Comments on: Detroit Pistons’ roster ranked NBA’s worst

By: khandor

khandor — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 16:41:25 +0000

This is one version of the Pistons’ expected roster heading into the next season that I just posted on Ben Gulker’s blog which should be able to compete for the No. 7 & 8 playoff spots whenever the lockout comes to an end.
Hopefully it’s okay that I post it in this location, as well.
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If:

i. Jerebko returns to good health, and
ii. Monroe continues to improve steadily, and
iii. CV is used strictly as a limited minutes scorer off the bench, and
iv. Ben Wallace decides to finally retire, then
the Pistons will be in the hunt for the final couple of playoff spots in Lawrence Frank’s first season. The major thing which held the Pistons back from being more solidly in the middle of the pack the last 2 seasons was the inept coaching of John Kuester. Although it’s a given that Detroit does not have the horses to compete with the upper echelon in the East those who think a collection of players which looks like this:
1st Unit: PG – Stuckey, OG – Gordon, SF – Prince [or Daye], PF – Jerebko, C – Monroe
2nd Unit: PG – Knight, OG – Hamilton, SF – Daye [or another UFA], PF – Maxiell, C – UFA?
3rd Unit: PG – Bynum, OG – White, SF – Singler, PF – Villanueva, PF – Macklin
is somehow void of some legit NBA “talent” … when directed by a competent head coach … are sorely mistaken.
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By: brgulker

brgulker — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 14:08:19 +0000

The Pistons have the two most important and hardest to fill positions (Center and PG) locked up with 2 potential future All-Stars.

I missed this the first time. Who on earth are you talking about? Monroe looks capable of putting up numbers similar to a guy like Okafor. Don’t get me wrong, that’s solid basketball, and I welcome it. But it’s not all star basketball.

As far as I can tell, we don’t have a PG on the roster who would have started on any of the top 8-10 playoff teams. So if you’re talking about Stuckey, again, I think you’re denying reality.

By: brgulker

brgulker — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 14:05:05 +0000

+1 to Dan. Gordon and CV’s contracts aren’t just going to disappear. They’re going to bog down the franchise in terms of bad talent and financially.

And what great young talent will we have on rookie deals in 2014?

Mornoe, a solid big man with Okafor-like upside, yes.

Austin Daye, who hasn’t proven himself to be anything more than a reserve, yes.

Knight, who was pretty bad as a freshman and completely unproven as an NBA player, yes.

In sum, we’ll have one good player on the last year of his rookie deal, and then a roster full of huge question marks. Nothing good or special about that at all.

By: brgulker

brgulker — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 14:01:48 +0000

You say they won 60 games. I say they lost in the 1st round to an 8th seed and their run is over.
The Pistons were there in that position just a few years ago. As we know, the few years that followed weren’t pretty, and never are when a teams run ends. Which is what the Spurs are about to face.

The Spurs are one of the most effectively managed franchises in the entire NBA. To put them lower than the Pistons right now is asinine, borderline delusional.

Is their championship window closing-to-closed? Of course.

Does that make them worse than the Pistons? The answer is so obvious the question seems rhetorical.

By: Jodi Jezz

Jodi Jezz — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 03:23:34 +0000

that article was full of garbage!!! If we trade for a decent center we will be in the playoffs next season…

By: neutes

neutes — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 02:27:14 +0000

Cousins had a worse TS% and higher turnover rate than John Wall, a rookie PG who’s shooting and turnovers were questioned coming into the league. I’d say that qualifies as a bad season. I don’t know about you but I don’t want my center shooting 43% and turning the ball over 4 times a game. Cousins had the 5th most turnovers in the league while playing over 700 minutes less than each of the 4 players above him. He also committed the most fouls in the NBA while ranking 52nd in minutes played. And again – 43% shooting.

Evans was thoroughly outplayed by Thornton down the stretch, and shot 41% for the season while committing 3 turnovers per game.

If these are the two players you’re banking your future on I say good luck to you. I’ll take Stuckey and Monroe, which still isn’t all that promising. I’ll also take Knight over Fredette and Jerebko over Hickson. The wild cards are Thornton and Daye, in which case the Kings win one matchup of young talent. They still win the cap battle so they have that going for them.

By: Dan Feldman

Dan Feldman — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 02:03:24 +0000

Rob, the question isn’t about brightest future or brightest present. It’s about balancing both.

By: Dan Feldman

Dan Feldman — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 01:23:08 +0000

Gordon and Villanueva’s contracts won’t expire until 2014. You really believe there aren’t 10 teams who appear on track to contend sooner than that? You’re also assuming the Pistons don’t acquire any new bad contracts between now and then.

By: rob

rob — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 00:12:23 +0000

Response Fail. You can’t quit making yourself look like a dummy can you?

Either you don’t know how to read, or you are just so used to taking ppl’s quotes out of context, that you automatically ignore key words in sentences.

I said:

“By this time next year, Rip’s contract actually will ”magically” turn into a good contract when it becomes AN EXP.”

Meaning, “An expiring contract”. Nowhere in my post did I say it would be expired.

Rip’s contract expires at the end of the 2012-2013 season, which means at this time next year, going into the ’12-’13 season, his contract WILL be an expiring contract. Is that clear enough for you?

By: khandor

khandor — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 00:06:14 +0000

Dan,
Of the 6 players mentioned in our friendly wager, on an individual basis, my projections would look like this:
1. Evans
2. Knight
3. Stuckey
4. Daye
5. Jerebko
6. Cousins
for their ability as NBA players on a long-term basis. IMO, neither Cousins nor Jerebko is likely to develop into a dominant player down-the-road, albeit for very different reasons.