Comments on: Yancy Gates and Armon Johnson join Pistons’ summer-league team

By: joyce trice

joyce trice — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 00:08:18 +0000

Please sign Yancy Gates to the Pistons roster or nbld league. If he hasn’t developed this year he will be by next year and he is physical and youn and very athetic. Snatch him before somebody else makes a solid player out of him. He can fit our team needs. Listen Joe D and I hope you are reading these quotes and comments. Hey you gave Darko Milic a chance. Also keep Vernon Macklin on the nbadl if possible.

By: Lake Side Live

Lake Side Live — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 06:22:14 +0000

I hope they pick Herb Pope for the summer league roster, guys got a great story http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1194182/index.htm

and was really good at seton hall 15 pts 10 bounds 1.7 blocks and 1.1 steals per game.

By: GB7891

GB7891 — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 04:50:41 +0000

Since when have the Pistons started a guy from day one under Joe Dumars? All of his coaches are of the same mindset as he is: let the kids ease into the game. Drummond may not snif a start until at least his second season depending on how he matures. Can’t believe anybody believes he would start from day one. I’m sure Kuester was chomping at the bit to get Monroe in his rookie year and couldn’t because of what the higher ups were saying. Knight was an exception, but if the situation calls for it then do what you got to do. Unless he is as good as Grant Hill was from day one then I doubt Drummond will get to take part in a tip off during a regular season game until his second year at the earliest.

By: Venice

Venice — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 22:25:08 +0000

@chuck. chill the f*ck out dude. did you forget that kaman was once an all star? we dont even know wallace wants to come back. im just stating other possibilities my friend. so chill the f*uck out ok ?

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 20:46:06 +0000

Start Drummond and let him just play defense, if Monroe could play that well against Centers, just wait to see what he can do playing against Power Forwards. Drummond has to focus on basically blocking shots, and playing defense. As far as his raw offensive skills, he never had a legit guard in UConn, and he sure as hell didn’t have a passing Power Forward like Monroe. One of his biggest strengths is he can post himself deep in the paint with his size, all he has to do is get downlow, get good position, and he will be found with ease by both Monroe, and Knight. Just go up and dunk. Shaq made a career out of just backing down players, and throwing it down hard. He doesn’t need a jumper. Just a steady go to post move, and dunking.

By: frankie d

frankie d — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 19:08:59 +0000

all good moves by joe d.
at least it looks as though he is moving in some of the right directions.
for the first time in years, their summer league roster makes sense.
don’t know anything about ware, but from just reading analyses and checking out videos, he seems like he’s worth a look-see, at least. seems like an earl boykins-type guard – more of a shooter than bynum – but the best thing i saw on the video was that he seemed to like the physical aspect of the game. he used his body well, both defensively and offensively, which is great for a fast little guy. you can tell he’s not intimidated by the big guys. who knows how his body and skills will work on the nba level, but he’s worth a shot. and i have to admit, i always love little guys like him. in the right line-up – with a shotblocker in back of them – they can be very effective, both offensively and defensively.
gates is also a great guy to take a look at. if he can get in shape he will probably play in the league. he’s strong, has a mean streak and is a good rebounder. more than any of the guys who have entered the league in the last few years, he reminds me of ricky mahorn. if gates gets a good chef and knocks off about 20 pounds or so, the pistons could have themselves a great pickup.
armon johnson is the real prize here though. the pistons dont have anyone like him on their roster, because he is a defensive-minded guard who can guard both spots.
he is a mini-rodney stucky, for better or worse. he’s got a great body, one of the best pull-up jumpers in college or pro ball, and he’s very good defensively. unfortunately and unlike stuckey, he is small for a combo guard and his outside shooting is very suspect. stuckey gets away with an iffy jumper because of his superior size, but johnson is about brandon knight’s height, with another 15-20 pounds of muscle.
johnson does not really think like a classic point guard, which is a problem as he is more of a scorer and a mediocre passer. his offense is almost entirely centered around getting into the lane and shooting that pull-up jumper or getting to the rim, which is harder in the nba, than it was in college. like i said, he’s stuckey-lite…the good, the bad and the ugly.
the one thing he does that the pistons desperately need is provide aggressive, physical defense from the backcourt. he’s a little bulldog, maybe the most physical defensive guard the team has had since lindsay hunter and mike james. he is an excellent athlete and can guard point guards and some smaller SGs.
he was here in portland for a couple of years. his first year, he came out of summer league and training camp as the backup point guard primarily because of his defense. he played very well initially but then, after teams got film on him via scouting, teams started pressuring him and he didn’t handle it well. he had a couple of high turnover games and after midseason coach mcmillan – who is incredibly tough on young players – buried him on the bench and he never got out of his doghouse.
when they fired mcmillan, i thought he might get another shot, but they’d already waived him in a numbers game move and that was that in portland.
again, he brings something the team does not have right now, a guy who can defend point guards – kim english may or may not be able to do that at the pro level, but johnson has shown that he can do it on the nba level – and that skill alone may earn him a spot in detroit. he might come out of summer league as the one guy who sticks.
i’d love to see the team continue a youth movement and jettison a guy like bynum in favor or johnson. save some money – if you can move bynum via the right trade – and bring in a guy who will provide good solid defense.

By: Vic

Vic — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 17:11:28 +0000

But then gain, a contract is better than a summer league invite. Their thoughts may have been: round 1 or free agent. In that case they may have dumbed themselves into the smartest move

By: Vic

Vic — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 17:09:39 +0000

Definitely not a good decision on his part

By: Bugsygod

Bugsygod — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 16:17:15 +0000

Jason Thompson is a good long term player, but with the drafting of Drummond we no longer need that. Kaman can still play and can help the team win this year an next. In two years when Drummond is twenty he takes over. BUT! If joe wants to save cap space till next year when the FA crop is much better, IM ALL FOR THAT! Can’t wait till the season an all these players we have now!

By: Chuck

Chuck — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 16:08:58 +0000

I don’t want Kaman teaching our young guys anything! Get away. Ben Wallace has the kind of hard nosed work ethic you want as a mentor. Yeah he can’t teach them to shoot, but that’s what coaches are for.

What’s Kaman going to teach them anyway? How to be a poor to mediocre center and to play against your own country because you’re not good enough to play for them?