This is the 1st time in a long time that I've actually thought the Pistons were BETTER than they actually are. I'm not really sure I can take 64 more games of Rodney Stuckey OR 401-Tay
Knight definitely was the bright spot. Gordon actually out-scored him but Knight did most of his damage when we really needed the points. And Bynum did not play which is a good thing. Game started out well enough until the Cavs figured out how to pierce the defense. Troubling pattern developing where our guys can't seem to rebound well so they box out at the expense of interior D and the whole thing seems to fall apart in time. It does not help that out guards can't seem keep their guy in front of them. I don't know what Frank's system is. I keep thinking of the 0-13 start that got him fired in his last gig. Its gotta get better. Blaha was actually talking about getting CV back in a couple of games - that's how bad these 2 games have been. CV to help out on defense.
What has happened to make the Pistons so bad inside defensively? They lost Rip, T-Mac and Charlie Garbage. Why are they so much worse than last year when they were putrid? That opening intro was great.
So from what I'm seeing here, the Pistons starting lineup should look like this: PG Knight SG ??? SF Jerebko PF Monroe C ??? So who do we think goes in the 2 and 5 spots? Everyone seems to hate Stuckey and Bynum. Gordon can't play defense. Maxiell can't really play basketball. Tay doesn't care. Daye can't get his own shot and amazingly enough can't play defense on guys six inches shorter than he is. CV is a taller, less-talented version of Gordon. Wallace does not have 30 minute knees. Macklin was a second-round pick with all of 12 minutes of professional NBA game experience that fans are clamoring for primarily because he has yet to show on court that he's worse than the guys we already see out there. Those three are their core; we can all acknowledge that. Knight showed yesterday that he has what it takes to be the future of this ballclub. Problem is, the Pistons can't play 3 on 5. The rest of the team is a collection of has-beens and Never Wills. The reality is that the Pistons can probably at this point trot out a decent starting five looking like this: PG Knight SG Stuckey SF Jerebko PF Monroe C Wallace That at least gives them some hopes of competing down low. The problem is, their bench looks like this: PG Bynum SG Gordon SF Prince/Daye/Wilkins PF Villanueva/Maxiell C Macklin Christ, the Cavs could put up 150 on that group. This team sucks. I do not in any way envy Lawrence Frank.
Great young nucleus for the Cav's Samuels, Thompson, Irving...they reloaded in a hurry. They only had to hit bottom for one year. We had one bright spot in BK but it looks like our rebuilding will be several years in the making.
We play the Celtics Friday. They're 0-3 to start the season. I imagine they're happy to see the Pistons on the schedule about now.
Yep...that reloads you pretty quickly. This undrafted guy...Samuels looked really good...maybe just playing against our D?
We are going to be happy campers when we get a top 3 pick next year. It's time. Tay, jj, and daye have the talent of one all star divided into 3 players. That was really fun watching knight, that's for sure. I didn't even mind the loss because it seemed like we saw something out of the ordinary. And it was head to head with Irving.
Still don't like Knight's game. But he made me smile last night. JJ is not good enough to be a starting SF or PF, but he's perfect to play as a backup at both Forward positions, same can be said about Stuckey in terms of playing guard. Monroe's interior defense was non existent. Tay makes me angrier by the minute, I just don't see a scenario where we can keep him on this roster past next year. Austin Daye, I'd be surprised if he even got the qualifying offer after next season, but then again, we are talking about Joe..........bring on the $7M/yr extension. So we have: PG: Knight - Stuckey SG: *Rolls Eyes*Vomits a little ...........Gordon - Stuckey SF: _______ - JJ PF: _______ - JJ C: Monroe - _______ We need a 6'6" SG who can shoot (like Ben Gordon) and play a little defense. Although last night, Gordon wasn't awful in his 1 on 1 defensive match ups, his team defense is horrible so the "Team's" defense is horrible when he's on the floor. Immediately I think Mareese Speights can help us upfront, he can be had from Philly very cheap, but I don't think Joe is paying any attention. I'm sure he's telling himself that Charlie Villanueva will be back soon and then the team will fully come together. We also need an athlete at the wing on this team. This team is SLOW and plays close to the ground, need a fast high-flyer on the wing, preferably at SF.
Our high flyer on the wing is Tay.......we're paying him high flyer money, so he'd better get some wings.
Good rookie guard matchup last night with Irving edging out Stuckey. Kyrie seems to be further along at this point but hopefully Rodney will catch up. My absolute favorite play of the game was when Cleveland switched on a pick leaving Boobie Gibson on the hip of Austin Daye out on the wing. Instead of 6'-11" Daye using two quick back-down dribbles and throwing down a dunk over little Boobie, he freaked out and quickly kicked it out to a luke warm Ben Gordon with the shot clock expiring. Ben clanked a desperation three off the back of the rim as buzzer sounded. .....Deeeeeeeetroit Baaaaaaasssketbaaaaaaallllll!
If I was a beat writer, the first question that I'd want to ask Larry Frank is: Who do you think would win a game between your 2010 Nets team (12 wins/70 losses) or this year's Pistons?
I was thinking the same thing last night. It seems like the Cavs have been bad forever, but it was just one year. They've added talent and altheticism. You left out the part where he backed up. Joe's formula for paying people seems to be Summer League legend + no one else wants him = PAYDAY!!!
DUDE! That play pissed me off so bad! That play alone has sealed my impression of Austin Daye, he isn't good enough-PERIOD!
We had a 6'6" SG who could score, and play a little defense, his name was Rip. I know, I know. He didn't want to be here, but we made him that way. I'm no HUGE Rip fan, but man. He was long, he could board when he wanted to at the 2 spot, and he could D guys up.
LOL, the 2010 Nets team that went 0-30 or something...? Fun fun. I'd say the Nets, they had Devin Harris and a young Brook Lopez who was boarding that year.
