Hayes

[Murph]

Hayes needs to spend some time in the G-League to gain confidence and get going.  He’s spinning his wheels.

I’m was never a big Hayes fan, but even I know he can play better than this.

[Oracle]

Totally agree Murph, they're starting to look like the team I thought they were going to be before the season.

Of course, when things go bad, I quickly forget the 20 game rule, but I'm back to normal now, LOL!

Lots of good stuff in this game, the only thing better would have been to get the win.

But you're right, once we become whole & complete, this team sure looks like a playoff or play-in at contender minimum team!

That was a pretty encouraging game.  A 2 point loss on the road to one of the best teams in the NBA gives cause for hope.

Cunningham and Bojan continue to play well. Stewart had a double-double, and Ivey did a little of everything with 19 pts and 7 rbds.

But the big story was the bench. Noel finally played and played well.  Diallo had his best game of the young season with 13 points. And Livers was a team high +12 on the night.

If we can get Bagley and Burks back, we can start rolling.

[Murph]

That was a pretty encouraging game.  A 2 point loss on the road to one of the best teams in the NBA gives cause for hope.

Cunningham and Bojan continue to play well. Stewart had a double-double, and Ivey did a little of everything with 19 pts and 7 rbds.

But the big story was the bench. Noel finally played and played well.  Diallo had his best game of the young season with 13 points. And Livers was a team high +12 on the night.

If we can get Bagley and Burks back, we can start rolling.

[lemonpen]

Should the Warrior game somewhat set the bar for our starters. Offensively speaking?

[lemonpen]

Started watching late in the third quarter with a ten point lead.  Cade with a dominant performance, including a beautiful bounce pass to a cutting Killian.  Duran with a nasty looking sprain.  

On our way now?

Last year about this time. We beat the world champ Bucks at their place. I believe they had a full squad too.

[Murph]

Good win, but I should point out that this was against an aging Warriors team on the 2nd night of a back-to-back in the middle of a 5 game East Coast road trip, without Klay Thompson.  Nevertheless, a win is a win, and we probably aren’t as bad as we appeared last week.  

It was nice to hit some shots.  As a team, the ’Stones shot 48 from the floor, 42 from behind the arc and 90 from the charity stripe.

Cade is coming on.  He’s rounding into his end of the season form from last season.


I question the wisdom extending Bojan.  First and foremost, we have to fix our defense, and Bojan at the starting 4 is not the answer to defense.

That extension will make him harder to trade.

Has Weaver given up on defense altogether?

[Oracle]

Where did this come from??? A blowdown throwdown, LOL!

Shocked, but I'll take it and hope this sucker turns around!

[Sparma]

Started watching late in the third quarter with a ten point lead. Cade with a dominant performance, including a beautiful bounce pass to a cutting Killian. Duran with a nasty looking sprain.

On our way now?

[Sparma]

The Pistons sign Bogdanovic to a 2 year extension! Don, I withdraw my suggestion to trade him (unless something irresistible comes along). Seems like a pretty good deal. And he's certainly the kind of player the team needs (well, it'd help if he could pitch in a bit on D).

[Phil-Good]

Several concerns. In no specific order.

K.Hayes. Looks terrible!!! This kid is the worst Player on the roster right now. Hayes needs a change of scenery. That will be best for his career.

Size. Stew needs help. A tall, high skilled guy would really help. I would

S.Bey. Bey is starting to fall in that Caldwell-Pope, L.Kennard, slot. One game he had 30. Next game he has 2 points. Bey needs to study some Paul Pierce film. Glenn Rice film study. Find out how these guys performed every night. Bey is too up and down for me.


Defense. Go F.U.C.K.I.N.G find some. It starts with coaching. This should be Coach Casey's last season ad he has taken these kids ad far as he can take them. The next guy has to bring a defense first mentality. Edoka anybody??

[Sparma]

Think I'd checked a couple of games ago and Cade was at 14.1, just below the league average of 15. He now sits at 17.3, above the league average for the first time (well, it's possible he inched above the last game when I didn't check). He made a really slow start in that department as a rook, but he's on his way!

[Murph]

Based on win shared through the first 5 or 6 games, the leading rookies are:

1. Paulo Banchero
2. Ben Mathurin
3. Walker Kessler
4. Jake LaRavia
5. Shaedon Sharpe

The two big surprises of course are Walker Kessler and Jake LaRavia. Kessler is a 7’1 245 lb centers out of Auburn. He has a great pedigree as both his father and uncle played in the NBA. He comes off the bench for Utah.

LaRavia is a 6’8, 235 lb PF out of Wake Forest. He comes off the bench for Memphis.

[cool breeze]

Something smelled the way this team performed in the pre season. The defense didn't work at all then and nothing has changed. Players look confused on defense. I doubt that this system will work when Burks and Noel are able to play. But for sure Duren presents more resistance than Stewart who switches himself out to the perimeter so much no big man is available to defend the paint. I am not trying to be critical of Stewart because he played defense way better last season. This is on the coaching staff although one player stood out on defense with me and that was Diallo.

This team has some players who are worse than last season. Bey and Stewart have regressed. Bey hasn't matched up well so far with the team our Pistons have played in the regular season. He looks like a fringe player at best. Who are the help defenders. Is it possible to be a help defender with this dysfunctional system? Opponents are scoring at will.

Cade showed that it is a smart thing to develop consistency as a mid range scorer. That might go against the philosophy of coach Casey though who must giggle when Beef Stew launches those 3 point shots. Incredible first half Cade. The team looked pretty good on offense as well for 2 quarters. It is clear that the players are not ready for the big time yet because they have no juice left by the start of the 3rd quarter. Bad Shot selection or the wrong players putting up difficult shots during times when they really need to concentrate on getting a bucket to stop runs is a bad habit with this team. It is not just one player who is at fault. It is a group effort. Now is the time for the coaching staff to make adjustments and figure out what might work better regarding the defense whether it be player combinations or defensive strategy. The defense this head coach created in training camp will never work. Maybe Casey is relying on the wrong assistant coaches. Usually the assistant coaches run the practices and I suspect Casey is not hands on as much as he needs to be. If Casey goes than all the assistant coaches must go as well in my opinion. Please don't replace Casey with one of the current assistant coaches Mr. Gores. What kind of defense would this group of players prefer running? I would like to know what they are thinking.

[Oracle]

Or the coach is FIRED!!!

[cool breeze]

Lots of good posts recently!

Dwayne Casey is loyal, but unfortunately it's to Cory Joseph, a decent player but not a good fit with our development.

Andre Drummond update: he's averaging 9.4 rebounds, but that's in a career low 15.6 mpg!  Stewart has a bit higher average (10.2), but in nearly twice the minutes per game (28.4).  Setting aside Brandon Key's five minutes for the season, Drummond has a higher PER at 17.5 than all but one Piston.

In retrospect, we weren't going to extend him because he wanted a monster deal.  What was his comment about not wanting to be paid nickels when he could be paid...?  This year though, he's earning 3.2 mil.  Didn't Gores bring up him possibly returning at the time he left?  A resigning in a lesser role for the minimum sounds pretty good.  They in effect went through a divorce though, so maybe that's not realistic.

Saben Lee.  I loved Lee when I first saw him play, thought he was a great pick up in the middle of the second round.  Unfortunately, he never improved.  He may still make in the NBA, but I can't blame Weaver for including him in the Bogdanovich trade, with Utah releasing him soon after that trade.  Still, I'd rather have him vying for minutes than Joseph.

btw, it's Bogie who leads the team in PER at a star level 21.92.  He should be traded to the highest bidder asap, with us focusing on development this year.

Cutting Garza's the inexplicable one to me, even though it looks like he hasn't played for Minny yet in the regular season.  I'm excited to have Duren on the team, but I doubt Garza, as an end of the roster guy, would have had much impact on his role on the team.  I think he'll end up having a long professional career, maybe in part in Europe.

This year's turning into a repeat of last year: we need to be patient with the young players this season, trade at least one valued vet (Bogie) for a salary and a pick/ prospect, make good use of our high draft pick, and use our cap space effectively for a signing or a lop-sided trade.  That ride was more exciting the first time through (or was that already the second time around?).  Maybe this year Casey won't survive the spin on the carousal.

Sparma both you and Murph are really smart guys but I hate the thought of trading Bojan who is the best player on this Piston team. He might just start playing a little softer if fans only see him as a trade chip. I really hate modern pro team sports where even fans become cold and calculating. Yet why shouldn't fans be that way because GMs and the players usually think that way. That is why Ivey is refreshing. He wants to be a Piston for his entire career. How sweet is that! It makes sense if the front office can get an amazing return but without Bojan there really is not much reason for fans to show up for the games. This team needs to improve on basketball IQ. The 3rd year players are not showing that they have improved mentally. They have also showed that they have done very little to improve their all around game from last year to this season. That is a bad sign. Usually when players work their asses off during the off season to eliminate flaws, it shows early on in a new season. They then might fall off a bit as the games wear on. I am disappointed in that and worry that maybe unless the Pistons again get 2 high picks in the next draft if they trade Bojan, things will spiral more downhill as next season comes around and be without a player like Bojan. This was a really lucky thing that we got Bojan.

The braintrust should be weighing just how good Stewart, Bey and Hayes might actually become if they sign them to new contracts. At the end of last season I thought two of those players were a sure thing but they are getting their individual asses kicked relating to the role they were selected to perform. This team hasn't played the really exceptional teams but yet the players who are playing the same positions on opposing teams are really beating them badly. It is not right for me to include Hayes with the other 2 though because he has played his way into the group of NBA players around the league who are on the fringe. he could very well end up having a nice career in Europe. You mentioned Saben Lee and I wonder if Lee had been given the opportunities Hayes has had would he possibly be a solid player who could contribute low turnovers and maybe 15 points a game by now. Who can be impressed with any of the 3 players based upon the games so far. Their trade value has to be really low. Bey by far has the best chance to improve but he is a bit undersized so he needs to get smarter to make up for his lack of size at his position. Stewart is undersized against many NBA teams. He can match up better against a team like the Hawks though but how much return would the Pistons get if they shopped him now or at the trade deadline? Is this front office repeating the Stuckey thing where they overvalue their players because they drafted them? I would bet if we had a good head coach then Beef Stew would be coming off the bench and either Bagley or Noel would be in the starting lineup and also play in crunch time. But based on the current theme of trade the older guys as soon as possible, Noel should be traded if he plays at a high level like Bojan. Play well as a seasoned vet and your reward will be that you will be traded.

I like the idea of having young players around who show they are really talented. Ivey and Duren have great potential. They are more of a sure thing than Bey or Stewart to become playoff caliber players or at least Ivey seems to have that special thing elite players acquire. Size does matter. High basketball IQ matters. I will hate it if or when Bojan does get traded. It is not fun to watch players who keep making the same mistakes. This last game was a give away by our team. I just cannot understand why Stewart was not on the defensive boards during that moment when Atlanta got 3 offensive rebounds. Why was he on the opposite baseline? It makes no sense. He was not the only player who was brain dead during important moments. Cory committing that stupid foul was insane. Cade not passing the ball to open shooters namely Bey and Bojan made me think he has been reading too many articles about how he is supposed to take over games. Nobody is super human. Play ball the right way, don't worry, and have fun Cade.

Sorry that I am taking up so much space. Maybe getting in all my thoughts about the Pistons now because my wife has a vacation scheduled that will take me out of Piston range.Go Pistons!

[Sparma]

Lots of good posts recently!

Dwayne Casey is loyal, but unfortunately it's to Cory Joseph, a decent player but not a good fit with our development.

Andre Drummond update: he's averaging 9.4 rebounds, but that's in a career low 15.6 mpg! Stewart has a bit higher average (10.2), but in nearly twice the minutes per game (28.4). Setting aside Brandon Key's five minutes for the season, Drummond has a higher PER at 17.5 than all but one Piston.

In retrospect, we weren't going to extend him because he wanted a monster deal. What was his comment about not wanting to be paid nickels when he could be paid...? This year though, he's earning 3.2 mil. Didn't Gores bring up him possibly returning at the time he left? A resigning in a lesser role for the minimum sounds pretty good. They in effect went through a divorce though, so maybe that's not realistic.

Saben Lee. I loved Lee when I first saw him play, thought he was a great pick up in the middle of the second round. Unfortunately, he never improved. He may still make in the NBA, but I can't blame Weaver for including him in the Bogdanovich trade, with Utah releasing him soon after that trade. Still, I'd rather have him vying for minutes than Joseph.

btw, it's Bogie who leads the team in PER at a star level 21.92. He should be traded to the highest bidder asap, with us focusing on development this year.

Cutting Garza's the inexplicable one to me, even though it looks like he hasn't played for Minny yet in the regular season. I'm excited to have Duren on the team, but I doubt Garza, as an end of the roster guy, would have had much impact on his role on the team. I think he'll end up having a long professional career, maybe in part in Europe.

This year's turning into a repeat of last year: we need to be patient with the young players this season, trade at least one valued vet (Bogie) for a salary and a pick/ prospect, make good use of our high draft pick, and use our cap space effectively for a signing or a lop-sided trade. That ride was more exciting the first time through (or was that already the second time around?). Maybe this year Casey won't survive the spin on the carousal.

[cool breeze]

Cory Joseph puts his hand on Tre Young's shoulder right in front of an official during the most critical defensive possession of the game. What did he think would happen? This is our most experienced player who Casey has lots of trust in. Stewart is AWOL on defense in crunch time standing on the opposite baseline watching the action as 3 Atlanta players secure 3 offensive rebounds against 2 smaller Piston players. Yes the Hawks did finally score. Why did Stewart leak out? What bothered me was the fact that Stewart played a really good first half except for his 3 point shot attempts. Greg Kelser made a point that Stewart needs to shoot mid range jump shots. He can hit those shots but in my opinion like other modern day NBA players, he might be too damn lazy to do the work to get the mid range shots. Has Stewart been watching Charlie V game film? The Hawks also got several key offensive rebounds because Stewart was not in proper position or didn't box out in the 4th quarter. Mental mistakes shouldn't happen with experienced players. We could understand our rookie center making mistakes like that but he wasn't playing. Cade Cunningham played the worst he has ever played since becoming a Piston in crunch time for the last 5 minutes of the game. He needed to pass the basketball after breaking down the defense to Bojan or Bey. Bey missed 2 key foul shots so that put a damper on what was one of his best 2nd half performances this year.

The officials were out of position making bad calls all night it seemed. There were 3 no calls involving Diallo in the first half on drives to the hoop where he was clearly hit in the arm and body. Then the calls against him were all bad especially the collision in the 4th quarter in no mans land which should have been a no call or a foul against Capala instead of Diallo.

There were a lot of positive moments for the Pistons which we haven't seen for awhile. Bojan was incredible in this game. Murph you have to agree that this guy played good defense in this game. BB even went out on the perimeter in the first quarter and guarded Tre Young exceptionally well where Young couldn't fake him out and had to pass the basketball. That took great individual effort. Casey installed a really stupid defensive system in training camp and now is trying to make a change. We haven't had a player with BB's skill level offensively in many years. His scoring efficiency is amazing. Why didn't Cade look for him more instead of forcing his own shots in the 4th quarter? But Cade played an outstanding first half in this game. He is an exceptional player who is not yet there regarding total mental discipline. He will get there eventually.

The coaching staff mixed things up on defense in this game especially in the first half when the 2nd unit actually played really good defense for the first time this season and Atlanta went on a long scoring slump. The players on the court who made that happen were as follows.
Center - Duren
Power forward - Knox
Small forward - Livers
Point guard - Joseph
Shooting guard - Diallo

No Killian Hayes made that 2nd unit really click where the turnovers were low and the team defense was outstanding. Knox did not attempt his usual low percentage 3 point shots. Instead he concentrated on giving a great effort on defense in the paint. His size next to Duren looked great. Atlanta had a real problem scoring while that unit was on the court. Diallo had the opportunity to slash into the paint where he should have received a friendly whistle but didn't get a call. He missed some easy shots that he normally would make so I hope Casey remembers what worked. Unfortunately the coach didn't remember coming into the 2nd half of this game because that group didn't see the floor together. Instead coach Casey brought in Killian Hayes who had a better overall performance this time but it was still mixed in my opinion. The team had a 8 point lead at the 4 minute mark of the 3rd quarter and ended up losing the lead when some of the starters went to the bench and Hayes appeared. The team just really doesn't click well with Killian maybe because the players don't trust his decision making skills. But Hayes was better in this game so maybe there is hope that he won't screw up the team chemistry with his scatterbrain tendencies. Killian did made some shots including a 3 so that is encouraging.

Murph you make a good point on the 3 players that could make the roster better. AD could improve paint defense but his days as a Piston are finished. Casey had a lot to do with removing Lee and Garza from the Pistons. He has a way of screwing some potentially good players and going the extra mile for others like Langston Galloway and Rodney M. I am waiting until Noel and Burks work their way into the rotation. The Lakers really want both of those players for good reason. Bagley is a question mark for me because he hasn't shown that he is interested in becoming a good defender or defensive rebounder. But Bagley can offer a better pick and roll option for Cade that he is really missing now. Bagley needs to realize that the Pistons have weak paint defense and if he makes the right effort he can winl the starting job at center from Stewart. Bagley is capable of providing what this team needs where the team is exceptionally weak. Noel also might be the sleeper guy as well. Labron James loves what Noel brings to the table and Noel is reportably very inspired to prove he is a top NBA interior defender. There is a lot to come before we know what this year's team will look like by the All Star break. Livers has come off the injured list and really improved the team. The other two players are talented and experienced and should do the same. Guys like Stewart and Bey have been handed starting jobs and they have had mixed results. Opportunity only comes around for a limited time and then vanishes if the results are not good. I wish good luck to all of the players. But it takes more than luck to be successful. I haven't seen where the 3rd year players have put in the necessary off season work to improve themselves. I remember the guy everyone picked on Rodney Knight. He at least came back in his 2nd season as one of the best defenders in the NBA. People forgot that because the Pistons couldn't run a pick and roll play with him playing point guard. But as it turned out Maxiell and Monroe would have killed any young point guard's chances of being successful in that area.

[Murph]

My 3 least favorite players on this roster are Kevin Knox, Buddy Boeheim and Rodney McGruder. (I don’t actually dislike McGruder.  I just don’t think there’s any reason for him to be in the roster at age 31.)

If it were me, I would have replaced those guys with Andre Drummond, Saben Lee and Luka Garza.  

Knox, McGruder and Boeheim make a combined $5.8 million, and they’ve played horribly so far, and I mean horribly.

Drummond and Garza together make $3.7 million, and we could easily sign Lee to a 2 way for $.5 million, for a combined $4.2 million.

So we could have shown loyalty to our own draft picks for LESS money...and I guarantee you they would perform much, much better than the losers Casey favored. And as a group, they are much younger.

Fire Casey!!!!!!!!!!!!

[cool breeze]

First for this idiotic trade idea that would only benefit the Lakers. Surprise surprise. How many of these stupid trade ideas have been leaked to the media involving the Lakers trying to rid themselves of Westbrook? The Lakers should not always get what they want at the expense of other struggling NBA teams. Let's hope the Pistons front office is smarter than the Lakers believe. In this proposed trade the Pistons get Gordon Hayward from the Hornets but have to give up Knox-Noel-Burks. the Lakers get Noel-Knox-Burks-Rozier. Hornets get out of the Hayward contract-Westbrook-2 future first round picks. So the Lakers get a good starting guard and a big man they have wanted since the middle of last season along with a good shooter coming off the bench in Burks. If this goes down the NBA is the the most corrupt of all professional sports. Why would the Hornets want Westbrook in the first place? They are still rebuilding and the future picks are many years in the future. The Pistons would be giving up what I think might be the best big man they currently have on their roster in Noel. We need Noel damn it. Burks is a more consistent shot maker than any other player on the Pistons roster now. Why would a rebuilding Piston team want Hayward who suffered a horrible injury that has prevented him from getting back to the player he once was a long time ago? The idea that by making this trade then Stewart and others would have more time to develop is crazy. How much more time do players like Stewart need to prove themselves worthy of being a big man on a playoff caliber team? In this last game Stewart started the game defending the opponents center that is 7 foot 3 inches tall. How tall is Stewart? How high can he jump from a standing jump stop? Besides that with the Piston defense the way it is, Stewart only guarded the opponents starting center about 25% of the time after all those insane switches were made in Casey's defensive system. That tall center scored a lot of uncontested shots close to the hoop and from distance. What a wonderful game plan for the Wizards. So many ways to score on this Piston team opponents can't wait to play the Pistons.

Ivey is the one bright spot so far for me for his all around effort for a rookie player learning the ropes. He appears to be really having fun even though his team is getting their asses kicked badly especially in the 2nd half of games so far. Cade Cunningham looks really tired and doesn't look like he is having any fun playing basketball. There is too much on his shoulders right now. The team cannot defend anyone and he is actually really trying hard to play better defense in a system designed for failure. Cade played too many minutes in this last loss. 32 minutes played shooting 32.8%FG and 0 for 2 3P along with 3 REBs and 3 AST. He also had 1 steal and 3 turnovers. Cade scored 19 points. Meanwhile Bojan scored 25 points shooting FGs at 61.5%while making 4 out of 4 3 point shots. Bojan did not rebound the ball well getting only 3 rebounds the entire game and he had 2 turnovers. I am tired of writing about Stewart. He scored 13 points but the telling stat is that he had zero blocks and made horrible decisions with switching when it was not necessary to switch leaving a smaller player trying to guard a 7 foot 3 inch center. But even if he didn't switch, Beef Stew was dead meat trying to guard his man in the paint. The one player who stood out as not earning playing time was Bey who didn't show up for this game other than getting the only block this Piston team had for the entire game. Bey scored a total of 6 points in 27 minutes. Bey looks tired like Cunningham. I don't recognize him as the same player he was after the All Star break last season. Maybe this is just the horrible schedule the Pistons drew for the first part of this season. But if they had played a little harder on the defensive end or actually knew what they were doing on defense, the Pistons should have won at least two of those games.

The one guy who is really causing problems is Killian Hayes. Do any of you recall the time Hayes faked out his man and drove to the free throw line? He attempted a jump shot. That shot attempt off the dribble was a dead give away for me that Hayes had not learned the fundamentals of shooting a jump shot while moving. Most high school players know that the most important fundamental is getting a good base meaning you need to come to a jump stop with your legs spread and your knees bent for stability. You see all successful pros doing this and making the shots Killian is missing. His shot has no chance of going through the hoop. Shooting a mid range shot under control is easy but you have to practice it like game conditions. Where are these Piston coaches? This is basic stuff so coaches must have tried to help Hayes. So enough is enough. What is it? Is it true that Killian Hayes is not coachable? If so then why did they give away Saban Lee? Hayes has been given so many chances to show he is not a hot dog turnover machine who cannot shoot the basketball as well as players currently in the G League. Why is he still on this team? Oh I forgot he was our number one pick and needs this year to develop. Maybe he is not interested in developing. Somebody needs to get under his skin and pull out whatever good there might be in him as a basketball player. Why have coaches at all if they cannot help players correct their flaws so they can be successful? What are you paying for this group of coaches Mr. Gores? Does Hayes possess star power but nobody can help him cannot unlock it yet?At this point it should be up to Killian to unlock his supposed super star abilities. Such a mystery but our GMs job is to build a successful team and time is running out. Still please don't make that stupid trade Mr. Weaver.

[cool breeze]

Ok, I’ve seen just about as much of Bojan in the starting lineup as I can stand.  I mean, didn’t De-troit Basketball use to stand for defense???

But Bojan can still shoot.  He’d still be an asset to a contender, coming off the bench.

Bojan to Phoenix for Landry Shamet and Dario Saric.  Shamet is still only 25 years old, and he’s hardly playing for the Suns.

And quite frankly, at this point even Saric would be an upgrade to our starting lineup, until Bagley gets healthy.


And why has Diallo been so bad?  I mean he was never great, but at least he could always defend.  Now he can’t even do that.

We can blame the front office for removing Lee from the team and locking in Hayes. Weaver maybe wanted to prove he didn't make that huge mistake in the draft. But there were too many red flags after Killian's performance in Summer league for the limited time he played. Hayes did zero to improve himself over the summer. That was a huge mistake.

I think Diallo is wondering WHAT IS THE PLAN? He could be an outstanding defender but players have no idea what their role should be on a defense based on switching where nobody has individual responsibilities. What is the total salary pay out for this Casey led coaching team? It is almost comical how disorganized they are now. Players win or lose the games of course but what did any Piston player actually learn in training camp that can help them now? How can the coaching staff change their offensive and defensive systems now? They had all summer to come up with something better than this. There have been injuries of course but I sure wish the Piston had New York's head coach or somebody like him. Individual players need to get something out of this season so maybe they need to schedule a players only team meeting to iron out what their team goals are for this year. Maybe they can find a player type coach on this roster who can reverse the damage the coaching staff has done to the team so far.  

By the way in reference to my previous post describing the Pistons first offensive possession I need to add the following. A friend from Michigan just called me and said " did you watch the Pistons first offensive possession against the Wizards?" Then he went on to say that actually both Ivey and Cunningham were wide open but Stewart never looked to pass the basketball knowing that the defender was coming at him and also knowing that there was 10 seconds left on the shot clock. So much for ball sharing.

[cool breeze]

Ok, I’ve seen just about as much of Bojan in the starting lineup as I can stand.  I mean, didn’t De-troit Basketball use to stand for defense???

But Bojan can still shoot.  He’d still be an asset to a contender, coming off the bench.

Bojan to Phoenix for Landry Shamet and Dario Saric.  Shamet is still only 25 years old, and he’s hardly playing for the Suns.

And quite frankly, at this point even Saric would be an upgrade to our starting lineup, until Bagley gets healthy.


And why has Diallo been so bad?  I mean he was never great, but at least he could always defend.  Now he can’t even do that.

We can blame the front office for removing Lee from the team and locking in Hayes. Weaver maybe wanted to prove he didn't make that huge mistake in the draft. But there were too many red flags after Killian's performance in Summer league for the limited time he played. Hayes did zero to improve himself over the summer. That was a huge mistake.

I think Diallo is wondering WHAT IS THE PLAN? He could be an outstanding defender but players have no idea what their role should be on a defense based on switching where nobody has individual responsibilities. What is the total salary pay out for this Casey led coaching team? It is almost comical how disorganized they are now. Players win or lose the games of course but what did any Piston player actually learn in training camp that can help them now? How can the coaching staff change their offensive and defensive systems now? They had all summer to come up with something better than this. There have been injuries of course but I sure wish the Piston had New York's head coach or somebody like him. Individual players need to get something out of this season so maybe they need to schedule a players only team meeting to iron out what their team goals are for this year. Maybe they can find a player type coach on this roster who can reverse the damage the coaching staff has done to the team so far.

[cool breeze]

The first possession for Detroit looked alright where the ball was shared to the point where Cade had a makable 3 point shot from the baseline. He missed the shot though but Stewart did a good job of getting the offensive rebound. Then he passed the ball to B.B. and Stewart moved to the wing beyond the 3 point line. BB passed the ball back to Stewart. Ivey then moved to the middle beyond the 3 point line. The Pistons had created a 2 on 1 at that point. The Wizard defender decided to challenge Beef Stew and committed out to the wing which left Ivey unguarded. Instead of passing the basketball to Ivey Beef Stew decided to take the low percentage contested 3 point shot. Of course he missed and there was 10 seconds left on the shot clock when he fired up that shot. if Stewart had passed the ball to Ivey, then Ivey could have shot an uncontested 3 point shot or driven into the paint. Only Curry can make the type of shot kind of shot Stewart attempted. Why did Stewart take that shot? He is a professional NBA player. As an undersized center, Stewart needs to play exceptionally smart on defense as well as offense to ever think he should be a starting caliber center in the NBA. So what is going on? The other starters who can actually make 3 point shots must be upset with a player who makes the type of decision Stewart made in that situation. Players want to win games? There is no way a team can win if one or two players continue to play with a low basketball IQ or selfishly. But in Stewart's defense, this coaching staff has given him orders to shoot those 3 point shots it appears. That was the talk at the end of last season where the media and coaching staff kept saying that Beef Stew is going to work on his 3 point shooting and might become a power forward because of the accuracy he will show in this season beyond the 3 point line. Casey even designed the final play of one game which the Pistons won where Cade passed the ball to Stewart on the baseline and he delivered the winning shot beyond the 3 point line. But that was only one made 3 point shot and based on stats, B.B. should have taken that final shot right? Why Stewart? Maybe this is not Stewart's fault at all because he didn't pass the ball to Ivey. Maybe it is the coaching staff who might be running plays for Stewart in practice where he is shooting endless 3s. So far in the games played, could it actually be possible that the coaching staff has made Stewart the designated 3 point shooter? If so I can only imagine the pressure Stewart feels thinking he needs to throw up those 3 point shots even if he doesn't have an open shot. Why is it that Stewart wasn't instructed to improve and develop a mid range jump shot from 10 feet and closer to the basket? Why so many 3 point attempts What in hell is this coaching staff doing anyway with this stupid offense. Our team doesn't have the best 3 point shooters but they do have players who can break down defenses and get open shots closer to the basket. This takes work by the coaching staff though. It takes no brains to use the current half court offensive system. This coaching staff is as bad at teaching an offensive system that fits these players as they are developing a defensive system. With a young team like the Pistons have all this coaching staff is doing is reinforcing bad habits for players who really need better coaching on the fundamentals of playing defense. Again has a Casey directed coaching team ever shown that have ever coached a team that could play outstanding or average defense? Remember what happened when the Pistons last played in the playoffs against the Bucks. There were no adjustments in 4 straight loses. Who was the head coach at that time?

Stewart is not being used the right way. I like his energy. He should be showing signs that he is capable of playing like Ben Wallace did as an undersized center but his focus is elsewhere. Imagine if the Piston coaching staff had developed offensive plays for BiG Ben and told he he has to show he can make 3 point shots. The game is changing all centers must be able to make 3 point shots. No that is wrong the game has not changed at all. In his prime, Ben Wallace would help make this current team a real threat by playing the game exactly like he played it back then when the Pistons were champs. D. Casey's systems on offense and defense sucks.

Something is going to happen as the people running the front office are not stupid.

[Sparma]

Discouraging game to watch vs Wash, and the schedule gets brutal now. I don't think Casey survives a 4-20 or so start.

I'll be curious to see if Noel gives the D a major boost. He's supposed to be back soon, right?

I like Stewart as a solid rotational contributor, but not more than that, unless he really upgrades his shooting. I'd want Duren to remain the second string center once Noel comes back, with Stewart picking up subbing minutes when possibie, maybe doing some situational starting.

The goal is to get the F%#k out of the way!


Unfortunately, in basketball, that's a freaking disaster!!!

[Murph]

I cannot believe we dumped Saben Lee, but we’re paying Killian Hayes $13 million over the next 2 years to stink up the place.  

I mean, what the f*ck?  

[Murph]

Ok, I’ve seen just about as much of Bojan in the starting lineup as I can stand.  I mean, didn’t De-troit Basketball use to stand for defense???

But Bojan can still shoot.  He’d still be an asset to a contender, coming off the bench.

Bojan to Phoenix for Landry Shamet and Dario Saric.  Shamet is still only 25 years old, and he’s hardly playing for the Suns.

And quite frankly, at this point even Saric would be an upgrade to our starting lineup, until Bagley gets healthy.


And why has Diallo been so bad?  I mean he was never great, but at least he could always defend.  Now he can’t even do that.

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