What Happen During The 5 Straight Loss

Need of immediate Point Guard
I would think the lack of the frontline scoring would be the number one problem during the five straight loss right? Not quite. Stuckey is currently the starting poing guard, but does that mean he's the ideal point guard the Pistons should start? As much as many people think he's as good as he gets (6-5 ft, 200+ point guard), maybe, but not as a point guard. Being a point guard is very similar to being a quarter back, and for the last 5 games, he seems lost. He calls for play, but he doesn't really have the instinct as a natural point guard. I would take Will Bynum any time of the day over Stuckey to play as a point guard but I do understand that Bynum needs to lead the bench since Gordon is not available to lead the bench since he's starting due to the lack of Rip/Prince starting.

Frontline Lack of Offense
If I have to pick top two players in the frontline it would be Ben Wallace and Charlie V. (CV) But as far as scoring, CV would be the only frontcourt player scoring for the Pistons. The rest (Maxiell, Wilcox, Brown), its a blur. In fact, if you get the other frontcourt players other than CV score more than 8, that would a perfect day. But expect them to score less than 10 points combine per game. Given the fact that CV is the only offensive force, it would be unfair to expect the guy to score 20+ points per game. Not to mention guarding the PF spot where its not easy....Their past 5 games, he had to guard, Nowitzki, Odom, Aldridge, Boozer and Stoudemire.

Small Ball Will Never Work
Although Golden State almost pulled it off after beating the Mavs in the playoffs, it all comes down to size and strength. Pistons is no exception. When Pistons plays Gordon, Bynum and Stuckey at the same time, usually, the Pistons is sending a message that they need to score even if it means shortening their defense. Well, that may work, but most of the time it won't.

The Value of Richard Hamilton (Rip)
There was a time that the Pistons were involved in some sort of trade rumor about Prince or Rip maybe in the trading block, especially after they've won few games and that may be in need of help in the frontcourt. In the past decade, the Pistons have relied on Rip's running curl to open up space in their offense and distrupt and scramble the opponents' defense. This creates opportunities for the other four players in the court, especially their frontline, where Rasheed Wallace and McDyess made their scoring living during their run in Detroit. This is no different to CV and Ben Wallace. Until then, the Pistons offense wouldn't be difficult to defend since all opponents have to worry about is the penetration of Will, Gordon and Stuckey.

Interview with Joe Dumars

ON HOW HAMILTON-GORDON IS DIFFERENT FROM HAMILTON-IVERSON
KL: Let me ask you something that’s been a recurring theme from people who’ve analyzed the off-season, and I mean mostly media people now. You signed Ben Gordon, whose primary position is shooting guard. You’ve got Rip, who’s coming off the Hamilton-Iverson experiment, which didn’t go as you had expected. Why is this going to work where that one didn’t?
JD: First of all, Ben Gordon made a decision to come here knowing that Rip Hamilton is the starting two guard. Allen Iverson never made that decision – it was a trade and it happened and we went through the process of what we had to go through. So when the guy makes the decision himself, first and foremost that’s the biggest difference right there. He’s choosing, he’s saying I want to go and be in this situation. That jumps out at you first. Secondly, here’s a guy who made his name in this league coming off the bench and being a dynamic scorer. Here’s a guy who was the Sixth Man of the Year as a rookie. So there’s a fundamental difference between Ben Gordon and Iverson being here. Ben Gordon chooses to come here knowing what the situation is. Ben Gordon made his name in this league coming off the bench. So it’s fundamentally different any way you look at it.

ON HOW GORDON WANTED TO BE IN DETROIT SO BAD
KL: It was widely reported the deal was struck on the first day of free agency. Both he and Charlie took the first flights here and were in your office that morning and deals were struck that day. So it probably wasn’t a hard sell. But did you have to convince him this would work or was he eager to embrace that right from the get-go?
JD: He didn’t have to sell me on it – but he did. About how this can work. "I can play with Stuckey, I can play with Rip, I can play with Will Bynum. He talked about, listen, I’ve played with Larry Hughes. I’ve played with Derrick Rose. I’ve played with Kirk Hinrich." These are all different types of guards. So his thing is, "I can play with Rodney Stuckey, I can play with Rip Hamilton, I can play with Will Bynum. Joe, I’m adaptable. I can make it work, because I’ve done it. I’ve done it my whole career." And he mentioned Chris Duhon as well over in Chicago.

ON HOW HAMILTON WANTED GORDON TO BE IN DETROIT
KL: I imagine you’ve talked to Rip about this. How is he anticipating this will work.
JD: Rip laughed when I told him that that’s the guy we were talking to. He said – after we had signed him, actually – he said, "Listen, you cannot pass up on a Ben Gordon. He’s too good to pass up." And then he said, "Now he does know I’m the starter, though, right?" I said, "He knows that, Rip. He knows that full well." We both laughed about it. He said you can’t pass on him, he’s a big-time player. There’s such a respect back and forth with these guys, guys like Stuckey and Will and Rip and Tayshaun, they respect what Ben Gordon has done because they’ve seen it, up close and personal, against us and against others. They respect what this guy brings.

See full interview

Meet The New Pistons

I caught this one from one of the known blogger in PistonLand and in Youtube. These are the new members as of 7/18/09.

Boozer...? Thanks but No Thanks.

I found this from Chris McCosky, one of the sources that I consider pretty accurate.

About Boozer
You are going to keep seeing the Pistons named in rumors about possible trade scenarios involving Carlos Boozer. I am going to keep telling you what I have been writing for the past month. The Pistons just aren't that into Boozer -- the size of his expiring contract is an issue, as is his fragility. They are certainly not into him if it costs them Tayshaun Prince or Richard Hamilton. I had a brief chat with Joe Dumars Friday and he confirmed just that.
Could that change? Anything can change. But I wouldn't expect it to change this summer.

I'd have to say I couldn't be happier for this decision. The fact that Boozer knows it's he's last year, I'm not sure if he'll really give everything he'll got to the team he'll be moving to for only a year, especially if it's gonna' cause Prince or Hamilton? Forget it. I'm all for it if Boozer has at least 2 years left.

Summer of 09 Halftime

With the summer halfway done, Pistons came up with Charlie V and Ben Gordon during the first day of the Free Agency. Joe Dumars is not done yet. I hope Avery Johnson will take the head coach position and a get another decent player on the PF/C position that will complement Charlie V.

Well, everybody knows who Ben Gordon is......but Charlie V, not so much.....but I'm sure he will or I hope so when he joins the Pistons. Besides, history repeats itself. Nobody really knew Billups, Hamilton, Ben Wallace and Prince until they joined the Pistons. Cheers to Charlie.

Welcome Austin Daye

The Pistons picked Austin Daye at 15th pick. He's frame reminds me of Tayshaun Prince but he's shooting ability being 6'11 reminds me of Dirk Nowitzki.

Pistons 2009-2010 Construction Began

Being out of the playoffs early this season, it's nice to know that Joe Dumars and his staff began building the road to compete in the 2009-2010 NBA season.

From Pistons.com

Quiet on the surface, noisy behind the scenes
First you see the sign go up on your morning commute to work. “Future site of …” a new hotel, or a fast-food restaurant, or another drug store or bank. And then not much happens for a month or two. Permits are being pulled and inspections scheduled and studies commissioned, but nothing but that sign offers visual evidence that anything is about to change.
That’s the stage of construction the 2009-10 Pistons are in as of today.
All the behind-the-scenes leg work is being done now. Over at the practice facility, Joe Dumars and his staff – Scott Perry, George David, Doug Ash, Durand Walker – are busy scheduling individual workouts, watching film, writing and reading reports and communicating with college, AAU and high school coaches for dozens of prospects they’ll consider with their four picks in the June 26 draft.
Tony Ronzone, international scouting guru, is getting ready to head to Europe and the big Reebok Eurocamp in Treviso, Italy, where most of the draft-worthy international players will showcase their skills.
Dumars and Perry will be working the phones, gauging interest from other teams in working out trades and from agents on the inclinations of the marquee pending free agents.
All of a sudden, one day you drive past that construction site, and the earth movers have pushed dirt, the foundation has been poured, the walls are up and they’re working on the trim. And the sign has been changed. It reads: Now Hiring.
Before you know it, the Pistons will be at that stage. Here’s a rough outline of how the process will unfold.

The Draft – The draft comes first and – because of the sheer volume of work involved in evaluating dozens of prospects for the Pistons’ four draft picks, pick No. 15 in the first round and picks 36, 39 and 44 in the second – will demand the lion’s share of the man-hours spent over the next six weeks.
David is in charge of scheduling individual workouts at The Palace, a process just getting under way all around the league. Most years, a team sitting at 15 could probably draw up a list of a dozen players it had no chance or little chance of getting. But this year? The variance is much wider, with perhaps only six or eight players that have almost no chance of still being available to the Pistons at 15. While that ultimately could work to the Pistons’ benefit – heightening the chances that the player they like best could still be there for them – it complicates the evaluation process by widening the pool.
It helps, conversely, that their three second-rounders are crammed within a span of nine picks. The Pistons will attempt to bring in as many players at one position at the same time so they can match like second-round candidates together. Let’s say the Pistons were looking at small forwards who might be picked in a range from the late first to the mid-second round. If possible, just to throw out three names, they’d try to get players like North Carolina’s Danny Green, Villanova’s Dante Cunningham and Georgetown’s DeJuan Summers in on the same day to see how they stack up against each other.
While scouts have been saying since last summer that it would be a weak draft, it isn’t out of the question that the Pistons could find at 15 someone who could crack the rotation as soon as next season. Among the possibilities would be Pitt’s undersized but productive power forward DeJuan Blair, Louisville’s gifted all-around wing Terence Williams, or any one of a number of well-known point guards projected to go anywhere from the late lottery to the 20s – North Carolina’s Ty Lawson, Syracuse’s Jonny Flynn, St. Mary’s Patty Mills, UCLA’s Jrue Holliday or VCU’s Eric Maynor among them.

Free Agency – Because of the cap space Dumars created with the Chauncey Billups-Allen Iverson trade, free agency is the surest path back to title contention for the Pistons this summer.
And because of collective-bargaining rules, free agency is also likely to be utilized before trades are executed so Joe D can get maximum use out of that cap space.
That’s because if free agents are signed first, the Pistons can spend up to the new salary cap limit – which will be unveiled in early July, after all the financial reports from the 2008-09 season are finalized – and then go over the cap, while still falling within CBA stipulations, to accommodate trades. Trades involving two teams over the cap must have their salaries come within 125 percent of each other. If the Pistons are taking back the 125 and giving the 100, then they would be best served by signing their free agents first.
Put another way, if the Pistons sign Free Agent A and Free Agent B and that takes them right to the new salary cap limit, then they can turn around and trade Player C, making $10 million next season, for Player D, making $12.5 million. But if they made the trade first, then they would have $2.5 million less to offer free agents.
Perhaps the premier unrestricted free agent as of today is Chicago shooting guard Ben Gordon, who had a phenomenal first-round series against the Celtics. Utah’s Carlos Boozer would go to the top of the list if he chooses to opt out of his contract. Orlando’s Hedo Turkoglu and Cleveland’s Anderson Varejao are others that figure to attract wide interest if they exercise opt-out clauses.
Restricted free agents – a list headed by the likes of New York’s David Lee, Utah’s Paul Millsap, Atlanta’s Marvin Williams and Milwaukee’s Charlie Villanueva and Ramon Sessions – are another possibility. But teams generally shy away from RFAs – only two signed offer sheets last summer and only one, Ronny Turiaf, switched teams – because while the seven-day window for the original team to decide to match the offer or not passes, valuable money is tied up as other free agents make their moves.
Benefiting the Pistons is that very few other NBA teams will have significant cap space this summer. Though the final list depends on decisions yet to be made – for instance, if Portland renounces its rights to Channing Frye – the Pistons probably will be one of five or six teams with the potential to be free-agent spenders, and some of them are unlikely to spend big.

Trades – It will take Dumars’ deft touch to coordinate a strategy that will allow everything to fall in place sequentially. That’s another way of saying he’s going to do everything in his power to have trades in place based on his ability to sign free agents, even though the free-agent signings probably will come first – unless his trades do not result in taking on additional money.
So if he targets Gordon, for instance, and gets a good vibe on his ability to sign him, then it makes sense that he’ll look at the rest of his roster and figure out how he can get the maximum value out of Gordon for the money. That means swinging trades to bring in compatible talent – and to part with players who might be made extraneous. That doesn’t necessarily mean Rip Hamilton would be peddled, but it does make it more likely that either Hamilton or Tayshaun Prince would be used as the major bait in landing the frontcourt piece the Pistons clearly need.
If Boozer chooses not to opt out, it’s likely Utah will look to trade him. The Jazz can’t afford to bring back both Boozer and Millsap, who averaged a double-double in Boozer’s extended injury absence last season – not if they’re intent on retaining Mehmet Okur and Kyle Korver, at least.
Chris Bosh of Toronto and Amare Stoudemire of Phoenix are other prominent young big men who could be in play this summer, though the Suns at least publicly are now saying they’re committed to rebuilding around Stoudemire. Both players could be free agents next summer.
We’re still six to eight weeks away from the date when dramatic evidence of the remaking of the Pistons should begin to be seen. In the meantime, know that as you drive by The Palace on your way somewhere else, the groundwork for change is being laid.

Chuck, Thank You for the Great Memories

As if there aren't any more sad news in the Pistonland.....Hall of Famer, Pistons' greatest coach Chuck Daly passed away today in his home in Florida.

www.nba.com/pistons/news/daly_090509.html

Hello Early Summer

Call me pessimistic, but with the Pistons getting ready to wrap it up this season, I'm actually optimistic looking what the summer of 09 brings upon the Pistonland.

• The Pistons may have their worst season this year for the past six season, but the Cavs are just different this year. With the chemistry and a sense of urgency throughout their organization, they are just simply on a mission. Lebron may be the driving force of the team, but its that whole that holds them all as one, with one mission.
• Many believed that the Iverson/Billups trade gave Denver the most out of it. Not so true. with the huge cap salary that Pistons have, there will be a big sign on Joe Dumars office "Wanted, Superstar!" With the economy still on its heel, it would be weird for an organization to offer a multi-million dollar job offer. So it's still pre-mature to put a judgement on who won the Billups/Iverson trade, unless the Denver wins the title this year, because if they don't, they have a big tab to pay next year, while the Pistons are enjoying shopping for a superstar in an economy known as "The Buyer's Market"
• When the Pistons sealed a playoff spot, I was very thankful and satisfied that I will be seeing them play at least 4 games in the playoffs. Expected but realistic. Pistons were the most inconsistent team in the league. Their whole regular season is very similar to summer camp. A team searching for its identity and setting the stone in the right spots.
• The Pistons are in a rebuilding phase. Pistons fans knows this. The idea of rebuilding a team in the middle of the season and still participate in the first round of the playoffs is too much to ask for, but because Pistons fans are so spoiled that Pistons have been to the ECF 6 straight years, this season is just too hard to be thankful for.
• For those who are not aware, yes Pistons really are in a rebuilding phase. This started when Billups was traded to Denver for Iverson. Two things have opened up for the team, the spot Billups left, which was given to Stuckey AND the cap salary that opened up since Denver picked up the long contract that Billups have. In addition to that, the Iverson experiment didn't work so his 1 year contract is off the books. Wallace' contract is up too.
• With the money that the Pistons have this summer, I'm more excited to see who will be the first new member of the Pistons than to see the Pistons made it to the Playoffs this year. Here's my one cent excluding all the teams that made it to the playoffs.

1. Chris Bosh - With the aging Frontline of Detroit Wallace and McDyess along with the young inexperience Maxiell, Kwame and Amir, Chris Bosh could be the leader of the pack of the front runners of the Pistons. Maybe even the leader of the team which is one of the things Pistons truly lack since Billups left.
2. Emeka Okafor - A true center is hard to find but is he good enough at the 5 spot since he's only 6'10 as suppose to Yao and Howard? Plus, he has a big chunk of contract. Though Detroit could afford to pick up his tab, Joe Dumars decision about this will be based on when pigs can fly.
3. Kevin Durant - Pistons couldn't ask Prince enough for the terrific job hes done for the organization, but his peak of potential may have reach the highest. One of the Pistons main problem is the lack of a scoring punch. Someone that can blend in with their top scorer Hamilton where the Iverson experiement failed. Durant covers two things if it becomes successful. An efficient scoring player at the 3 position and an endless scoring punch tagging along with Rip's efficiency. Dumars wouldn't disregard the idea of Durant.
4. Charlie Villanueva - Imagine another UConn star leader of the Milwaukee Bucks mix it with another Uconn star that whos considered the leader of the Pistons, Rip Hamilton? A match made in heaven. Villanueva's energy reminds me of Maxiell except he's also an offensive force, which is what the Pistons needed badly on the frontline. McDyess and Wallace's leg has aged. On top of that, Villanueva's price isn't that bad.

The rest of the possibility of other players that may want to get traded this summer will be based on how the post season will turn out. Who will get knocked out and how each player would feel of entertaining an equation Detroit Pistons + $$$$$$$ = 2010 Championship? As for me, similar to the Pistons, I'm off for the early summer...."Gone fishing"

David and Goliath

Not so long ago, David and Goliath would still be a perfect analogy of the Pistons and the Cavs. Today, it still is, except this time Lebron and the Cavs are the superior team where the Pistons are the inferior team which makes them David with a sling shot rock. This is by far the most predictable outcome that reporters, analysts and fans have made in the first round of this playoff. The Pistons has no chance period. And when I said by far, I mean its by far more than the biggest upset when the Pistons defeated the Lakers in 2004 in 5 games. Why? Because the Pistons have been inconsistent this year, not to mention their undecided rotation and revolving injury around the team. Also, a rookie coach along with a Allen Iverson (future hall of famer, scratch that) and a young point guard Rodney Stuckey that replaced a proven floor manager, Chauncey Billups. Oh, did I mention Wallace technical fouls? So there ya have it! Why in the world would anybody think that Pistons might have a chance of this series, when there's a clear indication that they are not build for the playoffs. In fact, some stated that they shouldn't be in the playoffs and they're lucky that they are.

Tens, Hundreds, Thousands, Millions of a chance?
Well, mathematically speaking, the chances of Pistons defeating the Cavs may be slim....But then someone would have to explain and convince me why in the world there's people out there who keeps winning the lottery? I don't understand. Unless there's a conspiracy theory that I'm not aware of. What most people are forgetting was last year, Pistons defeated Orlando Magic with the same starting line up as this year. I do understand that the Magic and Cavs are two different teams, but they are both the superior team in the East, along with Boston. If Pistons are going to want to get a shot at this, they're going to have to wear the same armor they wore last year, when their floor general Chauncey Billups went down but won the series anyway.

An Airplane With One Pilot
Teams like the Lakers, Magic, Heat, and Celtics have each one pilot. Kobe, Howard, Dwade, and KG. Well so as the Cavs. Do we really think that any of these team could play the way they've been playing without they're one and only Pilot? Now that's an easier questions to answer. Boston Celtics is a perfect example when KG isn't playing the way he has been and what's worst he may not even suit up for the rest of the post season. With Cavs main anchor, Lebron, who's going to drive the lane to break the Pistons defense? Williams, West, Ilausgaskas, Gibson, or may be Varejao? Forget it! Lebron James is the frame of the Cavs, without him, they wont last on the road not even for just a test drive.

A Match Up Made In Heaven for the Cavs?
Statistically speaking yes. If the Cavs translate they're consistency from the regular season to the post season it would be a walk in the park for them to pass the Pistons. It would have to start no other than Lebron James because if not, the Cavs will find themselves being draged from the ground.

An Opportunity to Embrace
This is a familiar territory for the Detroit Pistons, especially for Prince, Hamilton and Wallace. A place where they have been so many times, especially comparing it to the "against all odd" situation they faced during the NBA Finals of 2004. All bets were Pistons were going to get swept, but all the Pistons really needed was a one win to build an unstoppable momentum. With the rest of the cast, they should embrace this opportunity because one win out of the first 2 games in Cleveland is all it takes to smell the blood in the sea. Besides, all it took from David to defeat Goliath was just a swing of his sling shot.

A Lesson to Learn as a Pistons

Well there ya have it! As expected by most people in Pistons land, including myself, that Iverson's season is over. After a loss to the Nets on Wednesday, Iverson began expressing how he dislike his role playing off the bench, getting him in a hurry while he was injured but only played him 18 minutes, and emphasizing that he deserves to play as a starter, otherwise, he'll retire.......Guess what happened in the next 48 hours? Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars announced today that according to the medical staff, he won't be able to play to his level due to the continuation of his back problem injury. Lets not be naive to this situation. We both know how Dumars and Iverson functions. Believe it or not it's pretty simple, Dumars wouldn't allow anyone or anything to get Pistons distracted from winning while Iverson wouldn't allow anything or anyone to get on his way the way he wants to play, at least for now. Do the math and its all self explanatory not to mention how many games Pistons have won without Iverson compare to when he was playing. The lesson learned is Joe Dumars wouldn't tolerate any drama in the Pistons locker room before it becomes a contagious cancer.

Help Is On Its Way

For the past few weeks, the Pistons is no different than the Sesnon Fire that occured last year here in Socal.

The group of fire fighter = The shorthanded Pistons

The Mayor/Gov = Joe Dumars/Michael Curry

DC-10 jet fire fighter = Rip, AI and Wallace

Wind = The lingering injuries between Rip, AI and Wallace

Well, its a similar situations. The shorthanded Pistons could only do so much to ease the fire. Dumars and Curry cannot do or demand to put out the fire since the lingering injuries is like a wind that gust throughout the fire that prevents Rip, AI and Wallace to completely put out the fire.

Today, that wind has left and the jet fighters are about to take off. Finally, a breathing moment.

From Detroit News

AUBURN HILLS -- For the first time in at least a couple of weeks, Arnie Kander is seeing real progress with his three wounded warriors, to the point where two of them might be ready to play by Saturday.
Kander, the Pistons physical therapist, has been running a sort of boot camp for Allen Iverson (back), Rasheed Wallace (calf) and Richard Hamilton (groin) the past couple of days and he came away very encouraged from the session Thursday morning.
"They all ran and they all looked good," Kander said. "There was real progress today and I am hoping that Rip and Rasheed can be back by the weekend."
Coach Michael Curry said the same thing.
"I expect Rip back on Saturday (in Washington) and 'Sheed maybe Saturday," he said.
"And we hope we can get Allen back at the beginning of next week."
Coach Michael Curry said the same thing.
Wallace missed his ninth game Thursday and Hamilton his sixth.
Iverson, who missed his 15th, isn't as close to returning, though Kander said he had one of his best days Thursday.
"He really shot the ball well," Kander said. "He was hitting 90 percent of his shots in the drills we were running.
"He looks good. I don't know if he will play Saturday, but maybe he will be ready when we get back (Sunday)."
The Pistons are 2-7 since Wallace joined Iverson on the injured list.
They are 1-6 with all three players out.

Darkest Hour

When the Pistons has fallen to their eight consecutive loss a few weeks ago, the news around the Pistons land was "its over". That changed in matter of less than 48 hours after beating the NBA champion Celtics, sweeping the Magic in the regular season and winning a game against their former floor general Chauncey BIllups' Nuggets. Yesterday, things has started to slip again after losing two consecutive game against a non-playoff contender, the Knicks and the Grizzlies. However, the two losing streak were all fair-considered that it wouldn't take away their hopes, their confidence and their determination that as the Pistons' "It's time to work" attitude will once again prevail, not until they found out what's bothering their leading scorer and leading in assist has been enduring. Rip has been lingering his groin injury which explains why his shooting slump began to be a concern for the past two games. This was reported right before the game against the Dallas on the road. After dropping on the seventh playoff spot every game is critical that this has to be the darkest hour the Pistons have encountred this season with Rip, Wallace and A.I. out of the line up.

Finding the Identity

The Pistons are currently caught in a double intensity spike. They are short two of their key players, Rasheed Wallace and Allen Iverson. At the same time, they are in the midst of finding their identify completely, a person that's been awaken from a coma and starting to remember what's his/her capable of. They have won six of their last eight games, including a win over Boston and a couple of games against Orlando, who they may be facing in the first round playoffs. However, the other benefit of the past several wins are the revival of the Pistons cast, including the bench players and most notably Antonio McDyess and Richard Hamilton.

Got Rip?

Eversince Rip returned to the starting line up, their last eight games created a different outlook on the scoreboard, or rather, their opponents' averaging less than 95 points per game (94.5). Defensive effort is clearly there and just like what I've been rallying all season, that Rip may not be a hall of famer (yet), but he has a definite advantage over AI in the defensive end. At the same time you can't count him out on scoring because the old Rip that's been seen for the last six season in Detroit once again lead the team, not only in scoring but in assist. When Rip gets into a constant running mode, the opposing team has few options, either avoid the screener (the Power Forward or Center) which is practically impossible especially on the speed that Rip's generates. Another option would be to allow the screener's (whoever's guarding Wallace, Dyess, Max or Kwame) guard to switch and guard Rip. Consequently this will free up Pistons' frontcourt, which in Pistons case, Dyess would love to take that mid range shot and Sheed beyond the arc. Before you knew it, the opponents' defense has been scrambled. Rip may not be able to create his own shot off the dribble like Lebron or Kobe, but he can disrupt the teeth of the opponents defense. This is where Rip's assist stat came from.

Rolling the Dyess

While Rip is too busy on constant motion Dyess is too busy putting up some boards number, not to mention hustling on lose balls. "In my mind, if the ball comes off the boards, I'm going to get it. No matter who it is, I'm going to get the rebound." Having a mind set like that before entering a game is something, but its another thing applying it throughout the whole game. The man is on a mission, playing the game with his heart and his blood and sweat written all over the court just trying to keep the ball alive. And when he's not grabbing rebounds? He's shooting a high percentage mid range shot.

Bench In the Making

Walter Hermann is the first notable bench player that created some threat to the opposing team. With his ability to shoot above the arc and create his own shot below or close to the rim, gave Michael Curry the idea that he should be in the line up rotation. When Curry mention that he fits perfectly with Prince, that pretty much gave away that he'll be in the rotation. Another notable bench player is Will Bynum. His fearless attacking his opponent and taking it to the rim is something that Curry has been drumming, "attack and get to foul line". The norms but are now beginning to show some "zoo crew" life are Max, Kwame and Afflalo. With Amir trying to find his feet back on the gas pedal and everybody else on the bench, a hall of famer is soon to comeback. Chauncey Billups may have named the Zoo Crew, but in most games they played he really never led them. Maybe a guy who loves to push the tempo, loves to attack and able to create his own may just be what the young legs Zoo Crew needs.

NOTE: Detroit Pistons owner and Hall of Famer Bill Davidson passed away, age 86. You'll be missed

The Drama Begins

On the Pistons' eight consecutive loss, voices that has been kept for several weeks has been yelled out. This began during the fourth quarter of the game against the New Orleans. Wallace couldn't control his temper and earned himself a quick consecutive technical fouls. Pretty offensive to the refs, to the New Orleans fans and even to Curry and his teammates. Wallace basically handed the game to the Hornets with technicals he committed cost them seven points. The fact that Pistons loss by only three points, is an evident that Pistons could've won the game if Wallace would've controlled his temper.

After the game, the drama continued by a voice that a few weeks ago was willing to come off the bench as long as its for the benefit of helping the team to win. A sacrifice that was smart and unselfish where in the workplace is called work ethic. I'm talking about Richard Hamilton. He finally said it, what everyone has been suggesting that he shouldn't be in the bench, he's not happy and things aren't going well for the team. "Something has to give" were one of his exact words. You can't get anymore accurate than that. When something has been done for awhile producing bad result, normally, the natural reaction is to change how it's being done to try to produce a better result. That's it! That's all what Rip is saying.

When Rip came off the bench and average close to twenty points a game, it sounded pretty inspiring. Not so true. Regardless of how much points Rip makes even if its 30+ points, the points allowed to the opponents is much worse. If A.I. is in the starting line up with Stuckey, it's been an evidence that Pistons' defensive scheme is horrible. Pick and roll is almost impossible to cover. A.I. is too easy to clamp a screen by the opponent and its almost impossible for Wallace and Dyess to recover from it, leaving the ball handler cruise to the paint or bounce pass it to the screener. If either way was covered, which barely happens with A.I. getting screened, the defensive scheme has already been scrambled. Teams with fast guards are primary examples...Tony Parker, CP3, Dwade etc.

The other defensive liability that could collapse if AI is in the starting line up is teams with bigger guards. This is no rocket scientist for any coach to figure it out. In fact, fans could easily point out. Consequently, Dyess and Wallace would have to provide help coverage which leaves the paint open for a second chance points or at least an offensive rebound, where Pistons have been hurt. Normally, most people would think that AI's scoring ability would provide a great offense for a Pistons considering it has a cast that could score 20 or 30 points a night, not so true. Pistons' cast Wallace, Rip, Prince, Stuckey and Dyess are accustomed to sharing the ball with a blue print offensive scheme. With AI commanding the ball to iniate his offense, the rest of the staring line up began to wonder what they needed to do that they end up literally just standing around and waiting for what AI might do, take a shot, bail out, or dishing it. Pistons has yet to leart this type of blue print and may be difficult considering the time they spent with AI and with a guidance of a rookie coach. AI running the offense for the starting line up is an experiment like a time bomb.

On the other hand, AI's offensive threat has been acknowledge by the league, all his awards were not a coincident of any kind. He's a remarkable player, who attacks the basket, players, regardless of the opponents size considering AI's small and short frame. Flashes of AI's scoring dynamic were mostly demonstrated during his time in Philly, where he was the reigning captain and leader of the sixers. This leads me to suggest that his insertion to the second line up would rejuvenate his dynamic talent when hes surrounded by players who hustles more than what people think. Afflalo is a ruthless defender to guards and in the 3 position who has a great shooting range. Amir Johnson's capability of running down the court that could easily blend in with AI's run and gun style. Maxiell's explosiveness of rebounds, blocks and dunks. Hermann's long range beyond the arc. Bynum's fast pace ball handling and Kwame's young legs and wide size that could defend the paint.


With the starting line up Stuckey, Rip, Prince, Dyess and Sheed, the Pistons will have an offensive flow that's familiar to them and a man-to-man defense is a walk in the park. With AI leading the second unit of Kwame, Amir/Max, Hermann/Afflalo and Bynum may just be one of the dangerous second unit in the league.

7!

Seven, is the current losing streak Pistons are in. Pretty pathetic, yet, there's really nothing to say rather than trying to make this fun, where real fans must still have. Rather than looking anything positive about the situation, the only fun thing to do is to count. SEVEN!!! In less than 24 hours, we'll find out if it gets to 8 or back to zero tomorrow in New Orleans.

On Curry's Offensive Playbook

Just got back from Big Bear Cali and I was expecting the Pistons have won a game during Saturday, that is if they had a game, apparently they didn't which gives me a chance to see a game against the Cavs, what a treat. Not! It's 39 seconds left at the end of first half and the score is 65-31 Pistons down. Amazing, yet expected.

Not that I'm jumping out of the Curry's bandwagon, but I'm convince that his offensive playbook has to be very ridiculus. How can a team with having one of the greatest offensive player (A.I.) in the league unable to get set to score? How can Wallace (the only guy who's reliable above the arc this season) began stalling on scoring both inside and outside? How can Prince barely participate in the offensive stat after being the most consistent player for the last six season? How can Stuckey, the number one offensive threat from Washington unable to score decently? To top it, the Zoo Crew has completely been wipe out in the air, Maxiell, Amir and Afflalo can only score because of their hustle and almost for just being at the right place at the right time. This concludes that Curry's offensive playbook has been written all over the continuous losing skid of the Pistons. In other words, having A.I., Rip, Wallace, Prince, Stuckey and McDyess as the guaranteed players on the rotation producing one of the worst scoring points is clearly unacceptable. He's offensive playbook is beyond terrible.

1!

One more day and every team in the NBA this season will have to go to war (playoffs) with what they got, that is offcourse if you are chosen to go to it.

• Speaking of making it to the playoffs, the Pistons are in danger of losing that spot....a lost to a crappy team at home is a really bad sign...just few games ahead to the last spot
• After a lost to the Bucks, I'm convince Joe is working the phone for a trade.....otherwise, he'll have to watch the Pistons swim or drown
• The Curry bandwagon is extremely beginning to hit the big bumps throwing everybody out
• The only exact same thing that I've seen this season from the last few season are Dyess and Rip.....to sum up in one word, Consistency. The rest, at this point are pretty questionable. What's going on?
• At this point there's only two ways if the Pistons are to win enough games to make it to the playoffs. First is if Joe D makes a trade before the deadline and get a similar result when Rasheed Wallace came or even better similar to Paul Gasol coming to LA. The other way is Joe doesn't make any trade and just hope the Pistons finally turns it up, but again this has been the hopes from the beginning of the season.

3!

I just got back from Phoenix Arizona for the All Star 2009 and it was the greatest basketball game (and show) I've ever been! It's one of those thing you HAVE to go once in your life! Thanks to M!

• I was eyeing A.I. for few times during the game, other than his new haircut, he had a 1-3minutes of hugs and conversation with Bill Russell about "?" I wish I knew, but whatever it was, I hope it was a word of wisdom. We'll see how A.I. driven passion gets implemented to the Pistons
• Kobe and Shaq together again & shared the MVP award....It's hard not to think its all for publicity purposes
• Seeing CP3 playing on TV is pretty good, but in person, he's just crazy awesome. The point guard position belongs to him for the next decade. Nevermind the miss dunk, he did a lob dunk!
• After watching the game on TV from Tivo(ing) it, I notice that Lebron was goofing around too much during Colangelo's speech...He did stop after he was told by someone when he nod his head of indicating he'll stop with an apology. I'm guessing it was Mike Brown. Very immature but funny, then I realize, hey he's only 24
• Celebrities extravaganza. It's almost like the red carpet in Hollywood
• Alex Acker sent to Clippers. Does Joe have a next move? Based on his previous trading transaction in the past, usually a trade like this is followed by another one
• Dyess takes a shot of the starting line up. I love it! Not just because it'll make Wallace's job a lot easier by covering less part of the paint but because of the energy and passion he puts on his team. He's giving everything he got. I hope it's contagious.

3 Days to go, clock ticking, I have no doubt in my mind that GMs are working the phone

6!

6 Days to go until the trade deadline and as expected, trade is bound to happen. Early today, it began with Jermaine O'Neal to be sent to Miami Heat in exchange of Shawn Marion. The Heat could definitely use a true center in the paint, but how much can O'Neal offer with his re-occuring injury. On the other hand, Shawn Marion seems to be healthy but very unfortunate for him since Miami is hitting the "we're contenders too" drums.

This trade leads me to believe that we can crush Chris Bosh's and Michael Beasley's trade this season while there's still no definite path for Amare.

7!

7 days until the Trade Deadline and it seems that Amare is still the hot topic in the trade market. New rumor has been generated today that the Blazers are the front runner for the All Star power forward in exchange of a package around Marcus Aldridge.

Chris Bosh is the runner up however, a counter rumor generated stating Raptors has no intention of trading him even though he gave an indication that he is going to opt out when 2010 comes around.

Pistons manage to lose another game before going into the All Star weekend. Fans are starting to get really cranky even towards Joe D. I can't really blame anyone, with all the talents that Pistons have, there's just no excuse for the performance and execution that's been happening game after game. It's sickening.

Against ALL Odds

The losing saga began when A.I. came to Detroit or another way of saying is when Billups left Detroit. It's all relative, the chemistry, the time that's needed to restructure the team, who's starting, who's sitting, is the coach good enough to carry on the traditional success. Also, the ups and downs are completely untrue. The fact is, the Pistons has been down, way down there. The wins were not merely an indication of consistency and definitely not a sign of being contenders. In fact, they're not even close as the gate keeper of the Eastern Conference Finals path, if its any consolation, they are the runner up for the playoffs.....sad, but true. Lets look at this in a reasonable way.

Joe D in bringing in A.I.

One thing for sure is, if Joe D didn't pull the trigger to trade Chauncey for A.I. and let's say they happen to be on a No. 2 spot in the East, do you really think fans would be happy about it? Offcourse not, people would be complaining that he should've done the deal and he didn't. But hey, he did, not because he listen to what the fans cry about, but that's how he sees fit. The fact is that Chauncey had 6 chances to run this team and that should be more than enough. However, this doesn't mean that Joe D made the right move although, it's time for someone or a different team (with A.I.) to get their chance to see if they can compete for the championship. Joe restructuring the team is fair, not very ideal, not even close, but its fair.

Denial on Rasheed Wallace

We all know how great Rasheed is, the defense, the post up offense, the only PF/C who can shoot above the arc, the energy he brings, all those has been acknowledge. The truth is, its been overblown and at this point, its been overrated. Yes, he can guard Timmy and KG pretty well, but can he really do that for 4 quarters? If so, can he do that 2 consecutive games? There's always that excuse that always comes up, his toe, ankle, he's technical, and my favorite when he gets the technical, he'll be a threat to the opposing team. It's funny to think how a person can get motivated with the expense of the whole team, by letting the opposing team shoot a free throw, but that's just what a lot of the fans think, maybe not him. Rasheed's era is done, as much as when Ben Wallace were headed for the exit.

Same O'l Tayshaun Prince

Another overrated statement that's being made in the PistonLand is Tayshaun. He's consistency on both ends of the floor describes him as the good soldier of Michael Curry. Whatever is ask him, whether to defend, play on the 4 position, score, hustle, and anything a coach may command, he's there, no question ask. So how is it overrated to consider him hes one of the prime/key player of the Pistons. These are things that he has been doing already in the past six season, so theres no surprise. Although his stat has been improving year after year, he's performance against Lebron and Pierce is nothing but Same O'l.

A.I. Offense does not matter one bit

I don't care if he scores 50 points every night, well maybe I would if it guarantees a win, but that would not happen even in basketball heaven, because in order for a team to win, you've got to get stops, you can't just trade baskets. A.I. scoring ability and mentality is worthless, because every single opposing teams runs their offense through the person whom A.I. is guarding. I'm not talking about A.I.'s effort of playing defense, I'm talking about the reality of him being barely 5 foot and not mention his weight. Even a skinny Barbosa could take advantage of A.I.'s frame. Consequently, this became a domino effect. This has forced the frontcourt to provide help defense almost every single time the opposing team run their offense, commonly on pick and roll. A.I.'s defense became contagious that Pistons defense became stale, and its worst knowing their coach has a strong pride about playing defense.

Michael Curry Defense-Offense

The expectation when Curry step up on taking the leadership of a successful team was pretty simple. Get rid of the complacent and emphasize defensive intensity to the guys. Well, its fair to say that those were achieved, the problem is, those things were the things missing during the Flip Saunders era and there's more things missing in this era, for example, offensive efficiency, which was not lacking during Flip's time. When offense is a problem, this could usually get resolved by focusing on the defensive side, which is what Curry emphasize, but once you see your team getting lost and eating up 20 seconds of the shot clock then it's pretty obvious they have no clue what to run. Defensive effort that converts to offensive efficiency only works on Larry Brown's playbook. But Curry, might want to give Flip a call or maybe Larry Brown. Does he even have a playbook, that people may want to see in the 4th quarter when the team has lost it.

A Clear Path and Direction

When it was my first year in the state university, the goal was crystal clear, graduate and get out. Easier said than done, the first year was no exception, in fact it was my biggest struggle in my college experience. Resources were harder to find than bees in the winter, new environment adjustment, demanding professors (as oppose to community college instructors), minimal financial assistance etc. As a result, my grades were discouraging and the original goal started to fade. There wasn't really a recipe or a dummy guide for this situation except time and effort are the essential key to dealing with it. The difficult part was to be committed to it but as simple as may be, all i had to do was to choose to be committed to it. After that, everything starts falling into the right places, my grades has improved, new environment became a home, the resources didn't just become available but they became my friends.

That's how I picture the Detroit Pistons from the time Billups blew a bitter sad (sweet) good bye kiss to Piston Land and welcome A.I. to the team. It took them few tries to get a win with A.I., starting line up were shuffled, everybody's role were unclear and the Pistons-A.I. marriage was a new environment that required period of adjustment. As a result, there was a lack of consistency on which Pistons team would show up on a game basis. This includes the seven game winning streak, where everyone thought all the riddles were solve. However, when the starting line up has been concluded based on the games played everyone started to realize everyone's specific assignment, furthermore, accepting them. Rip's accepting the sixth man role is a prime example. After that, everything started falling into better (right) places, that has started with Rockets-Pistons game this month. Although the number of wins may not tell you so, the effort and consistency of team were clearly there. Last night's game against the Celtics was no different, the intensity and consistency were present and the game had a classic playoff atmosphere, especially after the Maxiell-Perkins encounter. I was so upset that the game ended in the hands of the Celtics but I realized that there's a clear path and direction for the Pistons now.

No Energy

I'm not even going to view the stat of the Dallas-Detroit game last night. Detroit's energy was just simply dead on water.

• What's the thought process of Curry staying on Prince to guard Dirk, after continuing to score easier than reciting the ABC
• Do we still have Rasheed in our team? I can't seem to find him.
• Stuckey and A.I. on the backcourt staring line up....that's because of their attack mode and able to create their own shot....Stuckey were just doing fine with that, but his TO was a different story....A.I. forcing it and shooting jump shot instead of going to the teeth of the defense was nowhere to be found
• If Pistons' practice on Thursday was about defending pick and roll, then they must've practice on how to allow opponents score....I can't imagine the points Dallas got of off pick and roll.
• In general, the Pistons' defense was harder to find than looking for Bush' staff in DC
• Did Curry forget that the best defender that we had on Dirk was Walter?
• It was only the second game with the new permanent (right!) starting line up, but not having the intensity on both ends of the floor is no excuse

I expect to have a better Pistons team this Sunday against the Rockets, not that I care but there will be more eyes on it since it's on national tv once again. It may or may not be a treat for out of town Pistons fans depending on how they perform.

Proposal To Joe Dumars Part I

After Pistons' five losing streak, people in Pistons land are on the edge of becoming panic.....very usual especially with all the changes had happen this season. There are three common protest that you can hear from the fans and columnist. Who Starts, Another Trade Deal and Fire Michael Curry. The last two has been consistent in the voice of the Pistons people, but the issue on who should be in the starting line-up has never really came up. Part I of this segment will cover on Who Starts.With the question whether the Pistons should go small or big has been the controversy around the Curry's regime. Here's a fair suggestion on who should start.

If the Pistons are playing the Suns, Lakers, Celtics or the likes
TEAM 1
SF: Prince
PF: Wallace
C: Brown
PG: Stuckey
SG: Hamilton

If the Pistons are playing Golden State, Magic or the likes
TEAM 2
SF: Prince
PF: Johnson
C: Wallace
PG: Stuckey
SG: Iverson

These two different line up does not suggest that one is a small ball line up and one is a big ball line up. First, the key is keeping Prince as a small forward and Stuckey as a true point guard while Wallace becomes the floater on two big positions. Theoretically, TEAM 1 suggest that if the Pistons are playing a team with a big shooting guard with a big front court that Brown and Hamilton's presence is necessary for defensive intensity. TEAM 2 suggest that if the Pistons are playing opponents with a small shooting guard with a small frontcourt that Iverson's scoring ability may be more useful than his defense and Johnson as well. In essence, SG and PF positions are flexible depending on who they are playing:

Mandatory Starters: Wallace, Prince Stuckey
Starters Dependent on Opponent: Brown, Johnson, Hamilton, Iverson

Originally, this was Curry's plan and experiement in the very beginning of the season, except it was just revolving between Johnson and Brown. Now that Iverson came, it wouldn't be a bad idea to apply the same to Iverson and Hamilton.

Winter Ice....Still Not Melted

It may not be zero below degree in the west, but in the east coast.....you better have a good reason worth it enough to fight the snow just go outside the house. Pistons are still far away from finishing up their summer camp mode. The Pistons seven winning streak not too long ago was a sign of consistency on both ends of the floor however, this does not suggest that they are done with the summer camp mode that they started ever since the billups-iverson trade. At the same time, this does not suggest that progress hasn't been achieved. In fact there are, here are few of them

• Curry did not just filled the point guard position, but awaken Stuckey's development off the chart
• McDyess' consistency of nearly double-double a game has come back to life
• Curry realized and admitted that Amir's presence in the line-up gives them a better look on defense.
• Prince' continue to be the most consistent player in the team
• The A.I. -- Pistons marriage is starting to look like a marriage
• Technical fouls came down......a little bit

And the challenges.....?

• There is no way that Pistons are going into the playoffs with A.I. and Rip in the starting line up.......Something has to be done
• As I mentioned, Amir is better off in the line up if Pistons expect consistent defense and help defense...but the kid's foul issue early in the game is a conflict to relying on him
• Prince's is an amazing player AS A SMALL FORWARD........he's body is not built as a power forward
• A.I.'s injection to the team revitalize Rasheed's three pointer, due to A.I.'s attacking the opponent defense, but shouldn't Rasheed gets a fair share of being set up in the post?
• Curry needs to make a decision on who will be in the starting line up and stick with it....it's hard enough to mix A.I. in the team, but its even harder to keep changing the rotation and starting line up unless he's still experimenting.....I hope not, or if he is, I hope it'll be done very soon because its almost February.
• A.I. = could produce more points and create his own shot but less of a defender, Rip = way better defender than A.I. but less of a "create his own shot" type of player

Pistons are going to be featured several times this week on National TV...maybe this is what they just need unless they want to get embarass in national stage.

Together Again

A very emotional night in Denver with the game against the Pistons, the team that Billups led to six consecutive Eastern Conference Finals. Although Billups were playing the way he does (30 points), tonight was a different story. The Pistons managed to come up with a win until the last seconds of the game. Final score 90-93.

• Thanks to Afflalo for making all the free throw shots in the last seconds of the game
• Prince may have committed some TO, but he gave the Pistons something to fired up about when he made their last FG
• The defense picked up in the 2nd half....Personally, that's what got the Pistons over the hump where they were down the whole entire game, except the last minute.
• No excuse for the Pistons to be playing like this, even with Sheed and Rip's absence, not because Melo didn't play either, but because Pistons defense doesn't just rely on them.
• Pistons needs to have a freethrow drill practice with the exception of Afflalo. The team combined for 27 for 40.....That's terribly 67.5%
• A quiet night for Stuckey with 9 points but his buddy Afflalo compensate for him and came up with 17 points
• A.I. led the team with 23 points
• Dyess dominated the board with 12 rebounds

Back to back for Detroit heading to Utah tonight for tomorrows game. Will they finally get over the curse in Utah by getting a win? We'll see.

Stuckey? No Surprise Here...Pistons In LA

There's no surprise that Stuckey is being recognized not only in Piston Land but throughout the league. There's a reason why Pistons In LA website chose to have Stuckey's picture as a background and theme, and that reason is simply a reminder of "Didn't I tell you he's amazing?!" From the moment Joe Dumars picked him in the draft, I saw flashes of him becoming a great NBA player when he was in college. With a talent like that and ended up landing in one of the most well rounded team effort oriented in the NBA is one of the best thing that happened to him and to Detroit.

From Pistons.com

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – An award usually passed back and forth among LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and a select few others has been claimed by someone knocking on the door to their exclusive club: Rodney Stuckey.
Stuckey led the Pistons to a perfect 4-0 week despite the absence of Rip Hamilton in all of them and Rasheed Wallace in nearly three full games, averaging 23 points, 5.3 assists and 4.5 rebounds a game.
Since Stuckey moved into the starting lineup on Dec. 17, the Pistons are 10-3 and have won seven straight games – a streak that began with a win over Chicago in which Stuckey erupted for 40 points. Throw in Stuckey’s three other starts this season and the Pistons are 13-3 in those games.

From nbamate.com

But let’s not focus on scoring. Stuckey is the best distributor of the ball on this Pistons team, and I believe what allows him to be such a great passer is his patience - he’s very similar to Chauncey in that he’ll hold onto the ball for a second or two longer than he probably needs to, sizing up the play before choosing the best option. It’s a measured change from the Rodney Stuckey of last season who at times, was trying to play at 100 miles per hour. It’s no coincidence a few of Chauncey’s traits have rubbed off on him (more on that later) after playing with him for over a year, but it is rare to see a second year player with the smarts and poise to actually execute it. For the record, Stuckey is 15th in the league in assists per 48 minutes.
Defensively Stuckey is no slouch either. He is usually bigger and stronger than his point guard counterparts (just like Chauncey was) and he’s quick and athletic which all makes it very hard for his opponent to score on him. He completely shutdown Beno Udrih yesterday - the guy averages over 11 points a game but against Stuck he didn’t score a single bucket. Stuckey gets in the passing lanes quite often which goes to show how well he reads the play for a young guy. Offense comes pretty naturally to Stuckey, but with more starting minutes his defense will really improve.

Wait a minute!!! Aren't these All Star players? Kobe, Lebron, Dwade, Dirk, Timmy, CP3, Chauncey were just some of the players who became player of the week....Then Stuckey, only in his second year!!!? Surprise? No way! Not in Pistons In LA at least and I'm sure not in Piston Land.