Worst possible scenario

[Snakebites]

The worst case scenario is ending up right where we ended up last season - 9th or 10th pick in the lottery.

Even if we just missed the playoff that probably means close to a .500 record and therefor progress, plus still a chance to add someone who might help us.

Right now showing that progress really is that important. Making the playoffs would be a nice morale boost and we should definitely be pushing it, but if we end up with around a .500 record and narrowly miss the playoffs due to an improved east, I could probably live with that.

Anyone expecting anything better than narrowly missing the playoffs is probably going to be disappointed. This team's ceiling is probably 45 wins. We just don't have the depth or level of quality players to really expect better, particularly not when the east looks significantly stronger than it did a year ago.

I definitely agree that Drummond is the only untouchable here.

[StunnaStan]

I have no complaints about the defense this season. Defense has been wonderful tbh. This is actually my 1st yr being a piston fan because I was a nugget fan for 15 years. my friend asked me the other day what is a better luxury to have in the nba between a team that plays defense and struggles offensively (pistons) or a team that can score whenever but cant get stops (nuggets). Having seen both sides of the coin, Id say having a team that can score outweighs defense. Scoring above 90ppg is a challenge for the Pistons atm and the team to beat atm, scores 105 on a bad night.

As far as kcp and morris on defense, they cool but for all the stops they create, they arent capable of rewarding themselves on the other end in a efficient manner. Its funny because when it comes to morris, i like how he goes about sealing his man and triple threating, but his slowness and lack of handle have been prevalent the last week and a half. Kcp can kinda shoot. Ill give him that. But he has no perimeter moves like a derozan and cant apply pressure through attacking the rack.

Ilysova does pass up about 4 to 6 shots per game. Thers 2 ways to look at it. On 1 hand, its not been a sniper this season so he passes on his shot to create a better shot for someone. On the other hand, there have been countless times his unwillingness to shoot disrupts the offensive flow. Even if he takes some of the shots that i myself think he should take, most of the time it's going to be 6'8 ily shooting over 6'10 + defenders. Him being short allows defenders to get a hand up easier. His release isnt curry fast now lol

As far as getting someone next to Drummond, ill further clarify.

I dont think we should get another center to push drummond to the pf. Andre IS THE CENTER FOR THE FUTURE. Now i know you guys were frustrated like crazy with monroe, but don't let monroes skill set effect how you look at other bigs. Monroe is a 1 trick pony. Left hand everything and only gets 2 inches off the ground. He never complimented dre and ive felt hes a bum since he entered the league.

Only reason i mention philly in some examples is cause as a old nuggets fan, i sat and watched how okc put their team together and when i see how philly has done their build, it scares me more than okc. Okafor is already a top 5 center this season. Hes has shown a countless array of postmoves as a rookie. People dont realize that embiid has more moves on the block than Okafor. Hassan whiteside has been causing havoc in the paint with his size and blocking ability. People dont realize that embiid is taller, stronger, weighs more, and possibly similar of not better shot blocker than whiteside. And the guy who basically lead the league in shot blocks (nerlen noel) will be their 7th person off the bench. Phillys pg is going to be a Kentucky pg, melo trimble, or malik newman. Their 11th overall pick from 2 years ago (dario saric) is a pretty good himself.

I say all that because with these esst teams seriously competing and a team such as philly on the rise, makes me wonder where we are in the fray. As a old nug fan, ive seen countless 50+ win teams that still weren't cutting it as far as being competitive and improving the talent level. Denver was similar to svg because neither team was with the whole tanking thing but at the same time, has Denver made any progress in the last 10 seasons? No. I don't want to see Detroit get caught up in a similar situation.

Enough ranting from me today lol. I'll just pray for a 10 game winning streak starting tonight

[hoophabit]

I don't get why so many are down on SJ about progress. Sure, you can say over-hyped about preseason/SL, but he was looking really good. He bounced a bit when the regular season kicked in, but there are signs he's figuring it out. He trended up and had a pretty good game in the last one. Shooting % not so great, but led the team in FT attempts with 7 and made 6 of them. Some nice aggressive drives and some good dishes. Might be an indication he's learning to pick his spots better. 15pts off the bench is a help in most situations. Kid seems coachable. So far so good, imo.

No tanking. Growth of the core along with well considered trades/signings is the right path. Any playoff berth is good for the team and its prospects.

[RexRyan]

I think SJ is doing just fine. He has a swagger to his game, and like everyone else, his shot will start falling and everybody will love him. I will say this though - he's not a shooting guard. Just look at his body type! It's Ron Artest part two, and he's only going to get bigger and stronger with time. Perhaps in certain circumstances, but never a full-time 2 guard. With the trend towards quickness, his game has 3 (and small ball 4) written all over it.

[StunnaStan]

I can't defend sj when he clanks jumpers like he has but i personally think if we had him starting from the beginning of the season, he'd have better stats than marcus morris. Sj needs to work on the jumper and ball handling and he'll be fine.

[Pistone]

If the Pistons keep going at the pace there going, they'll either

A. Manage to get 8th seed (which essentially is 4-5 extra games before being eliminated) and end up with a #15 pick

Or

B. Miss the playoffs while winning too many games to get a high lottery pick

At this point, i think its clear as day that this current roster needs to be shaken up more. Drummond has exceeded everyones expectations thus far and the rest of the team lets it go in vain.

While reggie has struggled at some points this year due to playing at his own pace, the 3 players ive been most frustrated with most is kcp, morris, and ilyasova.

With ily, its as simple as bad defense and inconsistent shooting. Just because we wanted/needed a stretch 4 doesn't outweigh dude being undersized.

Marcus morris. Theres 2 sides to this. While im happy that we got him for dirt cheap and hes shown he can be a very useful player, AS OUR STARTING SF, IT AINT GONNA CUT IT. Hes very slow footed with a very slow ball handle. And with his favorite shot being the worst shot in basketball (long distance 2pointers) its further explains why our record is what it is.

Kcp. This dude is supposed to be Detroits 6man. We can't have this skinny dude with no ball handle and no triple threat our starting shooting guard. Khris middleton is a bum when you look at every starting sg league round and he's better than kcp. Kcp doesnt bring any type of threat to oppsing players. All kcp does is chuck 3's and long 2s. He only drives to the basket in stride and cant faceup his defender to make a move. This messes up reggies flow because the sg is supposed to be able to mix it up with scoring and kcp is only looking to chuck jumpers. Alot of times when kcp gets the ball, you see him pass it back to reggie within 3 or 4 seconds of having the ball. Then reggie ends up waiting/over-dribbling for a p&r with couple seconds left on the clock.

I think we should first look to get some type of pf that can play with andre. If you have paid any attention to philly this season, youve noticed they also have a monster in the paint named jahlil okafor. Hes been beastings centers his rookie year. Guess what though, next season joel embiid (who same if not bigger than drummond) is playing and that's gonna slide okafor to the power foward position. Imagine ily guarding okafor lmao. We need to do something similar and get bigger. We all saw nene give our bigs work in the paint.

Gotta go back to work now. What do yall think?

[kurtis48239]

I say stay the course and add a better pf next season and see what the bench looks like fully healthy.