Would this make the team better?  No.  Antwawn Jamison is basically an overpaid Charlie Villanueva.  Also, while it would save the Pistons money in the long term, it would eat into any possible cap space in the short term.

But, there's a good possibility that Rip's presence on the roster could be a major distraction moving forward and, out of desperation, this might be the only last resort option.

Would you do it?

Allow every team to drop one contract.  Kind of like when every team had to make a couple players available to be drafted in the expansion draft.

I think (the next Piston) Owners should push for this.  Okay, maybe it's a stupid idea.  But, it's the only way I can think of to get rid of Rip's contract.

The Players Union would be against it, but maybe they would agree to it in lieu of something more draconian.  Plus, if the new CBA institutes a hard salary cap or a soft cap with a lower luxury tax threshold this could be a way to help teams press reboot.

I know it's a pipe dream.  But, a man can dream...

I've been beating this dead horse for years.  Stuckey is significantly better when attacking the basket from the wing, than he is from the top.  I have to statistical evidence to back it up.  It's just an eyeball thing.  Last night's game against Sacramento was a great example.  And pistonpowered.com did a great right up about it in their recap.

Now, I know Kuester has infinitely more knowledge about the game of basketball than I do.  But, it boggles my mind that we don't see more of it.  Both Stuckey and Gordon (to me) are better off coming off-screens.  Both are prone to evils of over-dribbling when they have the ball in their hands.

Ever since the AI days, I've been advocating (in absence of a Princeton/Triangle motion offense) for having Prince and Daye at the top with Stuckey, BG and Rip coming off screens.  Both Prince and Daye are good passers.  They can shoot the three well enough to keep the defense from sagging down to jam things up.  They have the height to see over the defense.

A lot of people on this site, poo-pooed the idea of using Prince as a point-forward during the AI days, I wonder if that's changed.

Tayshaun Prince, DaJuan Summers and the 2011 First Round Pick for Hasheem Thabeet and Marko Jaric.

THE RATIONALE:  Memphis is probably inclined to hold onto Thabeet for a couple years and see how he develops.  Trading him would be admitting they drafted a bust.  So, they won't give him up for nothing.

Prince, Summers and Jaric are expiring contracts (Summers is included to maintian roster size) so essentially this is Thabeet for the Pistons first round pick.  From the Pistons perspective, there probably aren't any shot-blocking big men available in the draft this year, so rather than draft yet another wing player...  From Memphis's perspective, they have Gasol and Haddadi to back him up so maybe they draft a more pressing need (power forward?).

This game was lost at the free throw line.  Ben Wallace, I love you, but you didn't even try on a couple of those Hack-a-Ben free throws.

POINT GUARDS:  Stuckey had a real good all-around game.  He took care of the ball and played great defense on Devin Harris.  Bynum shook off some rust in the first half where he missed a couple makeable layups.

SHOOTING GUARDS: Typical Rip performance on offense.  He made good decisions for the most part.  He struggled on defense with both Harris and Morrow.  Efficient offensive game for Ben Gordon.  And a decent defensive effort except when he was guarding Terence Williams (that's an awful matchup for him).

SMALL FORWARDS:  Solid all-around game for Tayshaun.  Great ball movement from TMac.  He would have three more assists if it wasn't for Maxiell.  I came away excited about what he'll be able to contribute.

POWER FORWARDS:  Daye had a tough game.  He missed some shots he would normally make.  He looks more comfortable playing defense at the four then he does at the three.  His awareness is so much better.  But, he gave up some offensive rebounds to Favors and Humphries.  Villanueva shot well and gave a solid effort on defense.

CENTERS:  Ben got thoroughly abused by Brook Lopez who was a flat out beast.  Maxiell looked hobbled and rusty.  He blew three Tracy McGrady assists.

COACH:  The team looked really good on offense and improved on defense.  They were the better team for most of the game.  But, that was an unforgiveable collapse down the stretch.  Stuckey should have been guarding Harris down the stretch.  And when you need a three-pointer with 1.6 seconds left, Austin Daye (who can shoot over just about anyone) should be out there over Stuckey.

If I had to guess as to what the ideal Piston lineup would be for the DBB Community it would be this:

PG: Bynum  SG: Daye  SF: Jerebko  PF: Monroe  C: Wallace.

Bynum appears to be the preferred option over Stuckey at PG.

Obviously Jonas would be in there.  And Wilcox and Summers would have few advocates (Maxiell and White would have more but not enough)  CV and Ben Gordon have their detractors as well.  Most want to see Rip, Tay and even TMac moved to make way for the youngins'.  The same is not said for Big Ben because he's too valuable a defensive presence.  So Daye and Nonroe round out the lineup because most want to see them get minutes so they can develop.

Does this sound right?

GREG MONROE:  Okay, you're not going to get more athletic, so concentrate on getting stronger.  On defense, you had great rebounding numbers in college.  Keep that up.  You're never going to be a shot-blocker so concentrate on making quick rotations so that you're in position to take charges.  You're smart so you should be able to anticipate.

You'll never be strong enough to abuse anyone in the post (although you can be effective enough there to be useful) so on offense, focus on developing an automatic fifteen foot jumper.  You make great passes from the elbow and you're pretty good at putting the ball on the floor.  Having an automatic jumper from the elbow will open more options for you and the team as a whole.  EXPECTATION: Brad Miller or Vlade Divac

TERRICO WHITE:  You've got the athletic tools and you've got a smooth stroke both pulling and spotting up.  In the short term, your key to minutes is making open shots and going balls-out on defense.  In the long term, you need to become a better ball handler.  You're probably never going to be a point guard, but even as a two, you're ball handling needs work (as do your hands).  Do every ball handling drill you can find so that you can get into the paint and make plays.  EXPECTATION: Poor Man's Jason Richardson.

DAJUAN SUMMERS:  You're an NBA caliber player.  You just need minutes to figure out what you can do on the court and what you need to work on.  It's easy for you to say I have to work on my rebounding, defense and so on.  Who doesn't need to work on those things?  You need learning experience.  You're not going to get that in Detroit.  Play your ass off.  Impress people.  Become a valuable add-on in a trade.  EXPECTATION: Wilson Chandler

JONAS JEREBKO:  Stay beautiful.  Just kidding.  Keep working on that three ball.  But, also develop a floater and then a pull up mid range jumper.  Join Terrico in his ball handling drills.  EXPECTATION: Trevor Ariza

AUSTIN DAYE:  This goes for everybody, but do everything that Arnie Kander tells you.  The skils are there.  The defense will come once you settle into a position and start playing regularly.  Get angry when things aren't going well and channel that into effort.  Stop pouting.  Try to combine the offense of Andrea Bargnani and the defense of Andrei Kirilenko.  EXPECTATION: Poor man's Kevin Durant.

Trade proposals are the favorite pasttime on this site.  One that was brought up a few weeks ago has stuck with me.

Rip and Tayshaun for Vince Carter and Marcin Gortat.

There are reasons why this trade would be both a good and bad idea for the Pistons.  One of the reasons I came up with for why it might be a good trade surprised me.

Personally, I think Rip and Tayshuan give the Magic a better chance to win than Vince Carter does.  Tayshaun plus shot blocker equals great defense.  Those two will add Championship swagger to a team that sorely needs it.  And thinking about it, how fun would it be to root for Rip and Tayshaun versus the "Three Idiots" (Bollywood movie reference FTW).

The Pistons would have to deal with a new "AI."  But would get a solid young Center with a good contract and would be set up well financially in the future.

And, as an added bonus, Pistons fans would gain rooting interest in Orlando (something we probably have right now anyway).

The Pistons have some talented young players that could form a nice core.  But, the most obvious piece that's missing is a young Ben Wallace.  The Pistons clearly lack and desperately need a game-changing presence on the defensive end.

Most of the established players that provide interior defense come at a hefty price tag.  Among those that are (conceivably) attainable are Emeka Okafor, Joel Pryzbilla, Andris Biedrins, Marcin Gortat and Samuel Dalembert.  None of these guys will make you forget Ben Wallace who, in his prime, was truly one of the greatest players in the game.  Any of these players would make the Pistons a better team, but none of them are likely to raise the defensive game of their teammates the way Ben Wallace and Kevin Garnett did.  That being said, I wouldn't mind having them.

The other route to upgrading the team's interior defense is to find another diamond in the rough.  Another Ben Wallace.  Or a big-man version of MFWB, if you will.

I did a little sleuthing and found very few promising options.  Joel Anthony is a great shot-blocker, but a lousy rebounder, for example.  Of the free agents available, only one player caught my eye:

IAN MAHINMI

I haven't seen him play.  And the odds are that he's just another end of the bench big man.  But (in VERY LIMITED time), he's put up good shot blocking and rebounding numbers.  With Tiago Splitter joining Tim Duncan, Antonio McDyess, Matt Bonner and DeJuan Blair, I don't the Spurs resigning him. 

If he can be had for the bi-annual exception, he could be a low risk/high reward signing.  Plus, the Spurs generally do a good job of drafting and even when they give up on a guy (Luis Scola, Beno Udrih, etc), he turns out to be a decent player.

Has anyone seen him play?  And could you give a scouting report on him?

Looking at Joe Dumars' past drafts and interviews there are some common themes that emerge regarding his draft picks and his reasons for making them.  Looking at these trends closer we can get a good idea of who he might draft.

Continue reading this post »

In his recent press conference, Joe Dumars talked repeatedly about getting back to the core Piston values of "grit" and "toughness."  Much of his success in the past as a General Manager was in his ability to identify players that had something to prove.  The players that defined the Piston identity over their six consecutive years as one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference were all driven when they arrived in Detroit.

Ben Wallace was undrafted.  Chauncey was tossed around the league.  "Rip" was traded by Michael Jordan.  McDyess was considered finished after his knee surgeries.  Rasheed was considered a "cancer."  Tayshaun dropped in the draft because he was considered too passive.  The toughness of those Piston teams came from the collective chips on their individual shoulders.

If Dumars wants to regain that toughness that defined his most successful teams (both as a player and as a GM), it follows that he'll have to identify which players on the team have something to prove and which players he can acquire through the draft/trades/free agency that do as well.

Here's my take on the current roster:

RODNEY STUCKEY - I like Stuckey more than most.  Personally, I don't think he's being used properly.  He's unstoppable when attacking from the wings and he's got a great post-up game.  He's much less effective when attacking from the top which is where coaches always seem to put him.  That being said, does he have something to prove?  I think so.  I'm sure he knows what Piston fans are saying about him.  I get the sense that he wants to be great.  And that he will work at becoming great.  He's had his struggles, but I really can't remember him ever making an excuse.

BEN GORDON - His work ethic to me (and his rather surly demeanor) indicate that he's got something to prove.  The situation in Chicago where he felt the Bulls were lowballing him is probably a strong motivator.

WILL BYNUM - I don't think there's a question that this guy has something to prove.

RICHARD HAMILTON - I suspect that no matter who's on the court, Rip thinks he's the best player out there and is determined to show it.  I don't think he's lost his hunger.

TAYSHAUN PRINCE - He seems to have gotten more testy with reporters lately.  He seemed genuinely offended by claims that he no longer fit with the team, that he couldn't play an up-tempo game, that he should be traded, etc.  Whereas Sheed clearly lost his drive, I don't think the same can be said of Rip and Tayshaun.

AUSTIN DAYE - I like what I see from him.  He's not afraid to mix it up and fight for rebounds in the crowd.  You can tell he's sick of the questions about his thin frame.  He's got something to prove.

JONAS JEREBKO - This guy's not just playing for himself.  He's playing for country.

DAJUAN SUMMERS - I think he's going to be a good player.  Does he have something to prove?  I don't know.  He didn't complain about playing time.  That can be a good thing (he decided to put his energy into improving his game instead of whining) or it can be a bad thing (he didn't care enough).  I don't know enough about his practice habits to know either way.

CHARLIE VILLANUEVA - He's the biggest question mark.  He got a big raise this season.  That can motivate you to want to prove that you're worth the money or you can feel you've already made it and rest on your laurels.  I suspect it's the latter.

JASON MAXIELL - Early in his career, there was no doubt he played like he had something to prove.  The lack of improvement in aspects of his game make me question whether he still has that drive.  He still can't finish with his left around the hoop, always going up with his right (even when there's a player on that side of his body). And his jumpshot is still inconsistent.  I just don't know.

CHRIS WILCOX - If he had something to prove, we'd know it by now.

KWAME BROWN - It was worth a shot.

BEN WALLACE - He definitely had something to prove this season (that he could be the Ben Wallace of old).  Now that he's shown that, is the drive still there?

What are your thoughts?  What players in the draft have something to prove?  DeMarcus Cousins?  Greg Monroe?  What about free agents and players on the trading block?

Who's got something to prove?

To me, it's overpaying a 2010 free agent whose team will not want to lose that player for nothing.  Now, that's a mouthful, but here's my thinking:

Take Carlos Boozer.  He's not worth a max. contract.  But, he probably thinks he's worth it.  The Pistons don't have cap space and other teams do.  So, if the Pistons were to want him, they would have to outbid those other teams (Miami, for example).  But, they can only do this if Utah wants to make sure they don't lose Boozer for nothing (and don't want to offer him a max. contract themselves).

A trade I suggested on another thread would have Rip, Tayshaun and Jason Maxiell going to Utah for Carlos Boozer (at a max. contract) and Andrei Kirielenko.

Utah would get three players that won't buckle under Jerry Sloan's tough coaching.  With Deron Williams, they'd have a formidable 1-2-3.  Granted, a Milsap, Okur, Maxiell frontcourt rotation is definitely a step down.

Boozer would get a max. contract.

The Pistons would have to overpay for his services, but would gain fiscal sanity going into the 2011 off-season once AK-47's contract comes off the books.  And they'd have a young core of players including: Stuckey, Bynum, Gordon, Daye, Jerebko, Summers, Boozer, Villanueva and whoever they get in the draft. 

Any other players fit the bill?

If you had the choice, which of these big men would you want the Pistons to get?

Brad Miller, Andrea Bargnani, Rasheed Wallace, Carl Landry, Al Horford, a rich man's Joel Pryzbilla, Josh Smith, a taller Al Jefferson or Antonio McDyess in his Prime?

How about these big men?  Who would you choose?

Chris Wilcox, Eric Dampier, Thaddeus Young, Josh Boone, a more physically gifted Udonis Haslem, Chris Humphries, Solomon Jones, Channing Frye or Josh McRoberts?

These two lists are the best and worst case scenarios (as predicted by draftexpress.com) for the big men projected to go in the lottery. 

FOLLOW THESE STEPS:

1. Rank the players on each list by your preference (without looking at the list below).

2. Look at the list below.  It matches up the player with their best and worst case scenarios.

3. Add up the numbers for your two rankings to see which player you would most likely want.

4. Put your first and last choice in the comments.

Continue reading this post »

Once again, it's March Madness.  And that means another round of "Who wants to be a Piston?"  It's very simple (and I'm sure if you wanted, the more drunk and surly among you can turn this into a drinking game of some sort).

If you see someone in the NCAA tournament that plays with toughness, a commitment to defense and doesn't suck.  You simply designate that "(so-and so) wants to be a Piston."

For example, this post from BONEY, a year ago: "Taj Gibson really wants to be a Piston right now."  Sometimes you open yourself up to embarrassment  (a few years back, I was all "Corey Brewer really wants to be a frickin' Piston!!!"), but overall, it's a fun way for an NBA lover to eek some enjoyment out of watching zone defenses and 6'7" centers.