I have zero confidence in van gundy turning this situation around

[A_dub06]

This is almost as bad as Neptune bumping the KCP thread, we have only played 7 games and anything can happen especially at the beginning of the season. At all-star break sure let’s discuss it, but 7 games doesn’t mean **** when there’s 91% of the season left to play.


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[hoophabit]

I smile at the "now is not the time to talk about this" tact. I agree that it's too soon to draw big conclusions, but if it's time to blast SVG after a loss then why is it wrong to give some credit when the team is looking good?

[7r5ur]

SVG doesn't inspire confidence BC he paid Dre superstar money and paid Reggie as if he were John Wall. Those moves represent the foundation pieces of the team. Both pieces are seriously flawed. Aside from that SVG rotations could be a top ten comedy show. Keep SVG the gm and scour the country for next up and coming Brad Stevens. Van Gundy is not the answer as coach.

I think Stan is a flawed coach and GM, but he would have gotten killed had he not re-signed Dre after he made the all-star/all-nba teams and lead us to the Playoffs at 22 years old. If you think he wasn't getting max offers elsewhere, I'm not sure what to tell you... There was really no choice there.

People hate on Stan for letting a guy like KCP just walk when he already got a better player to replace him... Had he let Drummond walk after that year, there'd have been riots in the streets of Auburn Hills.

Reggie got overpayed, but we aren't exactly overflowing with options there. We don't get high draft picks and top free agents don't sign here. Had Reggie never gotten hurt, this would probably be a totally different discussion given that the year after Reggie got that deal he was pretty unanimously considered an all-star snub... Hard to blame the GM/Coach for not foreseeing an injury that popped up more than a year after he signed that deal.

You want blame something, blame max contracts, which make it so mid-tier guys like Drummond get comparable contracts to top level superstars. That's just the way it is right now. Guys who are in that 25-50 range of NBA players get payed like they're top 5. You only need one other team willing to pay it.

I'm more concerned about Stan drafting guys who play a style that he doesn't seem to like, and hoping they'll magically morph into different players from the bench. That along with signing a bunch of fringe NBA players like Leuer and Boban to big contracts when they could be easily replaced by cheap vets on one or two year deals (ie Tolliver).

[vic]

SVG has given me a little bit of confidence because of two things:

- He stopped trying to put square pegs in round holes. He figured out its stupid to yell players into doing what they can't do. Instead inspire them to do what they can do. He got this from his friend Erik Spoelstra and started the "find your greatness" mentality this summer.

- He's valuing defense more now. He's leaving Stanley Johnson on the court. He's bringing Tolliver & Galloway & Bullock in over Ellenson & Luke. He's playing Leuer over Boban. My biggest gripe about SVG was that he talked defense but payed offense, and played offensive minded players over defensive minded players. Now it seems like he knows when its important to surround his dribblers with multiple defensive minded players.

I don't mind if Ellenson and Luke play... but they've got to be surrounded by the right defensive guys if you want to win the games. If you don't play Tolliver, Bullock, Galloway last night... you lose against the Warriors.

It seems like SVG has fundamentally changed how he coaches, so I'll give him credit for the changes he has made to how he thinks.

If he reverts back to Pick & roll all day SVG, Post up Andre SVG, yell about defense but leave defensive minded players on the bench SVG, my confidence will disappear.

[Pharaoh]

Why I bumped it:

The ball movement is night and day from last season

The attitude of the team is different

The focus is different

I find it funny that after every loss we can all point out the **** SVG did to **** it up...

But any positives have to wait?

Why?

FFS be happy for 24 hours! Enjoy it. Nothing lasts forever

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[vic]

I think Avery Bradley has a lot to do with the mentality of the team changing also. Even on the offensive end with the ball movement.

Give credit to SVG for not being stubborn this year... but also give credit to AB coming in and changing the mentality of the team.

[7r5ur]

I think Avery Bradley has a lot to do with the mentality of the team changing also. Even on the offensive end with the ball movement.

Give credit to SVG for not being stubborn this year... but also give credit to AB coming in and changing the mentality of the team.

I think Stanley's comments that were something to the effect of "Now that we've got unselfish players on the team" just prior to the season starting were pretty telling. Maybe KCP and Mook were getting a little yappy about their touches, etc. and causing a rift in the lockerroom?

It also seems like Bradley and Stanley are better vocal leaders on the floor than anyone we had last year. The number of times it looks like Andre's about to do something dumb and get a tech or make a frustration play, you see at least one of those two in his ear defusing the situation.

[thesack12]

I think Avery Bradley has a lot to do with the mentality of the team changing also. Even on the offensive end with the ball movement.

Give credit to SVG for not being stubborn this year... but also give credit to AB coming in and changing the mentality of the team.

I think Stanley's comments that were something to the effect of "Now that we've got unselfish players on the team" just prior to the season starting were pretty telling. Maybe KCP and Mook were getting a little yappy about their touches, etc. and causing a rift in the lockerroom?

It also seems like Bradley and Stanley are better vocal leaders on the floor than anyone we had last year. The number of times it looks like Andre's about to do something dumb and get a tech or make a frustration play, you see at least one of those two in his ear defusing the situation.

Yeah, its pretty obvious right now that Detroit is not missing Pope's ability to shoot the team out of games or "Iso Morris."

[7r5ur]

I think Avery Bradley has a lot to do with the mentality of the team changing also. Even on the offensive end with the ball movement.

Give credit to SVG for not being stubborn this year... but also give credit to AB coming in and changing the mentality of the team.

I think Stanley's comments that were something to the effect of "Now that we've got unselfish players on the team" just prior to the season starting were pretty telling. Maybe KCP and Mook were getting a little yappy about their touches, etc. and causing a rift in the lockerroom?

It also seems like Bradley and Stanley are better vocal leaders on the floor than anyone we had last year. The number of times it looks like Andre's about to do something dumb and get a tech or make a frustration play, you see at least one of those two in his ear defusing the situation.

Yeah, its pretty obvious right now that Detroit is not missing Pope's ability to shoot the team out of games or "Iso Morris."

Bradley is also a noticeably better team defender than KCP. WAYYY more often when Dre goes to help on a penetrating guard you'll see AB getting in position to disrupt what has historically been a layup line for opposing bigs in these scenarios as the rest of the team would be slow to help... Like a degree of defensive selfishness where guys just don't want their man to have a good stat-line.

[bballnmike]

This is almost as bad as Neptune bumping the KCP thread, we have only played 7 games and anything can happen especially at the beginning of the season. At all-star break sure let’s discuss it, but 7 games doesn’t mean **** when there’s 91% of the season left to play.


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To be fair, OP bumped it a few days ago. It was already on the front page.

[thesack12]

I think Stanley's comments that were something to the effect of "Now that we've got unselfish players on the team" just prior to the season starting were pretty telling. Maybe KCP and Mook were getting a little yappy about their touches, etc. and causing a rift in the lockerroom?

It also seems like Bradley and Stanley are better vocal leaders on the floor than anyone we had last year. The number of times it looks like Andre's about to do something dumb and get a tech or make a frustration play, you see at least one of those two in his ear defusing the situation.

Yeah, its pretty obvious right now that Detroit is not missing Pope's ability to shoot the team out of games or "Iso Morris."

Bradley is also a noticeably better team defender than KCP. WAYYY more often when Dre goes to help on a penetrating guard you'll see AB getting in position to disrupt what has historically been a layup line for opposing bigs in these scenarios as the rest of the team would be slow to help... Like a degree of defensive selfishness where guys just don't want their man to have a good stat-line.

Yep not only is Bradley a better/more talented player, but he's also an upgrade to Pope's strengths of energy and defense.

The team definitely looks more fluid on both ends of the floor.

[tmorgan]

I said this in other threads, but...

If SJ can just become an average starter (which would take passable offense along with the defense he already has), he'll be the leader of this team. Not now, at 21, but at 24, almost certainly. He's a leader, a real one, and no one else really is.

[afroxnas]

https://www.nba.com/amp/pistons/features/ball-dont-lie-van-gundys-resume-stamps-him-nba-elite-coach

[7r5ur]

https://www.nba.com/amp/pistons/features/ball-dont-lie-van-gundys-resume-stamps-him-nba-elite-coach

LOL, Damn Keith, opening with a dig at climate deniers. Not what I expected

[MotownMadness]

From CBS power rankings

#5 Detroit Pistons

The Pistons look good. They beat a good Charlotte team, smacked the heck out of the Wolves, stunned the Warriors and knocked off the undefeated Clippers. More importantly, Tobias Harris is looking like a much-needed third option on offense. He's averaging 23 points while shooting 52 percent from the field. That'll surely regress at some point, but right now the Pistons will take it.

[7r5ur]

From CBS power rankings

#5 Detroit Pistons

The Pistons look good. They beat a good Charlotte team, smacked the heck out of the Wolves, stunned the Warriors and knocked off the undefeated Clippers. More importantly, Tobias Harris is looking like a much-needed third option on offense. He's averaging 23 points while shooting 52 percent from the field. That'll surely regress at some point, but right now the Pistons will take it.

ESPN still somehow has us at 15 as of the revised rankings this morning. Beating the Wolves, Clips, and Warriors is apparently good enough to move up 1 spot.

[Manocad]

This is almost as bad as Neptune bumping the KCP thread, we have only played 7 games and anything can happen especially at the beginning of the season. At all-star break sure let’s discuss it, but 7 games doesn’t mean **** when there’s 91% of the season left to play.


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I'd be one of the first people to say, "Hey, it's been 7 games. Don't get in a tizzy." But now I will say something since it seems 90% of this board has ADD and runs around squawking, "TRADE! TRADE! TRADE!" after any bad single game by any player.

The Pistons have had solid wins against some very good teams. Not fluke games where they shot 60% and the other team shot 35%, not games where they hit 30 free throws and the other team hit 9, not games where they had 5 turnovers and the other team had 25 unforced turnovers. They beat the Clippers and Warriors on the road by playing solid, all-around quality basketball.

What's the point? Give the team time to grow together. Right now they've shown that they have the ability to beat very good teams in a straight up normal, non-freakish game. Will there be more bad games? Yep, guaranteed. But I think this team can do some good if given time together. You'll never convince me that it's better to constantly change out players with every knee jerk.

[MrBigShot]

Yeah Tobias is practically a far more unselfish Carmelo Anthony clone for us right now, I think he's got a decent chance to make the all star team if we get enough wins by the break.

I came into this season with very little expectations after last season's collapse. 6 games in so far, it's early yeah, but we actually look like we have a legitimate identity (something we've been lacking since before Reggie returned last year), we play both ends of the floor and on any given any of Drummond, Reggie, Tobias or Bradley can go off and have a big night offensively. Speaking of Bradley, that guy was born to be a piston. He's pretty much the closest thing, speaking purely in terms of play style, to a modern day Joe Dumars. Their jumpers even kind of look similar. And somehow Dre is shooting a whopping 70%!!! from the line. It feels weird to even type that. It's still not a large sample size but he shot it well in pre-season too and even if that goes down gradually it's still a massive improvement from being < 40%. He looks really engaged too, less pouting when things don't go his way. Last night he shot horrendously but still managed to have a big impact on the game. Stanley has looked pretty poised outside of that dreadful performance against the Sixers too, good to see.

Pistons basketball actually resembles pistons basketball again, at least for now. Excited to sit back and enjoy the ride.

[vic]

I think Avery Bradley has a lot to do with the mentality of the team changing also. Even on the offensive end with the ball movement.

Give credit to SVG for not being stubborn this year... but also give credit to AB coming in and changing the mentality of the team.

I think Stanley's comments that were something to the effect of "Now that we've got unselfish players on the team" just prior to the season starting were pretty telling. Maybe KCP and Mook were getting a little yappy about their touches, etc. and causing a rift in the lockerroom?

It also seems like Bradley and Stanley are better vocal leaders on the floor than anyone we had last year. The number of times it looks like Andre's about to do something dumb and get a tech or make a frustration play, you see at least one of those two in his ear defusing the situation.

I don't think KCP was selfish... unless you are talking about sticking with his man too much on defense... which is more IQ/experience than selfishness.

However if Marcus Morris decided to pass we would have been at 50 wins last year. We always won games when he decided to pass more instead of dribble dribble and chuck up those last second midrange long 2s.

Now that Stanley and AB are playing, the ball is moving, Dre is passing instead of posting all game, even Reggie is trying to get his teammates going instead of just himself. Just a whole different mentality of basketball.

[Manocad]

Yeah Tobias is practically a far more unselfish Carmelo Anthony clone for us right now, I think he's got a decent chance to make the all star team if we get enough wins by the break.

I came into this season with very little expectations after last season's collapse. 6 games in so far, it's early yeah, but we actually look like we have a legitimate identity (something we've been lacking since before Reggie returned last year), we play both ends of the floor and on any given any of Drummond, Reggie, Tobias or Bradley can go off and have a big night offensively. Speaking of Bradley, that guy was born to be a piston. He's pretty much the closest thing, speaking purely in terms of play style, to a modern day Joe Dumars. Their jumpers even kind of look similar. And somehow Dre is shooting a whopping 70%!!! from the line. It feels weird to even type that. It's still not a large sample size but he shot it well in pre-season too and even if that goes down gradually it's still a massive improvement from being < 40%. He looks really engaged too, less pouting when things don't go his way. Last night he shot horrendously but still managed to have a big impact on the game. Stanley has looked pretty poised outside of that dreadful performance against the Sixers too, good to see.

Pistons basketball actually resembles pistons basketball again, at least for now. Excited to sit back and enjoy the ride.

You don't belong here if you're not proposing constant trades. Sit back and watch the team grow together? What kind of outdated principle is that? Go back to your rocking chair and wait for your hip replacement. Geez.

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