Pistons-Suns Game Thread

I say we play Tay 35+ minutes so we can showcase him for the Suns. It’ll be nice to finally see Tay get off the bench.

I’d love to see Stuckey take a cheap shot at Shaquille to get some payback.

Given how we’ve been so successful at defending the pick and roll, the Suns will have trouble scoring against us. Errr… never mind.

Given how we gave Chuck, Roscoe, and Dice plenty of rest last night, I’m sure our vets will be fine on the back-to-back. Errr… never mind.

All the Suns have to do to win is run the pick and roll with Nash and Amare every single time down the court.

There is increasing evidence that Iverson and his contract may indeed be attractive to the Suns, midget backcourt be damned:

ESPN.com’s Chad Ford reported Friday night that, according to one rival GM, Phoenix hopes to clear up to $40 million from its 2009-10 payroll before the trading deadline. Given the Suns’ long-held stance that two-time MVP Steve Nash is an untouchable, they can slice that much money off the club’s books only by moving Stoudemire and O’Neal, both of whom possess contracts which run through the ’09-10 season.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3890478

great day of basketball
celtics and spurs is exciting so far, spurs up by 2 in the 4th

soon lakers will be the first team to win in cleveland

and then we get to see two fall from grace teams at 27-21 with former piston assistant coaches as head coaches, with one team guaranteed to win haha

If Johnson starts my guess is he will draw Stoudemire.

This game could determine what if any trade will be made.

My guess is that Johnson gets in no more than 3 minutes in the 1st and 3rd quarters each before reaching his allotment of 4 fouls per game.

I would sure love to see O’Neal and Iverson wearing different uniforms today. LOL

Unfortunately it can’t happen for today’s game. Stay tuned.

I’d make that trade… Rip back into the starting lineup and a big man who is willing to play in the post…

puts this team back into contention

I agree with Mannie on all 3 points.

Roger Mason = the new Robert Horry.

Hahaha, I love these Sunday game threads. It’s disheartening to think of how bad we’ve been, but the ‘keys to the game’ kill me. Great work Kevin.

Great play by Ginobili

the man who shares my first name, ginobliiiiii, just made a big big play

Bill Higgins…If Phoenix number one motive is to clear salary cap for next year we could offer Sheed + AI + Amir for Amare + Shaq. It works under the salary cap and that would give them $35M in expiring contracts. Our starting line-up would be the best in the league again with Stuckey/Rip/Tay/Amare/Shaq. We’d still have a ton of potential cap space in 2010 plus the ability to give Amare more money then anyone else. Basketball wise it doesn’t make a lot of sense for Phoenix, but if the owner is mandating they cut salary no other team could offer them $35M in expiring contracts.

I’m not sure if this is allowed- Jason Richardson can’t be traded in combination with other players, but could we work out two separate deals if they both worked with the cap?

If that’s possible, we could give Phoenix the big super savings combo of deals:

AI+Amir+Acker+Kwame for Shaq and Amare,
then a separate trade:
Sheed for Jason Richardson

both of these trades work cap-wise individually, not sure if that’s legal though. if it is, it basically takes away all of Phoenix’s big future contract obligations, other than Nash.

Gabe: Why would we want J-Rich when we still have Rip (and Tay) in your scenario?

Don’t know if this has been posted or not.

Congrads to Barbara and Walter.

• F Walter Herrmann did not make the trip to Milwaukee. His wife, Elena, gave birth to a daughter, Barbara, on Wednesday and the club decided to give Herrmann extra time with the newborn.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;ylt=AhK7b15Uh9G4sE0fxuCXzgN80bYF?slug=teamreports-2009-nba-det&prov=sportsxchange&type=teamreport

Should have said congrads to Elena and Walter. LOL

“Congrats to Walter and Elena

Trade Amir"

*fixed for you Mike

I wouldn’t say Stuck has wilted. Last night, he barely played in the fourth quarter, as MC elected to go with the hot hands, AI and Rip.

Last time I checked, there’s only one basketball to go around, and when the veterans — Sheed, Rip, AI — all have it going in the same game, it only makes sense to give the ball to them.

I would expect Stuckey to abuse Nash, however, if that’s the match-up the suns go with. Although I wouldn’t be surprised to see J Rich start the game on Stuck.

And nice touch…shooting at one’s own basket does make for a better offense.

@ Gabe:

“AI+Amir+Acker+Kwame for Shaq and Amare,
then a separate trade:
Sheed for Jason Richardson”

Why the hell would we trade for J Rich? Especially for Sheed’s expiring contract? Instead of being a player in the FA market, we’d be handcuffed with Steve Kerr’s roster blunders, an aging roster, and very little cap space. Not to mention another guard in an already crowded backcourt.

As a starter Johnson is shooting 64%

I guess when you never get the ball passed to you it is hard to miss shots.

It would be hilarious if Dumars/Kerr pull the trigger before the game and a bunch of players can’t suit up for the game even though they’re all in Detroit.

After the Lakers today the Cavs have the Suns at home before the Pistons.

So it could be that the Pistons will face the Cavs when they are still undefeated team at home.

That game is on Feb 22nd, 3 days after the trade deadline.

LOL at mark jackson calling ben wallace a 7-footer… that made my day hahaha

Yeah, I don’t think it makes sense to trade for Amare and Shaq, when they clearly don’t play well together. One or the other, I’d do for sure.

I agree with colin

We don’t want Shaq… the only thing appealing about him is his contract, because in order to get him, we’d have to give up youth.

Not Shaq. Not Shaq. Not Shaq.

Please not Shaq. Amare could thrive here as the number 1 option.

shaq would be the better fit and has an expiring contract… i just don’t think amare will ever play defense, as great as he is offensively… also, he has shown he doesnt really wanna play anywhere where he wont be the first option… and here, he may not be the number 1 option every game, especially when we have a young rising star like stuckey

so if i had to choose, i’d pick shaq even though i’m not a fan of his work ethic

i heart kobe

Amare would come in understanding his role. He’d be a #1 option, maybe not THE #1 option. He’s playing with Shaq now. How could he not want to escape that? Who wouldn’t want to get away from Shaq’s whole irritating “I’m-a-basketball-God” thing.

So much for the Cavs being undefeated at home on Feb 22nd

Lakers punk down both Celtics and Cavs on the road without Bynum

Right now the Spurs and Lakers are looking like the two best teams

I’m excited to see more minutes for Max and Amir (and even Kwame)! Give the old guys some rest, Curry!

id stop at lakers… lakers look like the best team by far this year, no competition… best record in the league, and remain undefeated after losing bynum, possibly their second or third most important player on their team

no competition… obviously anything can happen in the playoffs, and more injuries could come (if kobe gets injured obviously that would change their whole season)… but they are in a class of their own in this league

Shaq has won NBA titles with 2 teams

Stoudemire has never even been to the Finals.

AI will outshine all the other stars on the court tonight if hes given a chance!!! Still the greatest player in the world!

LMAO at the keys to the game.

Maybe the Pistons can finally win another Sunday game…

damn david stern… pass some of that kool aid brotha…

i would if you’d be nice to me boney.. you hurt my feelings :(

LOL at david stern!

Shaq is 100 years old.

Stoudemire is a fetus.

@Garret:
Then we might not want to have Amare and Maxiell on the same team :)

shaq is past his prime, tho he is having a pretty good year… amare i just dont think will ever be the centre of a championship team… all i’d want out of either of em is to get rid of AI while not losing an expiring contract

i just think amare would bring more drama and less defense with him than shaq

Shack.

Old Shack.

I want to watch.

also if someone could post a link for the game, that’d be nice

Mike Payne: + 1

I would take shaq for ai in a heartbeat, but I’m not all that convinced that his D is going to be much better than Stoudemire’s. His offensive and rebounding numbers are great this year, but he was never that great guarding the pick and roll in the first place and he isn’t getting any younger. Admittedly, I haven’t watched enough of their games to know, but I’d imagine that Shaq gets exploited on defense quite a bit.

I don’t think I’d do sheed for shaq though, cuz we’d have to give up more than amir to make the salaries work (i think) and I think Shaq is a win NOW proposition more so than Stoudemire and I think you need sheed paired with shaq to make that work.

Before everyone gets carried away with all these trade scenarios, why don’t we just watch the game tonight and see who’s worth keeping and who’s not since everyone will be out there together.

Trade scenario:
david stern
entityabyss
kian
petey

for

Amare
Grant Hill

thoughts?

if it gets me that ring then lets get on them phones! can’t see how AI with barbosa and nash could be a better situation than AI on the pistons though

David stern,

It wouldn’t. That would be a terrible backcourt. Undersized and weak defensively, plus both need the ball in their hands. The question is what’s more important to the Suns cap space or talent? If it’s cap space, then ai fills that need.

Mike Payne,

Only if the 76ers throw-in Thad Young.

Regards,
LawyerBoy

yea by no means do i think shaq is a good defender, just better than amare, that is all

The suns are fucked no matter what happens unless they hustle a stupid GM… The pistons are in still in control of their destiny, but I can tell you right now trading expiring contracts for a washed up Shaq or a self centered Amare is next step to digging their own grave.

How about:

MCIAFI

for

The Suns Gorilla mascot

“Trade scenario:
david stern
entityabyss
kian
petey

for

Amare
Grant Hill

thoughts?"
-Mike Payne

thumbs down on this trade- we’d be handing them a championship! Petey+curly haired Lopez brother would be a devastating combo, and david stern goes hard every night and with Dragic, he’d help fortify their bench.

http://albaaa.altervista.org/watch.php?id=200

Early link from atdhe.net

not sure if it will work or not come game time.

If Kerr doesn’t want to take on another guard in AI, what about a three-way deal where Toronto gets Iverson, Phoenix gets (the other) O’Neal, and Detroit gets Shaq? The Raptors get the second guard that they desperately need, the Suns get massive cap relief for next season, and the Pistons roll the dice with a different, more position-appropriate aging star.

thanks granges

Dan Majerle for Ronald Dupree

TWL…JO’s contract runs through 2010 as well. I think he may have a player option for next year, but he’s definitely taking it.

Damn, hoodwinked by the trade machine . . . .

Mike Payne for Geraldo Rivera

The Pro Bowl was on today?

I’m still at a location fully equipped with redneck cable: 2 shopping channels, 2 jesus channels, public access, america’s funniest videos, and 60 minutes. Luckily DBB user “PS” shared this link with me yesterday: http://www.atdhe.net/index.html

Which allowed me to see the OT win over the juggernaut that is the Milwaukee Bucks. Tonight though, that link is giving me the ESPN Deportes telecast of the stones/suns. Radio station in mid-central michigan anyone?

What ever happened to the Albino and the English fellas?

Why is sheed not starting? this is very strange.

kwame is starting, huh? after curry said it would always be amir…

Kwame! Shakin it!

oh wait he is.

Kwame gets the start.

Good choice especially since Curry said “we are done with the Kwame experiment”

sheed is also starting

W/ Authority

I wonder which number Amare will wear with us…

Rasheed running the floor…

Why the fuck is AI and not Stuckey guarding Jason Richardson?

Shaq is old and old

http://pt-br.justin.tv/badbeat_

english link

I’m watching the very end of the Knicks game at the moment- Gus Johnson is calling the game and he’s fucking killing it:
“my name is Al Harrington, and I get Buckets!!!”
and
“…Mike D’Antoni is about to blow a basket!!”

sooo many entertaining moments, and I remember when he randomly called a pistons game and said he’d looked up to and admired Blaha as a kid… Definitely made me like Gus even more.

Notice how Brown doesn’t get any fouls.

He doesn’t play defense

doh, “gasket” not basket

Pistons got to learn that they can’t pass the ball to Brown.

lol stuckey dunked on twice in 2 nights

dunked on again… haha, ah well… shows he hustles

Stuck did not want to get posterized two nights in a row

Ah small ball returns

Does anyone still have the WWL trade generator running?
Former Pistons assistant T.Porter for MCIAFI? Bebounds bippity bop bop?

grant hill with a fastbreak lay in 3 possessions in a row and lay in by barbosa were all AI’s fault… god hes so bad defensively

Our transition defense is pretty brutal right now.

i like AI’s game so far, real energy.

since tay is not playing the pf position this is not small ball @ mike

The offense is lookong good. Open 3 for Rip, BANG THAT TRAMP SON!

Blow this team up, Dumars.

our D is horrendous tonight.

How did Kwame do against Shaq?

Wow, you forget how big Shaq is until he plays against our “bigs”.

i hate when Tay plays pg

Maxiell out

did a good job

7 minutes no fouls committed

we need rebounding desperately, we are getting dominated downlow.

why isn’t amir in right now

it seems like we can’t get a recound

Aside from the lack of D, I am enjoying this game. This team can still play, even on Sunday.

rebound*

Maxiell = Good job?
No rebounds, no points, no blocks, no steals, no assists either.

*bebound

honestly im pretty embarrassed with our play so far, were making the Suns look like the toughest and roughest team in the league.

lol @ Garrett

I stand corrected

We are not a good basketball team this year.

wow sheed and dyess are actually making shaq look somewhat effective still.. there had to be a 3 in the key on the last possession though, he was camping out down there.

our d has sucked if we only had a young big who brings energy blocks shots and gets bebounds

jesus, iverson is taking it the basket every possession. I just wish we could get a stop here or there.

FPAS has just checked in.

We are the red headed ugly stepchild Pistons this year. But I luv em all the same.

“our d has sucked if we only had a young big who brings energy blocks shots and gets bebounds”

We do, his name is Kwame Brown.

/ Lawyerboy’d

Awesome screen by Kwame to give Rip a wide open J. I’d love to see more of that from him. Just stand there and be big!

Kwame is awful at blocking shots. probably because of his hands

Hopefully Kwame is back as full time starter.

Time to trade Johnson

Garrett: He had a sick screen (a back pick) against Houston that freed Tay up right around the hoop. He got 5 minutes of burn for his troubles. He’s far and away the best screener on the team.

ben wallace has small hands, he was a good shot blocker… so dunno about that

LB: He should be — he’s our biggest body for sure. I saw him courtside during our DBB Suite Night and he’s MASSIVE. Sheed is big, but Kwame is huge.

Michael Curry timeout=
Hahahahahahahha…

Curry’s epiphany to the team:

“They’re scoring, a’ight? They’re scoring their points, a’ight? In the paint, a’ight?”

we suck

HORRIBLE turnover by Kwame on a nice offensive rebound. Ugh.
Oh, hey! Jason Richardson is on the Suns!

Kwame Brown is horrible at the game of basketball.

Wow, if Shaq keeps dunking on other teams like he is on us he could probably play for another 4 or 5 years.

why dont we post up Stuckey on Nash?

Someone run into Shaq and get him thrown out dammit!

MCIAFI

Kwame was a spectator on the last THREE Suns possessions. Amir would at least foul him for an and-1, letting me know he was there.

HAHAHA kwame sucks sooooooooo bad. detroits pick n roll defense is making nash and shaq look like the old nash and shaq, not an old nash and shaq… it might be about 85% AI’s fault since he’s been on the bench the past 6 minutes, but the other pistons and coach curry must be held accountable for atleast like 15% of this abuse, right? Or am I just crazy?

ok, maybe not small hands. but he is not a great shot blocker. despite getting similar minutes to maxiell and johnson, he is behind them in blocked shots per game. and of course behind dyess and sheed.

“young big who brings energy blocks shots and gets rebounds”

that’s not kwame.

I kid though. This team is hard for me to watch. It’s like, they don’t suck outright, but they’re certainly not much fun to watch. My interest is waning. Maybe it’s the economy, that’s what they blamed for the sell-out streak ending.

run pick and rolls with kwame, keep AI on the bench, let that lead build… WHOOO HOOO curry is the man!!!

Michael Curry during the timeout:

“Okie duys, be bassing da ball abound da berimeder and not trowin id in da baint.

Baquille is funna git his boints in da baint but we dotta dop wit da giggledrops. Dey getting all dey boints in da baint duys! DOP WIT DA DOODLEBUGS!"

Kwame and Sheed both have 3 fouls

hahaa we’re a really bad team

Rban
Feb 8th, 2009 at 9:00 pm
why dont we post up Stuckey on Nash?

Take your sound logic and excellent coaching suggestion elsewhere, Rban!

wow….

lol

Executive of the year – Joe Dumars

for deciding to acquire AI several years after AI is relevant, thinking that butts in the seats are more important than wins.

Maybe Stuckey doesn’t actually have a decent post game? Because there have been a lot of times when he should been down low punishing a smaller guard but it doesn’t happen. MCIAFI? Or just Stuckey not really having developed that part of his game yet?

Not bad defense by the Pistons without Johnson.

Gave up only 62 points in the first half about 40 of which were in the paint.

wow i cant watch anymore… TRADE AI NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i cant take this shit anymore, this team is HORRIBLE. amare has better handles than stuckey ROFL

What a way to end the quarter

Ive seen a bunch of strong post moves by Stuckey, he has that jab he does when he faces up in the post and he would absolutely kill Nash wit thta.

Stuckey has a post game.

The problem is that he is getting frozen out of the offense like Johnson and the only way Stuckey can score is when he brings up the ball and shoots.

I must admit that I am a little surprised here. This is unlike the Pistons, allowing a team to go on a run to end a quarter. I am flabbergasted.

Hang on…

You know…why in the hell wouldn’t we trade for Amare Stoudamire? WTF would we possibly have to lose at this point? Explain to me how we would be any worse off? Especially since we are SO soft down low? And don’t give me that Chris Bosh sweepstakes crap. Why not? Our bigs just seem so passive that it drives me insane. And since everybody just blows by our guards and into the paint, they can’t afford to be passive.

CAPS LOCK TO EMPHASIZE MY RAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

again, it is all ai’s fault boney..
haha u r so funny..

The truth of the matter is that Dumars needs to entirely clean house and start all over again.

@Laughton: I know! I was shocked at how easily the Suns were able to score with 1 seconds left in the half!

“for deciding to acquire AI several years after AI is relevant, thinking that butts in the seats are more important than wins.”

At least that sell-out streak is still intact. Oh, wait…

Keegan: Co-sign your trade and your rage.

Stuckey has a good post game, he seems to score every time we put him on the block but Curry isn’t a big fan of exploiting match-ups we have an advantage in.

AI has never been about wins,

He just has been about practice.

Halftime in the locker room:

MCIAFI: Dood dalf duys. Dolid befense ‘n da baint. Dood dob Bwame, you holdin Daq down d’ok, deep it up!

Sheed: I hope I get traded to the Spurs :::plays on ESPN Trade Machine::: Me for Jacque Vaughn and Michael Finley?

Iverson: ::::stares at self in the mirror::: you, are the best basketball player on the planet. Yeah, I’m talking about you!

McDyess: damn, I shoulda stayed in Denver. I coulda played with Birdman

Herrmann: I hope Joe D trades me back to the Bobcats now that that crybaby Morrison is gone, their future looks more promising now with Vladimir in place.

Kian,

I’ll give AI one thing…

he doesn’t have any turnovers in the game so far… that will end soon tho. I see a halfassed jump pass coming

I’ve said it before.

Jerome Williams + veteran’s minimum. Do it now.

how about second half amare and ai switch jerseys so both teams can give the players a test run

oh i forgot he was runnin our offense in the first q on his own, where we scored 29 points (he put up 12p and 3a). and did i forget to mention that we only scored 21 in the 2nd q which we played mostly without him? and yeah the suns even scored 4 more points than in q1

Kian,

Obviously the first quarter wasn’t that great considering the TEAM (see the emphasis) is down

is down after q2..

I think AI should be played more this game. In the latter half of the first quarter and first half of the second, he kept us close by scoring or having an assist almost every possession. We are obviously not able to compete offensively with the Suns without him.

Also, our defense sucking is not JUST because of him. The bigs are what are really killing us.

Ugh. Tay is -14 right now. Nobody is in the positive, except for maybe Mike Abdenour. He’s always in the positive.

what is so frustrating is that we have enough talent we just don’t have anyone to mold it into something good

I’d take the Junkyard Dog back!

wtf

the Suns scored 29 in the first quarter too

KIAFI

We did really good on the offensive end, well except in the 2nd quarter I guess, but we finished the half shooting 51%. Phoenix shot at a higher field goal percentage though. Their pick and rolls were really good, and Detroit keeps having lots of trouble with pick and rolls. We g2 step it up since we’re playing arguably the est pick and roll team. Fast break defense is bad, and we g2 better inside.

Some of that is obvious, but on a bright note, AI and Rip Hamilton are working really good together offensively. It’s a bad idea for Tayshuan to run point when Stuckey is off.

everyone does realize the 2nd half probably will be alot uglier considering pistons two biggest bigs(sheed and kwame) both have 3 fouls a piece. curry may panick when they pick up their 5th foul midway through the 3rd and put AI and bynum on amare and shaq respectively. you guys can blame AI all you want but rip is possibly the worst sg/sf defender in the L… there’s no coincidence this team won 6 outta 8 with him hindering his groin, AND ALL THE GAMES WERE LOW SCORING GAMES!!! AI isn’t much better, but when they are both in the lineup 2gether teams kill the pistons, and they abuse the bigs too. But honestly the blame should be 100 percent on dumars because he’s the idiot who trading your leader and floor general away, he’s the one who hired this idiot curry, and most importantly he’s the asshole who’s using AI and wasting one of his seasons with his window of opportunity shrinking everyday due to age. someone needs to grow some balls, go into the palace, and heckle the man. he is one responsible for screwing up this franchise, not allen iverson.

The midget has a lot of problems on the court, one of them is thinking that the rest of the Pistons can outscore opponents by not playing defense.

So he runs and guns and the rest of team runs and guns.

The problem is that they can’t do that so they start to run of gas and along the way no one plays any defense because they are too busy catching their breadth trying to keep up with the Midget on offense.

Doris Burke would look good… if it was 8 years and a few less wrinkles agi

ah yeah, and that was ai’s fault, for sure. i loved the rest of the team’s d. man u have no clue..

Damn. Al Jefferson is being carried off the court with 27 seconds left in the game. Sucks for him (and the Wolves).

czm- except for our aging and soft or young and inconsistent bigs.

Whoa! What happened to Kevin McHale? He looks like someone’s drunk uncle stumbled onto the court!

hell if the bigs are getting tired we might want to put in some other players what do think curry

At this point, I’d trade anyone of our bigs for Al Jefferson with a broken leg and send him out there Willis Reed-style.

I would never heckle Joe Dumars… he could trade for Ron Artest, Latrell Sprewell and Karl Malone and I would support all the moves

AI with the beautiful possession right there

WTFallaway

the palace is empty LOL

Bring back Saunders for the 2nd half of the season.

Mike, this is an NBA team. These are athletes. Going a fast pace isn’t an excuse for bad defense. Ask the lakers, who although aren’t the best, are top 4. The problem lies with the frontcourt and pick and roll.

well at least they fought for a quarter

then why aren’t you supportive of AI being here???!!! yeah, one missed shot by AI is why were down 15 boney. youre all over that

Boney, what was said at that time-out?

Kian,

I will love it once AI is gone and you and all the rest of the fanboys go away as well.

Hopefully AI signs in Boston, so you can go to Celticsblog and get mad at all the other commenters when they rag on your hero

if you are old and soft your ass should be sitting down did we forget that sheed is playing for a contract did he forget

FINISH SHEED YOU BUM!!! DONT LOSE BALANCE AND KNOCK A FAT REF OVER!!!!!

Seriously, I want Jerome Williams to personally train Amir like Kareem is training Andrew Bynum.

Keegan, I was doing like Sheed during that last time out… I wasn’t paying attention

I’m sure the rest of the team wasn’t either.

Whos is this announcer? Did he really say Tay is the only person on our team signed past 2010?

kwame 15 footers… these are great offensive possessions… you might have better luck with possessions like this with AI wearing a different uniform.. maybe he will knock them down then

*Who

I hate that pump fake and jump into the defender shit… I dont care if the guy is on our team.

it’s blatantly obvious he was initiating the contact.

nice

I can’t watch!

get your shit stuffed stuckey!!! yeah boY!

Our offense has to be the worst in the league. Not only is it useless and inefficient, but it’s hella boring to watch. I want to gouge my eyes out every time we shoot another jumper. Take it to the rim!

Well, here’s one thing about AI that both the anti-AI people and the AI loyalists can agree is overrated- he does not, by himself “fill the seats.”

FINISH STUCK… go hard son!

That last Shaq bucket…inexcusable. And the Richardson. No presence inside whatsoever.

about as much defense being played in this game as there will be in the all star game

how about showing a replay of shaq squishing ai

At least AI is taking it to the rim. Even though his dribble-drives don’t always work, you can’t say the guy isn’t fearless.

Tough finish on that slam by FPAS.

our team is a mess, our future PG stuckey is now lost in the shuffle and everything we do is ugly, sad days for Pistons fans.

why does sheed double at the top if every single time it leads to even easier than normal finish for a big such as and 1 amare right there. he doesn’t even trap or double hard, so whats the point?

I ain’t want to say it, but a while ago, Stuckey tried to take Nash, and ended getting blocked. When they inbounded it, AI tried to take Nash, and it looked pretty light. Any words on that? Act like it ain’t happen?

i am changing my mind about michael curry. he is really trying. this is a good game. i think it will turn out well for everybody.

i support the pistons much longer than i do support ai and i will not support a different team, especially not the celtics, if he leaves. i just can’t take the bullshit u r talking all day long.

Meanwhile… in the huddle:

Oday duys, deer’s the diduashun.

Daq is bominading da baint so. Abballo, I bant jew do deep Nash out o’ da baint okie?

Afflalo: Sure coach :::texts LC "Yeah girl, I’m actually in the game!:::

MCIAFI: Okie, Bamme Bown!!! Bay ADDENSHUN! I bant u to botate to da elbow and dake evvry shot you see ok?

Kwame: :::puts stickum on hands::: sure coach!

MCIAFI: Ok duys, be still in dis! BREAK!

exactly entity, he tried his little behind the back crossover, and didn’t shake nash at all, then forced the issue anyway and got his shit tossed.. AI comes down and drops the fadeaway in nash’s eye.. and btw AI, is getting lots of stops on nash too

amare is abusing our bigs!!!

seriously, if the suns were pistons, ten points is nothing.

Entity,

If you want to talk about one fucking possession, then yeah, AI can take Nash off the dribble.

Richard Hamilton can take Nash off the dribble as well.

Shit… Nash is probably the only guard who is worse than AI on the defensive end of the floor. and you’re bragging?

aa going hard is there someone who cares on this team beside dyss

Boney: I laugh because your Curry is becoming more and more unintelligible every time you post.

that was a nice pass from AI though… I’ll give it to him

THE OOOOOOOOHHHSSSSS from the 60 foot AI bounce bass ON THE MONEY!!!!!!!!!

not a good shot by AA i love the guy, but not a good shot.

kian and boney need to huddle up.

AI HAS IGNITED THE FEW FANS IN THE FUCKIN PALACE!!!!!!!!!

Wow. That bounce pass from AI to Rip was AMAZING. Nice little run we’re putting together by running!

what the hell is this we look like a team

i sure hope thats at least a top3 in tonites countdown

i’m no AI fan but that pass was AWESOME!

how many cross court-bounce passes do you see.

going through the opponents legs was just frosting

is it really down to four? maybe we and the suns are twins seperated at birth?

That pass will be on the top 10.

lets run more hello, when you have allen iverson, you run… thats his strength! exploit his strengths instead of his weaknesses

lmao, I know Boney’s mad. Allen Iverson is making it work.

Meanwhile, on the bench:

MCIAFI: Ok duys! Heer me dow and bisten to be bifteen binutes brum dow! Dood bossesions! we got doze bebounds band be bush da ball up tha flo with addority! Way to do duys!

Dice!

McDyess: Yes, coach?

MCIAFI: Bay to throw dat bite devil down babay! Dit’s d’ok do dee buggressive on da bawfensive bebounds!

McDyess: wtf?

Dave Cowens: to think, I left the WNBA for this?

MCIAFI: BOACH BOWENS! BE IN DIS GAME, BE DEED JEW TO HELP BITH DO BEBOUNDS!

ok, what’s more important?

top 3 plays, or a fucking win?

Man, just enough fight to keep me hooked only to break my heart at the end. I know it’s coming but I can’t look away!

Boney: The only thing that would make your scenarios better would be a little cartoon of Michael Curry winking and giving an OK symbol with his hands. And maybe a quick little cheery theme song.

nice possession AI… I knew that jump pass turnover was coming sooner or later

I love McDyess. He’s working so hard on the offensive glass, which seems so rare with our guys these days.

holy shit were falling apart as fast as we came together

that damn three was worse than any of iversons plays combined

u r just waitin for this to happen all day long boney right?
isn’t it normal for a guard to have a turnover or 2?

Afflalo isn’t releasing his shot at the top of his jump, thus why everything is short.

He’s on the money tho, directionally at least

And Amir…now?

my god afflalo is building a fucking house!!

Johnson sighting

1 minute and no foul committed.

Time to take him out while he is ahead.

Kian,

I wasn’t really waiting for it, it was only a matter of time. It’s come to be expected, actually

Coach always told me if the jumper was short or long, that’s okay. It’s when you’re shooting wide that you’ve got some problems with your mechanics.

I think we can forget about landing Stoudemire. Phoenix would dumb to trade him.

Well, we played better that quarter, but continued to run that pick and roll to many times, but when we started doing other things, things got better. It’s lookin good. The momentum’s in our favor. Let’s see where it goes.

We’re getting good shots. We just g2 start making them.

porter’s timeout killed the run for real… iverson needs to lead one more push and then eventually take over this game.. i still believe he’ll pull this one out.

At the quarter break:

Sheed: :::out of breath::: da…mn.. .ma…n can’t cat…ch my bre..ath

MCIAFI: DEED! DOOT UP! JEW GOIN DACK IN DO DART DA BORTH!

Sheed: cmon… le…t… me… cat…ch…my..breath

Amir: Coach, I’ll play! :::texts agent “he might play me, tell Kerr to be watching!”:::

MCIAFI: DO D’ABIR! DEED DUNNA BLAY TO DART DA FORF DUARTER

We can forget about landing Stoudemire. Phoenix would dumb to trade him.

way to go rip.. thats a TO boney

“MCIAFI: DO D’ABIR! DEED DUNNA BLAY TO DART DA FORF DUARTER”

That one really had me rolling, I don’t know why…

YES. Offensive foul on Amir 14 seconds into the quarter. W.T.F.

did shaq go up and down before he passed it right there????

gotta love shot selection!! AMIR!!!these are high quality shots!! much better than AI wtf fallaways

good catch rip… another TO

lol @ david stern…
AI= 6 for 15
Amir= 0 for 1

Doris Burke: “Coach Curry, some people say you are ‘AFI’. Is this true?”

MCIAFI: “Do dow Boris. Bi’ve dake adot of deet fo da dedicions di’ve bade. I dick by my duns tho”

Doris: “You know, and that’s why I think Joe Dumars has stuck by you. You do stick by your guns”

MCIAFI: “Do dow Boris? I deen dorkin’ dour dutts off b’in bractis and be be drying dour bes out dere”

Doris: “ok, back to you”

GOD AI JUST TAKE IT YOURSELF!!! OMG

Wow.

manaaaan amiiiirrrr!!!!!

The midget just made a great pass on a 4 on 1 fast break.

AIFIA

christ johnson, get it together man.

what a crappy 4 on 1

I like the intensity, though, and the crowd finally seems into it!

hey david stern,

pretty smart play by AI right there. AI been taking it to the rack all night (supposedly) on people and he passes it off to a big man who runs over the 1 on the 3 on 1 break.

Nice possession… way to put your teammate in a good spot.

that was a horrible fast break :( all AI had to do was go strong and throw the ball off the back board and Amir would have had the put-back.

The foul on Johnson was Iverson’s fault

You don’t pass the ball to someone with a defender stationary in one foot in front of the receiver

that wasn’t johnson’s fault. AI, had the ball and the decision. he should’ve took that one up himself. That sucks though.

HEY BONEY!!! HE CANT HELP HIS TEAMMATES RUN DUMB LANES!!! AND AMIR DOESNT HAVE A BRAIN!!!!!!!!

MCIAFI: “DOD BAMNIT BAY-I!!!! DO DOT DO DAKE DAT DHOT BEN DO HAB IT!”

AI: :::stares at SLAM cover::: You are the best player in the world! Me? no, you are! Naw, stop playin girl. You da best

MCIAFI: “DOD DAMBIT”

Every time Amir gets a foul, you need to click this:

http://www.sadtrombone.com

And picture him shrugging his shoulders and smirking.

rip is so dirty, and bad!! no homo

that was amir’s fault. he should’ve passed it back to AI.

http://thehoopdoctors.com/online/?p=3352

anyone heard this yet?

uh oh its small ball VS shaq HAHAHAHAHHA

SMALL BALL FTW!!!!!!! GREAT DECISION-MAKING!!!!!!!!!!!! AND THEY GO RIGHT INSIDE AAAAAHHHHHHH111111111111111

OMFG
Do we have a smallball sighting????!!!!!!!

david stern,

it was a basic 3 on 1 break. when your 6’9 uncoordinated big man is the trailer and Rip is running the wing, you take it up strong and wait for your big to back you up if you miss.

I would’ve been satisfied with a WTFALLAWAY right there.

great communication there boys another TO

you have got to be kidding me. Why are we going small……maybe we can out quick shaq

nice pass rip

Drew,

this is obviously the first time you’ve ever watched basketball.

it hurts

lets play keep away from iverson… it seems to be working well

nice possession.. forced shot by AI

we should just forefit the rest of our games.

Haha, man, we’re the grumpiest fans ever.

i agree that wasn’t a good shot by ai but r u watching a different game? forced shot?! he was quite open imo

its so sad after all these season of success, its just so hard to watch.

you should forfeit too boney… your insight is almost as bad as the piston’s D!!

drew:a good pg sets up the trailer not puts him in a bad spot

I smell a blowout.

OK, I’m done watching for now, Fallout 3, here I come.

that was amir’s fault. he should’ve passed it back to AI.>>

That fast break was screwed up

The spacing by the guys on the wing was bad and Iverson should have pulled up and shot the 10 footer or faked the shot drawn out Amudson and then thrown an alley oop to Johnson.

The pass by Iverson was to get Johnson another foul and get him off of the court.

lol, Garrett- I’m actually cracking up at home right now, but I’m laughing because of how much we suck, and how we combine that suckiness with being kinda boring. It’s a pretty sweet mix.

In the huddle, again:

MCIAFI: "Ok duys, deers butt it iz d’ok? Be bunna bun around here :::draws on the white board::: d’en be bunna run abound here. :::draws on the white board a little more::: den, be bunna borce up a dot when be got it :::draws on the white some more::: DAY! ID DOOKS BIKE DA BATMAN DIMBOL!

FRED W CAPEL: CURRY!!! YOU HAVE TO REALIZE THAT YOU ARE AFI!!!! THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THIS POOR PLAY!!! YOU ARE AFI!!!

LawyerBoy: This wouldn’t be happening if we had DJ White and Calbert Cheaney on the floor. Those 2 could play 2 on 5 and win this game no problem, just check their PER and popcorn machine.

Curry has messed up Johnson so badly that he doesn’t even resemble the player that he is.

The Pistons need to trade Johnson before the deadline.

Give the kid and the team a break.

Doris Burke: Let’s see if they go right back to Sheed! I bet they will!

Iverson takes a really tough spinning fade-away jumper over an outstretched defender, misses it, and falls on his ass

Doris Burke: silence

I didn’t see AI having a clean shot at rip. Therefore, not seeing an open shot for himself, he gave it up to Amir, who could’ve either kept it or given it up to one of the wingmen. Instead, he barreled in for a charge.

Steve Nash has really taken over this game.

Drew, it’s hard to pass the ball when you only have it for one step and then you’re running over your man… he didn’t even have enough time to put the ball on the floor.

Mike, at first I laughed at the “messed up Johnson” line, but I agree to an extent. It’s seems that he’s so worried lately about picking up fouls that he doesn’t contest every shot like he used to (whether it was a good idea or not), and then he just picks up fouls anyway, so what’s the point?
And why did Tayshaun act like he didn’t tap that ball out of bounds when everyone in the building saw that he did and nobody was around him?

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH RIP SELF PASS AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHH GOD THIS TEAM IS FUNNIER THAN LAST YEARS NUGGETS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bebounds

It’s funny that Grant Hill is trying to say Rip traveled when he jumped in the air and then dribbled, because I absolutely 100% remember Grant doing that move years ago in Detroit and getting away with it. The other team swore it was a travel but the ref said you’re allowed to start your dribble if you’re in mid-air.

is this an assist and a fg for rip? =)

It’s amazing we’re only down by 8 at this point. Steve Nash is running a CLINIC.

I think Rip’s play was just a dribble and a shot.

It wasn’t a self pass.

It was just standing there and dibbling forward then picking up your dribble and shooting it.

If he had tossed it down with 2 hands it would have been a pass but he threw it down with one hand then picked up and shot it. Just a dribble and a shot.

This team blows.

I’m kinda pissed, but at the same time, this is very entertaining.. and the good thing is this won’t last forever.. the playoffs will be scary though, fortunately the pistons will only have 4 or 5 of them

“HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH RIP SELF PASS AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHH GOD THIS TEAM IS FUNNIER THAN LAST YEARS NUGGETS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

and this years nuggets are better than last years nuggets and this years pistons……….. why could that be?

Yeah, Rip could have kept his dribble and gone to the hoop but he pulled up and shot it quickly after one dribble.

who says AI isn’t a good defender?

I just dont understand how you can see teams every night killing you with the pick and roll and can’t find a way to defend it.

“I just dont understand how you can see teams every night killing you with the pick and roll and can’t find a way to defend it.”

^This

Our offense looks TERRIBLE. All of our guys just stand around while someone (AI, Rip, Tay) plays one on one and it’s always so ugly. No movement, no cuts, no screens, no passes, nothing.

LOL at the pistons fans cheering when AIs teardrop dropped 10 seconds after the foul… and nash was clearly still sliding to his side… you gotta respect mcdyess and iversons heart.. you really do

Johnson needs to get on a team with other young players, where there are no divas.

The problem is that Johnson is by nature not an aggressive person so he just goes along with whatever garbage he is doled out on offense.

The problem is that the divas don’t dole out anything to him on offense except when he is in an impossible situation like the midget’s pass to him.

Johnson needs to play on a team with other young players and get off of the Pistons unless Dumars cleans house this summer of the divas.

I do

Nice. Doris just said how Curry was thinking about putting Dyess in the starting 5, but Dyess was skeptical. Way to go, Coach!

you dont have to respect anything AI has done.

i never realized how slow tayshaun is.. i always thought he was somewhat fast.. grant hill blows by him everytime when he has a head of steam.. it must be his lack of quickness more so than speed

why does tay have so much time?!

I like how I can never tell if Mike likes Amir, or doesn’t like Amir. And it changes from week to week.

Tayshaun is known now for killing time on the clock.

I respect AI for leading Dikembe Mutombo and nothing else to the NBA Finals.

Both of his allotted fouls today were on offense caused by his teammates movement and bad passes.

Its very easy to put the screws on one of your own teammates if you don;t want him on the court.

Herrmann sighting with 23.6 left in the game!

boney… what’s your overall assessment of this game? I am dying to hear!!

“I just dont understand how you can see teams every night killing you with the pick and roll and can’t find a way to defend it.”
-Dom

This is largely because Curry stubbornly thinks there’s only one way to correctly defend the pick and roll- no double team, and the picked player fights through the pick… It’s a very stupid philosophy in combination with out roster, because most of our bigs are quick enough to double/trap aggressively, then recover… and a lot of our guards are too small/thin to fight through picks very quickly. Basically Curry has us defending the pick and roll in the exact opposite way that our roster is constructed to defend it.

Ha. 22 seconds left in the game and Curry brings Stretch in. Brilliant.

Love MCIAFI’s 1 second Amir shift.

I might have a crush on Doris Burke. I’m just saying.

The Pistons are now 6 – 15 against teams with winning records which is about par for a team with Iverson on it.

That’s like Flip-level micromanagement.

Also, I wish Grant Hill would have signed with us a few years ago instead of Phoenix. Hill backing up Tay would be awesome.

david stern,

My overall assessment of the game is this:

Same ol’ Pistons. Get down before the end of the first half, fight fight fight to make it a game in the 3rd quarter only to lose it after the opposing team’s coach called a timeout to break the run.

Big deal, AI is the leading scorer. AI has been the leading scorer on a lot of pathetic teams before and unfortunately our team has become pathetic with him in the starting 5. He is a horrific passer (1 crosscourt bounce pass does not make up for the other horrific looks), and he does not set his teammates up in position to succeed, like Billups did.

It’s a change for the worst… it’s ok though because I know at the end of the season, I don’t have to worry about AI anymore.

no gabe, it is ai’s fault

Doris Burke has definitely got her sheet together.

AI hasn’t done much to help this team since he’s been here Kian, I don’t know what makes you feel like he’s not part of the blame

yay we suck

This is largely because Curry stubbornly thinks there’s only one way to correctly defend the pick and roll- no double team, and the picked player fights through the pick… It’s a very stupid philosophy in combination with out roster, because most of our bigs are quick enough to double/trap aggressively, then recover… and a lot of our guards are too small/thin to fight through picks very quickly. Basically Curry has us defending the pick and roll in the exact opposite way that our roster is constructed to defend it.

This frustrates me to no end.

We were supposed to take away from whatever little confidence Phoenix still had in their roster. Instead we just showed why we need Amare.

I still say with the right coach we’d be able to get AI on board and use him (and the rest of our talented roster) properly. No matter how much AI or Amir or Sheed or who ever screws up, I still look back at Curry and shake my head in shame.

MCIAFI, he is a rookie coach that lost his only hope for a successful year: Chauncey Billups.
I have thought long and hard about it, but AI is the reason for the troubles this season and it’s not his fault. I truly believe that if Curry had Chauncey to run the game for him, we would be better than we are now. Not contenders, but better.
It’s not fair to expect AI to correct this or overcome Curry’s ineptness. Likewise it’s not fair to expect Stuckey to do the same, he is still a rookie pretty much.
Curry could only hope to succeed with a veteran team and established PG such as Chauncey. He has no hope right now.
In summary, this season is done in the first round. If we were in the West we wouldn’t even make the playoffs.

The way this team defeneds pick and rolls, Chauncey Billups wouldn’t have made too much a difference. If you look at the stats, even though they won their first 4 games without Iverson, their defense was terrible. They were 22nd in the league in defensive efficiency by the time Iverson got there, and they still struggle with pick and roll defense.

Besides that, good shots didn’t drop (Afflalo missed all 6 shots that he’d usually make and McDyess missed shots that are usually canon and AI missed some big shots down the stretch), but I see a good team struggling. I still believe in this team, but it won’t be easy.

Fair enough. To be honest with you, I am dissapointed with AI’s performance. I had a gut feeling he’d have an opportunity to come up big again after how last night’s game went, and he underachieved. Big time. He’s put up a couple games of 40+ points and 10+ assists against nash in the past 2 seasons with denver, and tonight was a lackluster shooting night in which he failed to get his teammates involved enough. However, he still did manage to keep his team in this game. When AI was out of the game, or in the game and being passive, the pistons struggled mightily. And his defense might be bad, but hamilton’s is just as bad. It’s really the lack of communication, and inability and confusion to play the pick and roll that is this team’s biggest problem. And has been all season. I don’t know if that’s where they miss Chauncey the most or what, but no one else seems capable of stepping to the task of getting stops on this team. So it is what is, but if this team defended, got more turnovers, and got out and ran, they would be a squad to reckon with.

Didn’t read through all the comments so someone may have already said this, but I believe with Billups we would be better. Both AI and Stuckey almost never swing the ball without taking a dribble. Whenever each of them plays point and brings the ball up it’s alright to dribble at the top of the key before the initial pass, but every time they get the ball back they feel the need to bring it back to the top and dribble around. The same can even be said about Tayshaun. Maybe Curry needs to pull out the “weave” drill in practice just like in junior high.

Living in Los Angeles at least I always have the Clippers, Lakers and Bruins to root for. All 3 had a great weekend so when I can joy from that.

See you guys later.

I really wonder what a Pistons practice looks like in terms of offense. There is more continuity and teamwork in a pickup game with people that have never met. The only way our possessions get anywhere with AI is if he drives and either scores, or dishes. Except half the time he has no idea where he’s going to pass it if the D collapses on him, and his passes suck more often than not. It’s the difference between a good open shot and starting over. And it literally is starting over because no one is moving around. Not saying it’s AI’s fault, plenty of it is Curry’s.

Unless a big crazy trade happens and drastically changes the dynamic of the team, I agree the season is over. And even if that were to happen, who knows if it would change in a good way. But it would depend just as much on if Curry could actually coach them, which leads me to agree with Laughton that he just doesn’t have what it takes to pull a team together from the ground up.

On a side note, I wish Curry had been as interested in experimenting with the front court as he was with the back. There is no reason for Amir and Max to not be playing at least 20 minutes per. And I don’t care what anyone says about consistency, it’s a two way street.

next year the team should bring back the teal uniforms

just for kicks, everyone take a guess who the only piston to have a positive plus/minus was…

http://www.nba.com/games/20090208/PHXDET/boxscore.html

I noticed that Gabe, but I just really didn’t want to say it.

“This is largely because Curry stubbornly thinks there’s only one way to correctly defend the pick and roll- no double team, and the picked player fights through the pick… It’s a very stupid philosophy in combination with out roster, because most of our bigs are quick enough to double/trap aggressively, then recover… and a lot of our guards are too small/thin to fight through picks very quickly. Basically Curry has us defending the pick and roll in the exact opposite way that our roster is constructed to defend it.”

It’s really sorta amazing, no?

Maybe Curry will turn out to be the next Jerry Sloan, but he’s really wasting a nice roster this year.

This roster could’ve contended with some agile coaching, but we’re not likely to get that. Curry may not be an idiot, but he’s in waaaaay over his head at the moment.

I never thought I’d end up missing George Karl, but I’m missing George Karl…

I’ve been hearing a lot about how Jerry Sloan lost a lot when he started. I looked and in Sloan’s first year as coach the Bulls improved in both offensive and defensive efficiency, even though they lost one more game. The next year they made a 15 game improvement and made the playoffs. The following year Sloan was fired after putting up a 19-32 start with a team that had 4 rookies on the roster.

I think Sloan was a good coach from Day 1 and a myth has popped up that he somehow Sloan needed a chance to get losing out of the system. Look at Larry Brown in Charlotte. People think he forgot how to coach in NY but that franchise was hopeless. The same goes for the early 80s Bulls management who fired Sloan. Sloan improved the team he coached in tangible ways the first two years and then ownership pulled the plug on him after a rough start. The coaching wizardry of Rod Thorn (who never coached again) took the team to a 15-15 finish and then the following year the Bulls sucked big time again, going 28-54. Did Thorn outcoach Sloan or was Sloan trying to build a team with 9 players with 3 years experience or less up the right way, taking some losses early in a project that never had a chance to bear fruit?

Curry has to improve something tangible about this team before I’m going to use the ‘He just needs time like Jerry Sloan’ line.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/sloanje01c.html

boney i don’t say ai shouldn’t be part of the blame but what u do is just ridiculous.. ai is to blame for everything in ur opinion. u r just commenting whenever he does sth. bad. let rip have 3 to. let stuck have 4. u don’t say shit. but if ai has 1, damn he is sooo bad. i don’t know what is wrong wit u but obvisously sth is..

I really like Stuckey, but he isn’t his former (1st 30 games) self this year. Nash 34 min, 21 assists, Stuckey 29 min, 1 assist? That’s not a bad night anymore, that is a lackluster gameplan.

stuck isn’t in an easy situation right now. people just expect too much from him. he has still a looong way to go. for now, he is highly overrated by most of the pistons fans, but he has the potential to get there without a doubt. he just needs time..

Maybe Stuckey just needs to dominate the rookie/sophomore game to get some swagger back.

And if he doesn’t completely dominate, Joe D should trade him.

(I kid, I kid)

Stuckey is just lost right now, he doesnt know when to attack and not attack.

Did anyone else notice AI had his braids in the shape of a heart? Except of course for Petey and david stern, who obviously noticed and hoped that it was a sign that AI felt the same way about them…

@adamreason – I’ve actually been wondering if a Bosh for Amare trade would happen… Here’s the link he posted in case if no one noticed it, suggesting Amare to Toronto, Bosh to Detroit, and Tay to Suns.

Shinons: The kid texted me about this trade and it included Sheed with us getting Barnes, Dragic, Ukic & Bosh, Suns get Sheed & Prince and Tor gets Amare & Robing Lopez

http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/57120/20090209/stoudemire_would_welcome_trade_to_detroit/

Looks liek Amare would welcome a trade to Detroit,

GET IT DONE JOE D

MarkButter,

I’d keep Barnes, Bosh and Dragic and buyout Ukic in that deal.

Not really a bad deal… Detroit gets who they want. Only problem is, still no true center outside of Kwame.

L-Rod: Ya, I agree… Detroit doesn’t seem like they run plays, even in the half court offense. Everything seems to be improvised. Aside from the pick and roll, I don’t see much going on that we hang our hat on.

We are a drive and dish offense… but our personnel isn’t really that athletic so we kinda suck at it. I miss the days of Rip running circles in mid-range.

Rban: I’ll cosign. DO IT NOW.

Boney: I agree but in short the trade is Bosh/Barnes for Sheed/Prince

I think we pull the trigger should it be presented to us.

Still don’t have a legit 5, but we don’t now. And either Barnes or Fabio starts with the other his back up. Barnes doens’t have the defense that Tay has, but it’s not totally devastating.

And MBSC, I’ll cosign on that one. DO IT NOW.

I’d rather suffer through a bad season than trade for Amare.

Sheed is by far and away my least favourite Piston. But, I don’t think Amare is much of an upgrade in terms of competing for a championship. He strikes me as selfish, soft, defenseless and not a winner.

AI, despite his shortcomings on defense and as a passer, plays with heart and leaves it all out there. I haven’t seen the same from Amare.

The Pistons will have so much flexibility when it comes to both free agency and trades with the cap space when AI and Sheed walk.

They could sign someone like Boozer, Milsap, David Lee, etc. Or they could trade draft picks and/or Amir for someone that’s under contract (Biedrins, Pryzbilla, whomever) the way the Clippers traded for Camby.

I’d rather they do that than lose Prince or Rip in a deal.

I’m willing to concede this year for the flexibility that the cap space is going to provide.

Petey, you shouldn’t miss George Karl too much.

He took some low-class, low-blow shots at Iverson not too long after he left Denver.

In addition, he shit-talks my team from Detroit on the regular, him and Doc Rivers and Stan Van Gundy can kiss mines.

We arent winning a title with Sheed, or coming close, he doesnt go in the paint and thats exactly what we need, I dont think we will win with Amare either but it cant hurt that much more, Amare is a free agent in 2010 so to me its something we should try.

“I’m willing to concede this year for the flexibility that the cap space is going to provide.”

QD, I’m with you.

I agree with QD, as well. We won’t win it all this season, that much is clear. Let’s get into position for next season.

Of course, part of that is getting a better coach, whether by getting a new one or having the current one improve. I’m not sure if he will improve. I miss Flip.

“The Pistons will have so much flexibility when it comes to both free agency and trades with the cap space when AI and Sheed walk.
They could sign someone like Boozer, Milsap, David Lee, etc. Or they could trade draft picks and/or Amir for someone that’s under contract (Biedrins, Pryzbilla, whomever) the way the Clippers traded for Camby.
I’d rather they do that than lose Prince or Rip in a deal.”
-Quick Darshan

Here’s the problem: Prince+Rip (and Sheed+Dice) are good supporting players, but they aren’t irreplaceable and they definitely aren’t good enough to make a team a contender without a Billups-level player leading them. That’s my big worry with our much talked about flexibility- how many players are out there who are good enough to actually replace Billups’ production and replace Sheed’s and maybe Dice’s role on defense?

With our current roster, is David Lee/Paul Millsap replacing Sheed and Dice really the difference between us losing in the first round and making it to the finals? Does Stuck/Rip/Tay/Lee/__? make much noise next year? Or sub any of the available bigs (Boozer/Millsap/Okur) for Lee or the question mark at C, and does that bring us to an elite level? I’d answer- maybe yes, if Stuck become a true superstar, but probably not if he doesn’t.

Still, even considering how he’s slowed down recently, Stuckey has improved enough from last season where I can understand the team believing he can become a major contributor. But after trading Billups, who was clearly the best player on our previously contending team and is now the best player on another arguably contending team, let’s not over-value the remaining members of the old pistons core. If Rip, Tay, or Sheed have to be included to bring back a young, currently or potentially more productive player, then so be it. We already started down that path with the Billups trade, so there’s no point in only going half way with it.

Generally, IMO we’ve seen this season that the remaining veteran talent on our team (bad coaching aside) is not at all overwhelming, so other than nostalgia, there’s no big reason to be skittish over trading members from the old core. They are/were very good supporting players who had fit perfectly into the old pistons system. But the central player from those teams is gone, so trading the remaining supporting players shouldn’t be something we shy away from.

I’d take Bosh over Amare any day. And the thought of trading for Amare doesn’t really exicte me if we have to give up more than Sheed. Trading for Bosh at least puts us in the realm of getting him in 2010 because of Bird rights.

The thing is, we’re set at 1-3 after this season. The hard part will be to lure a big and I definitely think MC will play a roll if we’re able to get somebody. Players talk, and if MC is not handling it now or in the lockeroom, that doesn’t improve our chances.

I agree with absolutely everything that QD wrote, except for his spelling of favourite.

I agree with a lot of what Gabe said. If we have the chance to get Amare for Sheed + Amir and maybe a pick I think we have to do it. In his last two fully healthy seasons he’s had a PER over 26 (the year before his knee injury and two years after his knee injury). His stats are down this year because Porter has decided to run more of the offense through Shaq, but he’s still putting up 21 and 8 on 53% shooting. Once AI comes off the books this summer we can make Amare the number one option on offense and I bet he could put up 26 and 9 on very efficient shooting (he’s at 83% this year from the line).

IF that trade was available I think it’s way too risky to not do it and hope to sign some one from the 2009 FA class. If you are against that trade you are basically saying it’s not worth it to give up Amir and the chance to sign a FA in 2009 or make a trade for a quality big. Amare does seem to have some attitude issues, but he’s also rediculously talented and is about to enter the prime of his career. If it doesn’t work out with Amare he can come off our books in 2010 and we can pursue a quality FA in that loaded class.

In other news Al Jefferson is done for the year which sucks for Minnesota. However, it’s good for us since we have Minnesota’s 2nd round pick this summer.

To start, I’d be shocked if any deal had tay in it. And i disagree with the notion that anyone, as fans, could be willing to concede a season for the “what if” of next season. We’ve been way to spoiled around here, and to think that getting a FA will be the way back to wining a title is a little foolish. Ask the fans in philly. Or LA. Or ask the celts fans about how tanking worked out for them. I know that nobody here is suggesting that we tank for draft purposes, but there is no promise that we’re going to be better next season. Or the year after. There is no law that requires that. We could be on the cusp of some dark days. I certainly don’t want to think that way, but to throw out a whole season just because we’re not the top team in our conference is just whinny. Ok, take your ball and go home. I promise you that Joe D. isn’t accepting losing this year in hopes of the next. We should welcome any trade that makes us better this year AND in the future. This team can’t compete for a title as constructed, the only way to address that is through a trade. Just like the one for AI.

Completely agree Jim, i see this as an opportunity we cannot pass up if its truly an option.

I agree with Gabe, Jim, and Rban. I’d love to see Amare in the red, white, and blue. The only way I’d be REALLY happy to see it, though, is if we kept Tay. I say he’s the lynch pin of our team offensively and defensively (but he needs a backup so he can cut those minutes down).

Jim, if it’s a case of Sheed/Amir for Amare, then, yes, even though I’m not crazy about him, it’s a no brainer. You’d probably have to move Kwame into the starting lineup to alleviate some of the banging on Amare though. Or put Dyess in the starting lineup with him.

BREAKING NEWS: Detroit has a team in the Shooting Stars competition at All-Star Weekend. :D

Bet you thought it was a trade, didn’t you? Afflalo, Laimbeer, and Katie Smith will be representing. How come we always have a team in this, anyways?

Garrett, i think it has to do with the age of the franchise and wnba affiliation.

Craig, why is it “whinny?” It’s about seeing the big picture. And it’s not just about hoping for a great free agent. Being far under the cap makes trading so much easier because you don’t have to match salaries.

I think it’s a lateral move at best to trade for someone but also give up either Tay or Rip.

Stuckey, Rip and Tay plus two bigs that can rebound and play defense can compete for a championship as long as one of those big men can score in the paint.

That’s better than panicking and throwing Tay in a deal for an overrated prima donna.

I’m down with any and all trades that don’t involve Stuck, Rip, Tay, or Max.

In a (my) perfect world, we swap AI for Shaq and call it good. Don’t tell me that a starting lineup of Stuck, Rip, Tay, Sheed, and Shaq doesn’t get you to the Finals in a grind-it-out gauntlet of series in the East. We’re bigger than everyone else, Sheed can go back to playing help side D in the interior, we slow everything down and run it through Shaq— Rip, Tay, and Sheed shoot open jumpers all day; our points in the paint skyrocket; AA finally gets his deserved minutes; Shaq comes off the books in 2010, which is when everyone we really want is available anyway.

Fuck it, let’s swap Sheed and AI for Shaq and Amare. Kerr said their main goal is to shed $40mil from payroll by 2010. They’d shed $35mil right at the end of this season. It works money-wise (+ or – a scrub).

/wishful thinking brought on by general apathy caused by putrid year

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/traderesult?players=981~366~883~614~1727&teams=21~21~21~8~8&te=&cash=

Hahaha. Awesome. We kill like 50 birds with one stone.

MarkButter,

Well, you know..

Rip would be the starting SF with Barnes as the backup if that trade went through. I doubt Rip would still come off the bench considering Barnes would be so new to the rotation.

I’d do it. It gives the team what they need, and the SF position would no longer be a black hole of average when the team plays against above-average SF… Rip isn’t the best defender but, he can hold his own. I think Barnes has just enough mean streak in him that’ll do this team some good, if you’re asking my opinion.

“Being far under the cap makes trading so much easier because you don’t have to match salaries.”
But who are we trading then? Walter Herrmann and a french fry for Amare? We still have to give something up to get these players. The Camby trade is a once or twice in a decade trade.
“I think it’s a lateral move at best to trade for someone but also give up either Tay or Rip.”
there’s too many players in the league to even argue this.
“Stuckey, Rip and Tay plus two bigs that can rebound and play defense can compete for a championship as long as one of those big men can score in the paint. That’s better than panicking and throwing Tay in a deal for an overrated prima donna.
And I agree with both these points. I just don’t think you accept this season as lost and do nothing, as long as it helps this year and in the future. I’m not trying to advocate a trade just for the sake of holding a news conference.

There are not very many Rip Hamiltons in this league. There are not very many Tayshaun Princes in this league. Think around about how many SGs you’d take over Rip (including the contract). Same for Tay. They would not be easy to replace.

Just a quick list, Shinnons: Ray Allen, Kevin Martin, D-Wade, Kobe, Josh Howard, Kevin Durant, Paul Pierce, Brandon Roy, and Joe Johnson, off the top of my head.

I think you make the deal… especially if you can get Bosh. If you get Stoudemire, you take it as well but if you get Bosh…

like a match made in heaven

I think rip is expendable. I think tay is a much harder piece to replace. I think there are many options where we move rip and come out ahead of where were started.

Craig, you can take Josh Howard off that list because he’s overrated. You can take Wade and Kove off too because they make way more money than Rip. Roy and Durant are on rookie contracts so they don’t count. I’ll give you Joe Johnson. I give Rip the advantage of Ray Allen just for age.

Exactly. And Kevin Martin works too. You aren’t going to find many players making close to $10 mil a year giving you what Tay or Rip do – everyone you listed but Martin and Howard make closer to $18-20 mil a year.

It would be stupid to suggest that Rip or Tay are the best in their position, but they are two of the best values at their position in the league. Because of that, we can afford to have fringe all stars at four of five positions.

The Camby trade is a once or twice in a decade trade.

I think we could easily pull a trade like that for Elton Brand, especially if the Sixers keep winning. Like Kwame Brown for Brand or something ridiculous like that. Chad Ford says the Sixers would just give Brand away for cap space and it makes sense.

Stuckey, Rip, Tay, Brand, AmirMax
Over
Stuckey, Rip, Barnes, Stoudemire, KwaMirMax

“It would be stupid to suggest that Rip or Tay are the best in their position, but they are two of the best values at their position in the league. Because of that, we can afford to have fringe all stars at four of five positions.”
-Shinons

I’m not sure if Rip is really a great value anymore… He was given a three year contract extension, which goes through (I think) 2012. He’s turning 31 in a few days and his PER (although it’s tied for best on the team) is only at 16.4, which is basically a little above average, and add that to the fact that he’s likely to decline over the next few years, his value will sink lower over the course of that contract.

Tay is harder to quantify, because his biggest contribution is defense, as his career PER is almost exactly average (Tay’s is 15.1). Yes, his plus/minus does show we’ve been better defensively with him on the court than off. But over the last few years, we’ve generally only been 1-2 points worse defensively without him on the court. So, yeah Tay is a good player and a decent value (actually his best attribute might be his sturdiness, he almost never misses a game), but we’re talking about a good defensive player who is also basically an exactly average offensive player. He’s versatile and has been a great fit with our team, but he’s not irreplaceable.

Generally I think what I disagree with is the notion of “good value” instead of “fair price,” basically we have a bunch of players who are not overpaid, but don’t really represent “good value” either. This might be too strict of an example, but to me a “good value” is Manu Ginobli at 9 mil a year. “Overpaid” is AI or Marbury at 20+ mil a year. Tay at 9 mil/year and Rip at 10 mil/year aren’t really either, they’re more in the “correctly valued” category.

Boney, Agreed about Barnes. But with Rip @ 3, that makes us incredablly (sp) small with AI on the court at the same time. I think you gotta go with perhaps Fabio or even Max on rare occasion that he’d match up to a 3 athletic wise.

@ Shinons: “Stuckey, Rip, Tay, Brand, AmirMax”

We’ll get killed on the boards in my opinion. That’s a small front line of 6’9", 6’8" and AmerMax. Long arms or not, it doesn’t take up much space either.

I think Brand is an auxillory piece, I don’t see teams building around him and in part, that’s what this trade is meant to be. And given his surgery, we might as well wait till the summer, we need Kwame in the middle should something else be completed.

Shinons, I think we could get someone like Pryzbilla for Amir and a draft pick and still have room to sign someone like Boozer (or preferably Milsap).

Stuckey, Rip, Tay, Boozer, Pryzbilla is a very competitive lineup. Afflalo and Maxiell are good reserves.

QD: Boozer has missed over 30 games in 3 of the last 5 seasons. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable giving a guy like that five years at more than $10 million a year. I couldn’t do that in good conscience. If he’s healthy, that lineup is fantastic. If he’s not healthy, that’s not our lineup. That being said, Boozer might be wise to exercise his player option, stay in Utah for one more season and spend 2009-2010 proving why a team should give him 5 years at $80 million. I do bet Joe wishes he could go back in time and sign Przybilla instead of Nazr though.

Shinons, I think we could get someone like Pryzbilla for Amir and a draft pick and still have room to sign someone like Boozer (or preferably Milsap).

Agreed.

I think Brand is an auxillory piece, I don’t see teams building around him and in part, that’s what this trade is meant to be. And given his surgery, we might as well wait till the summer, we need Kwame in the middle should something else be completed.

Also agreed. I don’t think we’d be able to trade for Brand at this point even if we wanted to anyways – wouldn’t he have to pass a physical? I don’t he’d have a very good shot of that in a hospital gown.

We’ll get killed on the boards in my opinion. That’s a small front line of 6′9″, 6′8″ and AmerMax. Long arms or not, it doesn’t take up much space either.

This is one I don’t agree on though. Brand is a much much much better rebounder than Sheed and has averaged 3.9 offensive boards per game over his career. We’d be losing our worst offensive rebounding big man and our new frontcourt rotation would all be very capable rebounders.