Detroit Pistons Game Thread.

So far 1-2 with this unit. It is obviously a rebuilding period for our beloved Deeeeeetroit Basketball Pistons.

This team has the worst chemistry make-up since Joe D took over as GM. They have a group of guys with separate agendas. Rodney Stuckey is worst than last year. His decision making and overall leadership ought to be questioned. Obviously he is not Chaucey's replacement, as many thought he'd be. Their free agent picks, CV, and Chris Wilcox seemed to be bust. They just don't fit the Joe D scheme. Most of the other Pistons are nothing more than 'role' players. Rip Hamiltion may be the only Piston that is a 'true' starter. Tayshaun seems like he is a step slower and looks out of rhythm. It is likely he misses the unity of the past Piston teams, Sheed, Chauncey, Dyees, etc. Believe it or not, Big Ben appears to be the ONLY Pistons, who has the OLD PISTON SWAGGER. Unfortunately, it want translate to others, because most of these current Piston don't understand Joe D Basketball.

This years team is not as talented as the past. The Pistons have lost 4 very good players the past two season. This team has half the talent as the past teams. They will be lucky to scratch out 25-35 games this season. No doubt a definite rebuilding period for our Pistons. We will have to sweat it out this season, and hopefully be part of this pool of great players coming out in the 2010 free agency sweepstakes. So then, with a possible top 5 pick in the NBA lotto looming for Joe D, and the possibility to grab a top player in the 2010 free agency, along with Ben Gordon, the Pistons can quickly turn this mess around. Let's just hope it happens!

But for now, even while to sweat it out, we can still talk Piston Basketball. How do you feel about this years team.?

Next up, the Orlando Magic. This game may be ugly

Deeeeeeeetroit Baskeball.................!

blksoul_atcha!
The BJL, the color you love to hate!

I'm not down on this team as some people are. It is without a doubt an unbalanced team.
We are heavy with decent guards. I always thought Gordon was a great scorer from his days as a Bull, but his defense is below average. Rip and him seem to have a better rapport and those two can provide plenty of scoring punch along with letting in a few too many baskets. Stuckey needs to mature and make better decisions but the talent and desire is there. Bynum is good but lacks size.
Charlie V. is a talented player and I believe he's still trying to find his role with this team. When he gets more comfortable I look for more from him.
I'm glad Ben is back. If not for his defense first mentality we might not be able to stop anyone from scoring. Tayshaun is one of those players that you just don't know what you're going to get from one night to the next. A little more intensity from him would be nice.
What we are missing is that big body to compete with the other big men in the league. With Sheed gone, I do not see anyone filling that gap, including K. Brown.
My question is what happened to Maxiell? I was really excited to see him start to blossom with more playing time and now I don't know if he's already peaked but if we are lucky enough to see him on the court, he's just taking up space. Wierd.
I like Cuester as coach. A huge improvement over Curry. Who do you think was the coach that helped the Cavs turn into the team that they are? It was sure not the head coach. They all said that Cuester had a big influence. I think with the right mix of players he could do the same here.
With that said, I think it is too early to evaluate this team. It could go either way and we'll know more in a couple of months. It's obvious Joe D. is just trying to get to the free agent classes that are coming up in the next couple of years so he can land a bona-fide star and maybe then we can compete for division crowns again. Just my take on this team.

The Pistons have some interesting problems. Stuckey while a good guard is not a classic point guard. Maybe Joe D feels he will develop like CB who is not a classic point guard either but he made himself into one. However that took years to do and what maybe two,three different teams before it finally took hold with the Pistons. If the Pistons really believe they are going to win with RS as your everyday point guard I don't see that happening and that approach is flawed.

The other problems I think are more easily addressed. The Pistons need one more legit big man. They can get that through free agency. Now is the time to unload Prince, if they can, it might be too late. While TP is good, he is a glue guy. He will make a good team better, but he won't make a so-so team good. TP play and role reminds me of Shane Battier a local guy who has carved out a nice career doing the same sort of things.

As far as Maxiell, I think we have seen his upside and he not going to get any better. He is a undersized, banger who can bring energy off the bench for short spurts. As a matter of fact it was mentioned that Chris Wilcox had beaten Maxiell out for his minutes until he went brain dead out on the floor the other night and Q rightfully benched him.

I really want to see the next few moves Joe D makes, that is more interesting to me than this team, because it isn't winning anything this year as it is presently constructed, and I hope as fans you understand that. The team will be fun to watch , entertaining but it won' t win any championships.

So far this is a real Jekyll and Hyde team. They can be really good and really bad.

Overall, I like the team. It doesn't have overwhelming egos, now that the bad experiment with Iverson has thankfully ended. While I didn't think Rashid had an ego issue, he could be a huge distraction and I won't miss that. The team has great balance and depth. I don't think it loses anything when it goes to the bench. Consider how well they have played without Hamilton and Prince.

They will need time to get to know each other and Kuester learns how to play them.

Vs. last year, I think Villanueva for Rashid is a wash that will get better as Villanueva matures. They are very similar except for age and temperament. Ben Gordon for Iverson is a huge plus. Ben Wallace for McDyess is an asymmetrical equivalent and the fill-in Wilcox is still a question mark. Jerebko comes highly touted but we'll have to see if he more like Darko or Mehmet. Likewise Daye, Tayshaun's skinny twin is an x factor. Either one of those emerging could tip the balance.

Will Bynum is emerging as a spark plug. Jason Maxiel seems left out and has to wonder about his status. I think that has effected his play.

Barring any major injuries, I'll say they make the playoffs and have a shot at going more than one round.

Hope I'm wrong, but I dont see any playoffs for this group. They should have signed nobody, sucked this year and rebuilt next. Now we are stuck with a bunch of good but not great players. Probably means avearge teams for quite some time

Still seeing some positives. Ben Wallace is playing like he did previously as a Piston but never seemed to do when he away from Detroit. Jonas Jerebko reminds me of Mehmet Okhur, big, smooth, long range shooter who knows how to move with the flow of the game, the opposite of Darko who always seemed lost out on the floor. Chucky Atkins pushed into action by all the injuries is stepping up. Austin Daye, the skinny version of Tayshaun, looks very promising, another long guy who can shoot.

Even with the losing streak they went through, I never felt like that gave an inch and never got stomped. We have a scrappy Joe Dumars-style team that will take off once healthy.

Yikes, the Pistons are on a 9-game losing streak. Hopefully we can get it together.

Make that a 12-game losing streak. Of course it's going to take a while to get it together, having some of the best guys come back from injury. But wow, I was expecting them to do better then this.

It appears they are very far from improvement, but it is possible that, the right addition, of one or two players could make change that in a hurry.

The end of an era has arrived.

I was curious to see where we are at in the standings. On ESPN, they project us to have the 3rd worst record,, so we should get a top lottery pick. I wonder who is out there in our draft slot?

The pistons are an embarrassment.

I was thinking how many games has the entire team been available to play. I bet only a handful. Plus it seems like when someone that has been hurt comes back, then someone else gets hurt. I wonder if all of these players being hurt is the Pistons way of tanking the season. The Pistons need to get into the lottery to get a shot at the top player. Right now if everybody on the Pistons were available they are in a kind of a no-man's land. Not good enough to win anything, but good enough to make the playoffs. Having all of these players hurt may be the way of tanking the season but still letting the fan base see good effort but letting them know also that because of the injuries they are just out manned.

I would agree that the team is good but wont really accomplish anything. They are good enough to be mediocre and spent a bunch of cash to get this way. The whole idea of getting Gordon and Charlie V. never made any sense to me. They should have gave up the season, kept the cash on reserve, got a top draft choice and a big free agent this coming year.
Now they may accomplish the good draft pick, but they still are stuck with Gordon and CV's contracts.
I will say this about your theory, Tayshon and RIP sure havent played much on some weird injuries. Never seen a ankle take so long to heal, and Rip hurt it in game 1.

Pistons Suck! They will not going the NBA Playoffs.

so what's the deal.. Drew Sharp is calling for the team to be "blown up", and Bob Wojo expresses similar sentiments.. http://www.detnews.com/article/20101...-getting-worse

I wonder why Joe Dumars simply hasn't stepped in at this point as a GM/Coach, and have an assistant. It seems like the current players just consider the coach to be peripheral to the process.. not like the Chuck Daly days..

if/when the team has a failing season record, hopefully the folks in charge will choose some solid draft picks and trades.. a center, for one..

Its a lame duck team. New owners are going to come in and decide what to change. The current group is powerless to do anything.
I dont expect Dumars to stay when new ownership comes in.

Noticed this thread hasn't been updated in a while. Are we all laying low?? :) Am I the only one who is socked that Rip and Tay are still here? I've been a big Prince fan since the beginning but I wouldn't blame him a bit for getting out if he could. And poor, poor Rip!! He's been so mistreated!

Never has an organization fallen so far so fast. While I know Joe's hands have been tied this season as far as trades, etc. his silence has been deafening throughout this player mutiny. His track record for hiring coaches has been terrible and he totally misread Stuckey's ability to play the point thus leaving the team with no point guard and too many 2's. Joe talks about the Pistons getting back to Piston basketball [[i.e. playing defence) and he gives Charlie V, a forward who can't clear a path to the rim fast enough, 40 million dollars. While Tayshaun has been good this year, the last thing you want to do is resign him to a long term deal which is what Dumars has indicated he's willing to do. Prince wants out so hopefully he gets a decent free agent offer and agrees to a sign and trade. The one bright spot has been Tracy McGrady so of course he gets benched as our idiot coach "searches for the right combination" with only a few meaningless games left in the season. Meanwhile the NBA is a mess with falling attendance, the collective bargaining agreement expiring, players taking buyouts to sign with other teams, etc. Other than that things are great with the Pistons.