Comments on: Rip Hamilton responds to anonymous accusation that he sat out Sunday’s game because of losing his starting job

By: Alan

Alan — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 20:40:07 +0000

@Laser,
He’s a starter now and starter’s are asked to do more than score. Starters are asked to play D and set the tone. Scoring is what Gordon does best and same with Charlie V. We’ve seen the effort and results start to change with Charlie V in the last year and now we must begin to see the same with Gordon. Nobody expects Gordon to make the all-defensive team or to even become a good defender. It starts with effort, and that’s what we’ll need to see.

By: Laser

Laser — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 16:38:40 +0000

hey gang, let’s not forget: when rip came off the bench behind iverson, we didn’t have t-mac and daye knocking on the door for perimeter minutes, and he didn’t have another shooter like charlie v coming off the bench competing for touches.

look at his minutes played and shots attempted coming off the bench two years ago! he averaged more minutes, shot attempts and points than his averages while starting this season!! god this is a mess.

By: ds

ds — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 13:34:49 +0000

Thanks Dan,
Yeah – that was what I meant – looks like 6 20+ games to only 3 single digit games and he averaged better than 17 ppg and 4 apg. Thanks for looking that up!

By: Dan Feldman

Dan Feldman — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 11:15:42 +0000

DS, assuming you mean two years ago when Iverson was on the team, Hamilton had a 38-point game.

Here are his bench performances that year:

Richard Hamilton games off the bench in 2008-09

By: Patrick Hayes

Patrick Hayes — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 04:16:15 +0000

@Laser:
There are strengths and limitations to every writer. I agree with you that Goodwill has written some pretty fluffy pieces. The thing I like about him is that, unlike a couple other guys covering the team, I think Vincent truly loves the NBA and loves basketball. I respect that passion. But there are undoubtedly flaws in some of his stuff, just like there are flaws with every writer out there, myself very much included.
But I think part of the “puffy” nature of some of Goodwill’s stuff, particularly early in the season, was due to the fact that he was new. New reporters on any beat tend to have overly positive stuff early on. As you’re trying to establish sources and meet people, you don’t want to go out of your way to be critical and piss them off if you don’t have to. I think as Goodwill has developed more sources — and it’s clear with his Hamilton reporting that he has — his writing has become more critical when need be.

By: Laser

Laser — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 01:40:06 +0000

@alan: if by “gordon will be asked to do more than score” you mean he’ll also be asked to spread the floor, then i’m with you. he might be asked to make a play or two, but he’s a scorer. that’s his role, same as always.

By: Laser

Laser — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 01:36:43 +0000

1) my bad. it must just feel like years, but i swear it feels like he’s done nothing but puff. i remember the stories you mention, but i don’t remember him advocating kuester’s firing. i’ll take your word for it. i just remember a lot of feeble analysis and a resistance to identify the real problems with the team.

2) i truly like bynum a lot (my third favorite piston at the moment; jonas isn’t healthy and prince is all but gone, so he’s climbing), and maybe he’s not the answer. but i can tell you right now that stuckey isn’t, so i think he deserves a shot. but it’s not about how he performs in a limited bench role with fifteen minutes. i think bynum would be more effective than bynum in a starting role, and i think stuckey would be more effective than bynum coming off the bench. you gotta put the ball in his hands and let him know he’s got an earnest chance to win the job. point guard has got to be the position where starting means the most.

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Tue, 21 Dec 2010 23:05:30 +0000

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By: Alan

Alan — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 22:06:00 +0000

Rip is a pro and he’ll handle this like one. He’ll come off the bench and do his thing and the Detroit fans love the backup player. We’ll look back at this thing and all that can be said is that Rip Hamilton missed one game and went back to work as the team’s 6th man.

All the pressure is on Ben Gordon. As a starting SG, he’ll be asked to do more than score. Here’s hoping Stuckey and Gordon can show us a little more of what they flashed during the OKC game back in November.

By: frankie d

frankie d — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 21:44:12 +0000

rip isn’t perfect by any means.
his emotional outbursts and accompanying techs and ejections in recent years is inexcusable.
but what dumars says about him is spot-on.
the idea that rip has lost it, imho, is hilarious. reggiie miller played the same type of game for a long, long time and because rip is such a well-conditioned player, there’s no reason that he could not be a solid player for just as long.
what is truly wrong with rip is pretty simple: he misses those timely, on-target sweet passes that chauncey used to deliver. the ones that basically allowed him to nothing other than run around screens, catch the ball and shoot it.
life is a lot tougher for him now that chauncey doesn’t deliver those passes and there is no one who sets the table the same way for him.
put rip on a team with a guard/player who can deliver the ball to him the way chauncey did – utah, for example – and everyone will see a rejuvenation of his career.
hopefully, joe will do what he should have already done by the time he signed gordon: ship rip out of town for whatever he can reasonably obtain.