Archive for February, 2008

Amir’s absence explained

Published by Matt Watson on February 29, 2008 in Injuries. 27 Comments

There was a lot of speculation and conspiracy theories among fans regarding why Amir Johnson didn’t get into Wednesday’s game against the Jazz, but A. Sherrod Blakely cleared the air today:

And maybe most important to Joe Dumars, [Theo Ratliff] won’t take minutes away from Jason Maxiell or Amir Johnson, who had a serious head cold the other night before the Utah game when I talked with him. He should be good to go on Saturday against the Clippers.

I’m a little surprised it took so long for the explanation to come out, but then again, it’s possible none of the beat writers thought it was that odd to begin with. Even when Maxiell was being worked into the rotation last year, he’d often have a random DNP-CD tossed in there for no known reason. And while Johnson has played well of late (A.S.B. penned a longer article about his emergence yesterday), he’s hardly a permanent fixture just yet.

Pistons will get Theo Ratliff, not Dale Davis

Published by Matt Watson on February 29, 2008 in Around the Internets. 30 Comments

From Chris McCosky’s blog:

The Minnesota Timberwolves Thursday night placed veteran center Theo Ratliff on waivers and have agreed to buy him out of what remained on his $11.6 million contract. If he clears waivers in the next 48 hours - which is almost a given with his salary - he will sign with the Pistons for the prorated amount of the veteran’s minimum ($1.3 million).

Ratliff, 34, was drafted by the Pistons in 1995. He has only played 12 games the last two years, but he is healthy now. He played in the last 10 games with the Timberwolves, averaging 6.3 points and 3.9 rebounds.

Talk about coming out of left field, huh? No word on what the jilted Dale Davis plans on doing, but presumably he’d be interested in latching on with another contender looking to add a veteran big man for the stretch run.

I always liked Ratliff, though I wonder how much he has left in the tank. Of course, that’s why Arnie Kander makes the big bucks — once Ratliff gets a few gallons of Arnie’s magic water, I’m sure he’ll be jumping out of the gym just like the old days.

It’s also interesting that the Pistons settled for a relative lightweight center instead of a physical bruiser like Davis — with Shaq irrelevant in Phoenix, there’s really not a need to keep a designated wide body around. That said, I can’t think of a better mentor to help Amir Johnson harness his incredible shot-blocking ability without getting called for a foul every other trip down the court.

(Thanks to Sonia and Matt G. for the head’s up.)

Stat love for Amir

Published by Matt Watson on February 28, 2008 in Alley-Oops and Around the Internets. 2 Comments

Bloggers and mathematicians agree: more Amir Johnson = good things.

Still waiting for Dale

Published by Matt Watson on February 28, 2008 in From the news and Rumors. 10 Comments

From Krista Jahnke’s Free Press blog:

The thing is, teams have until Saturday to waive players, and team president Joe Dumars is playing a waiting game, eyeing that waiver wire to see if any other big men get released.

That means it could be nearly another week before anything happens. Former Piston Dale Davis is still a possibility, but there is a reason Dumars hasn’t pulled the trigger yet. He must think he can do a little better.

His other target, Jamaal Magloire, wound up signing with the Mavericks on Tuesday, so he’s off the table. The Celtics, by the way, scooped up another big in P.J. Brown.

There’s no real deadline for when the Pistons need to sign that big. And since he won’t be expected to play much, except in foul or injury situations, there’s no rush.

Actually, there is a deadline: a player needs to be added to the roster by March 1 (Saturday) in order to be eligible for the playoffs.

It’s my understanding that a player released by a team needs to be on waivers for 48 hours before he can become a free agent. With that in mind, a player would have to be waived by Wednesday in order to be on a roster by March 1.

That said, I’m admittedly unclear on two points: 1) Is the deadline really by March 1, as in the stroke of midnight? Don’t laugh, it makes a difference — if it’s later, say, in the afternoon, a player released on Thursday could still be eligible; 2) Is the deadline actually Monday, March 3 since the league office traditionally closes on the weekends? Or does the league office make an exception and stay open since it’s a deadline?

Of course, all of this is moot (I think) if the Pistons actually claim a player off waivers (and assume responsibility for his current contract) instead of waiting until he actually clears (and giving him a prorated share of the veteran’s minimum).

If you’re confused, join the club; I’m not 100% sure how this works, and judging from the different interpretations I’ve seen explained elsewhere online, I’m obviously not the only one. The important thing to keep in mind is that whatever the Pistons end up doing, we’ll find out for sure by the end of the weekend.

Update: Chris McCosky tried to clear things up in his blog:

Players have to be waived by March 1 in order to be eligible to be on another team’s playoff roster. A lot of people get that wrong, including me. You can sign a guy on March 20 and he can still be on the playoff roster — as long as he was waived by his former team on or before March 1. With Dale, obviously, that rule doesn’t apply since he hasn’t played all season.

But here’s the thing: it seems that Davis’ agent is operating under the assumption that his client needs to be signed by Saturday:

Former Piston Dale Davis could re-sign with the Pistons as early as Thursday, according to his agent.

“We’re in pretty serious talks with them,” said Chubby Wells, Davis’ agent. “We hope to have something done soon.”

Davis needs to sign with a team by the end of this week in order to be eligible for the playoff roster.

“He’ll be signed in time for that,” Wells said.

Now, you’d think that the agent (ie, the one with the most to gain by understanding the rules) would be the one that has it right, but who knows? We’ll find out soon enough. (Thanks to Warthog and Fadel for pointing those two articles out in the comments)

2nd Annual Need4Sheed/Detroit Bad Boys Blogfest

Published by Matt Watson on February 27, 2008 in Site Announcements. 7 Comments

Detroit Bad Boys and Need4Sheed BlogfestFor the second year in a row, readers, writers and lurkers of Need4Sheed and Detroit Bad Boys will be getting together at the Palace to take in a game.

Last year we witnessed the sinking ship that was the reigning champion Miami Heat. This year, we’ll be watching the up-and-coming Toronto Raptors, led by the red-hot Carlos Delfino (oh, and some guy named Chris Bosh). So mark your calendars: 6pm 1pm on Sunday, April 13. (Note the new time! The NBA bumped up the game so that it could be the first half of a nationally televised doubleheader.)

Last year was a lot of fun, but logistics got in the way — we didn’t announce it until after the game was already sold out, which predictably limited the turnout. But this year is different: not only do you have a month and a half warning, but the Pistons stepped up to the plate by not only setting aside a block of tickets so we can all sit together but also tossing in some free swag.

For $30 a ticket, you’ll get a good seat, a free hat and a chance to mingle and exchange awkward high-fives with internet friends. Just download this PDF, fax or mail it in and you’ll be good to go.

I hope to see a lot of you guys out there — it should be a good game, and it’ll be cool to put faces to names. You guys are the reason this site exists, so it’s about time we finally met, eh?

Update: If you’re on Facebook, you can confirm you’re coming on this event page.

Pistons are in Salt Lake City

Published by Matt Watson on February 27, 2008 in Jazz and Previews. 84 Comments

What is it about the Jazz that give the Pistons fits? The Pistons couldn’t even beat them in the preseason. In fact, they haven’t beat the Jazz since 2005, and they haven’t won in Salt Lake since 2002. The Jazz just dropped a game last night to the Timberwolves, but I’m not sure what that means — maybe they’ll be tired on the second night of a back to back, or maybe they’ll be amped looking to right their ship.

We’ll find out — the ball’s about to tip (TV20). Leave your thoughts in the comments.

That didn’t take long …

Published by Matt Watson on February 27, 2008 in From the news. 40 Comments

Just a few months ago, it was like pulling teeth just to get some members of the media to admit Amir Johnson even belonged in the rotation. Now? There are calls to turn him into a starter. From Terry Foster at the Detroit News (update: now, with new and improved fixed links!):

I love the idea of Antonio McDyess coming off the bench for the Pistons. He plays better off the bench, is more comfortable coming off the bench and can be a major spark against opponents’ second units. That is why the Pistons should entertain the idea of inserting Amir Johnson in the starting lineup.

He is ready. He has averaged 6.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, blocked 16 shots and shot 64 percent from the floor in his last nine games. He is a guy who makes things happen whenever he is on the floor.

Is he a top five player for the Pistons? Probably not. However, McDyess is a guy who can come off the bench and also finish games. To me it is more important for a guy like this to finish than start.

First and foremost, it’s not going to happen. McDyess is comfortable in the starting lineup and the Pistons have posted the second-best record in the league with him there. Plus, the argument that he can’t start and finish isn’t valid — he’s been doing it all year and is already playing the fewest minutes per game (30.5) of any of the starters. And while his shot’s been streaky, he’s still shooting over 50% and leads the team in rebounding at 9.0 per.

But for the sake of argument, if McDyess did go back to the bench, I think Jason Maxiell would get the nod as a starter over Johnson. Max has “earned” it a bit more, and he’s rugged enough that you wouldn’t really have to worry about matchups very much. Plus, I like keeping Johnson paired with the rest of the youngsters — he and Stuckey are building great chemistry together, and the Pistons can really fly up and down the court when they’re in the game at the same time.

Dale or Jamaal?

Published by Matt Watson on February 26, 2008 in Alley-Oops. 11 Comments

Expect Dale Davis or Jamaal Magloire soon. My personal preference is Davis since he’s a better defender (and has a name easier to spell), but how much rust has settled in? He turns 39 in March and hasn’t played all year. Magloire, on the other hand, is about nine years younger and theoretically in game shape. Tough call, though considering they’d both be insurance policies, hopefully it won’t actually matter.

Pistons are in Denver

Published by Matt Watson on February 25, 2008 in Nuggets, Previews and Videos. 62 Comments

It’s Chucky! Sadly, he’s still sidelined with a hernia and won’t be playing tonight — since the game actually already started (my bad), I’ll keep this short. Leave your thoughts in the comments, for those of you not stuck Montana/Idaho State.

Grant Hill explains not coming back

Published by Matt Watson on February 25, 2008 in Alley-Oops and Former Pistons. 4 Comments

Grant Hill on why he didn’t sign with Detroit this summer: “It would have been hard to go back and not be the same (player),” said Hill, who signed instead with the Suns. “I realized that during the playoffs. It was hard to play there. I used to play so well in that building (The Palace) and I was just average — that was tough.”

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