***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

[pietasterp]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

Anyone care to make a prediction on the team this year? More importantly, does anyone actually care about this irrelevant NBA backwater franchise anymore?

For what it's worth, I think Dwane Casey is a good coach and he could drag this group kicking and screaming to an 8-seed in the East, which is basically like being the second-best basketball team in Bangladesh. We have some talented guys, and maybe we could look decent on the right night a few times a year.

So, yeah - not much call for optimism at this point. Or at any point for the next 3-4 years.

[rdnk]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

Assuming the Pistons get reasonable heath from everyone, I'd say they're a playoff team. Best case scenario is that Casey does a good job incorporating the kids, the team gets a 3 seed, gets out of the first round and upsets the Raptors before losing to Boston in the ECF. Not a true contender, but at least watchable. with some kind of reasonable future. Pistons have to tread water for a couple of years until money gets freed up, barring some kind of deal.

As far as irrelevancy goes, I'd argue that there are only a handful of relevant teams in the NBA right now.

[pietasterp]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

Assuming the Pistons get reasonable heath from everyone, I'd say they're a playoff team. Best case scenario is that Casey does a good job incorporating the kids, the team gets a 3 seed, gets out of the first round and upsets the Raptors before losing to Boston in the ECF. Not a true contender, but at least watchable. with some kind of reasonable future. Pistons have to tread water for a couple of years until money gets freed up, barring some kind of deal.

Wow. You are MUCH more optimistic than I even thought was possible from anyone. Kudos to you for that; it's not easy to be an optimist with regard to this squad.

I'd look forward to the draft next year, but I don't even know who our General Manager will be, so hard to know if we're headed in the right or wrong direction. Or any direction at all.

As far as irrelevancy goes, I'd argue that there are only a handful of relevant teams in the NBA right now.

No question. The number is basically 1. Which is why the NBA is by far and away the worst professional sports league.

[rdnk]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

The east is really bad and I think if Jackson was healthy last season, Detroit is in the playoffs. Based on that, I think they can be a playoff team. Barring the team becoming a MASH unit, I don't think they will be bad enough to make the draft interesting. Mostly likely scenario is a 10-7 seed in the east.

Best case scenario has about a 1% chance of happening. I do think if Casey can get everything to click, most teams won't have an answer for Drummond-Griffin up front. In the 32 minutes Jackson, Drummond and Griffin were together last season, they were a devastating +27. Got to have some hope while the team trudges through these bad contracts. It is easy to paint the Griffin trade on SVG, but I think that was a Gores move. Need someone to help sell tickets at Little Cesar's; even when they got off to a hot start, no one cared.

[l3ulvl]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

Don't forget Drummond plans to shoot threes this year!

[pietasterp]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

The east is really bad and I think if Jackson was healthy last season, Detroit is in the playoffs. Based on that, I think they can be a playoff team. Barring the team becoming a MASH unit, I don't think they will be bad enough to make the draft interesting. Mostly likely scenario is a 10-7 seed in the east.

It's not actually entirely clear to me that the team is better with Reggie Jackson on the floor. At least not in SVG's "system" (whatever that was...). Based on the eye test, it seemed like we had better flow with Ish Smith running things out there. But it never really looked 'good' at any point, so it's hard to argue either way.

Best case scenario has about a 1% chance of happening. I do think if Casey can get everything to click, most teams won't have an answer for Drummond-Griffin up front. In the 32 minutes Jackson, Drummond and Griffin were together last season, they were a devastating +27. Got to have some hope while the team trudges through these bad contracts. It is easy to paint the Griffin trade on SVG, but I think that was a Gores move. Need someone to help sell tickets at Little Cesar's; even when they got off to a hot start, no one cared.

I think the issue is that the league has fundamentally changed so much that having a dominant big-man post-up or paint tandem is not so much of an advantage any more, unless someone with a creative offensive mind can figure out a way to use those 2 guys in a novel/interesting way. And even if they can bump-n-grind their way to competent offensive numbers, their liabilities in defending their opposite numbers on the other end (who are quicker/rangier and will more often than not be shooting from 20-24 feet away) will essentially nullify their net effect. But I love your (*in 32 minutes together) +27 stat! You are officially my Pistons optimist hero.

Who knows what happened with the Griffin thing, maybe it was Gores at the bottom of it. I just know everyone in the league laughed when we took on that contract. As the old poker saying goes, if you look around the table and can't figure out who the sucker is, it's because it's you....

Don't forget Drummond plans to shoot threes this year!

Nooooooooo!!!!!! (I think I'm still in concussion protocol from slapping my forehead when I first head that he was going to try to shoot 3's...)

[VDusen04]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

I think the postseason is a possibility, particularly when considering the wide open nature of the East.

That said, I'm still struggling to embrace Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson. I know I said this a page ago but they just hit me as a couple of guys who don't really get it. They each have a lot of nice basketball skills but their lack of maturity and wherewithal has really made them tough to support over the years. They seem to really believe their own hype and, to varying degrees, I wonder how much they really understand about what it takes to be a part of a successful team.

Still, that doesn't mean they can't be playoff eligible. And quite truthfully, even with their flaws, the last time Jackson and Drummond were both healthy for an entire season they made the playoffs so who knows.

Also, they might be bad.

[l3ulvl]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

I think the postseason is a possibility, particularly when considering the wide open nature of the East.

That said, I'm still struggling to embrace Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson. I know I said this a page ago but they just hit me as a couple of guys who don't really get it. They each have a lot of nice basketball skills but their lack of maturity and wherewithal has really made them tough to support over the years. They seem to really believe their own hype and, to varying degrees, I wonder how much they really understand about what it takes to be a part of a successful team.

Still, that doesn't mean they can't be playoff eligible. And quite truthfully, even with their flaws, the last time Jackson and Drummond were both healthy for an entire season they made the playoffs so who knows.

Also, they might be bad.

I'd say Drummond's dedication to improving his FT shooting is a sign of maturity, I have nothing for Reggie though

How come we're making no mention of bringing in the reigning coach of the year?

Personally, I feel this team should compete for a home playoff series, or... the lottery, because I go out on limbs

[pietasterp]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

I mentioned Casey a few posts back. I said that I believed he could drag this group kicking-and-screaming into the 8-seed in the East, although in truth I don't have a good sense of his actual coaching abilities since who ever watches Toronto Raptors games (outside of Toronto, that is)?

I agree that Drummond strikes me as someone that actually wants to work on his game and get better, I think he's just a player who is unlucky in that he would've been dominant in another (prior) era. I think Reggie Jackson is a waste of time and money, and even if he weren't, he can't ever stay healthy enough to play the majority of a season, so what's the difference? Blake Griffin is a clear and complete waste of money at this point in his career. I don't want him on the team (nothing against him personally, it's just the basketball situation that makes me not want him), he doesn't want to be in Detroit, he costs way too much money and doesn't really fit with the rest of the roster. I mean, it's Gores' money, so he can do whatever he wants, I just wish he'd throw money at people that knew how to build a winning team, not an ill-fitting collection of overpriced B-level or past-their-prime semi-stars.

[VDusen04]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

I'd say Drummond's dedication to improving his FT shooting is a sign of maturity.

Yeah, he surprised me with that. But beyond that, his body language and on-court tendencies give me PTSD to guys I've played with and coached a million times throughout my life. Dudes who have talent (relatively speaking) and want to be great but are just too big of boneheads up top to really put it all together.

When I see Andre Drummond, I see a guy who wants to be great but might not really know or understand what it takes and how it's all supposed to be done.

[l3ulvl]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

Drummond for threeeeeeeee

defense needs a lot of work, if we're getting scorched by the penetration of LeVert and Dinwiddie, what's gonna happen when we play real teams with real players?

offense needs work too lol, why did it feel like every time down the court we looked lost?

it was like "ok, someone set a screen, now... roll? maybe? pop instead? pass to someone else... shot clock over?"

Hopefully supercoach was letting them BS around on their own so he can correct them, but you kinda figure that's what the preseason is for

[pietasterp]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

Pistons tied for first in the Eastern Conference!

Wanted to get that in before I couldn't say it anymore.

[rockchisler]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

Pistons tied for first in the Eastern Conference!

Wanted to get that in before I couldn't say it anymore.

We got to do it for 20 games last year


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[pietasterp]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

We got to do it for 20 games last year

Yes, I'll take my positives where I can get them with this team.

[l3ulvl]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

We got to do it for 20 games last year


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

wow I forgot all about that, I even had a "wait, are we good?" moment