John Salley on the NBA getting soft

It’s a sad day when the Nuggets are considered a “tough” team. The Bad Boys would leave these jackasses in the fetal position.

Glorious win for the Wings tonight. Let’s go get Sid the Stache now!

Salley is a fun guy and he was an important part of the Bad Boys. He’s also right about the league not allowing as much violent contact. But I’m not feeling the sexual harassment comparison.

Salley is SPOT ON with the sexual harassment comparison, in my opinion. I work in a larger office with a good number of attractive females, and I cannot begin to describe how ridiculously out of hand the notion of “sexual harassment” has gotten in the last few years. I’m not saying we need to go back to the “Mad Men” era— slapping girls’ asses, jokes about the kitchen, etc.— but the fact that a girl can say that anything (literally anything) offends her and not only is she given the benefit of the doubt but the “offender” is guilty until proven innocent— complete and utter bullshit. Not to mention there really is no such thing as “until proven innocent” in the workplace— litigation rarely (if ever) happens in office harassment suits. They simply fire you. And if you try to go above your office and take the legal route, it becomes the offender’s word vs. the girl’s word, and if you live in America you should know that the girl’s word wins every time.

Not to mention there are actually “career offendees”— girls who on purpose put themselves out and present themselves in a manner that facilitates workplace flirting solely to put together lawsuit cases against their employers and live off the settlement money (because no company wants a legal sexual harassment battle hanging over their heads).

Clearly legitimate instances of harassment do occur and are completely reprehensible, but there’s no way you can honestly say the current system (where literally ANYTHING can be construed as “harassment”) is in any way fair or balanced.

It’s the general “pussification of America” as Bill Maher puts it. How about this one— elementary schools are now banning “tag” and “dodgeball” because the “new school” of PE teachers don’t believe that losing is an experience any child should have to deal with. And we wonder why Americans are turning into such lazy, entitled pieces of shit. If your kids never taste losing when they’re younger (because they’re all beautiful, unique snowflakes to whom the quality of loser or winner can’t be applied), what are they going to do when they grow up and life takes a massive shit on them (which it most definitely will)?

Joel:

I don’t want to derail this thread into something non-basketball related that I’m pretty sure that we aren’t going to agree about. So I’ll just say I’ve worked in a variety of places, I practiced law in the area of employment discrimination and sexual harassment, I currently teach employment discrimination, and so I’ve seen a lot of that world, and what I’ve seen is pretty different than what you’ve seen.

It’s interesting that you guys picked up on the sexual harrassment comment. It stood out to me too although I didn’t realize it until your posts.

You hear a lot about how men have gone soft and metrosexual. I’ve never heard someone bringing sexual harrassment into that discussion. It’s almost like he’s saying that women have gotten soft too.

I have no feelings about it either way. Just thought it was an interesting comment.

The more on-topic point is that the NBA has changed the rules and now allows less physical play on defense. I think the rule changes were more about the NBA wanting more “offense,” and thinking the fans wouldn’t go for the more “dull” play of good defensive teams (especially the Bad Boys and the Bad Boys II). I think that’s in part because the championship Pistons teams didn’t have the One Superstar Player, and the NBA chose some time ago to market around the Superstar Player. See also the Spurs, a very good defensive team, whose biggest Superstars (Robinson, Duncan) were pretty dull.

So I’m more willing to attribute the rule changes to, if not exactly a conspiracy against Detroit than a reaction against Detroit and teams like them, than I am to attribute the rule changes to a decline in western civilization.

Your ass looks great in those pants, Joel ;)

I whole-heartedly agree with Salley’s assessment of today’s society. It has changed for the worse. Liberalism is ruining the fabric of America. Political correctness has turned into a form of political terrorism. Speak your mind and you’re ostracized.

You can speak your mind, PistonsNation. Just make sure it agrees with everyone else’s mind. :D

Thanks, Mike! <3

@Joel:
anytime, buddy!

spider good at not just blocking SHOTS, but also complementing BEAUTIFUL woman. sexual harassment not like BASKETBALL though. just epinion

@MP

We should start our own business and run it the right way.

Coach DP wins this thread.

“and if you live in America you should know that the girl’s word wins every time.”

Unless Kobe’s penis is involved, then the girl is a lying whore with semen on her panties.

I wonder if he refers to it as “Mini-Mamba.”

CoachDP wins every thread.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090528&sportCat=nba

Here’s a good article on the state of NBA officiating. Some of these games have become crappy to watch because all the teams do is shoot 3s and hurl themselves at the basket hoping for a call. Think about the end of regulation in game 5 of the ECF- Rashard Lewis gives Orlando the lead by hitting an open jumper off of a perfect screen for Dwight Howard. Beautiful team basketball. Then, Lebron James ties the game by running over Peitrus and forcing a charge/block call that he knows he’ll win because of his superstar status. Boo, NBA.

qd, i don’t quite get why you loathe the nuggets? is it because they call attention to what a bad year joe d. has had? give them some credit. they play hard. they have gone farther than anyone expected. they are good.

we are all soft nowadays because all the porn on the computer rotting are sense of decency and character. it is like nero’s rome. john salley probably doesn’t have a computer.

john salley had it easy. no porn devil tempting him. he doesn’t know how hard it is nowadays.

AFB: WTF are you talking about?

Also, Simmons is kind of an idiot. He’s all over the map in that article. He says the 2004 rule changes were necessary, but then complains that the refs call too many fouls. He’s getting lazy.

Good article, SadPanda. Thanks.

“qd, i don’t quite get why you loathe the nuggets? is it because they call attention to what a bad year joe d. has had? give them some credit. they play hard. they have gone farther than anyone expected. they are good.”

I didn’t say the Nuggets weren’t good. I just don’t think they are tough. Do you? Is it tough to throw a punch and run away? Is it tough to resort to tripping? Do you think this team has an 1/8th of the toughness of the Bad Boys or the 04-05 Pistons?

You say Joe Dumars had a bad year. Fine. The Pistons sucked. I know you’re a die hard Nuggets fan so sorry if I’m bashing your team, but, if the Nuggets lose tomorrow, what did they accomplish? Nothing that the Pistons didn’t for the last six years.

You called out Dumars and Mr. Davidson for not making moves to put the Pistons over the top. Fine. They didn’t win more than one title and that’s the bottom line. But, will you make the same complaint about your Denver GM and owner? What about next year if they don’t re-sign Chris Andersen because of Kenyon Martin’s albatross of a contract?

I’m not saying Denver isn’t having a great year and they very well might win it all. But, let’s say they end up six games short of a title why is that a better accomplishment than what the Pistons did the last three years?

@Colin:
I agree— from now on, I will refer to him as “AFBWTF?”

What’s wrong with Reggie Miller? He just called Anthony Johnson Avery Johnson, and a minute before that he called Ilgauskus Varejao.

Wow. Worst continuation call ever for Delonte West. But Gortat is looking decent.

This Magic team is looking kind of scary. They really seem to be able to do it all right now.

These predraft work outs are already moving people up and down in the mock drafts the one I looked at today had Tyreke evans falling to us at 15 with blair going 18th Jrue Holliday at like23.

AFB is an idiot, he thinks that we failed to do everything in our power to keep LB. Anybody who’s even remotely paid attention over the past 6 years knows just how indefensible that position is.

Garrett, this is random, but I just emailed you.

I listened to the halftime analysis and I still haven’t heard one of these guys say what is blindingly obvious to the objective fans: Orlando is better than Cleveland. You can talk about running a faster pace and switching up who guards Howard but that’s just shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic. Orlando is forcing Cleveland to play their style, which is a slow pace that lets them set up Howard in the post and then kick out to open shooters. Cleveland doesn’t have enough athletic defenders to control Orlando’s long distance game and they don’t really have anyone who can check Howard one-on-one. That’s why the Magic are going to win this series.

Man, Orlando better take advantage of LeBron being a little off so far. 5-13 from the field, 4 TOs, only 20 points. He’s been so lights out in this series that his play tonight seems like a gift.

Hahahahahahaha, nobody is buying that Varajoke. Nothing to see here, move along, move along…

Hell yeah for the dunk over Floppy the Clown! I’m really starting to like Dwight Howard.

Please shut up Reggie. You don’t need to defend Floppy and call his bullshit defense “his game.” Barkley is right to hate how that jackass plays.

Okay, shut the fuck up Miller. Do not compare that plopping pansy who hasn’t won anything to Bill Laimbeer. That’s a joke and you know it.

Varejao should get fined for that flop. Remember before the season when the league said they were going to fine floppers?

Gortat = LeBron stopper?

Argh, I wish they would just die. I professional sports team hasn’t annoyed me this bad since the 2007 Patriots.

*A professional sports team hasn’t annoyed me this bad since the 2007 Patriots. And before then, I don’t know, maybe every team Brett Favre has played for. That’s some bad company to keep.

Other Matt: I emailed you back!
I hate Boobie Gibson.

Wow. Pietrus is a machine. He’s got some crazy 3’s — they never look like they’re going in but they always do.

Boobie Gibson is causing me some bad flashbacks. The Magic have absolutely no conscience. A big reason they’re losing… but also a big reason they’re up in the series and very much in this game. What an intriguing team.

I hear you Other Matt. On one hand I think Orlando needs to stop jacking up 3s and get the ball to Howard, but their 3 point shooting is what makes their offense work.

That is not a foul.

Floppy on his back again? Are you a basketball player or a cheap hooker?

Those 3’s Rafer Alston was hitting last game where everyone was like, “WTF? Rafer can shoot?” Turns out he CAN’T shoot and that was a fluke.

Marv is having Brongasm after Brongasm. Ugh.

(although LeBron IS really, really good)

Holy crap, did anybody make it to the end of the post-game show? The videos they played, “today in Cleveland” and the one making fun of the studio crew were hysterical.

Charles Barkley is the round mound of bitterness
He thinks the city of Cleveland is turrrible
Which would hurt if he wasn’t from ALABAMA
Never won an NBA CHAMPIONSHIP!

That MUST go on the internets somewhere.

I would love to get Pietrus on the Pistons.

It can go on his holo-headstone in the year 2045

Larry Brown was interviewed yesterday on a LA sports talk show about the playoffs. Naturally, conversation turned to Chauncey. He talked about what Dumars must have saw in Chauncey when he signed him. And how he basically took over a team that already knew how to win because of Rick Carlisle.

The interesting thing he said was, “The only thing Joe told me was to play Tayshaun and Memo so he could see if they could play.”

MP: I think AFBWTF would be a great addition to DBB’s established tradition of mocking people via acronym.

Although, it should probably be all lower case with improper punctuation: afb;wtf

lmao @ “mini-mamba”

So who’s turning the most heads at the draft combine? My guy. What sucks is that he might not be around at #15 anymore.

Better news: apparently Lawson has been underwhelming at the combine and is expected to slip a TON, possibly to the second round… if we could get him with one of our picks I think that would be the steal of the draft.

I know a lot of people hate the guy, myself included, but what do you think of Psycho-T in the second round if he’s still there?

Yeah, I’d be a little ashamed to have a Juggalo on the team, but still, you can’t teach effort. At worst I think he ends up being a great roleplayer off the bench. For some reason I see him on the Jazz. He might be the quintessential Utah Jazz guy. White, not really athletic, all hustle, probably homophobic.

Also, say “Utah Jazz” over and over in your head until it loses all basketball meaning. Then think about how preposterous it is that a pro sports team in Utah, of all places, is called “The Jazz.” Jazz hands! How preposterous is it that ANY sports team featuring men is called “The Jazz?” Then think about, of all people, Jerry Sloan coaching the team with what is definitely the gayest name in all of sports (the Wizards are a distant second).

Speaking of wizards, do any DBBers in the Chicago area want to start a LARP team with me? I just have this feeling it could be tits in combination with the right substances.

@Joel:
As long as this can be both our uniforms AND our theme song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFGzGfym-7Y

And our team name can be Detroit Bad Apache Boys. Gotta go for now, time to grow out some of those bad ass curls, bitches.

@ Joel

I’m in [the process of moving to] Chicago. I’m all for tits in combination with the right substances, but you won’t find me wearing archaic clothes and frolicking in the forest.

I counter-propose that we start a team of Chicago-area DBBers who watch Pistons games on TV and buy Bulls tickets when they’re playing the Pistons.

@PS:
If you and Joel get down on that I’ll join once every month or two (and absolutely during Bulls/Pistons games). I’m for serious.

That sounds like a good idea to this guy. Nothing is more fun than making fun of Chicago sports fans after they get beat by Detroit (the Wings/Hawks series was beautiful).

Are you sure you don’t want to go LARPing? I can’t imagine it NOT being fun. It’s like the WoW kids’ moms made them go outside. Hilarious. Watch this and try to tell me you don’t want a piece:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91454IrUz8A

Bad.
Ass.

Watch this and try to tell me you don’t want a piece

Their rubber swords and their teleporting will be no match for my can of mace.

Joel, MP:

1. Hell yes to Bulls/Pistons games at the United Center.
2. No thank you to going to the woods and acting like a jackass. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

I’m only being half-serious about the LARPing. But I am half-serious. And it would have to be at Cabrini-Green.

MP: That Apache song is golden. That’s what happens when you have $10,000 to make a crappy music video and you spend $9,900 on blow.

Joel: I heard your roommate had a visit from a Cabrini-Green LARPer, except he was carrying a crow-bar instead of a rubber sword. Asked to come in and play and everything.

Also, I’m down for going to some games at the united center. The pistons are 0-2 when I’ve gone though.

And the Jazz are originally from Nawlins…….so that makes a little more sense.

Psycho T would be a steal in the second round. He won’t ever be more than a backup in the league but wouldn’t mind having him on the bench.

@MP – I can’t hear that song and not think of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7h-2UmHuxQ

other matt, i think the coach is maybe the most important position in team sports. when the coach is doing a great job, i believe it is very important to keep him. he should be catered to. and paid whatever he asks.
   that was my point back whenever. we will never know exactly what happened behind closed doors after that 2005 season.
   so i guess that makes me an idiot.

qd,
     it is a free country and i can root for the nuggets right now and you just as surely don’t have to if you don’t want to.
     i just think you are not objective about what they have achieved this year and some of their players.
      and joe d. had a bad year.
       and i think he is making a mistake by sticking with curry. so i think he will probably have a bad year next year too. i hope i am wrong.

coline, thanks for the compliment.

i gotta go now and root for the nuggets.

@Colin:
Also, I’m down for going to some games at the united center. The pistons are 0-2 when I’ve gone though.

I’ll even ya out, buddy— I’m 9-1 at the United Center when the Pistons have played, with the loss being Game 5 two years ago in the playoffs…

I remember pulling absolute asshole shit at the United Center during/after games. I remember beating the Bulls a few years ago, riding in a United Center shuttle after the game, drunk, talking LOUD AS HELL with my buddy. Saying stuff like “The Bulls will be a GREAT team in like 6 or 7 years, if they get lucky in the draft they might just one day become a playoff team. Things haven’t been great since that one guy, Marcus Jackson, you know, number 32, Sky Jackson with those popular ADIDAS shoes. Second best basketball player of all time after Joe Dumars.” I’ve never laughed so hard all the while fearing for my life in a bus full of rabid, hurt Bulls fans. “Hey, the Bulls would threepeat again if they were a D-League team, NO QUESTION”

@Garrett:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXBqQvkd-0w&feature=related

@AFBWTF:
Super cool story bro.

afb, not sure why you get so butt hurt when I say negative things about Nuggets players. I love Chauncey. And like Nene. Birdman’s grown on me and I like JR Smith’s talent (could do without the attitude). Like Melo’s game too. Don’t know why you take it so personally that I’m not blindly kissing their asses.

@QD:
Totally off-topic— you, me, and a ton of the others up-thread have been here on DBB for years, but I’m surprised I’ve never asked this: what is the meaning of the nickname “Quick Darshan”? Funny side-story— when I first watched Before the Rains, I watched the opening AND closing credits for “Quick Darshan”, and was confused about who the hell this Prasad person is, and why QD wasn’t listed.

So, if the meaning is something to share publicly, I’d love to learn. If not, let a brother know on FaceBook, money!

(oh, and sidenote— anyone who is new to DBB, meaning less than a year as a regular here, go to Netflix and add Before the Rains and Ocean of Pearls to your queue. I still havent’ seen the latter, but it is approaching the top spot on my queue)

MP,

Darshan is when you go to a Hindu temple and see the idol. The idols are designed to help you focus on God (much like a cross does). Basically, Darshan is experiencing divinity visually. “Quick Darshan” is something you see at really crowded Hindu temples. For a discount (a couple rupees), you can get a quick darshan from far away. I’ve always felt that movies could be like quick darshan. So it’s the name of my production company.

Unfortunately, due to a Writer’s Guild ruling, my name is not on “Before the Rains,” but I still support the movie and am proud of my contribution. Ocean of Pearls should be coming out soon though. Starting in Detroit!

And now that you bring up names, where does Gear Crave come from?

Nuggets didn’t have a chance tonight. Kobe was daggers, shooting 60% AND dealing out 11 assists.

Chauncey had more assists that the rest of his team combined.

God I hope either Orlando or the Cavs beat the Lakers.

We are all Magic fans.

Magic have to win tonight, stern would never alow cav’s to lose on home court in a game seven eastern finals.And I only have one thing to say about that,Fuck Stern and his never ending string of rule changes.

He’s a weasely looking little guy, for sure. And I too loathe him as commissioner.

Hahahahaha!!! The “king” still has no crown!

Hahahahaha!!! The “King” still has no crown!

Don’t cry Lebron. You can still tell Burger King it’s your birthday and they’ll give you a crown,

Sorry for the double post. Major lagging tonight.

Hey Cleveland. My balls. Let me show you them.

(side note— QD, that’s awesome, totally cool getting a quick glimpse not only into your background, but a bit o’ culture too. as for “gearcrave” its just gear/gadgets that people crave, no interesting story there!)

I have to give credit to Mike Brown for being very graceful in his post game comments. Lebron can still suck it though.

I wonder if Clevelands management have come to the realization they may have to trade LBJ.or risk losing him for nothing,for that matter what could any team offer that would possibly be worth it .It’ll never happen but I would love to see him sent out west.At least he’s not going to be in this years NBA finals, thank you Orlando Magic.

So, Magic-Lakers predictions?

@defor:
Amir+picks for Lebron, straight up.

Kobe is not gonna be denied by Van Gundy.

No freakin’ way. The Magic are facing a team with a coach this time.

@Yahtzee:
The Magic are 3-1 in the regular season in the last two years, where most games both teams scored over 100 each. Who is going to guard Kobe? Can Alston handle himself against Fisher? Can Lewis defend Gasol? This series will be TOUGH for Orlando, but it’ll still be easier for the Magic than if they were playing 2007-08 Detroit.

Van Gundy ain’t guarding Kobe. And Phil Jackon ain’t guarding Dwight.

I would love, love to see the Magic upset the Lakers in 6. That’s where my money is going.

It’d be interesting if Orlando went with this lineup:

PG: Alson
SG: Turkoglu
SF: Lewis
PF: Howard
C: Gortat

Yeah, I know DBB has a Gortat hard-on, but that’d be the best option for matchups against the big front-line that LA has, while optimizing a 1-3 lineup that can devastate from the 3 or slashing.

*alston

@ MP:

Interesting, but has Orlando ever played Gortat and Howard at the same time, for more than a couple of minutes? Gortat’s usage rate would seem to suggest otherwise.

Thanks Dwight Howard for reminding us Pistons fans that Detroit has TWO freaks of nature to deal with for years to come.

Oh, and uh… Mo Williams? Say cheese, Dickhead.

thank you orlando magic

suck it lebron, stern, wally, floppy, boobie, nike and vitamin water

It was very nice of Lebron to leave the arena without talking to anyone. By having his teammates answer all the tough questions he showed his willingness to share the spotlight once in a while. What a leader!

HoopsHype is showcasing a story that claims Carlos Boozer is telling his “confidants” that he’ll be going to either the Nets or the Pistons. This story is in the New York Post, however…

oh, and one more thing mr. stern, where is your god now?

Mike Payne,

Is that Stern’s cumshot between LeBron’s eyes in that pic?

Not to say you have any inside knowledge of David Stern’s cumshots.

@TDP:
Not anymore, it’s not. Not any more.

Spotlight on Dwight.

Gaffled from cleveland.com"

“Unsung hero: Television reports credited Magic assistant coach Brendan Malone with designing Orlando’s defense against James. Malone, father of Cavs assistant coach Mike Malone, coached James as an assistant to Paul Silas in Cleveland, who became the Cavs interim head coach after Silas was fired. Malone also helped design the so-called Jordan Rules used by the Detroit Pistons to defend Michael Jordan.”

Nice.

I absolutely love what happened last night. I went to Baltimore and met up with some Detroit transplant friends from DC/Baltimore/Philly to watch the Tigers game. After the Tigers win, we scrambled to a bar right across the street from the stadium to catch the 3rd period of the Wings game. It was nuts. It was like being in Detroit, we were EVERYWHERE. There was so much damn Detroit in the bar that after the Wings game was over, there was a loud, sustained “Let’s Go MAGIC!” chant. 3-0 last night, beautiful.

I’m also really happy that everybody is talking about how LeBron left without saying anything and without shaking any hands. That was bullshit, he deserves to get grilled publicly for that.

at least the pistons had grace when they lost the cavs

i hate how they’re making this big fucking deal of lebron losing when the pistons were in the exact same situation three years back

My aunt just met Chauncey Billups, out and about in Denver. He was cordial to her.

Little Bro has made my week.

Congrats, Magic.

Vague rumor of a three way trade between pistons Utah and Toronto netting us bosh and toronto Boozer I don’t know what Utah gets maybe Hamilton its on mlive.com very vague outa New York probably one of Vecsey’s he’s always trying to drum up an interesting story usually a bunch of made up bullshit .Still i’m alittle surprised that we haven’t seen any trades yet.

Ben Wallace,

We need you to do one more thing for the Pistons. Please come back to play another year and fuck up the Cavs cap space just a little longer.

Thanks,
DBB Community.

@Defor:
Still i’m alittle surprised that we haven’t seen any trades yet.

I was curious about this— I was pretty certain that trades could not happen between the trade deadline in February and the draft in June. I could not find ANY documentation on the rules about this, and I’m pretty handy with a search engine or two. I did, however, find an archive of all NBA transactions and looked through a few seasons to see if trades happened between the end of the regular season and the NBA draft. Turns out, there were a few in recent history. I only mention this here because I found the lack of solid information a little surprising…

In short, knowing that trade season might now be open, i’m a little pissed that Joe D hasn’t TRADED AMIR NOW yet.

QD. my thoughts exactly.

MP.apparently any 2 teams can trade as soon as there season ends as long as the players aren’t free agents or restricted free agents,with all of these teams wanting to dump salary you’d think somebody would’ve done something I guess their waiting til after the draft, speaking of which i’ve been mulling over Mullens ,have to admit I haven’t seen him play,but if he’s as athletic as they say and has good hands maybe we should take him if ,and this is a big if, somebody with alot of potential doesn’t fall to us and we go after Gortat for our starter . This way our cente is solid and we can give Mullens time to learn, he has 3 outa the 5 things that make a great center ,size,athleticism,and good hands the other 2 we’d have to wait and see on high bb IQ,and heart or desire whatever you want to call it.Its hard to find good centers and we definitly need the size.

Some nice quotes from Charley Rosen’s article on why the Cavs lost:

“Clearly, the Cavs believed all of the hype that surrounded them throughout the regular season. As a result, they became unbearably arrogant — as demonstrated by their unseemly bench celebrations over dunks, shot blocks and blowouts. While the media praised these antics as proof of the team’s “togetherness,” the players were actually showing their disdain for their opponents and proving that they didn’t really understand what a difficult and serious task lay ahead of them."

“Throughout the season, the media Muppets were also claiming that, at long last, LeBron was surrounded by worthy teammates. In truth, Orlando exposed Mo Williams as being defenseless, shot-happy and short-armed whenever a game was up for grabs. He’s always been a shooting guard in a point guard’s body. And he wasn’t the only issue.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas couldn’t guard his own lunch, was no longer a consistent threat in the low post and had devolved into a modern-day equivalent of Mel Counts. Anderson Varejao was both foul- and flop-prone and consistently tried to do things that he was incapable of doing — like hitting jump shots. Ben Wallace was old and in the way. Wally Szczerbiak was a jump-shooting statue. Daniel Gibson and Sasha Pavlovic were 3-point specialists who could do little else.

Only Delonte West had the toughness, the offensive versatility and the defensive chops to enhance LBJ’s game."

nbaroundtable fans, here’s a great article on rebounding from the PF position. McDyess and Boozer are very high on the list.

http://nbaroundtable.wordpress.com/2009/05/28/starting-power-forwards-rebounding-numbers/

I have a tasty little rumor for you guys to chew on from some information I came across a few days ago. I don’t know if this has been mentioned anywhere yet, but if it has please feel free to let me know. I fully realize that since I rarely post here I don’t have any credibility, but just take this info in (I had to leave out specific details as not to put my job in jeopardy, so I’m going to have to be vague):

I overheard from a co-worker that when he was delivering a package to a certain hotel last Thursday, he had a conversation with one of the workers there. Apparently a certain NBA player was in town staying at said hotel. Word around the hotel that this player was actively seeking property in the Metro Detroit Area. Also it was to his understanding that the player had been out to dinner with Joe Dumars the night before.

I’ll give a hint which should be easy to figure out with a little google-action:

Hint: He led the league in field goal percentage in the 2002-2003 season.

Nothing may come out of this, but I just wanted to put the info out there. The info itself is quite true, (as in the hotel worker actually gave this information out) but not confirmed (why would the guy make up a story with THIS player?). Whether or not anything concrete will come out of this remains to be seen. Personally I have no idea what to think about it.

Either way, just a fun little rumor to mull over for a while, and a fun little game to see who can google the hint and come up with the answer to the mystery player first! 1, 2, 3, GO!

@G-Dubb:
If Eddy Curry is a Piston next season, I’ll quit watching basketball.

My best friend’s sister’s boyfriend’s brother’s girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who’s going with the girl who saw Eddie Curry pass out at 31 Flavor’s last night. I guess it’s pretty serious.

http://www.draftexpress.com/blog/Jonathan-Givony/#Analyzing-the-NBA-Combine-Measurements-3237

interesting stuff. the fact that tyreke evans has the same wingspan as blake griffin is astounding. on both levels. the hansbrough and taj gibson info was intriguing as well. and why earl clark keeps falling in mock drafts is beyond me.

Hey sorry, I realize my anecdote is FAR from a credible source, I was just passing along a little info! Thought it might be of interest on a Pistons forum. I don’t like the idea of Eddy Curry in Piston blue any more than you do, to tell you the truth. Just something to talk about I guess.

Hockey season will be done soon, the NBA finals shortly after that, then the Baseball Desert will be upon us until fall. I figured I’d pass along a little story I heard for a few possible thoughts from the forum. Juuuuust sharing a little info, nothing more :)

And what, you’re not interested in aquiring a chauffer abusing, horrible rebounding, no-defense-playing center with cardiac problems!?

We’ve already got a big with heart problems.

OHHHH SNAP!

@G-Dubb,
Just razzin’ ya, no worries! I hadn’t heard that trade concept before, and was a bit shocked by it. I poked around, found that Eddy Curry practiced at Oakland University this summer and met with Scott Perry. Pleasegodno.

Every time I read about the unpleasantness between the Knicks and Curry, I had the same thought, this dude is gonna get cut loose eventually and might end up here.

If I was callin’ the shots, there would be nobody in Detroit named Curry for 2009/2010.

But I ain’t.

eddy curry as a piston? god please no. mothers lock up your sons!

“Come and touch it, Dave.”

I guess I wouldn’t mind Stephen Curry as a Piston. But it’s not like we need more guards.

the pistons have a million guards it seems like, and now i hear with all this talk that stuckey is a combo/2 guard that they are thinking of drafting a point guard. this says a couple of things to me either: they are going to go balls out to get a trade on a big this summer, they are going to resign sheed and/or mcdyess, or that they are insane because they will have no big men of quality. i really want them to big in the draft. no guards just forwards or centers unless a steal presents itself. i personally think some kinda crazy trade will unfold.

I don’t think the Pistons should reach for a big in the draft if a good one doesn’t fall to them.

There are only 4 bigs in the draft worth taking at 15: Griffin, Thabeet, Jordan Hill (looks like a bust), and Blair. All will be gone. And Gani Lawai, the next highest rated PF is thinking of pulling out of the draft.

There’s also James Johnson, but there’s debate whether he’s a SF or a PF (although he IS an MMA fighter, that’s pretty cool).

So, I think the Pistons will have to take a wing player.

QD,
100% agreed. This draft, after Griffin, has almost no bigs worth a first round pick (the only other big-man prospect I’d be at all confident will be a solid contributer is Blair), it would be a mistake to reach for someone like James Johnson or Hansbrough or any of the other mid-late 1st round bigs when we can grab someone like Taj Gibson with one of our 2nd round picks and get a comparable player.

This draft class is actually pretty strong when it comes to wing players and guards so picking a guard/wing you have a decent chance of picking someone who will become a solid player. I’d prefer we went that route, rather than praying BJ Mullens learns how to not be horrible.

I think the pistons are actually in a position to plug some holes in this draft, if Joe doesn’t over-think things. We’ve needed defense/athleticism on the wing for a few years- that should equal Terrance Williams. Then if we can package our two early 2nd round picks to get another 1st rounder it looks like we could grab Lawson around pick 20 (he’s IMHO currently very underrated, he’s improved his game to the point where he has almost no weaknesses other than his lack of size- he even shot 47% on 3’s last season!). We’d have a great PG/SG/SF rotation, which would allow Joe to put every penny of our cap space toward bigs.

i suppose that makes sense. i guess im just pessimistic that even with a lot of cap space that wont be enough to lure a top tier big here.

Eddy Curry is undergoing a rigorous weight-loss/conditioning program at Oakland University in Rochester Hills. There was an article somewhere about it just the other day. I assume (and hope) that Dumars would never bring him to the Pistons.

Pray for a Gortat/Odom combo.

this year for me feels more like an nfl draft. with those many picks, it seems like there’s a lot of flexibility for moving up or moving down. and even then, say you draft 4 rookies, you throw them in the mix with our 2nd rounders from last year and let the chips fall where they may. shaping up for an interesting vegASS summer league, july 10-19.

earl clark at 15 would be a steal. and would fill a need. let him fall, suckers.

Gabe, the problem with trading 2nd round picks to get a late 1st rounder is that 1st round picks count against cap space. So, I’d rather the Pistons stick with the 2nd rounder.

I can’t stop thinking to myself that the team we PRAYED we’d meet in the first round is now in the MFNBA Finals.

I can’t stop thinking to myself that, although I was also praying we would meet the Magic also, that the Magic would have beaten us.

Eddy Curry’s agent is Leon Rose, who’s tight with noted NBA making-things-happen-guy William Wesley (Worldwide Wes, Uncle Wes, etc), who’s based out of MI. It was reported last month that Curry is spending the summer in MI working out under Wes’ watchful eye trying to revive his career. Wes has connections with every NBA franchise (you see him sitting courtside all over the league), and certainly at the Palace, where he’s basically allowed to roam freely as if he were a player. If Curry had dinner with Dumars, yeah, it could be a sign of a future trade, or (more likely) it could just be Wes grabbing a meal with friends.