Tag Archive for 'Deron Washington'

Ex-Pistons in the Holy Land

Published by Matt Watson on December 10, 2008 in Former Pistons and Guest Writer. 5 Comments
I’m not ignoring this team’s apparent downward spiral, I swear; I just haven’t had time since last night to put thoughts to pixels. In the meantime, here’s DBB reader Ohad, who follows his favorite team from 6,000 miles away, with news about some former Pistons currently playing in Israel. — MW

By Ohad Ilovich

A few ex-Pistons (Carlos Arroyo, Rodney White both playing for Macabi Tel Aviv) and one potential piston (Deron Washington – Hapoel Holon) have migrated to Israel to play some professional basketball. I apologize in advance that I know very little about Washington but he plays for a rival team and I can’t watch a basketball game for too long if I’m not cheering for one of the teams …

Rodney White – Oh Rodney, Rodney. This guy was very active in the start of the pre-season. He did the biggest mistake he could, though. He hogged the ball. That might work well for some NBA superstars, but in Europe you play team ball or you don’t play at all. That is exactly what happened to him since he saw zero minutes from the start of the season until Macabi replaced their coach. The new coach gave him one chance in a Euroleague game and the next day he was on a plane back to the US. On the surface that might not seem like too many chances, but in our league you get to practice 3-4 times a week and I’m guessing he didn’t impress during practice either.

Bottom line – Getting 30.5 ppg, 7.8 rpg and 2.8 apg in the South American league doesn’t mean you can play ball in Europe. Plenty of players have made the transition but players who play for themselves don’t stand a chance.

Carlos Arroyo – If you want to let the numbers do the talking than Carlos is 1st in points, assists and steals per game and 3rd in rpg. Those are good numbers and he’s so important the team that when he’s off the court you can see the team shifting one gear down. But — and it’s a big but — Macabi was looking for a leader on the court. They wanted a good point guard to distribute the ball well and make good decisions when closing out games. What they’re doing now is letting the Israeli shooting guard playing next to Arroyo play point while Carlos is playing shooting guard about half of the time. There have also been a couple of occasions where he made crucial mistakes in the end of important games and a “sore back” incident where the commentators made it obvious that his “claims” of an aching back were minor and he should have played instead of sitting out the game.

Bottom line – a very good player who could and should do more than just shoot the ball well.

Deron Washington – Holon has changed its coach and all but one of its players during the summer and this has caused the boat to rock quite a bit. Things are more or less looking as good as they used to for Washington. In the start of the season he got to do more or less whatever he wanted. A short losing streak catalyzed the signing of Detroit native Brian Tolbert who might not post big numbers but is a definite veteran presence in the team. Washington is also playing next to a volume shooter like Luis Flores who’s really having a good season. Washington’s stats have gone to 3rd in ppg, 3rd in rpg and 1st in spg so in this regard he is doing fine but he isn’t as stable as you’d wish. He’s getting games where he scores 19 or 20 points (with half of them coming from the line) and then the week after he’s posting 2 or 6 points. Another problem is his tendency to get into foul trouble. Washington tends to finish almost every game with 4 fouls (In Europe you only get 5 per game, remember?) and is 2nd on the team in fpg. As expected, Deron is playing very athletically and making a lot of nice dunks and moves but that’s not helping his team win any more games.

Bottom line – an athletic player with a lot of energy and a few instabilities you come to expect from a young player.

Update on the Plaisted and Washington

Published by Matt Watson on November 20, 2008 in 2008 Draft, From the news and Videos. 5 Comments

From Keith Langlois of Pistons.com:

An update on the two Pistons’ second-rounders who signed to play in Europe:

Trent Plaisted got his feet wet in Italy, then experienced a disc problem in his back and returned to the United States, where he has undergone treatment in Los Angeles. Pistons VP Scott Perry told me he’s doing well and readying to return to Italy.

Deron Washington, meanwhile, is playing very well in Israel. He’s starting at small forward. In four games, he’s averaging 12.0 points (third on his team), 6.5 rebounds (tied for first) and 2.5 steals (first) while playing 29.8 minutes (third). He’s wowed his teammates and Israeli fans with his athleticism and leaping ability.

“All reports we’ve gotten on Washington have been very positive,” Perry said.

I don’t know if either of those two will ever play a minute with the Pistons, but I’m hopeful that Washington makes his way back. I’ve only seem him play in person a handful of times at summer league, but when he’s in the game you can’t turn away — he’s a walking, talking YouTube mix-tape the way he gets above the rim. I haven’t watched enough to attest to the rest of his skills, but he also played some feisty defense and was a fun guy to talk to.

He’s currently playing for Hapoel Holon, where he’s doing things like this:

Any chance any of DBB’s Israeli readers have seen him play yet? Hit us up with a scouting report in the comments if you have.

Deron Washington will play in Israel

Published by Matt Watson on September 8, 2008 in Contracts and Transactions. 4 Comments

Keith Langlois’ latest post at True Blue Pistons should please DBB’s Israeli readers:

One player who used the summer to enhance his prospects of occupying a roster spot with the Pistons someday – not this season – was Deron Washington. The third of the three second-round picks the Pistons exercised last June, Washington impressed Dumars and Michael Curry in Las Vegas with his athleticism and tenacity, then opened more eyes in August when he was working out with the other young Pistons at the practice facility.

Washington recently signed a contract to play with Hapoel Holon of the Israeli Premier League. Pistons VP Scott Perry told me that Washington will be playing at small forward and developing his perimeter offensive skills. The Pistons think he’s already an NBA-quality defender who showed them a little more offense than they thought he had over the summer. Two of Washington’s teammates might be familiar to fans of American college basketball – 6-foot-8 Curtis Withers from Charlotte and guard Luis Flores of Manhattan.

I got a chance to see Washington play in Las Vegas, and while he needs polish, his ability to play above the rim is a sight to behold. (For a taste, check out his college highlight reel.) And for what it’s worth, I completely agree that his defense is already NBA ready. Here’s to hoping the rest of his game catches up, because he’s an extremely fun player to watch.

Plaisted and Washington head to Europe

Published by Matt Watson on July 31, 2008 in 2008 Draft, Contracts and From the news. 10 Comments

We knew from the start that one of the reasons the Pistons drafted Trent Plaisted and Deron Washington was because they were willing to start their professional careers overseas. Well, it’s happening. Plaisted will spend 2007-08 in Italy. From Daily Herald, a newspaper in Provo, UT:

The former BYU center, who forfeited his final year of college eligibility, has signed a one-year contract with a top-level Italian team, Angelico Biella (also known as Pallacanestro Biella.)

The industrial town of Biella, which has about 40,000 residents, sits at the base of the Alps and has no soccer team.

“So they’re into their basketball,” Plaisted told the Daily Herald on Wednesday while vacationing in Idaho. “I guess I don’t know for sure, but the plan right now is that I will play a lot.”

[…] “I was on board (with going to Europe),” Plaisted said. “I’m lucky. The team I’m going to is a Division I (also known as Serie A) team that knows my situation and they’re going to allow me to develop and do those things I need to do to improve so I can go back to the Pistons. There’s great competition, and I’m really excited.”

Exact terms of the deal weren’t reported, but I’m guessing he’ll actually end up making more than if he stayed in the states.

Plaisted said the contract details look even better when considering the tax credit and exchange rate.

“I’m not breaking the bank,” he said. “But it’s a good contract.”

All Plaisted will be responsible for is food, gas and cell phone. The rest is taken care of by the team, plus he’ll be given six round-trip airline tickets.

Washington has yet to sign a contract, but the Pistons are helping him find a team. From Pistons.com:

The Pistons have been working with Washington’s agent and using their network of European contacts to secure the best situation possible for him and hope to land him with a team in either Italy or Spain soon. Before Washington has to leave for abroad, they hope can take part in some or all of the three weeks of voluntary workouts Michael Curry has scheduled in Auburn Hills for August.

“We sit down (with his European coaches) and say these are the things we think he needs to develop so in time he can come back – that’s the idea,” Perry said. “And it’s important that he has coaches who have shown the willingness and the ability to develop guys. It’s also important that he has the opportunity to play. It makes no sense if he’s not going to get minutes on the floor. That will be an integral part of where he’s going as will the living situation. You want him to have the opportunity to be in a place where he’ll enjoy living a little bit because that will be a part of the adjustment.”

The “Deron Washington is a Piston” post

Published by Matt Watson on June 27, 2008 in 2008 Draft. 14 Comments

He’s a 6-6 swingman taken 59th overall out of Virginia Tech. He’s being hailed as a so-so offensive player capable of locking down on defense, which sounds like Pistons material to me. For his sake, here’s to hoping he has a future in the league beyond Detroit’s summer league team and training camp roster. Good luck, Deron, you face an uphill battle.

Update: well, at least he has an entertaining YouTube mix, which is more than can be said about Walter Sharpe and Trent Plaisted:

I usually don’t like putting two videos in one post, but this is slick, courtesy Dan Steinberg:

As impressive as those dunks are, Washington admitted to Steinberg that he can’t even palm a basketball. He makes up for it with a 40-inch vertical, though. You might also enjoy this list of YouTube vids courtesy of Wikipedia.

DraftExpress wasn’t impressed with Washington at the Portsmouth Invitational in April:

While there were flashes of ability at multiple points throughout the week, Washington confirmed what we already knew about him: he is a tremendous athlete with a poor basketball IQ and plenty of skill development needed. Defensively he gambled excessively and seemed to play with a reckless abandon that had to make those around him nervous, as his play frequently borders on dirty. Most concerning was his poor body language and the way he just didn’t seem to fit in with anyone else on the team, not cheering his teammates on, and showing very little regard for making anyone except himself look good.

If you thought that was bad, Awful Announcing was appalled by Washington’s performance in January’s Duke/Va. Tech contest:

It was well documented how dreadful Paulus’ flopping was against FSU, but his antics were nothing compared to Deron Washington’s show last night. In a game against Duke the Virginia Tech Forward proceeded to flop, trip players, try to get into the Duke huddle, start a fight with Paulus, AND undercut Demarcus Nelson on a dunk attempt.

[…] It’s one thing to flop and look like a complete idiot (*ahem* Paulus) but actually trying to injure people during a game is unforgivable. That undercut of Nelson was premeditated and dirty as hell. Washington should be suspended for at least a game if not more.

The video that accompanied that post has already been pulled from YouTube, but that sounds pretty awful. In fact, that sounds … like Bill Laimbeer. Hey, I just found tonight’s silver lining!