Pistons Media Day/Training Camp/Preseason Thread

whitehops · Post #1 » by **whitehops** » Mon Sep 29, 2025 2:31 pm

Media day starts today:

02:10 Trajan Langdon
20:28 J.B. Bickerstaff
46:02 Isaiah Stewart
1:42:03 Marcus Sasser
1:54:59 Cade Cunningham
2:10:53 Duncan Robinson
2:30:42 Jaden Ivey
2:43:54 Tobias Harris
2:55:26 Ausar Thompson
3:15:06 Jalen Duren
3:25:50 Ron Holland
3:34:16 Chaz Lanier
3:49:11 Caris LeVert

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Preseason games:
Oct. 6 @ MEM 8 PM EST
Oct. 9 @ MIL
Oct. 14 @ CLE 7 PM EST
Oct. 16 vs. WAS 7 PM EST

MortSahlfan · Post #2 » by **MortSahlfan** » Mon Sep 29, 2025 2:59 pm

Watching it right now. Can't wait.

aad · Post #3 » by **aad** » Mon Sep 29, 2025 6:49 pm

Post them pics and quotes

whitehops · Post #4 » by **whitehops** » Mon Sep 29, 2025 9:15 pm

i edited the livestream link in the OP with the full video and time stamps below it. some notes i took away from them:

- trajan did due diligence on potentially making a splash acquisition but they genuinely like their young core and wanted to reward them for the work they've put in. said tom gores message last season and again this season was "no limits" when answering a question about expectations.
- JB said, in line with what trajan said, that they really like their young core and want to give them every resource available to help them grow. they had a coach and/or training member with a player at all times this off season, whether that was at the facility or travelling. JB said he's really excited about the number of versatile lineups they can put out and did mention playing 2-big as one of those combos (along with playing all 6'8 guys). said personally he is working on his interactions with refs - he had the most techs in the league last year and coaches CAN get suspended just like players once they get 16 techs.

robinson said the team has great camaraderie and it's cool that all the young guys seem so hungry, JD, AT, JI and cade all look bigger/stronger, stew said he worked on his family farm in the off season, levert is ready to play whatever role is asked of him. both stew and duren alluded to shooting on the perimeter this season.

basically the vibes were all super optimistic about working to take the next leap. ivey was the only one who sounded kind of somber but i honestly can't remember if that's just how he sounds in press conferences.

i know it's just media day "hype" but this somehow feels different than just "best shape of my life" buzzwords and catch phrases.

zeebneeb · Post #5 » by **zeebneeb** » Mon Sep 29, 2025 10:50 pm

I want to emphasize something. I am the first person to call out the "15lbs of muscle" BS we so often hear as fans, but you can, without a shadow of a doubt, see that Ivey, while his leg was recovering, was in the weight room lifting. He looks bigger, to the point I started to worry, just like I did when Sadiq Bey came in, and looked like a damn body builder, and lost all of his fluidity.

Ausar also looks bigger, as well as Ron, and Cade has been in the damn gym as well.

Basically, Ivey stood out the most in terms of size, but the Ivey/Cade/Ron/Ausar/Duren all look like they've been eating roids with every meal. Its kinda insane.

VicVinegar · Post #6 » by **VicVinegar** » Tue Sep 30, 2025 6:16 am

My goodness Ivey's arms are F**KING HUGE.

Uncle Mxy · Post #7 » by **Uncle Mxy** » Tue Sep 30, 2025 7:17 am

zeebneeb wrote:He looks bigger, to the point I started to worry, just like I did when Sadiq Bey came in, and looked like a damn body builder, and lost all of his fluidity.

Fortunately, we're not playing Ivey as an undersized PF. I'm just hoping his first step is there.

zeebneeb · Post #8 » by **zeebneeb** » Tue Sep 30, 2025 11:45 am

Uncle Mxy wrote:
zeebneeb wrote:He looks bigger, to the point I started to worry, just like I did when Sadiq Bey came in, and looked like a damn body builder, and lost all of his fluidity.

Fortunately, we're not playing Ivey as an undersized PF. I'm just hoping his first step is there.

Some other players were talking about how fast he is already(maybe even faster they joked) but after Bey, anytime a player gets that jacked, I really worry about their shooting, and fluidity as an athlete.

Bey just became a slab of meat. Unable to perform the most basic of tasks, like running, jumping, and shooting.

Invictus88 · Post #9 » by **Invictus88** » Tue Sep 30, 2025 8:03 pm

zeebneeb wrote:
Uncle Mxy wrote:
zeebneeb wrote:He looks bigger, to the point I started to worry, just like I did when Sadiq Bey came in, and looked like a damn body builder, and lost all of his fluidity.

Fortunately, we're not playing Ivey as an undersized PF. I'm just hoping his first step is there.
Some other players were talking about how fast he is already(maybe even faster they joked) but after Bey, anytime a player gets that jacked, I really worry about their shooting, and fluidity as an athlete.

Bey just became a slab of meat. Unable to perform the most basic of tasks, like running, jumping, and shooting.

I think there's a slight misconception here. Bey was never fluid in his movements. Yes, he got stronger. But it wasn't like he was fluid before and then lost it. His shooting delivery was always weird and stiff. He always looked awkward handling the ball and forcing it into the paint....

Crymson · Post #10 » by **Crymson** » Tue Sep 30, 2025 8:33 pm

Bey also had no issues with running, jumping, or shooting. It was his head that went wrong.

Post #11 » by **Snakebites** » Tue Sep 30, 2025 10:23 pm

Bey just wasn’t all that good a player.

He was hot shooting during a lengthy stretch of his rookie year and we got excited about it because we didn’t have much else going on at that time.

It was always fools gold to begin with. He wasn’t a solid player ruined by bulking up too much.

the_l_train · Post #12 » by **the_l_train** » Tue Sep 30, 2025 11:21 pm

Crymson wrote:Bey also had no issues with running, jumping, or shooting. It was his head that went wrong.

Always thought Bey was a solid locker room guy…just a maniac with training in the offseason. Never thought he was a head case, did I miss something?

Crymson · Post #13 » by **Crymson** » Wed Oct 1, 2025 2:33 am

the_l_train wrote:Always thought Bey was a solid locker room guy…just a maniac with training in the offseason. Never thought he was a head case, did I miss something?

He devolved after his sophomore season from a mature, conscientious, and team-first player to a selfish gunner who just wanted to attack off the dribble and no longer cared about defense.

He was a genuinely solid, fifth best starter on a contender type of player in year two: strong from the perimeter, decent at creating offense from within the interior, decent rebounder, respectable defender. That all went out the window in year three.

Billl · Post #14 » by **Billl** » Wed Oct 1, 2025 5:54 pm

Bey is a good example of bad teams not developing players. I'm not saying he was ever going to be some sort of star or something, but playing for an organization that just let him "do stuff" vs having him play a well defined role was a massive disservice to his career. It might sound tempting to let a young guy get as many touches and looks as he wants to just see what happens, but more often than not, nothing good comes from that. That goes 1000x if the guy doesn't project as a #1 or #2 scoring option.

MrBigShot · Post #15 » by **MrBigShot** » Wed Oct 1, 2025 10:44 pm

Billl wrote:Bey is a good example of bad teams not developing players. I'm not saying he was ever going to be some sort of star or something, but playing for an organization that just let him "do stuff" vs having him play a well defined role was a massive disservice to his career. It might sound tempting to let a young guy get as many touches and looks as he wants to just see what happens, but more often than not, nothing good comes from that. That goes 1000x if the guy doesn't project as a #1 or #2 scoring option.

I'm gonna put Saddiq Bey's lack of development solely on his shoulders. He played like he thought he was Carmelo in his prime, except he was a bigger black hole. Some guys just don't have the feel for the game or mentality to fit into the flow of an offense. And in Bey's case, he also just isn't very talented.

Crymson · Post #16 » by **Crymson** » Thu Oct 2, 2025 6:37 pm

Billl wrote:Bey is a good example of bad teams not developing players. I'm not saying he was ever going to be some sort of star or something, but playing for an organization that just let him "do stuff" vs having him play a well defined role was a massive disservice to his career. It might sound tempting to let a young guy get as many touches and looks as he wants to just see what happens, but more often than not, nothing good comes from that. That goes 1000x if the guy doesn't project as a #1 or #2 scoring option.

The Pistons pushed the Bey-as-a-creator thing for only a quarter of a season (at the start of his sophomore campaign). It was a dumb venture given that he unambiguously lacked the athletic chops to pull it off, and the way they went about it was comically ham-fisted. They gave up on it in December of 2021, and he returned to his previous manner of play for the rest of the season without incident.

By all appearances, he behaved the way he did on the court in his next and final season here by his own choice rather than by any design of the organization.

MrBigShot wrote:I'm gonna put Saddiq Bey's lack of development solely on his shoulders. He played like he thought he was Carmelo in his prime, except he was a bigger black hole. Some guys just don't have the feel for the game or mentality to fit into the flow of an offense. And in Bey's case, he also just isn't very talented.

I think he fit in just fine throughout his first two seasons. He didn't seem so keen on fitting in during his final season here.

Unfortunately, the only source we heard from about that was James Edwards shortly after the trade, and Edwards was -- to say the least -- fully willing to carry water for the front office in exchange for access.

Canadafan · Post #17 » by **Canadafan** » Fri Oct 3, 2025 8:06 am

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPVIxx2jBcH/?igsh=MXcybHdmMzR6Nmw1dA==

whitehops · Post #18 » by **whitehops** » Sun Oct 12, 2025 1:20 pm

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MortSahlfan · Post #19 » by **MortSahlfan** » Sat Oct 18, 2025 4:26 am

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MortSahlfan · Post #20 » by **MortSahlfan** » Mon Oct 20, 2025 11:20 pm

“He was phenomenal in Summer League,” Bickerstaff said of Jenkins on Saturday. “He went into that with the mindset of he was going to put the league on notice and make the decisions tough for us as coaches and front office alike because he was communicative, he competed, he shared the ball, he could score the ball. And he's brought that with him into the preseason. You just love people like that. You love people that aren't afraid of the moment. You love people that find an opportunity and try to seize the opportunity. I think he's done a great job of that. There's been people that I know around the league, other coaches and stuff that I've noticed as well just how good of a player he is.”