losing Arroyo might be tough. Good riddance to the Darko fiasco. I wish him the best. I think we could have got more... ....oh well....bring on the rooks!
If Joe doesn't spin Cato's contract into a PG that is better than Arroyo, then he will have compounded a mistake with another mistake. You don't get rid of your only legit backup PG just for the sake of dumping the salary of a former number 2 pick. This pick could very well turn into garbage as it is.
Hunter will take Arroyo's minutes. I think he should be able to hold up for 30 regular season games plus the playoffs and his defense and outside shooting are better than Arroyo's. If C-Bill goes down, well then you have to figure out who will distribute. Hopefully the Pistons won't have that problem and by next year will have a decent backup at the point. Cato will probably get more minutes than DMC did and he has a lot of experience including playoff experience. Evidently Davis is done as a player because he has been on the team all year and shown nothing. So you have 10 guys good to go. That leaves Davis and J. Max as the 11 & 12. Seems good to me. By the way my prediction is that DMC will average 20 + within 2 years and about 5 - 7 rebounds and 2 + blocks per game.
Re: Pistons-Orlando trade *RUMOR* What is so great/vital about CA? His stellar defense? His shot? His ability to drive to the hoop and actually convert? How about his 3 point shot? Sloan didn't like him, Joe D never liked him and apparently Flip wasn't high on him, otherwise he'd still be here . Were his numbers so good that a combo of Defino, Hunter, and Prince can't cover his "outstanding stats". Geez and only for 4 mill/year!
- Darko and G.Hill playing together. Very weird. Lots of strange Piston history right there. - I theorize that Maxiell will see some real minutes now. They couldn't play Max over Darko. They just couldn't. Darko would've killed himself, which would have destroyed his value. Now that he's gone, I wouldn't be surprised if Max got a little run.
3 Darko questions (1) Where in the uhmmm...heck do we start new Darko threads? In the Pistons section or in the "other NBA teams section? (2) Darko is off to Orlando (AKA Disney World). How will he look in the mouse ears? Come on, I can't believe Merc or oe of you guys hasn't come up with a photo of mouse ears superimposed on Darko. Get with the program boys! Sheesh. This used to be a first class establishment. (3) But seriously, (well, I was semi- serious on the first question), how will Orlando use Darko? Here's what I think... I think they start him right away....so he gains confidence. I think he is capable of about 8-10 points per game. Maybe 4 rebounds and 2 blocks. What do you guys think?
Re: 3 Darko questions and one Jay question. there is the former pistons thread where we talk about memo and Mike james. I'm excited to see how he does. I think he'll come off the bench 2-3 games and then start. I think he'll do 9 pts, 6 reb, 2 as, 2 blks. 4.5 fouls.
Players I was most sorry to see go to another team, in chronological order: Adrian Dantley * Rick Mahorn, 1989 version ?!? Grant Hill * Jerry Stackhouse * Mehmet Okur ** Corliss Williamson ** Darko Milicic ** * Disappointed at the time -- but look how it turned out. ** Purely financial moves are always a bummer, even when it helps in the long run. ?!? I'm still mad about this one.
Just realized that Darko moved to my backyard. (seeing that I live in Tampa). The irony. lol. Maybe if Darko wakes up and becomes the player that BBallJ has prayed for, I will go pay him and Dwight Howard a visit sometime this year. That way I can get a pulse of how the fans feel about him and report it back to the group. Darko version 2.0 should be interesting if nothing else.
I PM'd bball jay and he said a couple championship runs will help him feel better. Needless to say, he's feeling a little let down, but I learned a long time ago that Jay is a super Pistons fan not just a Darko fan.
Well, Darko wasn't going to play in Detroit even if Jay hoped it to be true or believed it to be true. I think things will work out OK for Darko in Orlando, and Jay will be able to get to enjoy watching his favorite player, and maybe even get in a few "I told you so's". lol
Good thing Ben can now get the salary upgrade everyone keeps saying he deserves. How could JoeD have justified paying Darko starter bucks to sit on the bench and Ben bench money to go to the Finals? Think how disgruntled the starters would have been next season with the situtation? I think they have been very supportive of Darko, but so far he has not been taking their money, has he? Good trade, even though I am surprised and a little sad to see our Darko go, I am excited to see what JoeD can do now, and to see what Darko does in Orlando. PS: Didn't we win a championship 2 years ago with Lindsey as our backup PG??????? I'm ecstatic to see that Lindsey can now play with so much rest. He will give us a spark that we may need sooner or later. And he is murder on late-game performances ala Dwayne Wade/Kobe Bryant/etc.
That makes it worse, doesn't it? lol I thought of Mo, too, but I think as it is Flip gets a B+ in unjustified fan-hatred. Darko's absence will definitely curve that up some.
