Blaha: What a Spirited Rally. Kelser: Yea, Exciting

[Sissy1946]

Now come on guys really? Got to put this one in the memory bank says George with 2 & 22 left in the 4 th quarter, back to you Mickey. wett says Did ya see the way the Princess held onto the ball tonight, it was gorgeous eh? Barf!

[deusXango]

All we need to do to win is have at least three players play completely out of their minds for 48 minutes, and play the Nets or Celtics

[frankied]

oh well...if you look at our recent hot streak, it definitely looks like it was helped along by one of the easiest stretches of the schedule we are likely to see.
hey, you take whatever win you can get, but it does make you wonder...
what still kills me, however is this: the team is headed for 20-25 wins, a lottery spot, and frank is still playing the retreads.
same old shyte, as far as i can see....

[Grizz]

Patrick Hayes’ title: The Pistons don’t have a point guard

Patrick Hayes’ post:

After the Kings game Saturday, noted troll/screen name abuser GRIZZ / KAGISO / EDWARDS / ROBERT, at least one more different name that I’m forgetting tried to take me to task for not mentioning the role Stuckey playing shooting guard has had in his improvement.
I don’t mention it because it’s nonsense. Tonight’s game was a perfect example. Stuckey is not a full-time shooting guard because Knight is not anything resembling a point guard yet. Against the Cavs, Knight shot the ball really well, obviously hyped to play against his rival Kyrie Irving, which dates back to high school when Irving and Knight were the No. 1 and No. 2 prospects in the country respectively. But if you notice, Knight didn’t really do many point guard-like things. He had three assists and two turnovers, but the offense was initiated by Stuckey as much as it was Knight, and a lot of it was run through Monroe in the high post.
Stuckey obviously has more freedom under Frank to push the ball (Frank has called him a “one man fast break,” taking advantage of Stuckey’s speed in the open court, something two previous coaches have been hesitant/terrified to unleash). He’s obviously the team’s biggest guard, so matchup-wise, he’s often guarding the opposing shooting guard. But make no mistake, the Pistons aren’t running any kind of traditional offense that features one point guard. Point guard responsibilities are shared pretty equally between Stuckey, Knight, Monroe and Prince, all of whom have significant roles in running the offense.
As Knight develops more, that may change. But right now, it’s inaccurate to call Stuckey primarily a shooting guard.

GRIZZ:

Aha Patrick, sorry to hear when people disagree with you, they get labeled as trolls ... So Knight is not a PG?! Well that is an interesting but completely wrong conclusion to say the least. At any rate, you are forgetting that it is not just that Stuckey doesn’t have to be over-burdened at PG ... .but also that he gets to play with a REAL PG .. albeit .. a very young and inexperienced one, and so do the rest of Pistons… Other players have more than once commented on how good it feels to have a real PG again on the team. It is not sufficient for you to simply say, well, I think Stuckey is probably an unreliable NBA player no matter where he plays, for several reasons. First, the rest of the team will suffer, and it has, with the position of PG being a complete mess for 3 seasons. Secondly, could not the Pistons at least TRY to put Stuckey back where he started out so strongly at SG? You would think that, fact 1, RS plays well at SG, and then fact 2, RS doesn’t play well at PG, would lead to this conclusion: PUT RS back at SG with a good PG and lets see if that works! But not in your mind, .. nope .. absolutely not going to be considered. So we are supposed to wait forever until Piston journalists like you came out and simply say the truth that Stuckey should not be playing PG? ..... It has been 3 years and you still won’t do that and your reasoning is because you just wonder whether Stuckey is even a reliable NBA player period. Why does such a process take 3 seasons? Could it be that Joe Dumars was simply being stubborn about validating his mistakes of (1) picking Darko, and (2) trading Billups away for poison AI? If Stuckey could become a good PG then both those mistakes (Darko traded for the pick that got us Stuckey), get corrected more or less and then all is well and Joe D looks good. So when it was apparent that Stuck just couldn’t hack it at PG, somewhere along the line during that 3 years time span, where were you, the Piston analyst suggesting maybe the Pistons should be drafting PGs like Ty Lawson instead of SF / SG 6-11 Austin Daye? But oh wait a minute.. Stuckey is our PG! We don’t need to draft any more PGs! Joe Dumars said so and he is going to run this difficult transition into the ground because he wants to vindicate past dumb decisions. And that is where sports writers such as yourself fail their profession and even the team they cover when they refuse to make the simple call simply because they are afraid of biting the hand that feeds them, Joe Dumars and the Detroit Pistons, and so they never have the guts to state the truth. If you and other Detroit Piston writers could do this more often, maybe Joe Dumars would not be just starting to come out his GM stupor in trying to make up for making such terribly dumb decisions in the first place. And for the record, I do not think you can rule out the possibility that 3 seasons of Stuckey NOT getting NBA experience at his natural position (SG), while being forced into a difficult one (PG), has indeed hurt his confidence, attitude, and progress as an NBA player. So it was all a big waste and these days RS is somewhat like his teammate rookie Brandon Knight, learning on a game basis just how to get settled into playing his natural position well in the NBA.


Patrick, I am arguing strongly against you on these points .. but I do want to congratulate you on running a wonderful site for Piston fans .. keep up the great work and we can agree to disagree and respect each other even if we hate each other .. .I dont hate you .. ....much .. ......yet .. Best to you ..

[merc]

The winners tonight include the Raptors, Hornets, Kings & Warriors... not a bad lotto night....
or are we supposed to pretend the team has a chance in the playoffs?

[Oracle]

oh well...if you look at our recent hot streak, it definitely looks like it was helped along by one of the easiest stretches of the schedule we are likely to see.
hey, you take whatever win you can get, but it does make you wonder...
what still kills me, however is this: the team is headed for 20-25 wins, a lottery spot, and frank is still playing the retreads.
same old shyte, as far as i can see....

A retread playing retreads?

Yup, makes perfect sense, lol!

[Sebastian]

All we need to do to win is have at least three players play completely out of their minds for 48 minutes, and play the Nets or Celtics

... or the Bobcats.

[Sebastian]

he's going to have to work on his conditioning.
this is not the first time i've seen him exhausted fairly early.

Another big paired with Moose would be the best thing for Monroe's stamina. How about if WE offer the Kings OUR first pick, today, for Cousins.

Cousins is finally playing like he should be playing. And a front court of Monroe and Cousins, along with a back court of Knight and Stuckey would only require that WE find a legit SF. Until, then Jonas can start at the "3".

Move: Tay to a contender or to any team that will take his ass.

PG - Knight/Bynum
SG - Stuckey/Ben G.
SF - Jerebko/
PF/C - Cousins/Maxey
PF/C - Monroe/Macklin

I say WE close the second half of the season out with the aforementioned players.

I'm afraid that if WE continue to flounder around with this inferior roster for the remainder of the season that WE will have a slow start to next season.

[deusXango]

What the "Jodi Jezz" type need to do is reach down and snatch their heads out their asses and realize that of equal importance this team needs an accomplished floor leader and offensive facilitator...the generalship that only a true PG can bring to a team, not a PG in training, is the missing ingredient to our overall consistancy. Nothing has changed! We have two extremely good SG's, with limited "combo guard" capabilities, but neither is a true point. Knight is head and shoulders above Stuckey in skill as his overall offensive repretoire is more diverse and his knowledge of the game, at this stage, is greater than Stuckey's. We have not seen a young guard prospect of such immense talent in a Pistons uniform for so long that we're inclined to see him filling our greatest need in the backcourt, but that's limiting and unfair. In a perfect world it would work, but this is not a perfect world so we must work toward perfection by #1 relagating Stuckey to the 6th man role he's cut out to excell at, #2 allow Knight to develop at SG starting now, not four years from now, and #3 draft a true PG to play with Knight and Stuckey. We're not looking for big, strong, fast, and aggressive, we need calm, controled, highly intelligent leadership that makes everyone on the team better! A PG that see things before they happen and make the right decision, instantly, based on what he sees. A heads up, down the floor passer for the fast break, that is also an accomplished half court facilitator. A player that can control the clock for his team is who we need to dominate the ball on offense. Sentiment for player/players, who we don't know personally, to play certain glorified roles on this team is killing us, because it allows Joe to do any damn thing he wants with impunity as there's division in the fan ranks.

Just like Frankie D., Grizz (and others) have been taking on the local "spin witchdoctors" for their biased, slanted, and plain ignoring of the facts when reporting Pistons news, there should be a unified ground swell from fans directed at Gores/Dumars to correct what's wrong with the team if they want our continued support, and stop with the time consuming diversionary tactics. We've got assets! Maybe we can't bargin for Dwight Howard with what we have, but we damn sure can get late 1st rounders or load up on 2nd rounders while lowering our payroll to run at choice FA's. The plain and simple truth is we've gotten "stuck" by putting up with Joe's s#!t for so long. It's time for a lot of us to change our point of view so we can get back to enjoying our Pistons.

[Fennis Dembo]

The Real Notes and Quotes from the Toronto game not the stuff we get from the beat writers - by Biff Burns

Biff Burns: Monroe had 30 points and 14 rebounds.
Coach Frank: He had a terrific game. We would be up Craps Creek without a paddle if we didn’t have him.

Biff Burns: Some Pistons put up some really ugly numbers last night. Rodney Stuckey played 18:05 and had 0 points. Jerebko fouled out after playing only 18:30. Ben Gordon played 18:29 and was minus 17 in the plus minus department.

Biff Burns: What happened to Stuckey out there tonight?
Coach Frank: Rodney Stuckey played liked Rodney Stinky. He definitely had the five day break on his mind. I looked into his eyes and saw palm trees swaying on a beach. The Lions’ old coach Wayne Fontes used to call it I-75 eyes, that is the main highway out of town.

Biff Burns: What happened to Gordon and Jerebko?
Coach Frank: I had a bad feeling about them when I heard them singing “Leaving On A Jet Plane” in the locker room before the game. I knew their hearts weren’t really into the game.

Coach Frank: Before the game I asked the team. Who do you want to be, the team with 4 wins and 20 losses or the team that was 7 wins and 2 losses?
Biff Burns: Behind by 23 points in the fourth quarter, they gave you the answer to that question.

Biff Burns: Do you have any optimism for the second half of the season?
Joe Dumars: My shovel is sharp and my pick is sharp and my will is outstanding.
Biff Burns: There goes Joe quoting ex-Lion coach Rod Maranelli. The quote was during his 0-16 season. I guess our Pistons are really screwed.

A last look before the All Star break at Linsanity (Jeremy Lin) versus Prinsanity (Tayshaun Prince) from Wednesday’s games.
Linsanity 17 points 02 rebounds 09 assists +/- +9
Prinsanity 14 points 07 rebounds 02 assists +/- -10

[Rett]

Stuckey was score-less???....zero points?

Say What?!?!?!?

[WTF]

Must have been digging between my toes and miss there was a game yesterday. So we loss? I say great news baby just keep losing and by draft day we could have a competent GM selecting at 1,2 or.


Thank God We Have NCAA Basketball and L&O re-runs.

[Grizz]

Stuckey was score-less???....zero points?

Say What?!?!?!?

Rhett .. It does look pretty bad to go scoreless ... All I can offer as some excuse is that the Stuckey experiment at PG and his anti-smart, anti-tough former head coaches of Curry and Kuester, are all factors in Stuckey being erratic ... Excuses .. excuses ... I know .. but look at Jmax who is about the only other young player to have made it through that era still on the team ... He too sucked and sucks at times .. Jason Maxelle was played out of position too .. didnt know his role .. until this season .. a better head coach, and a more defined role at PF, and now instead of being just a joke, some growing respect for his play ... I still think R Stuckey can play a strong game on daily basis at SG but he is going to need great coaching, a swift kick in the butt or slap to the face at times .. Look at what he did during a recent 5 game stretch ... somewhat awesome .. but that gets the attention of the other team and they make adjustments and make a bigger effort to shut down your scorer, which the Raptors did .. Lets see how Stuckey plays in the next 10 games .. My guess is he will bounce back and play better .. Just like Knight (who was never exposed to crap coaches nor played out of position), he is learning how to play his natural position at the highest level he can on a regular basis ... I would like to acknowledge that Kevin Languois contributed an undisclosed degree collaboration for this post ..

[Grizz]

What the "Jodi Jezz" type need to do is reach down and snatch their heads out their asses and realize that of equal importance this team needs an accomplished floor leader and offensive facilitator...the generalship that only a true PG can bring to a team, not a PG in training, is the missing ingredient to our overall consistancy. Nothing has changed! We have two extremely good SG's, with limited "combo guard" capabilities, but neither is a true point. Knight is head and shoulders above Stuckey in skill as his overall offensive repretoire is more diverse and his knowledge of the game, at this stage, is greater than Stuckey's. We have not seen a young guard prospect of such immense talent in a Pistons uniform for so long that we're inclined to see him filling our greatest need in the backcourt, but that's limiting and unfair. In a perfect world it would work, but this is not a perfect world so we must work toward perfection by #1 relagating Stuckey to the 6th man role he's cut out to excell at, #2 allow Knight to develop at SG starting now, not four years from now, and #3 draft a true PG to play with Knight and Stuckey. We're not looking for big, strong, fast, and aggressive, we need calm, controled, highly intelligent leadership that makes everyone on the team better! A PG that see things before they happen and make the right decision, instantly, based on what he sees. A heads up, down the floor passer for the fast break, that is also an accomplished half court facilitator. A player that can control the clock for his team is who we need to dominate the ball on offense. Sentiment for player/players, who we don't know personally, to play certain glorified roles on this team is killing us, because it allows Joe to do any damn thing he wants with impunity as there's division in the fan ranks.

Just like Frankie D., Grizz (and others) have been taking on the local "spin witchdoctors" for their biased, slanted, and plain ignoring of the facts when reporting Pistons news, there should be a unified ground swell from fans directed at Gores/Dumars to correct what's wrong with the team if they want our continued support, and stop with the time consuming diversionary tactics. We've got assets! Maybe we can't bargin for Dwight Howard with what we have, but we damn sure can get late 1st rounders or load up on 2nd rounders while lowering our payroll to run at choice FA's. The plain and simple truth is we've gotten "stuck" by putting up with Joe's s#!t for so long. It's time for a lot of us to change our point of view so we can get back to enjoying our Pistons.

DX, I really like Knight as PG and I know he bristles when anyone challenges him on that .. Knight is tough and a winner but he is what .. 19 .. he has good court vision .. and can run the offense .. but it is going to take time .. Do we need another PG? Absolutely .. Bynum isnt all that good .. and any team needs at least 2 who are pure PGs and 1 dual guy who can handle PG for short spells of the game .. Would love to see Patrick Hayes tell Knight he is NOT a PG to his face...

[cool breeze]

Associated Press
2-19-12 8:51 PM
Story By: Will Drinkleday

The Detroit Pistons horseplayed and meat-handled the Celtics like Jerry Sandusky and Joe Paterno did to 12 year old Mike Harris in the showers on August 13, 2004; doing the Celtics dry at the Palace of Auburn Hills. The Pistons outscored the Celtics 83 to 11 on fast break points, and held a 63 to 9 advantage at the FT line despite the blatant whistles in favor of the Celtics. Midget and former 80's child star Gary Coleman also provided a spark off the bench for the Pistons, scoring 10 points and recording 2 steals. He also generated some hearty LOL's from the dozens of fans at the Palace, entertaining on a unicycle while balancing a beach ball on his nose during a rousing Halftime performance.

For the Celtics, Martina Daniels had zero points in 7 seconds, and Rajon Rondo lost his fucking mind. Coach Doc Rivers continues to astound the Guinness Book folks, aging at a rate of 3 weeks per loss.

Hats off to FlyDog on this feature post.

Maybe Dumars should hire Mr. Jerry Seducsky to spend some quality time with Austin Daye. Maybe for a few bucks Joe could have Jerry stay after practice for an extra shoot around with Austin and then Jerry can snap a wet towel and perform his other normal activities in the shower to motivate Mr. Daye. We could have used a productive Daye in the Toronto game. In all seriousness, Daye is very frustrated with himself these days. He is not a slacker and works really hard on his game. He is just not ready to contribute this season.

I believe that Gary Coleman's spirit has entered the body of both Ben Gordon and Bynum. This happened two years ago. Gary always had issues with his size which is has passed on to Joe's key players. Maybe both players will have a shot of bourbon and watch "Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia" twenty times during this All Star break in an effort to remove this hold Gary has on them. Good luck guys!

[Grizz]

San Antonio 114, Denver 99: DeJuan Blair tied a career high with 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the visiting Spurs.


Thank goodness we took Daye, a tall SF or very tall　SG and ... Dejuan Summers, a big SG, neither of whom we needed then or now, instead of Blair, a PF we really needed then and now ... or Ty Lawson... a PG we needed then and now ..


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