mentality."

There's a silver lining to the tough loss against Utah in that Bruce Brown is emerging as an important rotation player.  Early on, he dribbled into a congested area, facing Gobart, but with Drummond as an option.  He kept the ball himself for a nice basket.  Similar situation a bit later, but he passes off to AD for the dunk.

High basketball IQ consists largely of making good, quick, decisions in complicated situations.  Brown showed it in both those two cases.

He also pushes the pace (unlike Reggie J and Jose), which is at least a valuable switch.  For instance, running up court, he found Blake running ahead with a beautiful bounce pass for the score.

He's no savior, not with those shooting limitations.  And Donovan ate him up in the 2nd half, after Bruce had done really good work defensively early.

I hope that Casey makes heavy use of specialized skills, so I'm not saying Brown should just take over at PG.  But he's earned serious minutes, some of which as the principal PG on the floor.

After Rubio ran circles around Bullock / Jackson in the first half we started the second half with Brown on him.  At the start of Q3 Donovan was being guarded by Bullock, which was when DM got going.  The Rook may have suffered some later on but he wasn't the guy who opened the floodgate.

Lemonpen you made a comment awhile back relating to how Drummond was playing. It appeared to me that you must have attended that game. I wonder how many posters do attend Piston games this season. I attended a lot of games when I lived in the Detroit area but now doubt that I would do it even once. Yet I watch every game hoping something different will happen. Rubio looked like a super hero playing against our Piston defenders. Then Mitchell was able to score whenever he wanted to in crunch time. The combination of Jackson and Bullock does not work in crunch time against many teams who have average to above average skill players at the point, 2 guard and 3. The combination of Jackson and Galloway also is a loser. But for me the worst of all combinations that Dwayne has used so far in crunch time has been Ish Smith and Reggie Jackson. That combination is about as dumb as you can get where neither Jackson or Smith have any chance of being successful on the defensive end during the last 4 minutes of any game. But somehow I suspect that this is what Casey will try again once Smith is ready to play. Luke Kennard defends better than Jackson, Smith, Bullock or Galloway. He is not a great defender but his basketball IQ is good. Kennard is also a good play maker unlike any of the other 4 players. The thing RJ, IS, RB, and LG have in common is that they are shooters only. RJ and IS also screw things up big time because they still believe that they must create everything in the half court offense by dribbling themselves for most of the shot clock. The Pistons have been scouted now by all teams. Early in the season when teams were getting their feet wet, the Pistons had a better chance. Like always with this core group of over paid athletes, once mid December hits, our players have great difficulty winning. What is most irritating is that Dwayne Casey keeps repeating the player rotations that SVG used. Wouldn't it have been smart for a new coach to at least look at last year's game film. It appears that Casey still doesn't know that most of his current roster have no idea how to play team orientated defense, move well without the basketball, see specific situations where another teammate has an advantage and get that guy the basketball on time, or think about playing both sides of the basketball court. The Pistons are not hard to guard. All the focus is on Blake Griffin. No plays have been created by this coach to get other players involved on offense in crunch time. The Pistons execute their offense with player and ball movement at the start of each game and then revert to the old sluggish style of play when the game is on the line.

At least the Pistons have been keeping most games somewhat closer which is an improvement from the last two seasons. Still I imagine the arena will start thinning out again. Will you be going out in the cold to attend any additional Piston games this season?

[cool breeze]

Cool: "The NBA is a crazy game where strategy is non existent because of the stupid rules. The games could be much more exciting if teams were allowed to play any defensive style. No 3 second rule on defense. The intention was to make the games more exciting by featuring more scoring. But their rules have caused the games to be extremely dull in my opinion. Who wants to see players driving unopposed past the first line of defense with a simple high screen and go in for a layup?"

I agree that rule changes would help.  The 3 second rule might serve a purpose though: you probably don't want the likes of Boban hanging out right by the basket on and on.  Still, I'd call for something similar: re-allowing zone defenses.  It's one thing to drive to the ball on skill, another to get open lane after open lane.  Not so impressive, or fun.  Allowing a zone (teams sometimes do something similar anyway) would even things up a bit.  

And maybe this goes in the opposite direction (and I suspect you wouldn't care for this, Don), but I'd also have a four point line 3 or 4 feet further out.  If Brooke Lopez can go, what, 5-7 for 3, maybe there's a further distinction needed.  It could make for some dramatic finishes too (although even I would cringe at the 4 point basket & a foul play).

Every player on this team is movable in some form of a trade scenario if they're not expecting greater value in return.  Now before I get jumped on keep in mind that how on earth do you trash a player then expect something greater in return.   Also lets not overstate what is actually considered equal value as well in a trade scenario.   

As I stated BG should be move first and I honestly think the Lakers would bit and they also have a way of making trades work.   Keep in mind the Lakers also have a short window in which it needs to achieve Final Contention before Lebron completely fades.  They more likely to take a win now approach and might be willing to let go of young players and a pick to do so. 

AD also could be moved as well to one of the contending teams in the Western Conference. Only if we stop looking for something beyond a 1st round pick and a young player with potential that they're willing to part with.   

IMO we should build from the backcourt up as we did with Zeke and Joe then CB and Rip and after that find us another Big Ben, Rodman type defend then find us a players that can stretch the offense beyond the arc.   Kennard and Brown might be a decent place to start from.

I am trying to figure out who the Pistons would want on that Laker team as I haven't really followed them much so far. The talk awhile back involved Bradley Beal and or Wall for AD and perhaps Jackson. Wall has a heal injury which is serious enough to eliminate him from competition for the remainder of this season. Wall isn't getting any younger either but I would love it if Piston management took a chance and snagged both Beal and Wall. Beal is only 25 and Blake's ability to drive and dish to a player as deadly as Beal could really be sweet for the Pistons. Detroit would be lacking a center for sure. The Pistons would also have to pay Leuer and Galloway around $18M. But the Pistons would possibly have a really tough team with Wall, Beal and Griffin. As you put it, then the Pistons could find a player like Ben Wallace who is strictly a top notch paint protector. Washington could then possibly trade AD for draft picks or make the same mistake Tom Gores did and build a team around AD. I have said it now for a long time, AD is about the only player who can be traded that will get the Pistons back on track to become a winning team again. There is nothin that can be done to move Griffin's contract. And Blake is a tough highly skilled player so the only course the Pistons can be on is build their team around Blake. While stating that AD is the only player that the Pistons can make a good trade with, expectations must not be too high so perhaps there is no way Washington would consider taking on AD and Jackson's contracts for Beal and Wall.

If the Piston front office is trying to find a way to improve this Piston team with a trade, they will have their hands full trying to figure out a way to sell any team on taking Reggie Jackson. For sure AD would need to be included but i am not so sure a lot of GMs have much faith in AD's overall game. We might have to wait it out for another season when Jackson's contract ends. We also lose Leuer. Maybe Dwayne Casey is playing those guys a lot because he knows the Piston's front office is trying to trade them. Maybe I have been too hard on the Piston's coach.

The NBA is a crazy game where strategy is non existent because of the stupid rules. The games could be much more exciting if teams were allowed to play any defensive style. No 3 second rule on defense. The intention was to make the games more exciting by featuring more scoring. But their rules have caused the games to be extremely dull in my opinion. Who wants to see players driving unopposed past the first line of defense with a simple high screen and go in for a layup? The Front office of the NBA wants more dunks.The commissioner, Adam Silver should be forced to travel to every city that has a NBA franchise and agree to be dunked in a pool of water like the clowns do at the county fair.

The 4 point play is a great idea to keep basketball fans awake during regular season games. Send that idea to Adam Silver. Adam will soon outlaw and any contact at all around the basket with the exception of when Labron drives in the paint. Using his massive off arm to knock opposing players to the floor has been OK in Cleveland, Miami, Cleveland again and now the Lakers. Imagine if the Lakers win the Western Conference and are matched up with Boston. Who could guess that would happen? Maybe next season will be a sure thing where the media will go wild and the NBA will get incredible ratings. Thank God for college basketball.

[BallinD]

Word on the Street is the Pistons wanna improve...    

We Can Do Better, Yes We Can Can!

Stanley Johnson:  "Trade Bruce Brown; There. Can. Be. Only. One!"

Andre Drummond: "How do we beat SA tonite?  We just form a funkin wall.  If it worked for Stupid Van Gundy, it should work for Doofus Dwayne.  We can't score anyway...so that's all we got.  Lemme just go "Brick" this layup so we can get started on our foundation.

Weggie Jackson: "Guuuuyyyys, who stole my asthma inhaler.  Again.  This sh!t ain't funny yo."

Blake Griffin:  "Can we just get Thibs in here; he can teach me how to play defense, right?  I mean, that's the only way we gonna win, riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight Dwayne?"

Reggie Bullock: "Yo, just call me RB,  none of this Reggie sh!t, and which one of y'all called me Weggie"!?!?!?

Bruce Brown:  "Ayo, Stanimal.  Wanna go play a game of horse? First one to break the backboard wins."

Zaza Pachulia:  "I told y'all quit talking bout my mama, she ain't Zsa Zsa Gabor.  Next one call's me "Junior" gonna get the Kawhi treatment!"

Langston Galloway: "Who in the Hell unplugged my microwave?"

Luke Kennard: "Quit calling me Opie, and it's not Mopie either.  You  just wait; one of these days I'm gonna feel the force, you meanies!!!"

Khyri Thomas: "I can play.  Yo. I. Can. Play!"

John Leuer: "I keep tellling y'all, It. Has. Not. Been. 217 games since I hit a three.  I hit one in practice just last month!"

Jose Calderone: Listen to me!  81 is my jersey number, not my age!

Dwayne Casey: "You ask are we selling assets at the trade deadline? Glad you asked cause I'm selling my Coach of the Year trophy."

[lemonpen]

In the words of Magglio Ordonez, "When I Try To Do Too Much, I Don't Do Too Much" .  

How long will he continue to press the issue by attempting to do things that he doesn't do well.  Not a good look for a young "VET". When assessed by games played and minutes logged he isn't a kid anymore. Seems like he should have a better handle on who he is and what he can & can't do by now.

[lemonpen]

The other Reggie though.  He has done enough to foresee an end to his Piston career. As an unrestricted FA he has to be moved. As Reggie continues to boost his scoring average and shooting efficiency he will become the kind of trade piece we need right now. A contender or near contender may view RB as the piece capable of getting them over the hump. As such, we must assure an undesirable contract moves on with him.

[lemonpen]

Don: "However, I like Brown's basketball IQ a lot and the fact that he is a confident type of player with a high energy type mentality."

There's a silver lining to the tough loss against Utah in that Bruce Brown is emerging as an important rotation player.  Early on, he dribbled into a congested area, facing Gobart, but with Drummond as an option.  He kept the ball himself for a nice basket.  Similar situation a bit later, but he passes off to AD for the dunk.

High basketball IQ consists largely of making good, quick, decisions in complicated situations.  Brown showed it in both those two cases.

He also pushes the pace (unlike Reggie J and Jose), which is at least a valuable switch.  For instance, running up court, he found Blake running ahead with a beautiful bounce pass for the score.

He's no savior, not with those shooting limitations.  And Donovan ate him up in the 2nd half, after Bruce had done really good work defensively early.

I hope that Casey makes heavy use of specialized skills, so I'm not saying Brown should just take over at PG.  But he's earned serious minutes, some of which as the principal PG on the floor.

After Rubio ran circles around Bullock / Jackson in the first half we started the second half with Brown on him. At the start of Q3 Donovan was being guarded by Bullock, which was when DM got going. The Rook may have suffered some later on but he wasn't the guy who opened the floodgate.

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