Moderators: Cowology, theBigLip, Snakebites, dVs33
All-a-Twitter
A 140-character insight into the soul of the team.
“Want to challenge, @chrisbosh, on who will get 50,000 followers first, a friendly bet, or you want to but wager on it, lol” – CV31 (Charlie Villanueva).
Are the Pistons fun and competitive again?
On the record
Single best quote concerning the team during the last 12 months.
“I think Joe was madder than anybody else about us losing all those Sunday games, and usually that has something to do with what you were doing Saturday night.” – Michael Curry (Detroit Free Press)
The play
Down a single point with 9.2 seconds to play in a must-win game. What’s the play?
Hamilton has proven to be a capable end-of-game player, but I think Gordon will get the first look most of the time. He’s a rhythm shooter, so the goal will be to get him a couple dribbles. Depending on the opponent, look for an isolation play or Gordon coming around a few screens. Either way, the goal will be to get him a jumper – maybe even a 3-pointer.
The people’s choice
The fan favorite the crowd will be chanting for to see some action.
Will Bynum.
It’s no secret Dumars wants Stuckey to be the team’s star. Kuester obviously respects Hamilton. And with his contract, Gordon is going to get playing time. That doesn’t leave much room for Bynum, who became an offensive force at the end of last season.
If you’re watching the bottom line, you’re watching this
The single biggest spreadsheet issue hanging over the team.
With Bill Davidson’s death, will the Pistons continue to be so well-run? Dumars and Tom Wilson still have key roles, but Davidson’s widow, Karen, is an unknown. Under Davidson, the Pistons never spent exorbitantly, but they took educated risks. Davidson became the first owner to give his team its own plane, and the Palace of Auburn Hills became the league’s model arena.
The economy is down everywhere, but Detroit has been hit hardest. Will the combination of a new owner and uncertain times derail what has been one of the NBA’s top organizations?
Clips No. 1 pick sidelined with broken kneecap
Blake Griffin’s(notes) NBA debut has been pushed back indefinitely after the Los Angeles Clippers revealed late Monday night that their No. 1 overall draft pick has a broken left kneecap.
The stress fracture could sideline the Oklahoma star for six weeks, the team announced, promising further information Tuesday.
Griffin apparently broke his kneecap during the Clippers’ final exhibition game against New Orleans last Friday, perhaps after a dunk that left the power forward wincing in pain. The team initially said Griffin only had a sore left knee, making him questionable for the opener, before revealing the break.
Bulls exercise options on Rose, Noah
The Chicago Bulls have exercised contract options on point guard Derrick Rose(notes) and forward Joakim Noah(notes) for the 2010-11 season.
The reigning Rookie of the Year and a Chicago native, Rose averaged 16.8 points and 6.3 assists last season while leading the Bulls to the playoffs after being taken with the No. 1 draft pick. An inflamed tendon behind his right ankle kept him out for most of the preseason, but he is expected to be ready for the season opener against San Antonio on Thursday.
Noah, the ninth pick in the 2007 draft, has averaged 6.7 points and 6.6 rebounds over two seasons.
Hornets exercise option on swingman Wright
The New Orleans Hornets have picked up swingman Julian Wright’s(notes) option for the 2010-11 season.
Wright, who is 6 feet 8, 225 pounds, is a former first-round draft choice entering his third NBA season and is expected to be in the starting lineup when the Hornets open the regular season at San Antonio on Wednesday night.
Picked 13th overall in 2007, the Kansas standout averaged 4.4 points and 2.8 rebounds in 14.3 minutes last season in 58 games, including 19 starts.
Blazers forward Batum to undergo shoulder surgery
Portland Trail Blazers forward Nicolas Batum(notes) will undergo surgery on his right shoulder to repair torn cartilage. The team said Monday a return date will be determined after Friday’s surgery in Los Angeles.
Batum appeared in 79 games as a rookie last season, starting 76. He averaged 5.4 points and 2.8 rebounds while earning praise for his defensive ability.
The Trail Blazers open the 2009-10 season at home Tuesday against Houston.
Suns awarded rights to C Jarron Collins
The Phoenix Suns on Monday were awarded the rights to center Jarron Collins(notes), who was waived last week by the Portland Trail Blazers.
The 6-foot-11 Collins is an eight-year NBA veteran who played for the Utah Jazz.
He has career averages of 4.3 points and 3.1 rebounds in 480 games.
Some uniform notes
During Heritage Week (Feb 21-28) the Pistons will wear the above warm-up gear in celebration of the team’s three NBA Championships.
Pictures in the link above^.Also, the Mr. D memorial patch that’s one the team’s jersey rear neck line is a permanent addition to the Pistons jerseys, in much the same way the Chicago Bears have “GSH” on their sleeves in honor of team founder George S. Halas. This is the first permanent uniform memorial in league history. (The Chuck Daly “CD” patch is just for the 2009-10 season)
Chucky's back
In something of a mild upset, rookie swingman Deron Washington was shown the door by the Pistons.The roster move means that point guard Chucky Atkins, back with the team after a stint with the Pistons during the first part of this decade, will be with the Pistons in the short-term future.
Atkins, 35, was signed just before training camp after he was waived by the Timberwolves. You figured that a human highlight reel like Washington would have the edge.
But the thinking is the veteran presence and the need for a third point guard is needed more than another young, athletic player. "Honestly, I didn’t think about it as chance. I just thought it was an opportunity to be on a team," Atkins said Monday morning. "I had nothing to lose being that I had just been released three days prior to coming to training camp. I thought it was a good situation and I talked to Coach Q. I came in the expectation of making the team and not necessarily worrying about anything else. It worked out for me."
Detroit (17) 4-4 Pace: 97.4 (21), Off: 101.3 (12), Def: 105.5 (28)
With a weird mix of old, young, talented wings and untalented bigs, the Pistons are another team that's hard to project. But if they don't figure out how to defend, we know they're no better than the seventh or eighth seed in the East. They start with a light week.
Blazers forward Batum to undergo shoulder surgery
Portland Trail Blazers forward Nicolas Batum will undergo surgery on his right shoulder to repair torn cartilage.
The team said Monday a return date will be determined after Friday's surgery in Los Angeles.
Batum appeared in 79 games as a rookie last season, starting 76. He averaged 5.4 points and 2.8 rebounds while earning praise for his defensive ability.
Tayshaun Prince may have ball less often late in games
In tight games, Tayshaun Prince was always a viable option to have the ball in his hands.
One of the team's best decision-makers, Prince's role may change down the stretch if coach John Kuester goes to a three-guard offense of Richard Hamilton, Rodney Stuckey and Ben Gordon. Point guard Will Bynum also could be part of the three-guard rotation. "We have two guys on our team who are pretty much our best playmakers in Rodney Stuckey and Will Bynum, and I think they can pretty much beat their man off the dribble better than anybody else on the team," Prince said. "They're great at getting to the basket and making plays for themselves or drawing contact, and at the same time they're great at penetrating and making a play. "In the past with 4 or 5 seconds left on the clock, I'm usually the guy taking the ball out to kind of read the defense and make decisions. I would like to be in that position of making the decisions. Sometimes I will be, but I know the majority of the time it will be Stuckey or Will Bynum and Ben Gordon because of their quickness and penetration. ... Depending on score and situation, those guys will have the ball."
However, with his three-point range, Prince could become a threat to receive a pass and make a triple if the situation called for it. Kuester praised Stuckey for becoming a better point guard and defender, two weaknesses in his game. Kuester liked the way Stuckey defended Milwaukee shooting guard Michael Redd. "It was really neat to watch him develop as a point guard the last two exhibition games because he ran the team and he put people in positions," Kuester said. "His offense just flowed in regards to not looking for his offense; it just happened. I think that's the thing that was impressive about watching him the last two games, and watching him on tape defensively, truthfully, when he wants to lock down he's as good a defender as there is in this league. He has a chance to be special defensively."
WASHINGTON WAIVED: The Pistons waived guard/forward Deron Washington, the team's 59th pick in the 2008 draft. Washington averaged 3.3 points and 6.4 minutes in seven exhibition games.
Meet the Pistons
The Pistons' roster is at 14 players; 12 can be active for a game.
POS PLAYER NO HT WT AGE
G Chucky Atkins 17 5-11 185 35
G Will Bynum 12 6-0 185 26
G Ben Gordon 7 6-3 200 26
G Richard Hamilton 32 6-7 193 31
G Rodney Stuckey 3 6-5 205 23
F Austin Daye 5 6-11 200 21
F Jonas Jerebko 33 6-10 231 22
F Jason Maxiell 54 6-7 260 26
F Tayshaun Prince 22 6-9 215 29
F DaJuan Summers 35 6-8 240 21
F Charlie Villanueva 31 6-11 232 25
C Kwame Brown 38 6-11 270 27
C Ben Wallace 6 6-9 240 35
C Chris Wilcox 9 6-10 235 27
Pistons' Kuester gets 2nd chance
The last time John Kuester was a head coach, he went 1-27. Not to put too fine a point on it, but: One. And. Twenty-seven. This was 20 years ago, and Kuester was the head coach at George Washington University. It would be silly to say this is relevant to Kuester's chances of succeeding with the Pistons; it was 20 years ago, after all, and just one season. But this is what interests me: What does 1-27 do to a man? What is it like to get stuffed like a turkey in virtually every game? What do you learn from it? "It was difficult for anybody to have to go through that," Kuester said. "But it's like life. You persevere. You just keep working hard." Kuester had been a successful coach at Boston University before landing the George Washington job. He was in his fourth year at GW when the Basketball Gods decided to donate the Colonials' bodies to science. In the third game, the Colonials lost a forward to a season-ending surgery. Eleven days after that, they lost their leading scorer from the year before to a stress fracture in his foot. Their second-leading scorer was limited by knee and hamstring troubles.
Then, in February, Kuester suspended three players allegedly using meal coupons in the school cafeteria after they had accepted meal money from the athletic department. (To sum up the Colonials' misfortune: One of the suspended players was already out for the year.) Remember: Kuester played college ball at North Carolina. He never even lost three games in a row there. And here he was, losing 27 of 28. There is a story about that season that says something about Kuester, and why you might want to pull for him, even if you aren't a Pistons fan.Every day, he would check to see how the rest of the nation's other horrible teams had done. He had every reason to hope somebody else went winless, to take the heat off him ... but he didn't. He did the opposite: He pulled for them to win. "My heart goes out to them," he said at the time. "It's sad to say, but I know just how they feel." Two of the biggest names in basketball called him regularly to offer support. One was Red Auerbach, a GW alum who had helped Kuester get the job.
The other was his old college coach, Dean Smith. Kuester said, then and now, that he learned who his friends were. But he also learned that all he really lost were basketball games.He was fired after the next season and soon landed in the NBA. He spent another 20 years wondering if he'd ever get a chance to be a head coach again."I always told my wife: 'Listen, what a great life we've had,' " Kuester said. "We're so blessed. We've been to the NBA Finals, been to the All-Star Game, won a championship. I said, 'How blessed are we?' When I looked at it and reflect and say, 'Hey, listen, you might not be a head coach,' I can live with it."This week, he gets his chance. I don't know how long Kuester will last, or how much he'll win, but I doubt he'll experience anything like 1-27. And if he does, he'll handle it with grace.
For the record
Pistons coach John Kuester was a college head coach for seven seasons, going 81-121 over that span:
1983-84
16-12
Boston Univ
1984-85
15-15
Boston Univ
1985-86
12-16
George Washington
1986-87
10-19
George Washington
1987-88
13-15
George Washington
1988-89
1-27
George Washington
1989-90
14-17
George Washington