Comments on: If the Detroit Pistons peformance against Memphis was not enough to make you tune in this season, I don’t know what will be

By: Laser

Laser — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 17:14:14 +0000

prepare to be surprised, mat. they’ve never been up-tempo, and they’ll only be fun to watch for fans of opposing teams.

pitch me a “plausible” trade that involves rip and i’ll bite off my own finger, i promise. rip’s about the least tradable guy on the roster right now. and everyone’s expected a big trade for years now. still not holding my breath for that one…

By: Mat

Mat — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 06:02:48 +0000

There is no doubt in my mind that the Pistons are going to be a fun, uptempo team this year. They may also be better than most think. Keep in mind that Joe D. is probably going to make a big trade by mid-season. I’d hate to Rip go, but it seems like the most plausible move. If the Pistons get a useful front court player… who knows?
I could really use some help. My fantasy team is a few teams short. Lot’s of fun, and smack talk. Very Pistons friendly. Draft Monday at 9:15 est.
to join Paper Champians:
http://games.espn.go.com/fba/leagueoffice?leagueId=152109

By: Laser

Laser — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 20:26:21 +0000

taking a break from my relentless negativity: they’ll certainly be in a LOT of games. if you’re into that kind of thing, you might enjoy watching them some nights.

and dipping my toe back in: playing guys out of position is one thing, but i sincerely hope they don’t mess anyone up (physically, in austin daye’s case. psychologically, in everyone else’s case) in the interest of getting all these mismatched bodies on the floor together.

By: Patrick Hayes

Patrick Hayes — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 03:01:39 +0000

@PCB:
My fault on the wrong year with the stats.
As for Howard, I personally think he’s going to be the MVP this year. He doesn’t dominate the ball on offense (although his post game has improved) and he’s active, so I think he’d be fine with a more plodding, back-to-the-basket big. He and Noah would actually be really fun to watch I think. Noah isn’t going to have the ball much on offense, and both of those guys are crazy good defensively.
Villanueva would certainly benefit from playing with Dwight, I would never argue that. But I would say most everyone in the league would benefit from playing with a guy who erases everyone’s defensive mistakes and will score an efficient 20 points per game at the other end. He’s made a lot of not-so-great players look good. I mean, Hedo Turkoglu was an All-Star in Orlando and was immediately exposed as kind of garbage when he signed in Toronto.

By: detroitpcb

detroitpcb — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 02:38:15 +0000

@nuetes

how many complete players are there without holes in their games in the NBA? Maybe ten? Those guys are few and far between. You don’t very often get to draft a Tim Duncan or a Kevin Garnett or a Kobe Bryant – guys with complete skills on both ends. Most teams are built with players whose games have holes, certain absences that will remain their whole careers. I don’t think Stuckey will ever develop great court awareness. Bill Lambier never had a low post game. Dennis Rodman never developed his offensive game (except for transition). Shaq never made free throws and his pick & roll defense always was shaky. Steve Nash has never played defense. Look at Ben Wallace. He has always been limited offensively. Or Ben Gordon. Every time he fights through a screen he hurts himself, so he doesn’t do it often.

i always thought that you try to pick up players with unique skill sets and then find players that complement each other – that cover for any major holes on either end. Then you plug in role players to fill gaps. Daye is a player with a unique skill set – which is why i am so high on him. Monroe is going to be a very good player. His ceiling is not as high as Daye’s but he will be fine. Wait to next year.

@patrick

i can think of very good players who would not play well next to dwight howard. While he would be great with Chris Paul, i don’t think he and Stodemire could coexist. I cannot see him playing with Kendrick Perkins or M. Gasol or Noah or even Gorat. I only raise Cv’s name because if i was Orlando, i would be interested in him. We already went over the fact that his skill set overlaps with Lewis whom they are paying an insane amount of money, but Lewis might be better off at the three.

and i predicted that Daye would average 20 points and 8 rebounds next year. i said 15 and 6 this year.

By: Patrick Hayes

Patrick Hayes — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 17:48:24 +0000

@nuetes:
I’m not advocating taking on any traits of a Clippers fan. I’d never do that. What I am saying is that the Pistons are not a waste of time to watch if they are playing with significant effort, if they are showing improvement, if they are sharing the ball and if Daye and Monroe are getting consistent minutes, which I believe they will. The Memphis game was a good look at how the team is capable of playing. If they are competitive all season and ultimately come up short and lose a bunch of close games, I’m OK with that. Last year there was no chemistry, there were guys who played like they had one foot out the door and the coaching staff did a poor job with minutes (albeit injuries were partially to blame for that). As long as the team looks interested and like they are improving all season, I’m in whether they win 50 games or 5 games.
Also, on your points about CV and Monroe:
First, with Villanueva, I totally agree that he has to be held accountable and asked to do big-man things. Detroit didn’t sign him to be a stretch four. They signed him to be a future starting power forward. That was well-known when he signed his contract. So yeah, I’m not expecting him to be a double-double guy, but if the coaching staff feels he’s not rebounding or playing defense to their satisfaction and they don’t want to give him minutes as a result, even if he’s playing OK offensively, I have zero problems with them taking that stand. Maybe all he is is a stretch four, and if that’s the case, they should look to trade him. But the frontcourt is so thin right now, they have to at least try to coerce him into becoming at least average as a rebounder and defender. That’s all. Just be average at that end and good at the offensive end, and if he does that, he’ll be living up to his contract.
And Monroe wasn’t the complete bumbler you make him out to be last night. He was active, he’s more mobile than he gets credit for, his passing is legit. Defensively, he struggled. He gives up strength, particularly to guys like Randolph and Gasol. But he battled. He did enough good things to warrant keeping him on the court. Big men always take longer to adjust to the strength and speed of the NBA game, and although Monroe played in a major conference last year, the Big East was pretty devoid of big men (unless you count Luke Harangody). It was guard-dominated last year. I’m confident Monroe will get better and better.
Again, not a guy who I think is every going to lead the league in rebounding, but the Pistons just need him to be a presence on the boards, and he’s capable of doing that.
As far as Dwight Howard, I don’t know who keeps making the “he’d look great next to Dwight” statements, but they’re obviously kind of dumb. What player wouldn’t look great playing next to easily the best big man in the league?

By: Patrick Hayes

Patrick Hayes — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 17:37:29 +0000

@PCB:
I wouldn’t say I’m at your level of Daye enthusiasm just yet. As I said in the post, I don’t think he’s going to defend any position well this season. There are too many really strong wing players who he gives up significant strength to as well.
I think he’ll be a good option on offense and create space for guys like Stuckey and Bynum. I believe you said you think he can average 20 a game this year, and I don’t think he’s there yet. He’ll have some good scoring nights and knock down shots, but if he puts up 10-12 points per game and shoots well, that will represent significant progress.

By: nuetes

nuetes — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 15:51:48 +0000

The effects of last night haven’t quite worn off so I’m not sure I’m fully digesting this extensive post, but we’ll see. Basically your saying fans should go the way of Clippers and Wizards fans – understand that your team is going to suck, but sit back and enjoy the show because it will be fun to watch, sometimes. This assumes that Daye is going to play a lot, which if he does then I’m all in. I’d love to see this guy grow. If Daye doesn’t play a lot I’m still in, because well, I’m a fan, but I’d sure as heck rather watch Daye struggle to find his way than CV, Gordon, or Rip lose theirs.

I don’t want to hear anything about CV being excused from his duties as a big man. He is a big man, and therefore it’s his job to rebound. Sorry but Ben Wallace is old and there is no Dwight Howard sitting in the wings. CV has to rebound and he has to play defense. I don’t care that he’s a ‘stretch 4′ (what a stupid position), that doesn’t excuse him from doing things that win games. Blaha and Kelser were talking about how this is going to have to be a rebound by committee season. Everyone is going to have to chip in on the glass. If CV would do his job in the first place they wouldn’t need a rebound by committee approach.

This is one thing I have an issue with. People say oh CV would be great if we had Howard next to him. Or Monroe would look good next to a defensive stud. How about finding players that don’t need someone else to pick up their slack? How about finding two good players instead of one that does one thing well and another that does the opposite thing well and trying to combine them into one awkward deficient Voltron that can only exist as one to be effective?

Alright let’s go. Let’s watch what will hopefully be Rip and Tay’s last days, and if we’re really really lucky maybe even Gordon and CV’s last days as well. Let’s watch Daye force his way into the lineup and do his best to shoot this team into some games, and then watch CV shoot us out of them. Let’s watch Monroe bumble and fumble around and try to figure out how to learn how to play basketball. He didn’t just forget how to play, he forgot how to even go about learning how to play after watching him last night. Did we draft him out off a JV squad? I could have sworn he played college ball last season. Oh oh oh Ben Wallace! Now that is a reason to watch.

By: detroitpcb

detroitpcb — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 13:23:33 +0000

Nice to see that you are coming around to my viewpoint on Daye. I still think his best position is the two, especially defensively since he can back off and use his length to challenge the outside shot while his long reach also makes him a factor to block shots from behind if somebody blows by him.

I thought he showed a lot of heart last night matched up with Randolph. He frustrated Zack, who thought he would have an easy time scoring on the kid.

Your point on Stuckey is valid. Having shooters surrounding him will help, but he is still a two guard and not a decision maker – witness that last shot.

CV is not going to rebound or defend. His role will be to score off the bench. His improved shot selection will help reduce transition opportunities for the other team and up his field goal percentage but it is not going to alter his other deficiencies. I look for Max to take some of Cv’s minutes away by January and by the trade deadline to supplant him as the first big off the bench (baring a trade for another big)

the Pistons will be entertaining, but totally frustrating. They will be a poor rebounding team. They will give up transition baskets. They will have trouble defending big men who can shoot and athletic big men who can pound the glass. They are going to lose a lot of close games and Goddess help them if Ben Wallace goes down with an injury

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