Comments on: Pistons’ season projections leave faint reason for optimism

By: Otis

Otis — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 03:32:43 +0000

sigh…

I meant that for the purposes of pure contribution next season you’re going to be lucky to replace Ben Wallace’s production with Drummond and Slava. It’s just that it’ll be coming from younger guys with room to improve (especially in Drumm’s case), so you’re building something instead of milking a few more minutes from an old veteran.

By: Max

Max — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 00:48:25 +0000

I’ll take a younger version of Wallace. That’s for sure.

By: Otis

Otis — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 23:49:18 +0000

Assuming Afflalo and Big Baby were Pistons, Afflalo starts at the 2 with Stuckey coming off the bench for instant offense and to run the second unit. This is easily the role that best suits him and the one he thrived in during his rookie season. Stuckey hasn’t established himself as a good enough shooter or displayed enough range to be a particularly appealing option at SHOOTING guard.

Big Baby would start at the 4 without question, especially if your incumbent starter is Jason Maxiell. Aside from rebound and hustle, Baby can shoot the ball and therefore spread the floor. Until Monroe and/or Drummond proves to be a credible threat from 15-18 feet, I’m not convinced that they combine to form an “ideal” frontcourt, like we’re all being sold. Remember back when the Pistons had “some” deficiencies, rather than lacking in almost every measurable category? There was an issue that one of Sheed or Dyess needed to be on the floor at all times or else there was no floor spacing, and no chance to penetrate. Right now that’s the least of our worries, because of all the OTHER things that are wrong with this team, but it could very well be an issue if these two are supposed to represent our hope for the future of the franchise.

We’ll see how Orlando does. They don’t look good, but neither do the Pistons. And I’ve already suggested the possibility that they’ll tank right out of the gate. I just wouldn’t write anyone off at the moment. The Pistons have been terrible for the past few seasons, and I haven’t seen anything to suggest that’s suddenly going to change. They’re finally young, they’re finally versatile, and I can see them building towards something that’s going to be competitive in a few more years, but I would not be the least bit surprised if next season looks a whole lot like last season, only with younger versions of Wallace (Drummond), Gordon (English), Wilkins (Singler), etc. There’s a trade-off when you trade veteran savvy for youth, and there might be some real growing pains going forward. That’s all.

By: Max

Max — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 22:52:09 +0000

Philly with Bynum could very well = the past few years of Mil with Bogut when they were good every other year or few years when Bogut was actually healthy.   Let’s see how Bynum handles the Philly fans after they boo him for dogging it and making light of it during his interviews.
Philly also, like Chi gutted their depth and it’s a big reason why I think people are overestimating the Bulls this year with the notion that they did fine without Rose in the past. Chicago’s true 2nd best player in my opinion during the past 2 seasons has been their depth and it’s gone.   If any of Noah, Boozer, Deng go down, they could be mediocre at best. If 2 of them go down, they could very well be abysmal. All 3 are injury prone players.
Monroe and Stuckey are much better than anyone on the Magic’s roster and I have no idea why you think it’s such a given that Baby or Afflalo would start for the ‘Stones.   No idea whatsoever.   They might start on this roster, they might not.   Stuckey would start in any case and Afflalo might start with the idea that Knight should eventually overtake him. If Baby started, it would just be the stop gap for Drummond.   Not exactly the enthused situation you suggest and it doesn’t refer to the disaster of their 3 other starters, nonexistent bench and rookie coach.

By: DoctorDaveT

DoctorDaveT — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 17:46:44 +0000

+1
The best thing for this team would be a gigantic growth spurt for everyone on the team. As if that were reality! 45-50 wins, and a 6th or 7th seed. So…. That ain’t happening.
The next best thing – which in reality is really the best thing – is to play all of the youth as starters (Drummond, Moose, Jerebko, Stuckey, Knight; bench rotation of Kravstov, Prince, English, Singler, Bynum) and let them learn by losing. Secure one more draft pick before the loss of pick due to trade, and everyone is one year more mature, and ready to seriously compete for a playoff spot.
By the way – if you can get Ben Wallace back, that’s a no-brainer. Who else would you want training Moose & Drummond?

By: Derek

Derek — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 11:25:02 +0000

Well I for one am optimistic about this upcoming season. My optimism is more based on the incremental improvement I expect to see over last season. We have a young team and a strong teaching and straight shooting coach.

The guys are one year under the Frank system so I expect their to be less confusion from the returning guys as it relates to the rotations. I would like to believe the Rodney Stuckey we saw last year was not an abberation. If Stuckey comes in with health (physical & mental) we will have a standout SG capable of averaging 19 pts a game for the season.

To that strong output from the 2, I throw in BK. Unlike so many of the “posers” in the league who talk a lot about putting in the hard offseason work, this kid really gets it in. Brandon Knight returns from an offseason program that has yielded approximately 10 lbs of muscle with increased confidence. We need at minimum 6 assists out of that starting one slot. I think he can make the bump from 3.8 to 6 asts a game.

Then there’s Moose, who is capable of any bump in his numbers as well. I expect a 3 pt and 3 rb bump over last year’s numbers bringing him up to 18 pts and 12 rbs.

If we are able to get that kind of production bump from those core guys coupled with ahead of the curve contributions from Happy Feet (Drummond), I think we can get anywhere between 36 to 40 wins.

By: bugsygod

bugsygod — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 05:08:01 +0000

***Jerbko, i think will continue to be a great glue guy, whatever you need he can do it differently every night. Jonas going into his 4thyr in the league you want to see that mental aspect of the game pick up. To know when to score, rebound, defense, take a charge, just play smart ball. Maxiel i think will actually have a big influence on Drummond. Showing him “beast” mode, maxiel eats babies mode. Its ok to knock ppl down, give somebody a lil elbow. His 5mil expiring contract is also a nice asset. I think he will be a guy eventually squeezed out of the rotation, by Drummond/slava

By: bugsygod

bugsygod — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 04:54:30 +0000

Me “not” <–(lol) being a Homer i will give my honest assessment –
Pistons record 43-39 8th seed playoffs. There are 7 teams i would call locks (mia, bos, pacers, bulls, sixers, nets, knicks).
The 8th spot will come to atl vs. det. I rate our roster &/or COACHING better than wash, bbcats, milw, magic, cavs, raps. Monroe would be the best player on all those teams with a slight exception for irving. i would say b. scott would be only coach i would think about over L. frank, of that group.
Looking at advanced stats from ashburner at SI today (http://www.nba.com/2012/news/features/steve_aschburner/08/22/detroit-pistons-lottery-team-series?ls=iref:nbahpt1)
Our advance stats all improved greatly over the last half of the season when we went 21-21. So eyes said they look better, record was better and stats proved what we saw. There was significant improvement from the beginning of the year until the end of the year.
milw, wash, raps, cavs have players with heavy injury histories(m. ellis dalembert, nene okafor , calderon barganani, irving varejo) so i think with the amount time those players will miss will definitely affect their records. I could see a coaching problem in milw with skiles, this is about the time his players stop listening and tune him out. Dont think that small backcourt can stay healthy all year as well.
On the raps who carries them? Monroe should be our guy, who is the raptors guy? bargani? derozan? just don’t see a lot of top talent on that team, valucunias could develop but he’s a project this year. Lowry will help, but is he the guy to lead you to the playoffs? all star?
magic i think obviously they gutted there roster and hired a rookie head coach…enuff said. bbcats still need ALOT more talent, but i do LOVE kidd-gilchrest.
Washington i think will have injuries upfront putting pressure on wall and for the last 2 yrs that hasnt work, but Wall is a guy im looking to see this year, i think this is a big yr for him, does he improve and show all star cred or remain same t.o. prone guard who doesn’t win. beal will help, but just not enough there, also there coach wittman? never been a winner.
Now Atlanta vs. Detroit
Atlanta has a playoff pedigree now with their recent history. However, they have not gotten far in the playoffs reaching only 2nd rd. I think Horford is a beast and between he and Monroe this will be the determining factor, to me. Whoever wins this matchup, in terms of stats, all-star, stature in the league, leadership leading to winning. This will be a long year matchup but the one we need to pay attention to all year. Who’s the better player Monroe or Horford? Josh Smith will be on a mission this year as he is going into Free agency and will be looking for one more big time contract. Now we know the mission will be to get paid, but will that hurt or help the Hawks? Coaching for hawks w/ Drew i give a C+. I think he’s good with players, but not sure he’s a good in game manager. Last year in the playoffs they went back to iso Joe after using a motion offense w/ great ball movement all year, which really helped there efficiency. They still did not add size, so Horford stays at center and undersized.
Detroit, has Monroe and i think a good to great coach in Frank.
Monroe was in the all star running last year in terms of “if Monroe was on a winning team” he would be in over Hibbert. With Monroe we can see the talent, the games stats are there pts/rebs and the advance efficiency stats are there with top 15 in PER in the league last year. So i think Monroe is a stud and all star this year. He’s improved every year and added to his game. Drummond/Slava will help Monroe a great deal by taking some of the banging away from him, so many times you watch a pistons game and Monroe was their only legit big man, in terms of size and mass. He would battle all game and tire at the end. So i hope that helps with his stamina and also hope this was his focus in the off season. This is his biggest area in need of improvement.
Stuckey i look at him as all star caliber this year, meaning avg 19pts 4ast 4reb. The biggest area of improvement for rodney will be mentality. His job is now to score, not get the team involved, but looking to get 20 on up every night. When rodney has gone into attack mode he’s been pretty unstoppable and all star caliber, it’s always been when he has had to “play” pg and distribute that his game slows down. He also needs to stay healthy.
Knight i look for him to try to consistently play like he did the first game of Summer league this year. He ran the team, got ppl easy shots, scored efficiently and defended. He has too do all these things and hit the 3pt shot. With his work ethic, smarts and natural ability, i look for him to make a big jump this year. Not all star level, but show that if his team is winning he can be an all star. He wont get there by himself, but the team can help him get there, by being a winning playoff team.
SF will be the biggest position of flux this year. Too many guys, not enough minutes. I see a trade at this spot some time before this season starts and yes i think tayshaun is in play more this year. Maggette’s contract is a big asset. He will while he’s here in getting to the line.
Drummond/Slava just have very very basic expectation this year. Block shots, guard the paint hard, make hard fouls, deter ANYBODY from coming down low with the pistons. They have 12 fouls to give and each should be an old bad boy foul, get a reputation etc. The rebounding will be there, the dunks will be there, the rookie mistakes will be there, but above everything have a HEAVY ROUGH paint presence.
CV i have no idea, but i think they want to hold on to him for trade as his value will go up on his expiring contract.
Singler is in that SF mix, i think it will be to hard to keep him off the court.
English can you make the 3pt shot every game consistently? Your hustle, defense, leadership, all the intangibles are there. You just gotta make the shot.
Bynum, middelton, Daye i think are all players that can or will be used in trades to add “sweetner”. bynum because of his 3mil exp contract, daye because he may just need a change a scenery as he has all the offensive skills, but does he have a position. Middelton as a young player on a small contract with maybe some upside.
Frank and his staff seem to have great rapport with the players. The players all seem to be practicing and working together, i think that goes to coaching by providing that type of environment. Frank has a lot of playoff experience with the Nets, leading them to Eastern Conf. final… losing to the Pistons. I thought he provided a lot of good in game management last year to win games. Even though a lot of us wanted them to tank, Frank was trying to win and actually did pretty well at that. He gave big Ben minutes to help win games, he seemed to find a lot of the right combos to finish games even if that left monroe, stuckey, knight or whoever on the bench. Play calling and out bounds play calling excellent and one of the best. Just have to be sure he doesn’t burn himself or the team out.
My Pistons assessment this year… eat it up, tear it apart and call me crazy!

By: Otis

Otis — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 03:20:09 +0000

“AT LEAST” 41???? I swear to God I don’t get it. This is insane. Nothing could possibly explain how someone could ever think this. I’m horrified.

This is why people jeep calling the Pistons “diappointing.” They’ll only disappoint you if you cast all logic aside and take a will guess that they’ll suddenly be good out of nowhere, with nothing to support it but dreams and delusion. Not trying to be too mean here, but I am so outraged right now I need to take a walk.

By: Otis

Otis — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 03:16:32 +0000

Philly – Bynum = better than Detroit

The only reason I think you can flat-out assume the Magic will have a worse record than us without having seen them play is if you believe they’re going to tank right out of the gate. We would be enthusiastic to have Afflalo and/or Big Baby start for us, or to have JJ Redick as our first guard off the bench. Why write them off? They look like they stink, but welcome to Detroit Basketball!