Comments on: Rodney Stuckey, Greg Monroe – aw, heck, I’m not going to list everyone – dominate the Kings

By: tarsier

tarsier — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 21:25:35 +0000

mid-lottery picks are less likely to get it done, but if the pistons are picking there because of how well the young guys are playing, i’ll take it. if it’s because they have a bunch of players like prince/gordon/charlie, not so much.

By: tarsier

tarsier — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 21:22:48 +0000

what is statistically viable?

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 19:56:27 +0000

Well, I see the point of that strategy, but I dont see how its really relevant to the current pistons squad. There is no way in hell than can lose enough to have a statistically viable shot at Davis. And I dont really see Drummond or any other potential lottery pick being that much better than many of the players available in the late lottery, where the pistons will likely end up.

By: frankie d

frankie d — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 18:23:06 +0000

i dont think any team should play less than it is capable of playing.
but i do think that a team should make personnel moves that look to the future, rather than making moves that simply insure a mediocre present.
in other words, i’d trade a valuable starter like maxiell, for the future benefit he’d bring, and if that meant that the current team lost a few more games – and got itself a better draft choice – than that is all the better.
teams do it all of the time, and it is a great way to set yourself up for the future.
the best example of that strategy was SA’s season the year david robinson got hurt and they won the tim duncan lottery.
they didn’t necessarily “tank” any particular game, but they ended up making very curious personnel and lineup decisions that pretty much insured that they would have a great crack at duncan. and it worked.
what is more valuable?
the glow from a few more wins in a lottery season?
or anthony davis?
is anyone going to seriously argue that because a team won 15 rather than 22 games, that even though they now have a franchise player in davis, that they are going to be worse off? that the phsychological damage from those other 7 losses – the losses that got them the better shot at davis – is going to cripple them emotionally?
seriously.
one of the most astute observers around, john hollinger, addresses this issue in his discussion of the bogut/ellis trade.
he has no problem with “tanking”, in fact he applauds GS for putting themselves in a position to lose more and therefore get a better draft choice:

“The big loser here may be the Utah Jazz, as part of Golden State’s motivation appears to be an elaborate ruse to avoid ceding a lottery pick to Utah. The timing is bizarre because the Warriors had played themselves into playoff contention, but the Warriors’ brass had to view the landscape and see that (A) they were still highly unlikely to make the playoffs and (B) they owed their first-round pick to the Jazz if it didn’t fall in the top seven.
At 17-21, Golden State has some work to do to finish in the league’s bottom seven teams. (And that wouldn’t ensure a top-seven pick, since a team eightth or below could usurp a top-three spot in the lottery and push them down one.) Detroit is 15-27, just two back in wins but six in losses, and the Warriors also need to “pass” two other Eastern teams to get into the bottom seven.
But between the trade and the upcoming schedule, they may be in position to do so. Jackson is no longer capable of playing big minutes on a decent team (even if his hamstring injury magically heals itself on the flight to Oakland) and Bogut won’t be back until April, if at all. If the Warriors are smart they’ll encourage him to take his time. With the Warriors running a gauntlet of elite teams in April, they have a great shot at effectively “trading” for a lottery pick with this deal… ”
if the pistons were smart and thinking strategically, maxiell would be on his way out of town and the pistons would be on their way to a better shot at davis. but then, when has joe ever played chess with his moves. he’s strictly a checkers guy.

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:48:08 +0000

Apparently you, despite you never actually making that statement. 32+. Reading comprehension FTW!

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:46:11 +0000

This is a dumb way to view any season. Regardless of the remainder of the season, we will be lucky to even come close to picking in the top 10. And really, whats the difference between picking 14th and 17th? Go look at the lists over the last 20 years or so. The 14th pick (last lottery pick and probably around where the pistons end up) has studs like anthony randolph, Earl Clark, Rashad McCants and Luke Ridnour. While the 17th pick has a bunch of scrubs like Roy Hibbert, Danny Granger, Josh Smith and Iman Shumpert. Boy, definitely worth tanking to get a slightly better pick in a draft that is always a crapshoot.

And thats the point. Unless you can assure yourself of the top pick (or top 3 some years) like Indy did this year in the NFL, tanking mostly backfires. Beyond the top 5, its a luck driven process (see Udoh going 2 spots before us, allowing us to take the much better player in Monroe). Unless tanking would give them a huge advantage in acquiring Davis, there is no point. And lets face it, the number of teams much worse than the pistons is staggering this year. So why begrudge a young team for going out there and getting after it and winning? Poor sportsmanship and poor fan attitude.

By: Youssif

Youssif — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 16:31:48 +0000

And by “we” I mean Joe Dumars … always make that mistake!

By: Youssif

Youssif — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 16:30:41 +0000

Hadn’t really thought about that, but if we’re bull-ish on where this team is headed, maybe we can package our first round to a team that isn’t paying attention (or is bear-ish on our success) along with BG/CV and try to land a guy who can put us over the hump (in other words, make us better than Boston).

Josh Smith, perhaps?

By: Patrick Hayes

Patrick Hayes — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 16:10:03 +0000

Yeah. Guys picked 7th and 8th in the draft never amount to shit. Signed, Nene, Luol Deng, Rudy Gay, Eric Gordon and Greg Monroe (not to mention guys picked 9th or 10th like Amar'e Stoudemire, Andrew Bynum, Andre Iguodala, Joakim Noah, Spencer Hawes, Brook Lopez, Brandon Jennings, Paul George).

You are clearly an intellectual lightweight when it comes to discussing the NBA. Just stop.

By: Laser

Laser — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:40:27 +0000

Not with 7th and 8th picks they won’t.