I’m like Rasheed in many ways when it comes to Flip: I don’t listen to a damn thing he says.

this debate changes in import the moment rip returns and there are suddenly four guards. one of whom gets thirty minutes automatic. bench stuckey.

i missed the game last night and stuckey’s fourth quarter but 5 -20?

Yeah, the rubber hits the road on this when Rip returns.

Stuckey is in a tough spot. He’s supposed to be the main playmaking, distributing guy: the point guard. It’s always been unclear whether he was, by nature, preference, or skill set, more of a shooting guard or “combo guard” (whatever exactly that meants). Plus, last year his development was hurt because he had to suffer through the AI, small-ball, some-guys-phoning-it-in, MCIAFI era.

This year, after the injuries, he’s frequently in a lineup where the only other legit scorers on the floor with him are one or two other guards, or a combo forward who isn’t primarily a post player. With Tay out, beyond CV, none of Detroit’s front court players are offensive threats.

In short, in the last two years he’s been faced with lineups and rosters that haven’t fostered the development of a pass-first point guard.

Also, while there have been stretches this year when both Bynum and Stuckey have looked good and bad, Stuckey has had more really bad stretches. I don’t know if Q ever says, “be aggressive, but sometimes you can’t just bull your way into the lane and throw crap up”; I know I say that to my TV.

Bynum is shorter, and, pace Flip, was not the reason we traded Chauncey, but he has been, overall, better.

In sum, I dunno.

Keep in mind one key attribute: what happens when defenses are designed to stop Bynum? Keep in mind Bynum is still a relative unknown in the league. Stuckey’s first two months as a starter were brilliant. Something like 16-5 on 50% shooting. Very good numbers. However, defenses adjusted and designed a gameplan to stop Stuckey, and he’s struggled since then.

Bynum still hasn’t had that happen to him yet. If defenses start honing in on and designing their gameplan around the play of Bynum, will he perform just as well? I’m still waiting to see.

Right now, Bynum is outperforming Stuckey. There’s no real way around it, Stuckey has to pick his game up.

Stuckey is obviously struggling. Consistency and decision making are his main problems. But, let’s be honest. Stuckey has a much higher ceiling than Bynum. Bynum is what he is, which is a very good player probably more suited to coming off the bench for 15 to 20 minutes of non-stop, all-out, explosive energy.

In the grand scheme, it doesn’t much matter who is outplaying who so far this season. As has been pointed out, the lineups withour Rip and Tay basically force Stuckey to try to be a primary scorer. Stuckey needs to keep improving and find a better balance. He has all season to do so. If Stuckey is still shooting below 40 percent, with a assist to turnover ratio of less than 2 near the end of the season, than Jod will need to make some difficult decisions regarding the future of the PG spot.

For what it’s worth, I don’t think that is going to happen. I think Stuck will improve his decision making which will really help his FG%. Getting some shooters back into the lineup will really help his assist numbers and he will defer way more often which will make his attacks way more productive. Really, when Rip comes back isn’t that like a automatic 2 additional assists a game (at least)?

Bynumite.

Stuckey needs to finish better around the rim and both of them need to work on their jump shot. Neither are within a mile of Ben Gordon at this point offensively so I’m not calling either one of them “the future”.

Stuckey and Bynum are both good players but there are plenty of young PGs in the league with similar resumes who haven’t gotten the attention from within their own organization. Joe Dumars goes on and on about his guards but is it so much better to develop them ‘the Piston way’ rather than package all your second round picks with the 15th pick and move up and take Brandon Jennings? That’s unfair cherry picking on my part but it gives you some context about ‘THE FUTURE…IT’S AWESOME’ kind of posts that you get in profiles.

Both Stuckey and Bynum are nice players who play hard but are they all that much better than Mario Chalmers or George Hill? I don’t think so and nobody is writing ‘OMFG…MARIO CHALMERS’. JoD could have had Mario Chalmers, Chris Douglas-Roberts, or Kyle Weaver with the Walter Sharpe pick. I like Detroit’s effort this year from everybody and especially like the FA signings but I’m not sure the team is doing more than treading water with their draft and backcourt development the past few years.

Let the MP baiting begin.

I said this during this pre-season.

In the here and now, MFWB is the better Point Guard. Yes, he’s still a score-first guard, but he appears to have more natural instincts in terms of distribution than Stuckey appears to have. Plus, as we’ve all witnessed, MFWB has the rare capacity to literally take over a game in the clutch — in spite of his size, in spite of his lack of a long-range jumper, etc. He just has a knack for blowing up when it counts.

But the here and now isn’t the primary focus of this organization right now. Jod, and the rest of the franchise, are looking forward, two, three, four years down the line. So the question isn’t who’s better now; the question is, who will be the PG for this team’s future?

Whenever we talk about the word potential, we’re obviously making largely speculative and mostly subjective arguments, but to have this debate, we have to consider who has the most potential. IMO, the two key factors are: 1) Age and 2) Tool set (physical and skill).

Obviously, STuckey has age on his side. Players don’t tend to make massive leaps after the age of 26-27; players tend to make their biggest improvements over their first 4-5, with incremental improvements thereafter. That general trend favors Stuck. Both guys need to improve their jumpers, and Stuck in particular needs to foster his ability to distribute. He’s show those capacities in spurts, and he has the time to make those improvements.

I also give Stuckey the edge in relation to tool set. He’s taller, stronger (if only slightly), and again, he’s younger. MFWB’s game depends heavily on his athleticism … when his hops start to diminish (probably what, 3-4 years from now?), his game is going to get limited quickly.

All that to say, I think MFWB is the better overall PG right now, but I don’t think that’s the heart of the issue.

Rodney Stuckey this season.

Wins:

13.6 FGA
42.6%
4 assists
2.4

Losses:
17.6 FGA
36.6%
3.6 assists
2.4 TO’s

Interestingly, MFWB’s assists are also down in our losses, but his FG% goes up.

I think what jumps at me is the significant difference in the volume of shots that Rodney takes and his FG%. I personally read this as: “When Stuck plays well, we have a good chance to win; when he doesn’t, we don’t.” When he forces the issue, we struggle.

I realize this could be a chicken and egg question, and others such as MP would argue that when we are playing bad collectively, Stuck is forced to force the issue.

But we’ve got some data now, at least, and the disparity in Stuck’s numbers between Wins and Losses at the very least confirms that when Stuckey’s numbers are good, our team has won games.

@brgulker:
Let the MP baiting begin.

I must have missed this ‘baiting’. Save for short stretches last season, Bynum has always been the better point guard— since watching him during the Summer League of ‘08. I don’t remember contending otherwise. Even more than Stuckey, MFWB has officially been my favorite Piston since December of last season, long before most even knew dude’s jersey number, let alone before the media knew he was in the NBA.

If by “baiting” you mean “saying something I agree with”, then yeah.

Bynum should stay where he is. He’s flourishing in his role now, and that is likely the one thing we can’t afford to change. Besides, moving him to the point over Stuck could be disastrous if another team offers him a salary we cannot match this summer. That move could come back to hump us when we’re sleeping, and not buy us breakfast.

Bynumite.

Just crunch the Bynumbers.

[2 Items]

   (1) I can’t help but feel Stuckey is the victim of bad timing. AI The Deformer, who bitched and moaned, all of last year, stunted Stuckey’s growth (Could he go to Orlando since Mighty Mouse Nelson is down and out? AI dishing off to Howard might actually be interesting enough to watch). That being said, while I was really too young to remember Vinnie Johnson, I’m curious as to how Bynum’s impact off the bench compares to the Microwave’s? Was VJ more of a shooter, whereas Bynum’s slash-and-attack softens the D so he can THEN work his mid-range spot-up jumper into the flow?

   (2) MP baiting? If MP stands for Mike Payne, does the baiting consist of discussion centering around High School Musical 3 or the Twilight series?

Stuckey has been in a very unique situation the last two seasons. He started out last season under the tutleage of Chauncey and spent the majority of the season trying to hone his PG skills with all the AI distractions. This year, he starts the season probably thinking “Dumbass is gone, now I gotta figure out to get Rip or Little Ben the ball, if they are coveed, Tay/CV will be in the corner..easy shit!” Then he loses two of his three primary options and has to figure out which rookie has the better match up. I think he is doing a fine job at the point with what he has to work with. I see him leading the team, controlling tempo, and trying to set up his team mates…funny thing about assists, they only count when the assisted scores the ball. I have no hard data to supoprt this, but I beleive Stuckey passes the ball to more frequently than MFWB.

One more thought, with the injury he had in his rookie season, couplped with the crap from last season and the injuries to 40% of the starters this season, Stuckey is, imo, developmentally in December of last season, he still needs time, I think he is talented enough to get the benefit of the doubt through the end of his current contract, if he has not made progress by the end of this season, then, I think his PG skillsets can be questioned.

@wolf blitzer:
(2) MP baiting? If MP stands for Mike Payne, does the baiting consist of discussion centering around High School Musical 3 or the Twilight series?

Funny you should mention, I used to date the girl in the red dotted dress here back in college:
http://disney-kingdom.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/high-school-musical3-wallpaper.jpg

I know this much, Stuckey has the most trade value.

Right now, honestly and from a basketball-intellectual sort of view, I don’t like either of them. They both commit to the same sort of offense: one-on-one, ankle-breakin’, which creates a lot of excitement but is not quality O. It’s fun to watch, sure, but it is ineffective.

I think, tho, if and when we get Tay and Rip back, Stuck’s the future. Right now he’s the de facto 3, and so he’s out of position most games. When we get back to a more traditional line-up, Stuck’s gonna shine, and MFWB will be a game-changer off the bench. Bookmark this comment. This will happen.

@rob g:
agreed.

The only way I want to trade Stuck is if he goes with Tay to Golden State w/ Tay in a package that brings back Randolph and Ellis. This has already been discussed in a prior thread.

whoops, couple too many “w/Tay’s”

Do we really want two Golden State Warrior’s on our team? I doubt Monta Ellis can play any defense.

@cody:
monta is a hole on defense. comparing the two:
monta ellis:
http://www.82games.com/0910/09GSW4.HTM#bypos

rodney stuckey:
http://www.82games.com/0910/09DET4.HTM#bypos

According to those numbers though, Stuckey should play point more ;) 42.4 PER?

@ MP

I must have missed this ‘baiting’

Rodney Suckey is teh suckage!!!!11

Better? :)

I don’t care if Ellis doesn’t play defense. He’s been on Don Nelson’s Golden State Warriors his entire career. I’ll say that again, for brevity’s sake: Don Nelson’s Golden State Warriors. Got it? Alright.

Plus, all I really want is to somehow get Anthony Randolph on the Pistons. I said it before— Tay for Randolph+Vlad. They get out of their worst contract and get a versatile wing defender who can shoot, we get potentially the next KG and a fat 2011 expiring deal (who also can spread the floor at 6’10" off the bench, something we need).

Bynum is the better player, right now. He was better last year, too – check the advanced stats. Stuckey does have crazy potential, though. He might put it together. I understand why Dumars values him so highly.

I’d like it better if we didn’t have to get rid of Stuckey for Ellis to get Randolph

I don’t know if we want Moped Ellis on this team, he’s kind of a knucklehead, after last season I think Dumars tolerance for drama has dropped below ground, so there might not even be a chance he’d pursue him.

I think Bynum is aware of the debate, and is playing like he has something to prove. I’ve always liked lil’ 50 but I think MFWB is not asking for the shit, he is taking it.

@MP. Wrong link. Fixed with other Disney actress.

Funny you should mention, I used to date the girl in the red dotted dress here back in college:
http://www.dols.it/immagini_home/Topolina113.gif

@birdman:
Sexxxayyyy….

I think Stuckey’s played pretty damn well this year. I’d like to see him look for his teammates more, but in general, when he’s on the floor the team has looked a lot more fluid. He also needs to learn the drive and dish.

Bynum gets more assists because of the drive and dish, but the offense tends to look stagnant with all of his one-on-one. Fortunately, he CAN win you a game by himself.

I found this nugget on pistons mailbag:

Tim (Des Moines, Iowa): Is there any way Joe Dumars is in the Monta Ellis sweepstakes? Packaging Tayshaun and Stuckey for Ellis and Anthony Randolph works under the CBA.

Alright, who’s Tim?

@Cody:
As one of two Iowa commenters here on DBB, I think Tim might be TDP. TDP is in Des Moines…

That would make sense, haha.

Bynum or Stuckey?

How about both? Right now, the guards are overworked. When Rip and Tay come back, they can go back to playing a little over 30 minutes a game. A reduction in minutes all around from what we’re seeing now is not a bad thing for our two PGs.

I think the more important thing is to find another “Stretch Four.” I’d like to see Daye, Jerebko or Summers step up and be able to provide minutes at the PF spot.

I think just about all problems right now will be fixed by the return of Rip and Tayshaun.

The one problem I see is Jason Maxiell. I like him but I don’t think he fits. I’m sure Gabe, brgulker or MP can find the data on this but I’d be willing to bet that the worst performing lineup so far includes:

stuckey, bynum, maxiell and either kwame or wallace.

If Kuester is going to start the game with CV and Big Ben and then bring in Maxiell and Kwame together. I think Rip/Tay and Ben Gordon have to be out there with Max/Kwame.

@QD

Of the top 10 five-man lineups (by minutes), the worst one is, unsurprisingly, Bynum-Gordon-Stuckey-Maxiell-Kwame. The three smallest guards combined with no frontcourt offense = fail. Swapping Gordon with Daye isn’t much better.

For what it’s worth, the second worst lineup is Stuckey-Gordon-Jerebko-Villanueva-Wallace.

It actually does not appear that Maxiell has played much at all with Big Ben, since no lineup with both of them appears on the top 10 by minutes, as of whenever the last update was.

http://www.82games.com/0910/0910DET2.HTM

Birdman, I noticed that those were the ONLY TWO lineups where they gave up more points per possession than they scored. Hopefully that bodes well for the future as I don’t think we’ll see those lineups much when Rip and/or Tay come back.

I normally don’t participate in trade scenarios because I want to see what this roster can do at full strength.

But, I wonder if Golden State is in salary dump mode and whether Biedrins can be had. I wonder if they’d take Kwame’s expiring contract, Wilcox and their choice of either Jerebko or Summers.

@QD: I have to think Golden State would actually love Austin Daye. Tall, athletic, and can shoot. I don’t know who we could get for him, but just saying.

As one of two Iowa commenters here on DBB, I think Tim might be TDP. TDP is in Des Moines…

He is I and I am him.

You know I’m almost sad that that offseason trade didnt go through involving Rondo and Ray Allen for Rip and Stuckey. Rondo is a machine and a true point guard and Allen can still knock down those 3’s.

Rondo
Allen
Prince
Charlie V.
B. Wallace

with B. Gordon and Bynum coming off the bench actually would have been great…oh well

Ronnie D., what did the five fingers say to the face?

SLAP!

i hate rondo and the celtics, that said, if he played for the pistons i would love him. ray allen…whateves.

stuckey playing and improving. bynum good where he is, more prone to selfish play. stuckey good too. just epinion.

I definitely think the offense flows much better under Stuckey. People just seem to stand around and watch Bynum dribble 15 seconds of the shot clock and then flash into the paint. Rodney seems to forget he can play offense when Will has the ball (just look at the numbers, he has generally good first halfs when he runs the ball, and then disappears). Bynum’s a total ball hog half the time, I mean AI averaged around 8 assists in his career, does that make him a true point guard? I think not.

The only reason why I’d say he’s the better point guard is because he’s more experienced, and does a better job of dishing out of his drives and finishing them in general. If Stuckey could just figure that out, he’d be averaging 20 ppg easy along with a good 6 or 7 assists.

Potential Next Ben Wallace Candidate Jarvis Varnado is off to a decent start in a 21/11/7.5 sort of way…

@Ronnie D.

That trade was actually Rip/Tay/Stuck for Rondo/Allen. So it was a no brainer to turn that down.

And why would we want Beidrins? Anthony Randolph is making a fraction of the money and is going to 10x better. He’s already got better handles and offensive game, is 4 years younger, and rebounds and blocks shots just as effectively (if not moreso) than Beidrins at this point. The only thing the guy is missing is minutes— when he gets them, he’s phenomenal. Dude’s on my fantasy team and is pretty much a lock for a double-double any time he gets 15+ minutes.

Shinons, the best thing about that Varnado stat line (besides the 7.5 blocks) is that he went 7-9 from the free throw line. How do you get half a block by the way?

That was over 2 games, so he probably got 8 and 7 respectively. What I find extremely surprising is that DraftExpress projects him going in the second round. Perhaps that will change as the season progresses, but talk about a steal of a pick if Joe could snag him late in the first or early in the second.

Quick Darshan:

I’m not as optimistic as you about what will happen when we get Rip back and if we get Tay back. Obviously, Gordon, Stuckey, and Bynum won’t have to play as many minutes, which will be good in some ways but will create tough decisions in other ways; Rip will contribute on both ends; and if/when Tay returns, we’ll have a seasoned vet with a decent game on both ends, instead of rookies who are wildly inconsistent and don’t seem to have much offense at the SF.

But our roster will still be unbalanced. Most importantly, our front court will still be thin (metaphorically and literally), especially re guys who can score, and especially re guys who can score in the post. And lord knows what would happen if Big Ben gets hurt or wears down significant.

So maybe we go from competing for the #8 slot to competing for the #5 slot, although we’re digging ourselves a hole right now.

Not that I think anything can be done about this, immediately. This roster, as we all keep saying, needs some trade in which we get a decent scoring 4-5, and probably give up some smaller players.

the pistons need a true big man, bottom line. ben wallace has played well, but he has no offensive game what-so-ever. give him a true 4 or 5 to play with, and that might work out well. maxiell has been nothing but a dissapointment, and austin daye was a waste of a draft pick. we don’t need another tayshaun prince. as far as the stuckey bynum discussion goes, neither guard is going to develop until joe dumars can work out this system. although stuckey is the favorite of the two, bynum has put up some nice numbers and has been a clutch factor, something that the pistons need. there is no go-to man on this roster, nobody who can just take over a game, yet bynum has seemed to do that recently. yes, a true point guard is what they need, but how can anybody be a true point guard on that roster? look at billups, he left the pistons and flourished in denver because he actually had players to work with. bottom line, the pistons need a big man, not a bunch of undersized players. i love charlie v, but he’s not the man that they needed for this team. if anything, they should have waited a year and gone after names like bosh, stoudemire, yao ming, or boozer…

they’re in a rebuilding process, but they seem to be working backwards with the moves they’re making… ex. AI

TJ, I think the frontcourt scoring won’t be as much of a problem with Rip and Tay back. Already with CV, the Pistons have more of a low post threat that they’ve had in 6 years. Rip and Tay’s reliable outside shooting and Daye’s getting more acclimated will make up for the minutes that CV is not on the floor.

@ Joel
    Sorry forgot about including Tay in there. Wether your a Rondo hater or not he is the only guy who can avg. a triple double. The next coming of Jason Kidd. Plus hes a real PG, which we dont have.

@Ronnie D.

My love for Rondo is well-documented on these boards. In my opinion, for what I want out of my PG, he’s the best in the league, hands down. Best on-ball defender in the league, best rebounding PG in the league, 10+ assists, clutch as hell, dirty when he needs to be— basically the perfect quarterback for Pistons-style basketball (which the current Celtics absolutely play).

@Frank: I agree we definitely need a scoring big man. In the post. Charlie V was a steal, though. I would agree with you if we were paying him 10m+ a year, but we’re not. Hell, maybe we can get a guy like Boozer at the 4, move Charlie V to the backup 4 and backup 3, and pick up a shot-blocking center, too, in the coming years.

Stuckey/Bynum
Gordon
Rookies/CV
Boozer/CV
“The Center”

Think if we had something like that. I’m not saying we will, i’m just saying CV will be a role-player..I don’t think he’s the dominate post-man Joe D wants. If he is, God help us all.

@Joel,

For what it’s worth, last year Rondo ranked sixth in games of 10+ assists, with 28 such games. He was seventh in assists per game.

Resisting urge… to… delve… further…

Stat wise Bynum has been outplaying Stuckey, and I have been pretty frustrated with Stucky’s excessive shooting. But I can’t wrap my head around the idea of sitting him down to give the team to a guy that reminds me too much of AI. Bynum makes things happens, and the way he does it works…off the bench. The offense tends to slow down when he is running the point, he holds the ball at the top and starts moving around to see where he can find a spot to penetrate and score. To me most of his assists are the product of not being able to find a spot to shot from, much like AI. I love what Bynum has done for us, off the bench. The same way I thought that AI would have worked well with our bench unit.

The 3 guard lineup kills me though, our defense is too short and with Bynum running the point our offense lacks fluidity. It made us have Ben G guard Kobe and he god killed, guys routinely shoot over our guards.

Plus, how can we rag on Stuck assist number, when our most common lineup is one where he is playing SF on both sides of the ball and the ball is on Bynum’s hands most of the possessions.

Oh, and I agree with the sentiment that our biggest need is a scoring big. I think once Rip and Tay come back (more importantly Rip) a lot of things in our offense will be better. I know it was only one game, but our offense looked pretty nice with Rodney, Stuck and Gordon. Where I feel we suffer the most offensively is when Villanueva can’t contribute whether it is because he is off, out because of foul trouble or getting a rest. When Charlie’s offense has been on our offense looks very differently, more fluid and our guards get easier shots.

I’m enjoying reading what everyone has had to say on this topic, though I am mostly in agreement with QD. (“I think just about all problems right now will be fixed by the return of Rip and Tayshaun.”) On a related note, I encourage everyone to check out the brief feature article on Ben Gordon at SI.com. Ian Thomsen closes the article with this observation from JOD:

I look at our team now and it reminds me of 2000, 2001 and 2002…You try to add a couple of pieces every year until you feel like you’re there, and so these were the first two pieces. We’re not through building our team now. This is not our team for the next five years. We’ll add pieces and we’ll continue to build.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/ian_thomsen/11/19/gordon/index.html

Lol! so AI was almost a sure shot to sign with the Knicks. And today they pulled out.

Kriz I completely agree, you hit my thoughts right on the spot. I’m getting tired of all the talk about how Bynum is a true point guard, he’s closer to AI than he is to Rondo or Nash. The ragging on Stuckey’s assist numbers especially get annoying, when he’s standing around doing nothing when Bynum has the ball. Sure Rodney needs to shoot less, but look at the back to back games. He’s trying to throw the team on his back; clearly he doesn’t have the ability to do that yet, but I think that’s a positive. For Stuckey to become a star, he has to step up and lead by example, and it looks like he’s trying to do it.

Now the key thing in his development is if he can figure out when to pass out of his drives and when to force the issue. It looks like he’s got the desire to become the face of the team, which is a good thing for the future, but we might as well start Chucky if he shows no signs of figuring that out by season’s end.

I don’t think Atkins is a starter, if we want Stuck to improve you put him out there, he gains experience/confidence, and you coach him to do so.

OT: This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever read:
I spent the past four weeks traveling to promote my book. During that time, I stayed in nine different hotel rooms. All of them had wireless. In three of the rooms, I noticed a strange phenomenon — my connection would be fast during the day, but at night, it became so spotty that I could barely load box scores or watch even short highlight clips. On Wednesday night in Portland, the wireless was so terrible that it took me 15 minutes to watch a four-minute clip from that night’s “The Ruins.” I finally gave up. The following morning, the connection miraculously worked again and I was able to watch the clip.

That’s when I came up with “The Porn Jammer” theory: It’s my belief that certain hotels scramble their wireless at night to discourage guests from surfing for porn. Why? So they will order adult entertainment from the hotel’s pay-per-view system. I know … it’s dastardly. But if you’re the hotel, why give the milk away for free when you can make people pay for the cow? More importantly, would you really put it past them? This is the same business that built motion detectors into mini-bars; they’re going to give up the in-room porn business without a fight? It’s evil, it’s desperate, it’s despicable and brilliant. The Porn Jammer is my Great Call of the Week.

So this fucktard has never heard bandwidth? A hotel that’s mostly empty during the day and has hundreds of people piled on top of each other accessing the wireless, maybe that has something to do with it? No! Those damn evil hotels are just getting in the way of Bill Simmons’ browsing Tom Brady Goat Porn!

“Plus, how can we rag on Stuck assist number, when our most common lineup is one where he is playing SF on both sides of the ball and the ball is on Bynum’s hands most of the possessions.”

THANK YOU

Amir Watch 2009: 9 points, 4 boards, 3 fouls.

Also, doesn’t it bother Dwyane Wade that he fakes so many fouls to get the call? I don’t think I could, in good conscience, flop around and fake it like he does.

Sheed can still play great D against D. Howard, and still takes horrible shots

@ Cody – LOL! Still the same Sheed we know and love!

I like the Bynum to AI comparisons that you guys have made. I’ve been thinking the same thing for a while. Same style of play. Just Bynum knows he’s a role player and play D. I still remember a quote that pleased me last year from Bynum. He sad something along the lines of “I used to look up to Iverson and now that I’m in the league I get to play against a great like him, and you know what, I’m good!”

Oh snap! First Sheed is playing hoops and now I get a Billups, Afflalo two pack! On my very own TV! Wow!

Precious Memories!

I would really hate to be a Boston fan. they look so old and slow out there. Prolly’ the best team in the league as far as IQ. But Orlando was clearly one step ahead of them the whole game.

No matter if it is offense or D. Sheed was always the last one back down the floor.

I see that the right Dejaun has led the Spurs to an unprecedented 4-6 start. Proof that we would be no better or worse w/him.

Mrs. D. was on point selling the Shock, I see that the Monarch have folded. I’m sure that will set of a domino effect. at least she got some $ out of it.

And how about them Hawks?

I see that the right Dejaun has led the Spurs to an unprecedented 4-6 start. Proof that we would be no better or worse w/him.

What?

@Garrett

I think Wade just flops without thinking now. I imagine that when he first realized he could benefit from acting, he felt bad about taking advantage of a flawed system. As time progressed, he justified that it wasn’t his fault if that was how the refs called things. It would be foolish not to take advantage! He was winning for the fans, after all. Eventually, his conscience became numb and the flopping reflexive.

Half a world away, a butterfly flaps its wings. Dwyane Wade needs a wheelchair to recover from the blow.

Sarcasm! People speak of him so glowingly, like he’s the 2nd coming. He’s sorrounded by better personnel. In a superior system. their record is 4-6. He would do us no better or worse than what JJ has done thus far

And guess who leads the Pistons in free throw percentage?!!

@scntfc: I don’t think anyone around here thinks that we would have won a bunch more games so far with the right DaJuan. It’s just that you see what he’s doing behind guys like Dice and Tim Duncan, we just wish that we would have taken him over the guy who has done absolutely nothing for us (except lead us in FT% haha). He would be a much better fit for us than Summers. The argument has been made that Blair may only last a short time in this league until his knees give out, but Summers may only last a few years in this league because he sucks. I totally agree with this. Why not take a chance on a dominate rebounder over our 4th or 5th SF? It pains me, but we are only one of 29 teams who passed on him.

LOL @ ft%.

I See what you are saying Cody, But I dont buy it. I still believe that Summers has tremendous upside, and in the long run He may even prove to be a better player.

Blair is 6 and 6 per game. decent! but from some of the heated discussions and endless references, Not worth turning into a pillar of salt over. I mean if his Knee blows this season. will we get a long line of confessions and repentance? the situation is a mere hypothesis right now.

Quite a few people are looking to bitch and point out Joe D’s faults. When the wrong/right DeJaun isn’t one of them.

I’m not mad at Joe D for not taking him. Like I said, we definitely weren’t the only team that passed on him. Every team but San Antonio passed. I just think that for a 2nd rounder, it’s worth the risk, easy.

“If his knee blows this season”…IF is the keyword there. You never know, which is why he is worth a flier in the 2nd round.

Just noticed J.R. “My name is Earl” Smith has a decepticon tatt on his neck.

I just watched like 30 minutes worth of Pistons’ intro’s lmao. Including Chauncey’s return, and just a bunch of random old ones, and this year’s home opener.

The argument has been made that Blair may only last a short time in this league until his knees give out, but Summers may only last a few years in this league because he sucks.

I wouldn’t decide that yet. As I repeated over and over in my predraft bandwagon pulling, DaJuan Summers was one of the fastest players in the draft (more agile and almost as fast as Lawson), one of the strongest (just three reps behind Blair), and one of the best shooters (an equal TS% as Curry). That’s a fantastic tool set.

I totally agree that he’s raw, but if he were a football player with measurables like that wouldn’t you give him a little time to adjust to the next level? Once he gets more acclimated to the game and gets some reps in practice, I think he will be a nice part of our future.

I find it very surprising that he had such a high TS%, for as many points he up in the summer league, he wasn’t very efficient on most nights (after the first game). He’s got a great tool set, but he seems to be almost as ignorant as Sleepy when it comes to schemes. Hopefully he just needs more time to understand the playbook, I’d rather not have another Sharpe-esq situation on our hands (ohh Deandre Jordan, how I wish you were a Piston).

He’s got a great tool set, but he seems to be almost as ignorant as Sleepy when it comes to schemes. Hopefully he just needs more time to understand the playbook, I’d rather not have another Sharpe-esq situation on our hands

Fortunately where Sharpe only played 612 minutes of college ball, Summers got 2,785 of playing time. He also played for a better program and for a coach that has recently turned out successful pros like Jeff Green and Hibbert.

I understand the concern with guys fulfilling potential, but he doesn’t really come from the same situation as Amir or Sharpe – his experience level is closer to that of Afflalo than those two and I think it’d be fair to expect a similar arc. I think if he ups his energy level and starts playing with more confidence (both of which will improve as he gets more comfortable in the system and league), he’ll be fine.

I hope you’re right, Shinons.

I’d like to throw Summers on LeBron on Wednesday. No one else has a remotely close enough build to keep up. If Dajuan can somewhat slow down LeBron and make him take a lot of shots, that could be a winnable game, not to mention could be the jump start his career needs.

I hope Rip gets back soon. We could possibly be 5-10 after playing the Cavs.

On a side note, check out JJ Hickson. He’s a meh rebounder, but he can certainly score. The Cavs might be better off playing Shaq off the bench with the exception of games against LA, Orlando, etc (teams with big frontlines).

bmr007

Good observation, that was one of the good things that was said about him during the summer. No one as of yet has been able to stop Lebron, But he looked the most comfortable attempting to do so. I mean if he can give him a hassle and deny him the ball, keep him from scoring more than 25 pts. then that would be a great outing for him.

Regarding our record, I was hoping that we would go 2-2 on that trip. If we end up 5-10 then it would seem that Joe would want to pick someone up off of waivers. From all indications it would seem that had our gaurds got a little more rest. then each of our losses would have been that much more winnable.

Like most I am still high on this team. you would think that with a healthy Tay and Rip we would be 2 or 3 games above .500 which is good considering that all of the "elite teams are right around that mark.

I agree, I feel that if we had Rip, our record would stand at 10-5 after the Cleveland game, instead of 5-10. Think about it, we would have been at least 7-3, instead of 5-5 going into LA. Portland would have been winnable, and I don’t think Denver is nearly as good this year. So that leaves you at 9-5, and Cleveland can go either way, depending on Shaq’s health.