Game 16: Heat (4-9) @ Pistons (6-9) - 7:30 EST

[El Chivo]

will Dre ever give us 60 games like this every year?

[Redeemed]

Drummond had a great game against the Heat. Games like this remind you he can be a tremendous force when he's engaged. Hopefully the Houston loss (which he seemed to take to heart as a motivator) sparks more games like this. He completely destroyed Whiteside, who happens to be a BEAST.

[In SVG We Trust]

Even if we win, Blackside is going to rape Dre, I have that hunch.

Sometimes you can gladly be wrong

[Chillymo]

Ish smith played a nice game stayed aggressive and kept up his pace. When Reggie returns and is in form his presence off the bench will be tremendous. Ish will be one of the better back up 1s in the league and he allows Reggie to play off ball in some lineups

[hoophabit]

Even if we win, Blackside is going to rape Dre, I have that hunch.

Sometimes you can gladly be wrong

Yup, I confess I was expecting Whiteside, who seems to be 'getting it,' to give him trouble. Dre came out with fire in his eyes and a relentlessness we've only seen occasionally. I'm still of the opinion that it's a maturity thing. Some are born with "old souls," but Drummond still has a lot of the light-hearted kid in him. He needs to play with that kind of pride regularly. When he's determined and hustling he's nearly unstoppable.

Pharaoh you are right, LIARS. There seemed to be no argument that if the Pistons could hang around .500 during Reggie's absence all would be well. Soon as we hit a predictable rough stretch the team is crap and everyone needs to be traded. Rather than argue the more deliberate fans have gone largely silent. Perhaps we are doomed, but wallowing in it doesn't cheer me up.

[Laimbeer]

The maturity excuse is wearing thin for Dre. He's 23 and this is his fifth season. Inconsistent effort has been a rap on him going back to his college days. That's why he slid to us.

He's got great tools and will always be a major asset, but the chances he picks it up a level get thinner with each passing year.

[treefi]

The maturity excuse is wearing thin for Dre. He's 23 and this is his fifth season. Inconsistent effort has been a rap on him going back to his college days. That's why he slid to us.

He's got great tools and will always be a major asset, but the chances he picks it up a level get thinner with each passing year.

I agree but we should also remember Hassan Whiteside, for example, wasn't good enough or mature enough to even be a third string NBA center when he was 23.

[treefi]

Sometimes you can gladly be wrong

Yup, I confess I was expecting Whiteside, who seems to be 'getting it,' to give him trouble. Dre came out with fire in his eyes and a relentlessness we've only seen occasionally. I'm still of the opinion that it's a maturity thing. Some are born with "old souls," but Drummond still has a lot of the light-hearted kid in him. He needs to play with that kind of pride regularly. When he's determined and hustling he's nearly unstoppable.

Pharaoh you are right, LIARS. There seemed to be no argument that if the Pistons could hang around .500 during Reggie's absence all would be well. Soon as we hit a predictable rough stretch the team is crap and everyone needs to be traded. Rather than argue the more deliberate fans have gone largely silent. Perhaps we are doomed, but wallowing in it doesn't cheer me up.

"When he's determined and hustling he's nearly unstoppable." Yup! This is the truth. Hopefully the day comes when Dre realizes he would be discussed as the best center in the NBA right now if he simply decided to give 100% effort defensively every night. 50 wins would be a piece of cake. He'd have to keep improving to stay ahead of Embiid and Towns though. Damn, do they look good!

[Pharaoh]

How many of us at age 23 could handle the pressure on Drummond?

He simply doesn't have a killer mentality...yet.

Maybe he never gets one, maybe he does but I think surrounding him with people that have that mentality will certainly help

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[MrBigShot]

Being rich and famous on a max deal as a 6'11 athletic freak with physical tools very few in the NBA can match? We just made the playoffs at the 8th seed and the expectation is to make the playoffs and again and try to do better. Nobody expects Dre to lead us to a championship or the ECF this season.

If that's pressure sign me up. When you make millions play basketball for a living in your 5th season there's never an excuse for effort issues. What LeBron had in Miami - the expectation to win a championship or you will be deemed as a choker, that's pressure.

Just by showing up to play Dre can easily dominate the game on the boards, drop 15-18 points and make an impact defensively. Just on raw talent and physical tools alone he can do that, the way he did last night. Last night he took an absolute dump on Whiteside, made him totally irrelevant. That's how good Drummond is when he shows up to play, he is a perennial all star level player and that's why he got a max deal.

[Blkbrd671]

I think hilliard may be a NBA player he should take Bullocks minutes

I think Hilliard doesn't bring enough offense to justify the down grade in defense. I still like SJ >RB but SJ needs to learn how to stay locked in. For this team, we can survive with RB , but in order for us to take the next step. We need SJ, who potentially can bring a lot more than just shooting.

[Blkbrd671]

Dre is on a hot streak. He's now averaging at least 18 pts, 15 boards, 4 stls and 4 blocks over his last 1 game. I'm bout to start calling him Hank because he's a **** beast.

Maybe even create a trade thread and sell high!

[Blkbrd671]

Wow this thread is dead tonight

Not as much to complain about

Lead whipping boys KCP and Dre played well, so we'll have to wait on the commentary until next game.

To be fair, my posts of me b* and talking to myself in game threads normally make up at least 2-3 pages and trolls don't show up when we win. lol

[Blkbrd671]

Boobs

There he is !!!! We missed you HAN!

[Pharaoh]

Being rich and famous on a max deal as a 6'11 athletic freak with physical tools very few in the NBA can match? We just made the playoffs at the 8th seed and the expectation is to make the playoffs and again and try to do better. Nobody expects Dre to lead us to a championship or the ECF this season.

If that's pressure sign me up. When you make millions play basketball for a living in your 5th season there's never an excuse for effort issues. What LeBron had in Miami - the expectation to win a championship or you will be deemed as a choker, that's pressure.

Just by showing up to play Dre can easily dominate the game on the boards, drop 15-18 points and make an impact defensively. Just on raw talent and physical tools alone he can do that, the way he did last night. Last night he took an absolute dump on Whiteside, made him totally irrelevant. That's how good Drummond is when he shows up to play, he is a perennial all star level player and that's why he got a max deal.

Being rich & famous might appeal to those that aren't rich & famous but for those that live in a fishbowl it ain't easy

People here expect Dre to dominate every night, to ignore all outside distractions that come with being his age, with his money, with his fame, with his profile.

Dude started playing ball to make friends! He's not in it for fame or money! He's an awkward kid who has grown by leaps and bounds under SVG but is still adjusting to the NBA life

I swear sometimes it's like people think our guys are 30 year olds!

If we as fans have any faith in SVG as a coach, president, as a man then give these guys time to figure things out.

On our good nights we're exceptional as a team. On our bad we're terrible! Over time those terrible performances will become less frequent but right now we're a young group

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[MrBigShot]

Being rich and famous on a max deal as a 6'11 athletic freak with physical tools very few in the NBA can match? We just made the playoffs at the 8th seed and the expectation is to make the playoffs and again and try to do better. Nobody expects Dre to lead us to a championship or the ECF this season.

If that's pressure sign me up. When you make millions play basketball for a living in your 5th season there's never an excuse for effort issues. What LeBron had in Miami - the expectation to win a championship or you will be deemed as a choker, that's pressure.

Just by showing up to play Dre can easily dominate the game on the boards, drop 15-18 points and make an impact defensively. Just on raw talent and physical tools alone he can do that, the way he did last night. Last night he took an absolute dump on Whiteside, made him totally irrelevant. That's how good Drummond is when he shows up to play, he is a perennial all star level player and that's why he got a max deal.

Being rich & famous might appeal to those that aren't rich & famous but for those that live in a fishbowl it ain't easy

People here expect Dre to dominate every night, to ignore all outside distractions that come with being his age, with his money, with his fame, with his profile.

Dude started playing ball to make friends! He's not in it for fame or money! He's an awkward kid who has grown by leaps and bounds under SVG but is still adjusting to the NBA life

I swear sometimes it's like people think our guys are 30 year olds!

If we as fans have any faith in SVG as a coach, president, as a man then give these guys time to figure things out.

On our good nights we're exceptional as a team. On our bad we're terrible! Over time those terrible performances will become less frequent but right now we're a young group

Sent from my SM-J110F using RealGM mobile app

I only expect him to play with consistent effort the way so many other players on our roster do. I think thats a fair expectation for someone in their 5th season...the distractions and getting used to the NBA lifestyle is a good point in someone's rookie year, and perhaps even in their 2nd/3rd seasons.

And more often than not, because of how talented Dre is, bringing consistent effort will result in dominant performances.

[Pharaoh]

Agree that for most kids the first 3 years should be enough time to get with the program...

But Dre ain't most kids!

And it's only year 3 of SVG coaching Dre, isnt it?

Before that he'd have been better off with me coaching him than the ass clowns Joe employed

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[DBC10]

Being rich and famous on a max deal as a 6'11 athletic freak with physical tools very few in the NBA can match? We just made the playoffs at the 8th seed and the expectation is to make the playoffs and again and try to do better. Nobody expects Dre to lead us to a championship or the ECF this season.

If that's pressure sign me up. When you make millions play basketball for a living in your 5th season there's never an excuse for effort issues. What LeBron had in Miami - the expectation to win a championship or you will be deemed as a choker, that's pressure.

Just by showing up to play Dre can easily dominate the game on the boards, drop 15-18 points and make an impact defensively. Just on raw talent and physical tools alone he can do that, the way he did last night. Last night he took an absolute dump on Whiteside, made him totally irrelevant. That's how good Drummond is when he shows up to play, he is a perennial all star level player and that's why he got a max deal.

Being rich & famous might appeal to those that aren't rich & famous but for those that live in a fishbowl it ain't easy

People here expect Dre to dominate every night, to ignore all outside distractions that come with being his age, with his money, with his fame, with his profile.

Dude started playing ball to make friends! He's not in it for fame or money! He's an awkward kid who has grown by leaps and bounds under SVG but is still adjusting to the NBA life

I swear sometimes it's like people think our guys are 30 year olds!

If we as fans have any faith in SVG as a coach, president, as a man then give these guys time to figure things out.

On our good nights we're exceptional as a team. On our bad we're terrible! Over time those terrible performances will become less frequent but right now we're a young group

Sent from my SM-J110F using RealGM mobile app

I only expect him to play with consistent effort the way so many other players on our roster do. I think thats a fair expectation for someone in their 5th season...the distractions and getting used to the NBA lifestyle is a good point in someone's rookie year, and perhaps even in their 2nd/3rd seasons.

And more often than not, because of how talented Dre is, bringing consistent effort will result in dominant performances.

And honestly, to kind of reiterate your point, I think for some the money and being in the spotlight may make some apathetic and complacent at times. Which is kind of what we see with Dre like the Nets game or really the HOU game.

He doesn't have that type A personality where they are intense nearly most of the time. He's definitely a type B where he's easy going, wants to be loved by others, and makes friends like Pharaoh said.

It's not necessarily a bad thing either, but for an absolute show he put on last night showing his potential and combined with the max deal, you expect that same competitive edge and spirit nearly every night. The max deal honestly changes expectations and should be subject to scrutiny if he's not up to par, which is absolutely fair.

[Pharaoh]

Being rich & famous might appeal to those that aren't rich & famous but for those that live in a fishbowl it ain't easy

People here expect Dre to dominate every night, to ignore all outside distractions that come with being his age, with his money, with his fame, with his profile.

Dude started playing ball to make friends! He's not in it for fame or money! He's an awkward kid who has grown by leaps and bounds under SVG but is still adjusting to the NBA life

I swear sometimes it's like people think our guys are 30 year olds!

If we as fans have any faith in SVG as a coach, president, as a man then give these guys time to figure things out.

On our good nights we're exceptional as a team. On our bad we're terrible! Over time those terrible performances will become less frequent but right now we're a young group

Sent from my SM-J110F using RealGM mobile app

I only expect him to play with consistent effort the way so many other players on our roster do. I think thats a fair expectation for someone in their 5th season...the distractions and getting used to the NBA lifestyle is a good point in someone's rookie year, and perhaps even in their 2nd/3rd seasons.

And more often than not, because of how talented Dre is, bringing consistent effort will result in dominant performances.

And honestly, to kind of reiterate your point, I think for some the money and being in the spotlight may make some apathetic and complacent at times. Which is kind of what we see with Dre like the Nets game or really the HOU game.

He doesn't have that type A personality where they are intense nearly most of the time. He's definitely a type B where he's easy going, wants to be loved by others, and makes friends like Pharaoh said.

It's not necessarily a bad thing either, but for an absolute show he put on last night showing his potential and combined with the max deal, you expect that same competitive edge and spirit nearly every night. The max deal honestly changes expectations and should be subject to scrutiny if he's not up to par, which is absolutely fair.

It's because of his personality that he doesn't bring it every night though.

It's a long season, Dre isn't super competitive and isn't a self motivated dude.

That's why we have RJ, SJ & KCP!

Those 3 are supposed to bring that out in Dre either by him following their examples or by their words

It reminds me of Sheed tbh. Dude could kill any PF alive when he wanted, but most nights he was content to go with the flow and be a good team player or he'd mail it in.

We're not good enough for Dre to mail it in - we get struggle when he plays without energy and effort.

Part of that is personality, part of it is on SVG & part of it is on his team mates.

The great ones use perceived slights to motivate themselves...we gotta get Dre to do that!

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