I don’t know what that excerpt really says, but I recall reading that Hermann wasn’t playing on the national team because he felt that spending time with his family was more important. He would have considered playing in the Olympics a job instead of a matter of pride. We might have given him a contract anyway, but I was under the impression that he made his decision to not play for the national team a while ago.

Paul: Nice memory — here’s the DBB post about that:

"He feels the need to be with his family and loved ones rather than playing in the national team," [Argentina’s coach Sergio] Hernandez revealed to Ole Newspaper. "He told me that basketball is only a job for him, but he explained that the national can’t be considered a job, that it should be a breather, joy and pride but he doesn´t feel this way anymore."

I took two years of Spanish in high school. Here is my translation:

Sober consultants sue negative integers for the national selection of paratroopers. And the juice olympics will begin with this comment: "Basically, pork or not, I’m a contract NBA con man. Reachin’ and assistin’, I will continue with temper to con the Detroit Pistons.

Nailed it!

I definitely didn’t pay enough attention in my high school Spanish classes to help translate, but I hope it’s true.

For one, we have very limited money left to offer him, so it means we get him for cheap. I always thought he could have brought more to the table then Jarvis. I was ok with Rip/Afflalo being the back up SF’s next year, but added depth is a good problem and Herrmann should be a better match up against bigger SF’s. If we end up trading one of our front court guys who could play a little PF as well.

My Spanish is a little iffy (I’m a Portuguese speaker), but roughly translated, asked why he did not want to take part in the games, Herrmann says: “Basically, because I didn’t have an NBA contract. Just yesterday I arranged to play for one more season with the Detroit Pistons.”

So, extra detail: it’s a one season contract, or so Herrmann implies with his comment. Of course, there might be a player or team option.

(Also, let’s not discount the man’s desire to spend time with his family. If I remember correctly, several relatives died in car crash while he was away in international competition.)

(Also in the piece: the journalist thinks he played for the Charlotte Hornets before being traded; he has some nice words for Detroit fans, saying the city really follows the team and packs the palace; after talking about the new contract, he reiterates his desire to spend time with his family during the summer; he thinks Argentina’s chances in Beijing are as good as Spain’s and the America’s.)

Cisco translated the passage correctly. Hermann doesn’t say he signed a contract, but that he arranged to play another season. It might be an agreement in principle. That would explain why there hasn’t been an annoucement: they are waiting for the paperwork to be completed and signed.

Here is a translation.

There are two reference to Herrmann signing a contract yesterday with us.

A historic visit PLAYER OF THE NBA to our city

Walter Herrmann: “Yesterday my continuity arranged by another season with the Detroit Pistons”

The pivot was in the Coliseum Boulevard "to accompany a friend who came to prove Cycling Juninense.

The pivot Walter Herrmann was yesterday in our city and very graciously paid to dialogue with democracy in the Coliseum Boulevard "where wine to accompany a friend who was tested to see if he can be heading in the future campus professional club Cycling Juninense
.
After a season in the NBA wearing the shirt of the New Orleans Hornets and then the Detroit Pistons, the player is in Venado Tuerto passing holiday with his family.
Herrmann started saying: "I’m passing through Junin, accompanying a friend. But a month ago and a half that I am in Venado Tuerto resting and taking advantage of family affection. I’m going to the gym three times a week and I basketball with the youth of Olympia . But everything very livianito. "

“As part of everything bad that has been, for me the balance ends up being positive. I started playing in Charlet Hornets that gave me the possibility that Detroit Pistons are set at me and take me. I think that experience was good in general lines because it allowed me to show me in the NBA. "

The movement NBA

“Normally when playing at home, each player runs from his home in his own car, is not concentrated. When will visit us mentioning an hour at the club and we are going to the stadium in micro. Because if they are longer journeys Almost all year we traveled by plane. When you play in another conference, several parties are usually followed and you are leaving your home ten consecutive days. That’s the most that you normally alejás where they reside. But in general are games that you the day before and you volvés right away. "
With regard to the maintenance of each player, for example in food is free. Always advise you eat healthy, avoid alcohol and cigarettes, because even if many athletes have the defect.
Either way there’re professional and when it reaches the NBA is very bad because things do not’ve done. After depends on one. We are all big and we know what is right and what is wrong.
The city of Detroit is very large. But I live far enough. The theme is that there is much snow in winter and was not accustomed. But everything is like when you adaptás hacés a normal life. Especially in the conditions that we are, because we care a lot.
Detroit is a city that is still a lot to basketball and is always filled the stadium. I would say that is one of the few who always plays to packed stadium. That’s why people are so identified with the team. "

No selection

Consulted on their refusal to integrate the National Selection to participate in the Olympic Games in Beijing, said: "Basically because it had no contract with the NBA. Just yesterday arranged my continuity for a while with the Detroit Pistons.

After that I be much stranger outdoors all year. It does not appear, but when the holidays arrive I want to be with my family, with my affections and not be traveling.
It was a sum of situations that led me to talk with Sergio Hernandez and tell him that he was not prepared to be part of the team.
The relationship with Hernandez is very good. We have talked between boys and the selection always agree that outsiders arm stir because either not going, but nothing happens. Simply put each his opinion and is respected.
I saw the selection very well with Spain. Of course when the competition starts you lose a game and you go home. But I think it has the same chances of winning the United States and Spain ".

i like hermann. he’s a fiesty defender who seems to actually have an offensive repertoire. yet another player who flip saunders should have given more minutes to.

(that should be the last time i kick the dead coach while he’s jammed in the wheel well of the bus.)

if all this is true, then the sf position should be filled, starter and a backup.

if all this is true, then the sf position should be filled, starter and a backup.>>

I agree.

We now have 14 under contract and Lindsey will probably be 15.

So I think we are good to go for next year with 3 changes

Herrmann replacing Hayes as Tay’s backup
Bynum replacing Murray then Dixon as the 5th guard
Brown replacing Nazr then Primo, then Ratliff as the 5th big

I like this move. In his limited minutes he always seemed to do something that made me scratch my head and wonder why he wasn’t playing more. Examples include his defense on Dirk and that ridiculous bounce pass he threw along the baseline (the one where he was leaning out of bounds and put a little spin on it so it bounced just in-bounds of the line and then bounced to a place where only his teammate could catch it). This is a low risk moderate reward scenario.

He brings a lot more options on offense and he can play defense which Hayes tried to but couldn’t do very well

I’ve been an outspoken proponent of Herrmann for a long time, I think the guy has a ton of potential (a lot more so than Hayes). Like Other Matt said, he can be a true defensive pest. Additionally, a good passer, a consistent shooter and good rebounder. I like it. Even above Sharpe, unless we want to give him some greater PT so he’ll grow quicker.

Might as well let Sharpe get some more time at SF in the D-League.

I liked Hermann a lot more than Hayes, and I don’t know if I have much to back that up objectively. Hermann just went balls out every time he was on the floor. Hayes was mostly a jumpshooter, but Hermann can be as good or better in that regard (46.4% on 3s his first year), although he’s almost exclusively a standstill shooter (which is a limitation, but he moves well without the ball). He’s a superior driver, though, and he’s never been shy or hesitant about attacking, and he does so without turning the ball over much. Not a fundamentally sound defender but a irritatingly committed one who’ll get his hands in some faces. His hands can block out the sun, by the way.

He’d be a great addition to the second unit if he’s given more than spot minutes, and he seems like a better option than just trying Rip and Afflalo at SF.

Here is my full translation (for meaning—not literal). Im a native spanish speaker:

Consulted about his non-participation with the Argentine national team that will participate in the olypic games in Beijin, (Herman) coments- its basically because I didnt have an NBA contract. I was just yesterday that I arranged my continued place with the Pistons for the upcoming season

My guess is this means no more changes. At first I was pretty disinterested in this news. Namely because Walter couldn’t beat out Hayes (who while not AWFUL, wasn’t really any good) and can’t player PF or SG…. Not alot of positives here.

Then of course I realized three things:

1) Chauncey Billups is still a Piston
2) Rodney Stucks might be a better SG than he is a PG and he’s DEFINATELY more likely to get to the rim than Rip
3) Rip Hamilton is 6’7" and capable of playing the 3 vs most backup SF in the league……

Which of course means Billups, Rip, Stucks and Prince will probably devour about 95% of the mins available at the 1-2 and 3.

Thus it makes perfect sense to bring back a 3rd string SF… you have 3rd string mins available only.

/my2cents

@Paul M:
re: “I don’t have much time to back that up objectively”

Excuse my shameless self promotion, but hey— it is a DBB post. Here’s how I compared Herrmann to Hayes back on February 20th:
http://www.detroitbadboys.com/archives/2008-02-20/the-argentine-solution-why-herrmann-should-replace-hayes/

@PG4L:
“Namely because Walter couldn’t beat out Hayes”

Hayes had 4 full months with the Pistons before Herrmann joined the squad. Hayes was fully assimilated, knew the plays, had favor with the coaching staff. Hayes had this tenure, Herrmann did not. Remember, Flip Saunders was at the helm, one of the most conservative roster managers in the NBA. Even if Herrmann exploded in practice, it was likely that it would take a mandate from Joe to get Herrmann valuable PT over Hayes.

MP, except I don’t buy that Saunders was coaching in a vaccum and I’m pretty sure that if Joe wanted Herman to play, he would have. Honestly I saw ABSOLUTELY nothing that would lead me to believe WH was anything more than a deep bench reserve. Yes I know he did some stuff on a bad Bobcats team, but they lost a PILE of games too and nothing I saw last year in a Pistons uniform made me ask “why?”.

Sorry, I just don’t think he’s got that much game.

Don’t forget that in the ECF Rip guarded Pierce better than Tay did. He also suffocated LeBron in our the next to last regular season game against the Cavs (LeBo sat out the last game of the season against us because it was meaningless). His defense is one thing that makes me worry about trading him and basically made him our MVP of the ECF.

Sorry Sauce

It’s starting again. Summer time. Time to get my hopes us. Time to rationalize the roster. Rip at the 3. Rationalized. Stuckey at the 2 and 1, depending on the situation. Rationalized. Strretch Arrmstrronng as the backup 3. OK. Kwame? Whatever.

Time to get my hopes up, like I do every summer. The hangover from last year’s failure (like the year before, and the year before, and the year before) is just now fading.

I hope I’m not let down again, because not a lot happened this summer. Like last year. and last year… and last year…

Ooops. “hopes up.”

I know I’m being harsh, but I needs me my ’ship.

I just hope that the Pistons are not going to pay Herrmann to sit in a suit and look pretty like at every games during last season.

MP: Yeah, I even commented on that but I didn’t realize you wrote it. I pretty much agreed on the basis that his overall numbers weren’t indicative of his potential contribution (he had been with the team a month and gotten inconsistent playing time). I still think he could have equaled Hayes in the shooting department while still being a threat to drive.

It’s not fair to discount what he did with the Bobcats two years ago. They lost a lot of games during the year, but their record when he started getting consistent minutes was 10-8. They played several playoff teams still trying to jockey for position and Hermann was big in wins against Washington (twice), Miami (twice), and Cleveland. He played well no matter who he was up against in that stretch, and he certainly showed he’s more than a deep reserve.

Has the schedule for the Olympic basketball games been released? I figure with Tayshaun on the team, the US is guaranteed to at least make it to the Eastern Hemisphere Finals (yes, I know US is in the Western Hemisphere but my lame joke works better this way).

I thought Hermann was more effective in limited minutes (especially defensively). But, it’s hard to tell whether he would have been better in the long run than Arvis.

I get the sneaking feeling that Hermann has only one move (that stretchy, palm-the-ball, flicking layup thing) and once the league figures that out, he’ll be useless.

That being said, he at least plays hard.

I like this move. Though obviously not as elegant, I love the way Hermann reminds me of Dr. J when he just palms the ball thru mid dribble and waves it around like a grapefruit.

Can hit the standing 3, plays energetic defense, can match up with taller 3’s and smaller 4’s and doesn’t bitch about playing time. This dude’s a keeper.

Rob, if it helps I’m not sure this is a GOOD thing…. I just don’t think we’d have signed WH if we were looking for a backup who was going to consume a lot of mins…..

Personal opinion based on information presented, nothing more really.

Still I agree strongly that this isn’t exactly a GOOD thing.

DAME MAS FABIO!

PaulM….

Nevermind, seriously…… this conversation is too ThatguyIdon’tTalkToOnHere for me…..

“He played well no matter who he was up against in that stretch, and he certainly showed he’s more than a deep reserve.”

Let’s just say that I’m pretty sure that line describes EXACTLY why you will never be the general manager (or for that manner the Equipment Manager) for a sports team. Agree to disagree, yada, yada, yada… something about you talking nonsense…end

Really just can’t be bothered.

Hermann shoots well and ATTACKS the basket.
Isn’t that what Detroit wants more of?

I hope he gets more minutes this year.

I think he’ll be more effective than Hayes.

To those who aren’t feeling great about the signing, who would you rather have?

Vince Ellis from the Free Press just confirmed this:

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080801/SPORTS03/80801041/1051

There’s a little too much “Detroitfanwho’spassionateandsometimesfunnybutrarelyinsightful” in this conversation for me. I’m sure if you actually had a point, you would have made it by now in big capital letters.

I’m not calling for the guy to start or anything. When he got consistent playing time in that stretch, he played very well against some creampuff teams as well as some teams who still needed to win to get better playoff positioning. When we acquired him, I watched some of the Charlotte games the previous year and saw a good shooter and driver who could create shots without turning the ball over. I figured he had the talent to start for a bad team or act as a good backup SF for a strong ballclub. I think he could be the latter for us.

Yeah, it’s weird and radical thinking. I must be completely insane, because a longtime DBBer disagreed with me but won’t bother to say why.

Paul M: For whatever it’s worth, I completely agree with you. Herrmann showed a lot two seasons ago and never got a consistent chance to do it last year.

I’m very glad about the signing, if only to get a better idea of what he has to offer.

I think what you’re missing is that we just don’t agree…. Hence the line about not being interested in continuing. Let’s just say LB has taught me that repeating the same crap over and over in response to a long-winded over-opinionated poster who just keeps saying the same thing but in different words is um……un-productive. I may be “rarely” insightful, but at least I don’t mistake “my cracker opinion” for “deep basketball analysis”…coughlikeyoucough. Since you asked however, here:

Honestly I wasn’t all that impressed when I saw him play last year and I STILL don’t understand the fascination with him. I mean sure he has neat hair, he’s really gangly looking and he wears women’s clothing (ask Rip)… but as a basketball player I saw absolutely NOTHING beyond a warm body on the court. I’m even lost as to all the “defensive stopper” talk because frankly I saw a skinny guy who couldn’t use his hands properly to contain faster opponents and wasn’t strong enough to body up on bigger ones… so you know, ever backup Euro/Foreign swingman in the NBA, except the GOOD ones.

As for the “he started for the Bobcats” camp, saying that playing SF for the Bobcats for a season is starting for an NBA franchise is sorta like saying “He’s a pro football player” regarding someone in the CFL or the Arena league. It’s true….barely.

Want to know what I really think? (Probably not but to bad, you buy the ticket you take the ride)….

I think DBB is full of a bunch of shell shocked homers who wouldn’t know a Baller from a prep-school girl’s field hockey player. I think you all saw exactly what I saw in last year’s Boston series. I think you KNOW we aren’t the best team in the East anymore and I think you were DYING for a big move, any move. It didn’t happen and now you’re scared as hell. So you’re talking yourself into believing that the team LAST year was good enough, except it lacked 4 Million bucks worth of Kwame Brown… or if only Flip had played “insert your favorite future Euroleague 6th man here” more…

Truth?

We don’t have Kevin Garnett and David Stern hates us. Everything else is just bullsh*t. Period.

/endrant

PG4L, I know you’ve only recently come back, but I think the “Free Amir” crowd would like to have a word about this statement:

MP, except I don’t buy that Saunders was coaching in a vaccum and I’m pretty sure that if Joe wanted Herman to play, he would have.

I believe that one of the biggest reasons Flip was shown the door was his lack of willingness to play the young guys and reserves. Herrmann’s definitely got some game, check his per game 06-07 stats from Charlotte. You can flippantly dismiss the Bobcats as “a bad team” all you want, but he played a lot down the stretch against real, live NBA playoff teams jockeying for position.

PG4L

Who would you rather have at a similar cost?

“So you’re talking yourself into believing that the team LAST year was good enough, except it lacked 4 Million bucks worth of Kwame Brown… or if only Flip had played "insert your favorite future Euroleague 6th man here" more…”

PG4L, Just because some of us like having Kwame and Hermann as 11th and 12th man, doesn’t mean we think that we all of the sudden thing that the Pistons are over the hump.

And signing Kwame and Hermann doesn’t necessarily mean a trade still isn’t coming. It may come during soon or in February. We’ll never know.

Of course, Boston was the better team. And I would even argue that Lebron was the second best team. But, with more urgency and a healthy Billups the series is up for grabs.

Are the Pistons currently talented enough to win it this year? Maybe not, but the roster is filled with veterans with reasonable contracts, intriguing younger players and a lot of financial flexibility. So even if there’s no a trade, the future isn’t bleak becuase the team can be under the cap as early as next year.

PG4L: I never claimed that any of my posts are deep analyses. But I try to keep myself informed by looking at stats and watching player footage before I put my opinions out. Obviously, I’m not a scout (I can’t even be an equipment manager, remember), and I don’t claim to know more about basketball than anyone else, but I do try to back up what I say. What I post isn’t necessarily right, and I’ll completely respect it if people disagree as long as they back up their claims as well, which is what you did here.

I agree with you on his defense. He is pesky and he has no problems with effort, but he doesn’t really have a position to guard. He did do well against Nowitzki, but that’s a rare kind of player. He’s also probably not a stopper, but I don’t think anyone was saying that. I think most of his utility is on offense. (so deep!)

If you want to cut it off here, fine. I’m getting sick of repeating myself as well. I completely see what you’re saying with that first paragraph.

Paul, I do, and you are right, it’s not personal or at least it shouldn’t be, we just don’t agree. I honestly, REALLY don’t understand why everyone is so excited about this guy.

Other Matt, yes I can. You see Basketball is a game where even HORRIBLE teams get a certain number of shots/offensive opportunities. Additionally since most NBA players have A) guarenteed contracts and B) don’t give a damn how they play just how much they make…. effort can go a LONG way to padding stats, PARTICULARLY in the second half of a given season. Lots of players under-talented players have used a hot second half as the second or third option on an awful team to improve their financial standing. Someone has to shoot, and on a team as awful as the Bobcats were that year? That someone was WH. Let’s try and remember that the Bobcats would MUCH rather have had Brian May at PF and Herman on the bench behind other wing players… it just didn’t happen and alot of strange situations come up when your team is awful and quitting on the coach by christmas.

So yes, I can ABSOLUTELY flippantly dismiss the FORMER starting SF for the Charlotte Bobcats during the second half of an AWFUL season. It’s allowed, I asked Larry Bird and he said it was okay with Basketball Jesus.

Aaron, that’s not the point (though in the case of Kwame Brown… frankly? MARCUS FIZER, yes that’s how awful I think Brown is)…

The point is I see A LOT of people on here talking nonsense about 2 players who WILL NOT CONTRIBUTE ANYTHING RELEVANT to the team this year. It’s not about wanting someone better for 1.8 million dollars, it’s about realizing that WH is a deep DEEP bench player and that Kwame Brown is a 4 million dollar mistake…

I find it somewhat PAINFUL to read “I really hope he gets some time, i once same him DESTROY Bobby Jackson in a pickup game at the local rec center” and 22 “Yes I agree” posts, EVER SINGLE TIME the Pistons aquire some stiff or another.

WH has shown EVERYTHING he’s going to show in the NBA at this point. The dream is over. Kwame has shown that he DOESN’T deserve this THIRD million dollar NBA contract. The dream NEVER STARTED.

I’m not even MAD to be honest, it’s just well… unseemly.