The preseason officially kicks off Sunday night in Miami — and rest assured we’ll have a regular game thread up for that — but for today, should the urge arise, kick back and go off topic in the comments here. Also, congrats to Bill Laimbeer and the Detroit Shock, who pulled ahead 2-0 in the WNBA Finals last night and are just one game away from their third title in six years.
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Laimbeer can obviously coach, and you know players in the NBA would listen to him, so why hasn’t he ever been given a shot? I would have more faith at this point in a guy with tonnes of playing experience (as a starter on championship teams) and experience as a WNBA coach with multiple championships, then in a guy with one year’s experience as an assistant. Thoughts?
Amir got the official nod for the last starting position this morning.
http://www.mlive.com/pistons/index.ssf/2008/10/curry_names_starting_five.html
Katie Smith of the Detroit Shock is one of the greatest woman players of all-time. Three gold medals, a championship in two different pro leagues, 1st all-time in scoring if you combine ABL & WNBA (think Julius Erving’s combined ABA & NBA numbers), all-time leading scorer in the Big Ten. And she’s tough as hell. She’s got a lot of the same qualities as Joe Dumars on the court and is a joy to watch. I loved Swin Cash (I’m born and raised a UConn fan) and was mad when Katie Smith started taking her minutes but the more I watch her play the more she impresses. Go Shock!
As for Amir starting, that’s tremendous good news.
First off I agree with Aaron. I thought Laimbeer should’ve been given the nod for head coach. Not that I dislike Mike Curry, I just think Billy would’ve been a great choice. Who knows, maybe he didn’t want it?
Also, is there any way to watch the game tomorrow or is it all radio?
Laimbeer would’ve been a complete and utter disaster as coach of this team. Let’s analyze, shall we?
Underperforming group of veteran players who have zero respect for thier coach (Flipper). Fire the mullet and insert goofball coach from the WNBA? Yikes! I’m sure our vets would’ve loved that.
If The Chairman of the Boards was going to coach in the NBA he would’ve been an assistant (at least) somewhere by now. It’s not like he doesn’t have some of his old chums in positions to help make that happen.
Curry was the perfect choice for this team. The guy had to squeeze every ounce of ability out to land a roster spot in thiss league, let alone start. He was a coach when he was still playing and is the right fit for the vets and the young’uns.
I like the idea of alumni and all but sometimes we can take it too far. That said, I wonder what Chuck Nevitt is doing these days……?
Laimbeer can obviously coach, and you know players in the NBA would listen to him, so why hasn’t he ever been given a shot?>>
He made too many enemies in the NBA during his playing days and I understand that the league has unofficially banned him from coaching because of who some of those enemies are.
Anyone know if tomorrows game is gonna be on TV?
I love the job that Laimbeer does in the WNBA but absolutely ran Swin Cash out of town and in the NBA you can’t afford to get zero return from that that kind of elite talent just because you don’t get along.
I think Laimbeer would be a better college coach in the mold of a Bobby Knight than a pro coach. He’s a my-way-or-the-highway kind of coach and that doesn’t fly with a salary cap and NBA salaries. You end up with a roster that looks like Indiana and that’s…not good.
Lance Uppercut - The Shock game is on Sunday, ESPN2 @ 4:30PM ET.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Curry: Johnson is starting power forward
Chris McCosky / The Detroit News
AUBURN HILLS — Calling him a “welcome addition,” coach Michael Curry made official Saturday what he’s long been hinting at — Amir Johnson, as of now, is the Pistons’ starting power forward.
“Amir does things without having to have the ball,” Curry said. “He’s able to pick up baskets through his activity, by running the floor and playing off the other four guys. He does all the intangible things, and through that he’s able to create offensive opportunities for himself.”
More on the link
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081004/SPORTS0102/810040426/1127
Bobby Knight would never do this-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvwhULY-t_A
@joejoe- meant pistons, not shock… thanks tho…
Wow, has any other player gone from garbage minute scrub in his coach’s dog house to starter the next season under a new coach? It seems almost unprecedented.
Wow, has any other player gone from garbage minute scrub in his coach’s dog house to starter the next season under a new coach? It seems almost unprecedented.>.
Exacto Mundo.
That is why Flip is long gone among other reasons.
According to a local Detroit writer Afflalo and Stuckey told him within the last month that Suanders never did any off court coaching all of last year. They couldn’t comment on the two years before since they weren’t with us then.
They said that he spend zero time trying to develop the young players and that is why guys like Ratliff and Hunter were brought in by Joe D. to play in playoffs.
So Amir sat for 3 years (minus the two months that Joe D. forced Flip to put him in the rotation) because Saunders didn’t want to make the effort to draw up and implement a develop plan for Amir.
That is why Cowens said as recently as a month ago that there are a lot of things that Amir doesn’t do that are coachable, because for three years Saunders never bothered to make sure that Amir got the coaching he needed for his development.
What a waste of three years.
It will be interesting to see if Saunders ever gets another head coaching job in the NBA.
Amir Johnson is starting????
Somewhere LawyerBoy is hopefully pushing himself down the stairs…
So much for the “we need 1 no name stiff playing center, look at Kendrick Perkins” thought process.
Have a seat Kwame… don’t expect run unless we’re up 12+ points with 2 minutes left in the game
Is Jamaal Magloire still out there?
Amir gets the start! Everyone celebrate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfBBbnAo3ts
is the game going to be on tv?
is the game going to be on tv?
October (preseason) Opponent Time Local TV
——————————————————
Sun. 5th @ Miami 6:30
Weds. 8th Vs. Milwaukee 7:30 FSN Detroit
Fri. 10th @ Washington 7:00
Sat. 11th @ Milwaukee 8:30
Tues. 14th Vs. San Antonio (Van Andel Arena) 7:00 FSN Detroit
Thurs. 16th Vs. Dallas 7:30
Weds. 22nd Vs. Cleveland 7:30
Thurs. 23rd Vs. Atlanta 7:30 FSN Detroit
The Shock are pulling away…
And yeah joejoejoe, Smith is very impressive
Congratulations to the Detroit Shock!!!!!
Congrats, to the Shock.
Seems like Walter Herrmann and Rodney Stuckey are carrying the load for a little bit.
anyone know where i can see an updating box score for this game? my usual go-to’s yahoo and nba.com have nothing…
Amir averaging a foul every other minute
Mike Payne - espn.com is working for me…
Mario Chalmers is smokin!
Rodney Stuckey with a circus shot, unfortunately, that is what the radio is telling me.
Stuckey with the tie! Clutch in the pre-season, I love it.