Archive for the 'Around the Internets' Category

That call may not be about what you think it is

Published by Matt Watson on August 26, 2008 in Around the Internets. 20 Comments

There’s a bit of unintentional humor at the end of Part III of Keith Langlois’ interview with Joe Dumars, which took place last week but was published today:

KL: I assume there’s been no news on this, but are you still talking with Lindsey and is he still making up his mind?

JD: We are definitely still talking. My BlackBerry just went off and that was Lindsey’s agent saying can you give me a call. It’s in real time.

Was his agent calling about that 15th roster spot? Or was it a head’s up that his client would soon be in the news? My guess is the latter.

On a serious note, Dumars confirmed that if Hunter passes (although, who knows if that spot is still being saved now), the team will keep that 15th spot open for while.

There’s nothing earth-shattering in the rest of interview, but hey, it’s August and you’re probably starved for any Pistons news, so if read the whole thing and you’ll probably be entertained. Dumars talks a bit about the Zoo Crew: cautiously praising Rodney Stuckey, talking up Amir Johnson, gauging Cheikh Samb’s progress, explaining Will Bynum, predicting what to expect from Walter Sharpe … and heaping praise on Arron Afflalo:

Every guy you draft, acquire, trade for, sign as a free agent, is not going to have superstar potential. That’s now how you put a team together. But you still have to acquire guys who can help you become a great team. Arron Afflalo is one of those guys that all the good teams have to have on your team. Afflalo is just one of those guys that we were just recently talking about James Posey and what he did for Boston and Bruce Bowen and what he’s done for San Antonio over the years. I’ll date myself – Michael Cooper and what he did for the Lakers back in the day. Through the history of basketball, he’s one of those guys that you have to have on your team when you’re considered a really good team because those guys are willing to do whatever it takes to help your team win. It’s never about them individually. They just do whatever is necessary and that’s what he’s shaping up to be in the league. One of those guys that if it calls for defending somebody or face-guarding somebody, he’ll do it. If it calls for trying to score, he’ll do it. If it calls for diving on loose balls all night long, he’ll do it. When you’re putting a team together you’re always looking for guys like that. Guys who’ll do whatever it takes to win.

Olympic liveblog

Published by Matt Watson on August 22, 2008 in Around the Internets. 57 Comments

As mentioned yesterday, I’m liveblogging the Olympic basketball semifinals for FanHouse. Come join me in watching USA (Tayshaun!) vs. Argentina (Delfino!).

Pistons namesakes

Published by Matt Watson on August 18, 2008 in Around the Internets. 19 Comments

This is hilarious — from Ryan Pretzer at Pistons.com:

Clifford Wade and Latanya Bussell had an agreement about the naming of their first child. If Latanya had a boy, Clifford would name him; a girl, and Latanya would have the honor.

Clifford, a lifelong Detroiter who says he comes to five Pistons games a season on average, knew precisely which name he wanted to go with. And it definitely wasn’t Dwyane.

“Rasheed is my favorite [Piston] and I also wanted as the middle name somebody off the bench so I chose Amir Johnson,” said Clifford, who named his son Rasheed Amir Wade.

And you thought some DBB readers took the Free Amir movement too seriously …

Pre-pre-season rankings, now with 100% less logic

Published by Matt Watson on August 14, 2008 in Around the Internets and Rankings. 73 Comments

I rarely pay attention to preseason rankings, but seeing as it’s the middle of August without much happening in Pistonsville, I’m going to make an exception. So, Marty Burns of Sports Illustrated, what say you about the East?

1. Boston
2. Cleveland
3. Magic

Bold! You bumped Detroit out of your top 3! Boston obviously belongs there and Cleveland did get better by getting Mo Williams. I’m not entirely sure what Orlando did to make the jump, but sure, it’s your list, I’ll play along …

4. Philadelphia

Okay, I see what you did there. You must be an Elton Brand fan, but, um, aren’t you forgetting someone?

5. Washington

Yeah, that’s not who I was talking about …

6. Detroit

Seriously? Sixth? Explain yourself, man!

Logic says they should be ranked higher, since they suffered no significant losses (other than coach Flip Saunders) from a team that won 59 games last season. But even president Joe Dumars seemed to think this present group had run its course at the end of last season and needed some new blood. Kwame Brown isn’t likely to light a fire under anybody. And how will all those Pistons vets react to hearing their names in trade talks all summer? Unless Dumars has something else up his sleeve, the Pistons just seem like a team headed for a decline.

Dumars thinks some “new blood” might help the team make the jump from losing a contested Conference Finals to hoisting the Larry O’Brien — it’s not like he’s worried this team will suddenly turn in a .500 record. The Raptors finished sixth in the East last year by going 41-41 — do you really think a few veterans hearing their names mentioned in trade rumors will cost this team 18 games?

That’s crazy talk. All of a sudden, I just remembered why I avoid these things. Let me save you five minutes: 7. Raptors; 8. Pacers; 9. Hawks; 10. Bobcats; 11. Heat; 12. Bucks; 13. Bulls; 14. Nets; 15. Knicks.

Re-thinking old labels

Published by Matt Watson on August 14, 2008 in Alley-Oops and Around the Internets. 1 Comment

Positions are extremely arbitrary in the NBA. LeBron James is as big as Karl Malone but makes plays like Isiah Thomas … and yet he’s a “small forward?” David Sparks takes arbitrary out of the equation by assigning descriptive labels strictly according to stats — and then displays the results in an amazing chart too incredible for me to describe.

Monday’s Layup Drill

Published by Matt Watson on August 11, 2008 in Around the Internets. 28 Comments

I’ve been busy so a few of these are old, but in case you missed them …

  • The last few summers, the word everyone has liked to use when talking about the Pistons has been “complacency.” What’s the new buzz word? “Accountable.” Lindsey Hunter is using it, Chauncey Billups is using it, and, of course, Michael Curry is using it:

    [Michael Curry]: We can be two different teams at times. You look at Boston, they were first in the league defensively. We were second. The difference is, when you played Boston, they were going to be the best defensive team every night. They played you the same way. With us, we would be up and down. The question is, how can we make sure we are the same team, every night?

    SN: But how do you do that?

    MC: We’ll see. We’ll be holding people accountable when they need to be.

    I’m sure you noticed this already (DBB readers hopped on this wagon back in May!), but now that I pointed it out, try to see how many Pistons interviews you see that don’t have this word. There aren’t many.

  • We’re doing a “biggest busts of the 00’s” series at FanHouse, and today I shined the light on Rodney White, whom the Pistons chose over Joe Johnson, Richard Jefferson, Zach Randolph, Gerald Wallace, Tony Parker and Gilbert Arenas, not to mention any other number of warm bodies who could have actually, you know, contributed.
  • Speaking of FanHouse, my colleagues have been killing it with their Olympic hoops coverage, especially if you’re looking for more than just Team USA news.
  • Scott Perry confirms Amir Johnson’s spot in the rotation:

    “I think he’s somebody we look at to be in our rotation playing each night,” Perry said. “What number (in the big man pecking order) that is, that will be determined once we come to camp and start playing games. But right now, he’s a guy who’ll be in the rotation each night. We’re going to play four big guys a night, at least, so he has a good opportunity to step in and one thing we know he’s going to provide is energy and athleticism every night.

    This was already expected, but it’s still nice to hear.

  • Really, Allan Houston? Another comeback?
  • Tayshaun Prince is in Beijing and carefree. From Michael Rosenberg in the Free Press:

    Prince said he has not been in Detroit since the day Flip Saunders was fired. He felt no need to call Joe Dumars and ask what is happening.

    […] “To be honest with you, I haven’t been looking at what’s going on,” he said. “Everything eventually is going to take care of itself. A lot of guys worry about trade rumors. I’m the type of guy, I know that wherever I end up, I know I can help the team.”

    Prince only played seven minutes in Sunday’s game against China, but not a lot of people can say they played in front of a billion people.

  • Play amateur GM, win a Need4Sheed t-shirt.
  • Jason Maxiell faces Jeff Foster in Hoops Addict’s Floor Burn Tournament. Go vote.

From Odenized to SLAM via HoopsAddict

Published by Matt Watson on July 29, 2008 in Alley-Oops and Around the Internets. 0 Comments

Ryan McNeill of HoopsAddict gets Ryne Nelson to explain how he went from being the YouTube guy from Odenized to SLAM’s Online Editor.

Tuesday’s Summer League Layup Drill

Published by Matt Watson on July 15, 2008 in Around the Internets. 146 Comments

I’m still woefully behind from the extra long weekend, so forgive me if you’ve seen a few of these before …

  • I mentioned last week how Michael Curry seemed to view Rodney Stuckey as the leader of the second unit. Stuckey confirmed that he’s using the offseason to take on a more vocal role among his teammates. From A. Sherrod Blakely:

    But if you look at the way he corrects teammates when they’re not where they’re supposed to be, the way encourages players to try things that might not be according to script, the way he barks instructions — and the way they respond — it’s clear that he came to Las Vegas looking to hone his leadership skills. “That’s one of the main reasons why I’m doing summer league this year,” said Stuckey […] “That’s one of the main things I need to work on, because I know next year, I’m going to have a bigger role than I had this past year.”

  • Stuckey missed the second half of Sunday’s game with a toe injury. Relax, it’s not serious and shouldn’t affect his playing time tonight.
  • Need4Sheed asks, does Stuckey really make Chauncey Billups expendable?
  • Michael Curry said Arron Afflalo will be the backup two-guard, and expects to reward Afflalo with more consistent playing time. From A.S.B.:

    “I’ve always said, when Arron plays consistent minutes, he shoots the ball consistently,” Curry said.

    The numbers don’t lie. Afflalo averaged 3.7 points and shot 41.1 percent from the field during the regular season, but he was better in both of those categories (5.6 points, 42.3 percent shooting) in the 45 games in which he played 10 or more minutes.

    The number don’t lie, but they also don’t say much: 41.1% vs. 42.3% is hardly significant. On the other hand, the fact he shot 20.8% from three-point land versus 46.1% from inside the arc is. If he can learn to stay within his range (or extend it a step or two over the summer), no one will complain about his shooting. He scored 25 against the Clippers on Sunday (boxscore) on 8-10 shooting (9-9 from the stripe) without a single three-point attempt.

  • Afflalo said all the right things after his breakout performance Sunday:

    “It’s not work to me,” Afflalo said. “I love the game of basketball with all my heart. I could stay in here all day. It’s fun, and there’s nothing I’d rather be doing. Although it’s just one Summer League game, it’s big for me because it lets me know this will pay off at some point, and I’m going to push even harder now.”

    A lot of guys just say stuff like that because they know it plays well in the media, but by all accounts is AA is the real deal. Granted, hearing him talk like this is nothing new, but it still makes me smile.

  • Alex Acker, who pulled out of the summer league with a bum knee, still hopes to win a roster spot by impressing Curry and Joe Dumars during voluntary workouts in Auburn Hills in August.
  • Curry talks about his coaching staff with Keith Langlois.

Last but least, I’d like to congratulate Jason and Erin Gurney, the masterminds behind BallHype who announced the sale of their brainchild today.

I happily served on BallHype’s Board of Advisors from the very beginning so I admit I can’t be completely impartial, but the site has become a daily (if not hourly) destination for me. That won’t change now that the company has been sold — it just means that Jason and Erin now have the resources behind them to continue making the site bigger and better while actually getting paid for their efforts. Congrats!

Thursday’s Layup Drill

Published by Matt Watson on July 10, 2008 in Around the Internets. 39 Comments

The weekend is starting early for me. By the time you read this, chances are I’ll already be in northern Michigan sucking down an Oberon next to a river full of fish that — if tradition holds true — will completely avoid my line. But before I leave, here’s some links for you to read while you’re pretending to work.

  • The Vegas Summer League kicks off on Friday. At least two games a day (including a pair of Pistons games, starting with Friday’s opener against the Lakers) will be televised on NBA TV, but NBA.com will also have a live online stream for every game on the schedule. (I’m not sure if those games will be archived, though, so you may want to arrange your schedule accordingly.) (hat-tip: JackDutch)
  • One player you won’t see playing in Vegas is Alex Acker — Keith Langlois reports that he’s pulled out a knee injury. That shouldn’t be a huge surprise — it’s the same injury that nearly scuttled his contract with Barcelona last year.
  • From the same Langlois post as above:

    Curry said he talked to Rodney Stuckey after the Pistons were eliminated from the playoffs by Boston – Curry was scheduled to coach the Summer League team even before succeeding Flip Saunders as head coach – and made a deal with him. If he brought his teammates to Las Vegas in top-flight condition, the Pistons would hold just one practice a day leading up to the Summer League opener instead of two. “We sort of had an agreement that the guys were going to be in shape,” Curry said. “They were (in Auburn Hills) about two to three weeks, getting some work in. They held up their end of the bargain and we’ve had two really good days of practice so far.”

    I don’t know what I like more: that Curry trusted his young players to make the right decision or he considered Stuckey enough of a leader to get on his teammates.

  • Kelly Dwyer on the double-standard in which people view the NBA and any other sports league. I’m used to it, but it’s still annoying.
  • Bill Ingram from HOOPSWORLD says the Pistons are “believed to be close” to offering CJ Miles an offer sheet, but A. Sherrod Blakely says that’s only going to happen if the Pistons know the Jazz won’t match it.

That’s all for now. Knowing my luck, the moment I leave will be the moment The Big Trade will finally happen, but rest assured I’ve left the site in good hands: long-time DBB reader Mike Payne (who runs a pretty kick-ass blog himself) has the keys. If anything big happens (or if anything small strikes his fancy), he’ll keep you updated. Enjoy the weekend, folks.

On narcolepsy not being funny to me anymore

Published by Matt Watson on July 10, 2008 in Around the Internets. 14 Comments

Almost immediately after Walter Sharpe was drafted, it was hard not to crack a joke about narcolepsy. On the surface, it seemed harmless, right? I mean, we’re talking about people who sleep a lot, not someone with an actual life-threatening disease.

Not too long after, though, a handful of DBB readers suggested that maybe it wasn’t actually funny. I appreciated their thoughtfulness but honestly didn’t have much of an opinion. The more I learn about the disease, though, the more I tend to agree.

Here’s a first-hand description about what it’s like to live with narcolepsy from Todd Brakke, a Pistons fan inspired to share his story after watching the NBA draft:

It’s not something I get into very much since it’s usually viewed -thanks in large part to TV and movies- as that condition where you fall asleep in the middle of jogging or mowing the lawn or some such nonsense.

In reality, it’s basically a condition where you don’t go through the stages of sleep properly, the result being that your sleep isn’t nearly as restorative as it should be. Eight hours of sleep to you feels like about four or five hours of sleep to me. Imagine feeling severely sleep deprived every single day, regardless of how much sleep you actually get. That, in a nutshell, is narcolepsy. It doesn’t make you pass out while in the middle of being active, like bowling or feeding the cat. That’s a myth as far as I’m concerned. There’s a subsymptom that some narcoleptics have, called cataplexy, that causes the appearance of passing out. It’s a temporary loss of muscle control that -in severe forms- can result in you dropping like a sack of bricks, concious but unable to move. I’m grateful not to suffer from cataplexy.

What narcolepsy does do is make you very susceptible to falling asleep while passive. Reading a book, watching TV, sitting in a meeting or presentation are all recipes for a ticket to sleepy town. […]

For me the drowsiness while reading part is particularly intrusive, what with my occupation being an editor of extremely long and often boring tech books and all. On bad days I’ll go into full bore head-bob mode in the hours following lunch, which is the second most difficult part of the day for me to get through. The worst is first thing in the morning. Just waking up and finding the will to move, let alone get out of bed is… difficult. I could wake up to find the house on fire and I’d have to talk myself out of sleeping for just five more minutes. That said, it’s a condition you have to manage. You have accept the fact that you need more rest than the average bear and that sometimes it’s necessary to find an out of the way place for a 20-minute nap. […]

Pistons GM Joe Dumars says they talked to just about everybody connected to Sharpe and that he thinks, now that he’s getting treatment for narcolepsy, that his struggles are behind him. I’m not gonna get into Sharpe’s basketball skills -that’s way out of my league- but if Sharpe thinks his newfound magic narco pills are going to completely change his life, he’s got another thing coming. The pills you can take for narcolepsy do not knock the condition out of the park. They’re masking agents. Your body and mind are still just as tired as they always were, you just don’t feel it… as much. (At least, that’s been my experience.)

When I was first diagnosed I was prescribed a drug called Modafinil (trade name Provigil). It felt like a whole new world. I was awake. I had energy. I could split the atom with a pair of tweesers. Didn’t last. Your body adjusts and after a while (months, maybe a year) you have to adjust the dosage and keep adjusting it or move on to some other drug. […] The point is, the drugs can help. But they’re not gonna change your life for you. You have to do that yourself. So, it’ll be interesting to see where Sharpe goes from here. I’m sure whatever drugs he’s taking right now will help him out in the short term. But as his body adjusts to the meds and he starts really bouncing back and forth between time zones (assuming he makes the team) on NBA road trips, it’s gonna be a whole new test. If the Pistons are smart they’ll have a doctor watching him very closely, one that can help monitor what he’s taking, how much he’s taking and when he should be taking it.

I’ve already blockquoted more than I’m comfortable with — I wish I could re-print the entire post, but instead I’ll just link to it again. Seriously, read it, DBB isn’t going anywhere.

Done? Good. It’s one thing to read about narcolepsy on Wikipedia, and it’s another altogether to hear someone describe their own personal experience. I don’t know about you, but I’m just not that amused anymore.

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