We asked the question yesterday, and the Detroit Free Press confirms the answer today: Walter Herrmann agreed to a one-year deal to return to the Pistons.
He’ll presumably serve as the primary backup small forward, though if the playoffs are any indication, I imagine we’ll occasionally see three guards on the floor with Chauncey Billups at the one, Rodney Stuckey at the two and Rip Hamilton sliding over as the de facto three. I’d really like to see what Walter Sharpe brings to the table, but he may end up bouncing between the inactive list and the D-League.
In any case, I’m glad to see Herrmann will get another chance. He has an interesting skillset, and no matter what you think his ceiling is, he’s always one of the most active players on the court. Oh, and his hands are ginormous, which should appease all the people complaining about Kwame Brown’s digits.
We want the other Walter. Big Walt Sharpe. The backup will only get 12-15 mins I think we can manage that without Mr. Herrmann. He is definitely trade bait with Kwame Brown for expiring contract around the deadline.
Joe D is plotting…
Would he be eligible for the D-League? I would totally watch all those games - he would dominate!
Glad he’s back. Until Walt S. proves something (and I think it won’t take to long) I can live with Walt H. backing up Tay. He can also match up with some smaller 4’s when the opposition plays “small ball.”
He hustles, shows up to play and doesn’t bitch about playing time. Where could we go wrong signing him?
I’ve always liked Herrmann, but I tend to like people with lots of double consonants in their name. I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do under Curry’s coaching, because I think he’s already proven he can play in the league.
All Hermann has is his flashy scoop layups.He really can’t shoot nor play defense. He’s just the “token white boy” of the squad.
Walter Sharpe can’t defend small forwards yet. Sharpe has intruiging potential but he needs to develop it first. Herrmann is better as the backup small forward because he’ll actually know the system now and will hopefully get minutes to actually produce in it.
nat:
Herrmann can’t shoot? Can’t play defense?
You know what people says about guys with big hands ?
HB I hope your a female
Walter’s got game. He can hit the three, drive to the rim and guard large PF’s. He shut down Dirk in a game last year… I would like to see some experimenting with him at a 3 or 4 lineup.
All hail The HERRMANNSTER!!
Here’s a revision of my guess at next year’s rotation from a couple posts back:
Chauncey - 30
Rip - 30
Stuckey - 30
Tay - 30
Afflalo - 6
Sheed - 21
Dyess - 21
Amir - 21
Maxiell - 21
Hermann/Sharpe and Kwame get minutes based on matchups and injuries.
Those minutes cover the first 42 minutes of the game. The last 6 minutes go to the players having the best game.
Based on Curry’s desire to develop the youth and what sounds like more open competition, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw something kinda like this.
Just because your a pistons fan, doesn’t mean that your not naive.
One year contract for the Aryian Bommber (he is of German descent). Just filling some minutes until Walt can get up to speed playing the #3 which should be sometime this year or next year at the latest.
“All Hermann has is his flashy scoop layups.He really can’t shoot nor play defense. He’s just the “token white boy” of the squad.”
bigot
Rosters starting to take shape. I think Joe is done until deadline, but I am no psychic so he probably has a few tricks hidden. I like Walter H, and I firmly believe he was jerked around by Flip as were most bench players. Sharpe has potential, but lets not throw him to the wolves as the primary backup to Tay. I guess that our success is now completely reliant on Mr Curry. Interesting times ahead.
@nat_Turner_Wit_Tha_Burner:
“Just because your a pistons fan, doesn’t mean that your not naive.”
Your comments prove you’re a shining example of that statement.
My money is on Sharpe getting serious minutes in the Palance before the end of this year.
1. He already has an NBA body
2. He already has an NBA skill set
3. He is 22 and from the interview he gave on Pistonscast and other interviews that he has given that I have read he is already with the program. He has said that he knows that it will be his ability to play defense that will get him minutes in a Pistons uniform.
I don’t know if he will see playoff minutes but he will see minutes this year in a Pistons uniform during the season.
Next year he will be good to go for sure in the regular rotation.
In fact if Sharpe were drafted by teams like Denver or Golden State who don’t play any defense then he would probably be getting NBA minutes this year from the beginning of the season. Not as a starter but as a bench player.
NBA body? Really?
http://cache3.asset-cache.net/xc/82103245.jpg?v=1&c=NewsMaker&k=2&d=17A4AD9FDB9CF19368FFB0B613D6DEB0C746DF7E9E9AF312B1DC5372FFCBAEC3
Maybe if he hits the weights for the entire upcoming season…..
In 2006-07 Herrmann shot 46.1% from 3 (53/115). That’s not a big sample size, but it’s not small either. He played just under 1000 minutes and shot 52.7% (174/330). Also a moderate sample size. The potential is there, and I find it hard to believe Herrmann would turn down more money to play in Europe without some assurance he would get an honest shot at more playing time.
I like him, I think he has a real chance to help us in about 10-15 minutes per night. He would be a welcome addition to the Zoo Crew.
Garrett,
Sharpe is about 6′9, 230 lbs. That’s pretty big for a small forward. But with Herrmann re-signed I do think it makes a lot of sense for him to spend a good amount of time in the D-League this year. He hasn’t played a lot of basketball over the last 3 years, and he’s learning a new position. The thing he needs most for his development is playing time.
Some thing along the lines of Cheikh Samb’s experience last year makes sense to me…playing mostly in the D-League but calling him up once in a while to practice and travel with the Pistons.
Anyone know the details of the contract?
gotta be fairly inexpensive, right?
Boney, the fact that you can’t respect my opinion makes you a bigot yourself. Mike Payne, I bet there’s a good chance you haven’t played ball at a high level or else you wouldn’t of been offended by my comment. As far as hermann goes, it is what it is. I need more substance and less flash.
NBA body? Really?>>
Yep NBA body
6′9″ or 6′10″ and 235 - 240.
That outfit is so baggy its a joke.
You may think he doesn’t go 235 plus but there isn’t one sight on the Net that lists him under 235 and most show him at 245
Now Tay by comparison is 6′9″ and what 215?
How many NBA SF do you know top 240 lbs?
Anthony 230
Artest 246
Battier 220
Bowen 200
C. Butler 228
Hayes 220
Lebron now 260
Jefferson 230
Maggette 225
Pierce 230
Prince 215
Walton 232
M. Williams 230
Here is a current picture of Lebron at 260
http://www.reuters.com/resources/r/?m=02&d=20080623&t=2&i=4873896&w=&r=2008-06-23T173114Z_01_N20413768_RTRUKOP_0_PICTURE0
Here is another one of Walt
http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/98/fullj.2415bee05390d9dce04bb3d1e02ecebb/2415bee05390d9dce04bb3d1e02ecebb-getty-82057005fm152_rookie_shoot.jpg
Anyone know the details of the contract?
gotta be fairly inexpensive, right?>>
I don’t know what his contract is but here is some information
The MLE for the year is $5.4 million or so
It was reported that Brown signed for $4.0 million. My guess it is from the MLE. That would leave us about $1.4 million left from the MLE to sign Herrmann with.
Herrmann made about $1.9 million last year.
However I did some research and it appears that Herrmann might be eligible to be signed using the Non-Bird Exception which in his case would be about $2.2 million.
We may also have the Bi-Annual Exception to sign him with. That I believe is about $1.8 million
There is the Early-Bird Exception under which we would have to pay him a lot more than the numbers above. I doubt we would have used that. If we used the Non-Bird Exception we would have had to renounce our rights to the Bird-Exception.
After he is actually signed I am sure you will be able to find the amount listed on the Net on one of the sights that lists teams players salaries.
The salary cap under rules under the CBA are very complicated to say the least.
Jim:
Sharpe is about 6′9, 230 lbs. That’s pretty big for a small forward. But with Herrmann re-signed I do think it makes a lot of sense for him to spend a good amount of time in the D-League this year>>
I don’t think that we (the fans) can just shuffle him off to the D-League for the whole or even part of next year.
He has all of August during which the Pistons are having 3 weeks of voluntary workouts, which I am sure he will participate in, up in Auburn Hills.
He will also have all of October and the 8 exhibition games to show what he can do.
As to whether he goes to the D-League or not it seems to me that it might be more prudent to see what he does in October.
If he then goes to the D-League how long he stays there will depend on a number of factors including his performance, possible injuries (hopefully not) etc.
What I do think is that Joe D. SP and MC will give Walt every chance to make the the opening night roster and not just automatically shuffle him off to the D-League.
Just my opinion.
Nat -
Why so defensive? Mike Payne could have never touched a basketball and his point would still have been just as relevant.
I haven’t spent a ton of time here, but it seems that the community (for the most part) values thoughtful and thought-provoking analysis. Not generalized hyperbole that does little to advance the discourse. Commenters do get heated and it comes across in their posts, but the overarching theme is that they back up their arguments with facts or, at the very least, a sound opinion.
Feel free to continue insulting others and propogating intellectually weak points of view. Just don’t expect friendly responses in turn.
@Colin:
+1,000. Couldn’t have said it better myself! Thanks for the defense, my friend.
@Nat:
“He really can’t shoot nor play defense. He’s just the “token white boy” of the squad.”
Part one, the “really can’t shoot” part. If you watched him play a handful of Detroit games, I can see how you’d think that. When given consistent minutes, he can shoot brilliantly. In nearly 20 minutes per game in 06-07, he shot 53% from the field and 46% from three. Take a look:
http://www.82games.com/0607/06CHA11A.HTM
When given solid minutes- say 18+ minutes per game behind Tayshaun, I’d expect no less than 46% shooting out of Herrmann
As for “He’s just the “token white boy” of the squad.”
You say that, and then in the next breath you say this:
“Just because your a pistons fan, doesn’t mean that your not naive.”
Thus fulfilling your own statement. Naive, ignorant and a little offensive. I wasn’t repeating your statement about your “really can’t shoot” statement, as that wasn’t offensive, it was just wrong.
As always, I co-sign with MP.
Mike: I dunno, man. He still looks pretty thin to me, but I guess I’ll take your word for it. I think he looks more like Tayshaun than LeBron, plus he has a young man’s neck (all skinny). He has a ways to fill out, so if he’s as big as he’s listed now he’ll be a beast in 3 or 4 years.
“I don’t think that we (the fans) can just shuffle him off to the D-League for the whole or even part of next year.”
Mike - It wasn’t ment as a slight to Sharpe…I’m very high on the kid. In my opinion the best way for him to develop would be to get a lot of playing time, which at this time I couldn’t see him getting because of Herrmann, as well as Rip and Afflalo who can also back up Tay.
That’s my opinion now, but as you correctly pointed out there is a lot of practice and exhibition games (plus injuries) for him to change my opinion…if he does that’s great because I think Herrmann can be very solid back up SF.
Glad to hear the news that Hermann is back on board. His shot is pretty ugly(I’m talking about the three pointer) but he plays really good D and can spell Tay until Walter gets up to speed. Even if Walter makes the roster and seems ready to go on day one of the 2008/2009 season he gives Joe flexibility in the event a trade offer comes up that he simply can’t refuse like an offer for Rasheed (or Tay) with us getting a stud in return.
Wouldn’t be too hard on Nat. Though I don’t support ignorant statements I remember a Pistons playoff game where a row of non minority individuals from Detroit at a Pistons home game were rooting for the Chicago Bulls because according to them “they had white players in important roles and the Pistons didn’t”. They were wearing regalia that suggested that Joe D was a racist. Never mind the fact that the coach for the Pistons was white.
I laughed at first until I realized these guys were serious…
shawnindc
I don’t really understand the point you are trying to make.
A group of idiotic fans at a past Pistons game doesn’t justify idiotic statements.
Moving on….
I hope Sharpe can come in and do some damage (i do think it is possible), but i have more confidence now with the WH signing.
@ShawnInDC:
“I remember a Pistons playoff game where a row of non minority individuals from Detroit at a Pistons home game were rooting for the Chicago Bulls because according to them “they had white players in important roles and the Pistons didn’t”.”
You’ll never find those types here at DBB.
“I remember a Pistons playoff game where a row of non minority individuals from Detroit at a Pistons home game were rooting for the Chicago Bulls because according to them “they had white players in important roles and the Pistons didn’t”.”
I wonder how many Bostonians are going to run out and buy a Patrick O’Bryant jersey before they realize he’s black.
@Nat:
One more thing:
http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/8144/walterherrmannfornattu1.jpg
I don’t think the D-league will benefit Sharpe that much. From what I’ve seen the D-league is more of a “look at me NBA” offense first (and foremost) league, As is mentioned above, Sharpe is well aware that his minutes are going to come from his defense. I see him on the bench this season learning how to defend at the 3 in the “Big” league. I got to watch him in a couple LVSL games he looks like a guy who is VERY comfortable on the offensive end of the floor, but sorta (but not in a bad way) lost on the defensive end, which is very likely because he is transitioning to a new position. I don’t think the D-league will benefit Sharpe, he needs the show.
Not to give to much credit to the fine art of trolling being displayed here but:
Walter dresses like a high level drug dealer in a bad action movie about DEA agents. He’s WAY too smooth to be the “Token White Boy” of the squad.
When I think “Token White Boy” of the squad, I think MJ Fox’s character in Teen Wolf before he learns he’s a werewolf, or some huge uncoordinated stiff from Europe who can barely move (or speak English)…
Also, what exactly does “played ball at a high level” mean? I mean, I play in a crappy rec league at a YMCA in Toronto with men who are mostly pushing 40… Sometimes I even play “at a high level”
Are you really saying you’ve played college ball? I’d call you a liar but your poor attitude and inability to string together more than one half-assed declaration (with no evidence/supportive arguments) at a time TOTALLY radiate “American College Baller”…
*grins*
I think walter coming back is a good thing. I wanted him to back up tay all during last season when we were discussing the ups and downs of a former pistons who oisn’t coming back.
I’m guessing coach sees something we don’t and he likes it. Hopefully he gets his minutes and makes the best out of them.
Nat_Turner_Wit_Tha_Burner,
The fact I can’t respect your opinion about what? You referring to Herrmann as the “token white guy”??? Gee, I’m sorry for calling a spade a spade. But then again, I’m sorry for your mother and father who raised an asshat, like you.
You are the ignorant one, my friend. You are the one who injected race into the discussion, therefore, my friend, you are the bigot.
shawnindc,
So we shouldn’t be too hard on Nat because you saw some white guys at a basketball game cheering for one team because they had more white guys in power positions? That’s hilarious.
I guess it would be ok for me to say last offseason that “I’m glad to see Detroit re-signed Chauncey. We all know those brothas can ball”…
Boney-
I was trying to say (not that well I might add) that these comments go both ways. And that it’s better to not get worked up about it. You can’t argue on such emotional issues without throwing mud yourself.
I read the comments here on DBB to get some insight into what others are thinking about the Pistons. Not to read juvenile vitriol that has nothing to do with basketball.
I probably should have ignored your comments and stuck to what I really want to talk about but I guess I was tired and easily drawn into your foolish banter with nat.
Go Pistons!
Mike: I dunno, man. He still looks pretty thin to me, but I guess I’ll take your word for it. I think he looks more like Tayshaun than LeBron, plus he has a young man’s neck (all skinny). He has a ways to fill out, so if he’s as big as he’s listed now he’ll be a beast in 3 or 4 years.
I asked one of the Pistons writers if they could get a current update of the actual heights and weights of Johnson, Samb and Sharpe during the 3 week voluntary workouts in Auburn Hills. I think all three will be there. If I hear anything I will post it.
How come no one that I have read or heard has asked the question.
Why are non of the coaches on our Olympic men’s basketball team African-American?
There are plenty of excellent African-American coaches in both the NCAA and NBA but evidently non at Duke.
“How come no one that I have read or heard has asked the question.
Why are non of the coaches on our Olympic men’s basketball team African-American?
There are plenty of excellent African-American coaches in both the NCAA and NBA but evidently non at Duke.”
How come there are no white players on the USA Basketball team? There are plenty of excellent white basketball players.
Perhaps the reason why noone is asking the question, at least here, is because this is a Detroit Pistons’ website.
douche
It is not just here.
I haven’t heard it asked anywhere on the Net.
As far as good white ballers in the NBA. I can’t think of any non African-American ones that are US citizens that are good enough to make the top 12 or whatever the number is.
What white player is good enough that you would replace one of the members on our team with?
Jason Kidd has a white mother.
Here are the top white players who are U.S. citizens. I may have missed one, but none of these guys its seems to me qualify as a player who is better than any of our Olympic players.
PG: Steve Blake / Kirk Hinrich / Chris Quinn
SG: Mike Miller / Brent Barry
SF: Mike Dunleavy / Luke Walton
PF: David Lee / Nick Collison / Matt Bonner
C: Brad Miller
http://www.rotoevil.com/nba/all-white-team
Mike Miller probably comes the closest but in my opinion he is not good enough.
*Taps foot impatiently waiting for the first white guy to say “But LARRY BIRD WAS WHITE”*
This conversation is hellz played out btw… just incase ya’ll were wondering.
Also, I don’t know if you guys were aware of this but African Americans pretty much dominate all professional team sports.
Final point, Larry Bird has admitted that he used to get REALLY mad when opposing coaches put “the White guy” on him, and take EXTRA care to punish them for the perceived lack of respect.
I guess what I’m saying is: Race isn’t important in basketball until it is. It doesn’t mean anything to me or you or frankly even MOST sane people. Otoh let’s not pretend it doesn’t exist, there is DEFINATELY a perception that white players aren’t as good as black players overall. It even goes to draft prospects where black players tend to be described as “Athletic/Raw” and white players get the “Smart/Good Shooter/No Upside” label… in MANY cases by announcers who have NEVER seen them play (seriously I’d bet MONEY at this point that Dick Vitale (sp?) has never seen a NCAA basketball game… and yes, I know he’s a former Stones coach, he’s just THAT clueless imho)..
PistonsGirl
Well it seems like everyone else you are avoiding my question.
How come there are no African-American coaches on the men’s Olympic basketball team?
Does it have anything to do with coach K and NASCAR country?
It should be an issue as far as I am concerned.
Everyone says lets have equal employment opportunities for people in corporations. Fine, that sounds greats to me. How come no equal employment opportunities for men’s Olympic basketball coaches? I don’t know how big coach K’s staff is but it is a lot more than just 2.
Chris Kaman would have been the best U.S. white player, but he’s playing for Germany.
And PG4L, you’re forgetting baseball. And hockey. Is hockey still a major sport?
Anyhow, I am glad that Herrmann was signed. He can shoot (apparently liking that right corner three). This will enable Sharpe to get a lot of playing time in the D-League.
Speaking of the D-League, does Samb still have eligibility there? If so, I’d like to see him do the same thing this year as last (along with Sharpe), namely, spend most of the time getting on the court in the D-League with the occasional practice and spot minutes with the Pistons. It seems to me that NBA teams should send any young player that isn’t a part of the regular rotation to the D-League. At least then the players can get some time on the floor, which is where they really learn.
Probably close to half or even more of the head coaches in the NBA are now African-American and some of them are among the best coaches in the league.
So why did coach K. select D’Antoni as an assistant and not say Avery Johnson?
More importantly why is no one even asking the question?
I believe that Samb has D-league eligibility along with Sharpe, Plasted, Washington, Afflalo and Stuckey. LOL
I though Nate McMillan was an assistant. He’s black, no?
Sorry I forgot.
I believe the rule is that all players under NBA contract for their first two years under contract are eligible.
I believe that last year was the first year that Samb had an NBA contract so he would be eligible this year along with Afflalo, Stuckey and the guys we drafted. Of course Plaisted is in Europe so he does not have an NBA contract and would like Samb retain his full two years of D-League eligibility once he signs an NBA contract.
As far as I know Washington at this point has no contract here or internationally.
Yep, Nate’s name is there at the bottom. http://www.usabasketball.com/men_team.php?page=msnt_roster
I guess, you could still say that African American’s are underrepresented on the coaching staff. To me, I think picking Coach K was fairly stupid, but the rest are logical: Dantoni (international experience), McMillan (defense), Boeheim (zone). Also, the NBA has a pretty good track record of integrating minorities into the coaching and management ranks. There is probably still room for improvement, but it’s much better than the NFL.
Strongly resisting the urge to make Tiger Woodesque “Nobody watches Hockey” smarmy remark. That having been said we all know why there aren’t more black hockey players…
Basketball = 10-12 kids…. 1 20 dollar Ball, some pavement and a couple hoops, with or without chain nets.
Hockey = Thousands of dollars worth of equipment your kid will grow out of inside of a year.
It’s considerably more “Socio-economic” than “Racial” but the effect is primarily the same.
All THAT having been said, point taken. I wasn’t trying to say black players are better at all sports, merely that there is a strong perception of such and as a result they tend to dominate the sports leagues we watch (namely the NFL and NBA). Baseball is barely a sport IMHO but I’m forced to concede that it IS making a nice rebound in terms of “people watching/caring/buying tickets”..
Also, Mike, I avoided the question because I really don’t know the answer. Otoh, I’ve seen Duke shift from a team that almost always featured white players to a team willing to build around anyone with game, black, white or even British. If Coach K is a secret racist, he doesn’t seem to have any trouble hiding it at Tourney time, that’s for sure.
NOW, as for why we hired DUKE’s coach to run our Olympic team when Duke’s new brand name should be “WECHOKEDAILY”…. well, that is another question.
Bill Lambs for team USA coach! Teach these Euros “The Jordan Rules”! Lol.
Rip’s agent stole $500k from him?
http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/articles/2008/08/03/rushing_to_their_defense/?page=3
Mike Payne, I met that douchebag! I’m friends with Luol Deng’s cousin. That guy was Rip and Luol’s business manager. My friend and I went to a Lakers/Bulls game and we had to get our tickets from this guy.
The jackass took the seats in the third row and gave my friend and I seats further back (still decent seats but, come on, you’re going to give your clients cousin the crappier seats?).
Wow, my comments changed the whole tone of the comments. Awesome!!!
Boney , you fail to realize that Hermann really is the token white boy of the squad. Gee…I’m sorry for calling a spade a spade, but it is what it is. He’s just as token as you are a loser, and your a major L7. I’m sorry if i was being honest about what most people keep in the dark. My comments don’t make me ignorant they simply make me aware of what this country is really about. You obviously have no clue about the real world. Do me a favor, stay off internet blogs and try to get “boned” for a change.
Rip got ripped off by his agent.
http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/60734
I don’t know where to post this, so I guess I’ll just say it here:
Chris Sheridan is a commie bastard who’d rather see Team USA lose JUST so he can be right with his pre-tournament prediction (The one he didn’t have the heart to come right out an make but has been alluding to with all his negative articles so he can claim he knew all along we’d lose to INSERTGREECESPAINORARGENTINAHERE). Seriously how else can you explain this:
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/olybb/columns/story?columnist=sheridan_chris&page=USARussiaRecap-080802
Basically the teaser to the article is something about Jason Kidd being benched. Then he goes on to theorize that Jason Kidd will likely be benched at some point because Paul/Williams carved up Russia’s zone (Russia plays a mix of man and zone. They could HARDLY be called experts at it like say, Greece or Argentina). He COMPLETELY ignores the part when Kidd’s team-mates make fun of him for being old and Kidd himself blows off the supposed “Benching” which EVERYONE except Chris Sheridan seems to realize wasn’t a “Benching” at all but a REST for a 38 year old PG in a game that didn’t matter.
I’m no Jason Kidd fan but JESUS why is this fool trying to start trouble where there is none? I know he’s a reporter but this is OUR COUNTRY we’re talking about… as in MUCH BIGGER than ESPN or Chris Sheridan.
Asshat.
Oh man, there’s a poll at NBA Gauntlet about who’s better, Baron Davis or Chauncey Billups. Let’s get Chauncey a landslide win!
http://www.nbagauntlet.com/
PG4L,
While I can’t stand Chris Sheridan myself, I can’t help but hope the basketball team loses in the Olympics as well. But for different reasons.
After watching highlights of the exhibition games I have come to seriously dislike Dwyane Wade, LeBron and Carmelo more than I thought I ever would/could. It’s one thing to throw an alley oop to make a statement in the game, it’s another to showboat when you’re up 30+ in a game. While it’s not as disrespectful as Shawn Kemp hanging on the rim and grabbing his sack on a dunk, I think throwing an alley oop and then saluting to the crowd as if you’re some type of soldier is just a tad bit wrong.
I’ve felt this way ever since the NBA decided it was ok to throw professional basketball players into the Olympic competition which used to be about amateurs. I didn’t have glee in 2004 when Team USA lost, but it’s not like I was unhappy about it. The Olympics should be about the amateur athletes like they used to be, but since the Pros are involved, it’s easy to cheer for the underdog.
This Jerry Colangelo/Coach K management of this version of Team USA bugs the crap out of me. They keep going around like robots talking about how they are doing things the right way and that they are going to represent the country so well and continually throwing the 2004 team under the bus. How about not being such sore losers and acknowledging that Argentina beat the US fair and square? I didn’t know it was the “right way” to offer up a million excuses every time you lost. The classy thing would be to tip you cap to Argentina and shut up.
Boney, I used to feel the same way until I realized that the only country sending amateurs was the U.S. The Yao Mings, AK-47’s, Manu Ginobili’s were already in the Olympics. We started losing when we kept sending college kids while they were sending seasoned professional players. No they weren’t NBA players at the time, but they were seasoned professional vets in the pro-leagues in their countries. I just use those names as examples, please don’t reply and tell me Yao wasn’t in the 1988 Olympics. We seemed to lose the last two Olympics because others played team ball, Larry Brown play the right way ball, and we were sending the Alan Iverson’s who don’t have a clue about team ball and there was all this one on one play. Hopefully these guys can get it done. I just want Tay back healthy man. I’m patriotic and all but the Pistons are my first concern basketball wise. The little action I saw Friday mornning man, D-Williams and CP3 were getting to the hoop at will. I can’t wait to see Stuckey next season. They predicted Stuck for the next Olympics. He must have really been impressive while playing for the Select practice team.
E Double,
In 15 Olympic summers, the USA Basketball team won 2 bronze, 1 silver and 12 gold medals. That’s not exactly a poor performance considering 1 bronze and 1 silver came before professional athletes were allowed by FIBA to play in the Olympics.
I’m not going to get into any Allen Iverson discussion regarding team play because I don’t want the overly sensitive s-stains to come out of the woodwork and tell me I’m somehow a bigot.
All I’m saying is, even though the 1992 “Dream Team” blew teams out they still respected the fact that they were playing in the Olympics. These guys nowadays take the court and make it their own personal “And 1″ mixtape where alley oops and standing on the baseline saluting the air like you’re a soldier is somehow respectful. The reason why these foreign teams get up for the Americans is because of how we have the big names on the roster but they can win without flash and showboating.
There’s a time for showboating (All Star Game, Rookie v. Sophomore game, Dunk contest, when you beat the Celtics, etc).
It’s not like I’m any less american for not being a fan of the United States in the Olympics. I’ll admit, I don’t even give a sh*t about the Olympics. I do, however, enjoy watching the “what went wrong” excuses about Larry Brown and the 2004 Olympics. It’s hilarious considering that the winning Argentina team had 3 NBA players on it, 1 of which is now back to playing overseas.
Boney, you will get your wish and more. I was visited by a giant in my room who told me that Australia will beat the US and Bogut will dunk on Howard whilst grabbing his nuts.
Also, the owls are not what they seem.
@Boney:
+100
@Laughton:
+101
Two things really:
A) The commie bit was a joke because the Olympics are in China and I’m rooting for team USA. Of course rooting against team USA isn’t Un-American… it was a joke.
B) Boney, you aren’t a columnist for “The World Wide Leader In Sports”. Not to minimize your impact, but you’re pretty much INCAPABLE of scuttling team USA’s chances at the Olympics. Sheridan otoh is a well connected Basketball writer who can VERY well pee in the pool until he creates problems he can then report on.
YOU can talk all the nonsense you want about wanting team USA to lose… Sheridan otoh has a responsiblity to report what happened.
Calling Jason Kidd’s “rest” in the second half of a meaningless game a “benching” instead of what it was (and every member of team USA who was asked said it was)… a break for an old PG in a game that meant nothing. He should be APPLAUDING Coach K for finding extra time for Paul/Williams, instead he buries Jason Kidd.
Rooting against Team USA is not unamerican. It’s actually quite “american” when you consider that we have the right to cheer for whoever we want. Now (and I don’t know this for fact but…) if we lived in say, oh I dunno, Iran and we rooted for the USA team my arm holding the pom pom I wave in the air after every alley oop would likely be cut off.
Hopefully Nathan Jawai is on the Australian team so he can dunk on cats like I know he’ll do in the NBA. It’s just a shame that DeVon Hardin won’t be around to prove himself in the Olympic games.
PG4L,
Chris Sheridan doesn’t like old school basketball. Chris Sheridan doesn’t like basketball centered around defense. Chris Sheridan would rather have the NBA game turn into a real life “NBA Jam” video game where the ball is really on fire after 3 consecutive shots are made.
Chris Sheridan does not respect the Pistons and therefore he can kiss my ass (and hopefully yours too).
Sorry Boney, Jawai is not part of the team
The Boomers would be HUGE if they had him though.
Here is an article on the Olympic Basketball tournament from an Aussie perspective. It is a fairly good read and gives a summary of each teams chances. Click my name if it isn’t showing up.
http://www.nbl.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=75588
http://www.nbl.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=75588
Olympic Preview
Interesting read. Previews the teams playing.
And yes, it is the Hummer Championship *snickers*
Every time I open ESPN anymore, it’s like the columnists are competing to be the most unlikable. Between Gene Wojciechowski, Bill Simmons, Rick Reilly, and the impending return of Gregg Easterbrook…yikes.
Also, I’d like to point out that Carlos Arroyo’s headed to Maccabi Tel-Aviv for a three year deal. I know he’s not particularly loved among Pistons fans, but I always liked him. It’s definitely subjective and I could be way off base, but I always thought the biggest thing he brought for us was energy on the sidelines and in the huddle, which really seemed to impact the energy on the court.
All this anti-Sheridan talk– its not like Rasheed ever chased him around with a bottle of orange crush before, thrusting it at his neck. Come on, people.
Oh wait…
Shinons,
Carlos will not be missed by me.
It’s not often that I’m waaaaaay off base about a guy’s talent, but after seeing this ass clown pick apart the US Team in the 2004 Olympics I was ecstatic about Detroit acquiring him. I figured he was a great ballhandler based on what I saw in the Olympics, but it turns out he was just a ballhog who is a very poor man’s Jason Williams (the white one).
Good riddance. Especially after seeing how far he has fallen when he has resorted to flopping when he gets beat on the drive by Billups and Stuckey in the playoffs.
Hopefully the Tel Aviv guys enjoy your black pantyhose you idiot.
Chris Sheridan, much like some of us (I won’t name names, but one of the names rhymes with MoyerJoy) hides behind a keyboard. I have seen him once in my entire ESPN watching life, and that was on an Outside The Lines segment about the USA Basketball team.
I’d like to have a slow gin fizz with Chris Sheridan one day. Maybe we can discuss how defense is a key element of winning basketball games, or something.
Hides behind a keyboard? Because he doesn’t do TV stuff? I’ve seen him at games and in the locker room, and if you recall, the day after he started that “Sheed vs Flip” fiasco a couple of years back, he showed up at practice to face the subjects of his column (and was harangued with the aforementioned bottle of orange soda).
Some guys do hide behind a typewriter (Jay Mariotti is notorious for never going into the White Sox clubhouse, as are some Detroit sports talk radio hosts), but Sheridan doesn’t.
Yeah, I’m not feeling the “hiding behind the keyboard” criticism either. Those reporters that are just trying to be celebrities or have an overinflated ego are the most obnoxious to me. Yes Mitch Albom, I’m looking at you.
uh….
That Sheridan article doesn’t seem to make a big deal out of what happened. It just says that Kidd might see less time going forward… and it sounds like everyone involved knows that is a possibility and is fine with it. At no point does Sheridan elude to a controversy by suggesting Kidd might get upset over the situation.
ANYHOO-
despite the polarizing opinions on Herrmann and officially-signed Kwame Brown… at the very least there is something to watch for the start of the season. One side is going to be wrong.
And maybe something more interesting still happens that makes WH and KB less interesting.
Aaron, I call balls… He SPECIFICALLY put “Benching” in the teaser and then he went on to describe Paul/Williams and how they carved up Russia’s zone.
Please learn to read.
Actually, let me take that back:
I’ve been re-reading this site now for about a month, posting for a couple of days, etc etc etc.
You know what? You guys suck. This site used to be a great place to hang out, jab about the Pistons and well frankly? Basketball. I had to spend like my first 2 weeks here training the blowhards to not bother to engage me, but once THEY were toast (I’m looking at you LB, but whatever compared to these NEW kids? You’re a poet).. it was fun.
NOW, everything is a long protracted opinion/arguement about crap that doesn’t matter. People don’t read, spout fairly uninformed nonsense. Everything is “Yes it is, no it isn’t”… I mean I just had a guy tell me Chris Sheridan WASN’T dumping on Jason Kidd in an article where he clearly was. We aren’t talking OPINION, it’s there in printed words man. Everything you guys do is a 2-3 page arguement.
In a word? This website sucks and it has NOTHING to do with the poor soul responsible for putting up more content for you to argue like b*tches about. See you someplace else on the web because this is like the ESPN forum now.
ciao
Please don’t leave! Just kidding.
“In a word? This website sucks and it has NOTHING to do with the poor soul responsible for putting up more content for you to argue like b*tches about. See you someplace else on the web because this is like the ESPN forum now.”
I’m sad to say that I agree. Apologies to Matt W. Of course one of the reasons I come here are the main posts, but the guts of DBB have been the comments. The comments here have typically been a major step above anywhere else - the Freep, ESPN, need4sheed (apologies Natalie.) I have greatly enjoyed reading really insightful comments, from haiku to interesting trade ideas.
Now, however, it seems as though this particular thread encapsulates what is slowly happening here: the degradation of the DBB community into snippy, stupid, ad hominem, ridiculous, meaningless posturing. It’s pathetic to see this site go the way of the rest of the damn Internet.
I do not know the cause of this. I have theories: 1) the Pistons haven’t changed much in the past two years, so there isn’t much to do except cannibalize ourselves and flame each other, since we have already discussed our starting five to death; 2) the ‘Top Commenters’ widget seems to have brought out a competitive commenting spirit that has reached its logical conclusion: internecine conflicts; 3) The Pistons haven’t won a championship, so we have to fight with each other.
Any, or all, of these reasons are no excuse for the kind of junk I’ve been reading in the comments here lately. This is pathetic, and I hope we are all properly ashamed of ourselves.
PG4L:
Don’t be a jerk. You posted something, you expect everyone to agree with you?
I did not say the article was not “dumping” on Kidd. I was stating that (to me) it didn’t seem like the article was stirring up trouble where there was none… like your original post claimed.
I do not think Sheridan was exaggerating the facts by suggesting Kidd might play less in the future. ESPN probably just used the word “controversy” in the teaser to get clicks.
I just thought the reaction here was a little too extreme.
By the way, basketball news is slow… Detroit news is VERY slow… and people are just desperate for something to talk about. That’s why Sheridan’s article existed in the first place.
I was trying to segue back into the Herrmann stuff.
Who, by the way, is going to be GREAT this season. Probably Sixth Man of the Year!
Sarcasm doesn’t go over well on posts, so i am just going to clarify that the previous line was mildly sarcastic. I honestly think Herrmann COULD do well if he is our back-up SF. Glass half full.
I thought it was pretty obvious why Coach K was hired. They took Larry Brown, a guy who supposedly forced his players to “play the right way” and that didn’t work (sure Larry didn’t have the best players to work with but he also didn’t utilize the players at the end of the bench who could have made an impact).
Coach K is a great college coach and great college coaches have a number of standard characteristics:
1) They almost always are capable of building a team atmosphere and getting their players to truly buy into the system that that coach is creating.
2) They know and understand people better than NBA coaches. It is much harder trying to manage and get 18-21 year old kids to be motivated when there is no guarantee that all their hard work will even pay off than it is to get NBA superstars who are doing this for their job.
Team USA needed a coach who could get the superstars to set their egos aside and buy into TEAM USA basketball. I think they made a smart choice in Coach K. and filled their assistant coaching positions well to cover a multitude of talents from the coaching level.
Furthermore there is no risk of the head coach being partial to certain players since he is not an NBA coach. Sure he may have had some of these players at Duke, but at least he’s somewhat removed from the NBA.
As for under-representation of African-American coaches on Team USA, we have no idea who they interviewed and what their criteria for choosing coaches were. Just because there are great Black coaches who could probably fill in well doens’t mean that those specific coaches had the skill sets that Colangelo was looking for.
I don’t think people are making an issue out of this because despite folks like Nat who flame boards claiming our entire country is filled with public and private displays of racism, my guess is that the majority of the analysts and columnists feel that the coaching picks made are good picks. It’s not like there won’t be another Olympics where African-American coaches won’t be included.
Honestly, I’m sick and tired of people seeking out racial issues where race most likely never played a part in the situation to begin with. It’s creating issues like this that continue to perpetuate the idea that our country is incredibly racist. In actuality, we’re probably one of the most accepting countries in the world. The majority of Europe doesn’t have to deal with diversity. Spending six months in Spain I saw maybe 10-15 people of different ethnic backgrounds than standard Mediterranean Spaniard in a city of over 100,000 people.
PG4L, Amen. Not calling out anyone in particular but I’ve had several conversations the few weeks you were away where you would make a few solid points and someone would not disagree with you at all, but call you out because of some miscroscopic error. For instance if I said Isaiah was a great player. I see some of him in Chris Paul. The person would reply and say Chris Paul is 1 inch taller, but not disagree with my analogy at all. Just dumb stuff like that. Or guys get so caught up in their made up stats man. There is nothing wrong with supporting your arguments with stats. But if I feel like a certain player has choked during crunch and playoff time in their career, then that’s my damn opinion. Don’t come give me some damn ‘per’ stat about so and so player free throw percentage is 5 pts higher in the 4th quarter. What the hell ever. I agree with you though, this summmer has been a drag on DBB. Guys post 3 page long comments now. What the hell?
“I do not know the cause of this. I have theories: 1) the Pistons haven’t changed much in the past two years, so there isn’t much to do except cannibalize ourselves and flame each other, since we have already discussed our starting five to death; 2) the ‘Top Commenters’ widget seems to have brought out a competitive commenting spirit that has reached its logical conclusion: internecine conflicts; 3) The Pistons haven’t won a championship, so we have to fight with each other.”
Reflections:
1) People have been amazingly stupid re: basketball assessments, since time immemorial. Their opinions are another story.
2) I am unsure. I guess, with regard to people whose monikers appear every now and then, that they will disagree, and then they will sometimes direct attacks from the disagreement. I can’t speak for anyone else, but even though I feel kevin’s a fucking moron for thinking anything good can come out of Kwame Brown, I won’t hold his mental midgetry against him. I guess he just likes Kwame Brown, and his fine bulbous ass. Whatever, the two can find a room. I mean, go fuck yourself kevin, I love you, you silly son of a bitch. Put on your sailor outfit, you sweet baboo.
3) I never thought this.
I can suggest . . .
This internets-place has largely ignored the fact that the league appears to be a gigantic fucking sham . . . total rigjob. Stern’s grip is the bad touch. For me, it’s not really Donaghy. That guy is the blood we coughed up . . . but Stern? He’s literally killing the joy and life of the NBA. This will not get better; the league’s health is terminal.
A problem I have with any internet-sport-place dedicated to one subject remains the fish-bowl and tunnel vision. There’s a big wide world of things happening, and many of those things relate to what’s happening in the backyard. Many of the assessments seem highly ridiculous, from a distorted, disjointed, and red-white-blue-colored set of coke-bottle glasses.
Also, the fact that you guys can whip out imaginary swords and have a big ol’ fight is directly due to the respect Matt Watson gives ‘approved’ IDs. Normally, if you’re all pissed off at each other and things aren’t working and everything is broke and wrong, that’s the sign of bad leadership at the top. NBA . . . ’nuff said about that. Detroit Bad Boys? The name implies, “caution, turbulence ahead.” Matt lets you fools get to the business. Most of those complaints are due to some outward-expressed fear that you got rocked, more than anything else.
If you can’t spot the sucker at the table, then you’re it, I guess.
In sum, fuck Boston.
People complaining about the degradation of DBB comments:
This started happening during Round 1 of the playoffs this year. Prior to that, this place was the best kept secret on the internets as far as I’m concerned. Just because there’s some idiots running around doesn’t mean that all the “smart” and “informed” people should take their ball and go home. Just don’t feed the morons. Every time I see FRED W. CAPEL, I don’t even bother reading. There’s several others I routinely ignore.
Also, just because some people are stat heads and tout the PER rating (or whatever all the rage is) doesn’t mean they can’t contribute to the conversation. I think the anti-Moneyball crowd in baseball has largely missed that point. Case and point: I’m currently reading Built To Win by John Schuerholz that’s about the Atlanta Braves and their run of 14 straight division titles. He slams Moneyball in chapter 2, but misses the point entirely. My take home point from Moneyball was that in order to survive the A’s identified market inefficiencies and used statistical analysis and scouting to exploit those market inefficiencies. Essentially the Braves use all the same statistical measures of “Moneyball” teams but trust their scouts to see things that the statistics aren’t necessarily showing. This led to them making decisions like trading for JD Drew or any of their waiver wire acquisitions. I think this is largely how the Pistons operate, and it leads to low risk moderate-to-high reward scenarios like Kwame Brown, Antonio McDyess, Rasheed Wallace, or Jarvis Hayes. My point is the stat heads bring useful information, but it’s not the end all be all and as long as you recognize that, you can use what they’re saying to formulate and shape your own opinions.
Just because somebody has a counter point doesn’t mean that they’re wrong. You guys are right the ad hominem attacks, they’re counterproductive. There’s still a lot of good stuff here, you just have to wade through more crap to get to it.
*weeps*
The only way to overcome our sins is to walk in step with the devil. Only then can we turn our backs on darkness.
Anyone read the olympic thing? I know its got an aftertaste, I like it !
Other Matt, I’m a fan of Moneyball as well. Great read. Very quick too. And I think it’s funny that people are trying to point out that Billy Beane’s system doesn’t work because the A’s aren’t winning as much, when the real reason is because more teams are using aspects of Moneyball so he can’t bilk them anymore (Red Sox didn’t win a world series until they hired Bill James).
That being said, I’ve found that stats in basketball lie (or, at the very least, fail to tell the story) more than stats in other sports. For example, rebound stats can be padded by getting “easy” rebounds off missed free throws. A better metric would be “contested” rebounds or percentage of “contested” rebounds.
I don’t think stats are worthless, but I think that there’s plenty of room for some enterprising front office to find performance metrics and statistics that would find undervalued talent the same way Billy Beane did/does.
I really hope the regulars that comment here don’t leave. It’s you guys that keep this site on an even keel, regardless of what is typed. I believe the people that will remain on a fan site such as this one, truly have a passion for Detroit basketball. I know I do. Ride out the storm (in a teacup) and calm seas will surely follow.
QD, I’m with you 100% on this. As far as I’m concerned, the Atlanta Braves are the ultimate “Moneyball” team in that they use statistics and scouting to overcome their small market stature. They do a lot of the same things that the A’s do, and they’ve been doing it forever. If their scouts make a recommendation, there better be stats to validate what they’re saying, or be a damn good reason why the stats aren’t validating it. What the A’s did was revolutionary because they identified the biggest market inefficiency and used their limited dollars to exploit that.
I think the Pistons operate in much the same manner as the Braves in taking low risk fliers on guys who’ve either produced or have the skills to produce. We also cut our losses quickly on guys who don’t pan out. The kind of sustained success that both the Braves and the Pistons have is nearly impossible to find in professional sports and both front offices should be applauded.
I’m only 4 chapters into Built to Win, but I highly recommend it. The first chapter is how they almost traded for Barry Bonds in the early 90s. I was hooked right away.
Also: I think Moneyball tactics work on a large scale. It’s generally good policy to not give away outs to advance runners. There are obvious exceptions to the rule. One is in late game situations (8th or 9th innings), getting the winning run to 3rd base with less than 2 outs creates a larger number of run scoring possibilities. It also depends on where you’re at in the lineup. My point here is that, as with everything else, the truth lies somewhere in the middle of 2 warring viewpoints.
I now return you to your regularly scheduled “Kwame sucks/Herrmann sucks/DBB sucks” debate.
Well, I guess I’m one of the newer people on this blog. I had read it off and on, but never commented until after the playoffs this year. I have been occasionally annoyed by particularly longwinded arguments or general douchiness. But, the reality is that everyone’s a douche sometimes, including all of you mourning the death of reason here at DBB. Nevertheless, this site is still the best place to talk pistons. I think we’d all be better off if we didn’t accuse each other of being illiterate or otherwise belittling each other. But what do I know? I don’t carry the cache that certain people here seem to think they have.
Well here’s how it is:
I can honestly say that I saved my snark and vicious comments for Cavs’ boards during the season in years past. Matt can vouch for that… that’s how I attained my “commenter” status.
It wasn’t until I was challenged to a fight on this very site where I said “you know what? if the comment leader in the clubhouse is going to be a prick to me then screw it”.
I miss the days of kindly ribbing Sauce about Amir. I miss the days of PG4L arguing about how Mike Dunleavy sucks. I miss the days of QD, MikePayne, JackDutch, etc all throwing their 2 pennies in and all of us respected what was said. I know Matt is busy doing what Matt does, but even Matt hasn’t commented here a lot recently. He’s likely as tired of this as all of the regulars are.
To the new people, it hasn’t always been like this. This used to be a very knowledgable fanbase that commented here on the regular now it’s turned into a virtual suckfest where your opinion doesn’t matter and the other guy is always right.
Two reasons for the recent vitriol that has plagued our DBB community.
- There are no more Flips (coaches or players) to direct the collective anger at.
- This is the first off-season of uncertainty for the team in a long time so there’s been a lot of varying viewpoints on what direction the team should go.
This, of course, is no excuse because it’s not important whose opinion is correct because everyone wants what’s best for the team (and none of us has any influence over what the team does anyway).
SO…
If you don’t think Amir will be an All-Star… then end your post with “I hope I’m wrong.”
If you think Kwame Brown is a cake-thowing cake-eater, then end your post with “I hope I’m wrong.”
And if you think Hermann is only on the team to appeal to the romance novel demographic, then end your post with “I hope I’m wrong.”
Then all will be well in the world.
+1 colin
I’m a long-time occasional reader who would definitely be considered a new participant here at DBB. It’s an awkward transition to make…
but to the regulars…PLEASE keep posting.
So the general consensus seems to think Dumars is done till February?
Aaron and Colin, I hope that you guys don’t feel out of place. I’ve been coming here since about 2005 and love the site. I used to spend my internet time over at mgoblog. You guys want to talk about a place that used to be awesome to talk Michigan sports, that was the first and last stop to make. Then the App State thing happened, and the coaching search, and now it’s irreparably broken. I don’t think I’ll ever go back to being a member of that community. DBB to me is what mgoblog used to be, a place where the writer and is fantastic, but it’s the commenters and sense of community that keep bringing me back.
Somehow over the last 6-7 months there’s become a weird pseudo pecking order around here, and it’s mostly been the “regulars” or long timers that have been involved in that. I’d like to see that go away and hope that it won’t prevent new blood from coming around.
@QD:
+100 for two key points: 1) uncertainty, 2) “I hope I’m wrong.”
Uncertainty.
Unrest between commenters has been a long standing thing here on DBB. It happens in times of concern and uncertainty. Go back through the archives– when the Pistons lose two or more in a row, the pessimists come out en force. There are flare-ups between members. There are un-researched or misguided claims. There are the overzealous who lash out against both.
Since we lost against Boston, there has been a whole lot of both: concern and uncertainty. The concern is leading us to question the value of our starters. The uncertainty has led us to explore nearly every possible trade under the sun. As DBB members, we divide in ranks of optimism and pessimism, realism and idealism. When things are good, we applaud together. When things are uncertain, we naturally tend to polarize.
“I hope I’m wrong.”
QD’s point is terribly important for all of us. We need to temper our own opinions with humility– and respect for those who disagree. Take the recent Amir debate. What started as “all star ftw” vs “total failure” ended up meeting somewhere between “great sixth man” and “serviceable starter”. It was ugly for a while, catty and outright mean, but a lot of it could have been avoided with a bit of humility and respect. Or as QD said, “[statement of opinion] + [admission of humility]” = happy DBBers. In other words, I’m confident that Amir will be a solid, serviceable starter come the 2009-2010 season, but I could be wrong.
@Aaron and Colin:
I echo what Other Matt said. Please stick around, fellas, you’re as welcome here (and your opinions are equally as important) as anyone else on that little top ten list in the sidebar…
…speaking of which, let’s hope that sidebar list doesn’t give any of us a false sense of entitlement, nor does it dismay any new visitor from feeling an equal sense of membership.
I hope this community gets smart.
“I hope I’m wrong”
Bad idea, QD.
(also, re: this comment, I certainly don’t claim to be a white knight. i’ve been a prick here from time to time myself, but i’m working on it!)
Agreed with colin and QD. I’m guilty of being longwinded and the occasional douchebag comment. Tempers do tend to rise in the dog days of summer, where we just have to sit around waiting for training camp or any kind of trade news. For the Pistons the last few years, playoff losses usually turned into the blame game, which can turn ugly. Even with all that, I still think this is the best place on the net to talk about the team.
Having said that, the posting environment as of late has gotten needlessly hostile, and it seems common for people to get blasted no matter what they post. Or what they say will be misinterpreted or completely blown out of proportion. Everyone’s a little guilty of this, regulars or not, and it certainly includes me.