Midseason Report: The Pistons are 29-12.

HeroicKennedy · Post #1 » by **HeroicKennedy** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 4:20 am

Doesn't feel as good as it should, but in all honesty it's 4-5 more wins than I expected at midseason.

Obviously, there are some issues with team, especially since we've lost 5 of our last 8, I believe, so there's two methods:

1. Make a trade/sign a player
2. Let the team work through their problems

I don't think will continue through the rest of the regular season. We've had games where we've played really, really good, meaning we ARE capable of competing with the big boys (victories over San Antonio and Boston) but at other times we struggle (0-3 against Chicago, 0-2 against Sacramento). It's been like this even during the 2003-2004 run. We kind of struggle to stay consistent and focused. There's really no need to panic, but there are some causes for concern obviously.

Kyrama · Post #2 » by **Kyrama** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 4:23 am

Trade everyone away! Seriously though, we've needed a minor shake-up for some time. I'm not sure what, be Dumars needs to do something.

Hunter · Post #3 » by **Hunter** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 4:24 am

^Yeah, that's been our M.O. for years; good enough to play with anybody but prone to fits of self-destruction.

The reason we all felt so good about our early season success was because it appeared we'd finally gotten back the intensity and hunger that had been missing since '04. But that didn't last.

HeroicKennedy · Post #4 » by **HeroicKennedy** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 4:29 am

Hunter wrote:^Yeah, that's been our M.O. for years; good enough to play with anybody but prone to fits of self-destruction.

The reason we all felt so good about our early season success was because it appeared we'd finally gotten back the intensity and hunger that had been missing since '04. But that didn't last.

To be fair, we really didn't get that intensity until Rasheed Wallace came over in that trade.

The problem is that teams are reluctant to trade away players now. The only way you get a good player is:

A. He comes with a bad contract.
B. He comes with a lot of baggage.
C. You have to give up a crapload of players to get them.

Look at the supposed Marion deal. They wanted Prince, Rasheed, and both our draft picks. A trade like that is, at best, a lateral move. Sure, you can bring back C. Webb, but we'd lose out on Stuckey and Afflalo.

That's why Dumars is so reluctant to make a trade. I don't blame him either, because this team is still competitive, and we did go to the NBA Finals in a season where we didn't make any deals.

If we make a deal, great. If we don't, great.

srt4b · Post #5 » by **srt4b** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 4:47 am

I am bored with the Pistons.

Hunter · Post #6 » by **Hunter** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 4:53 am

HeroicKennedy wrote:To be fair, we really didn't get that intensity until Rasheed Wallace came over in that trade.

Disagree.

We might not have been more than a 50-53 win team pre-Sheed, but we'd been hanging our hat on "going to work" for a few years already. It was our calling card. Other teams might have been more talented, but nobody played as hard as we did. That hasn't been true for quite some time.

HeroicKennedy · Post #7 » by **HeroicKennedy** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 5:12 am

Hunter wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

Disagree.

We might not have been more than a 50-53 win team pre-Sheed, but we'd been hanging our hat on "going to work" for a few years already. It was our calling card. Other teams might have been more talented, but nobody played as hard as we did. That hasn't been true for quite some time.

I'm gonna have to disagree right back, and I'll point towards the 2002-2003, 2003-2004, and 2004-2005 teams.

Examples: Round 1 vs. The Magic in 2003.
No way they should have pushed us to a full game 7. In fact previous years, we would have been eliminated.

ECF vs. The Nets in 2003
We play them tight for two games, then get blown out in the other two. No way that they should have man-handled us some much in that series.

Round 2 vs. The Nets in 2004
We got pounded for the first two games in New Jersey, yet we managed to pull out game 6. That's pretty inconsistent.

ECF vs. The Heat in 2005
How come we could hang with them some nights, then get killed others? Inconsitency.

NBA Finals vs. The Spurs in 2005
Oh God, this was the king of all inconsistent play by the Pistons. Blown out the first two games, blowouts against the Spurs the next two.

The only thing I will give you is that the inconsistent play is happening more often now, but we had let downs and we had games where both teams DIDN'T play hard. And we were the team that didn't.

Hunter · Post #8 » by **Hunter** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 6:05 am

HeroicKennedy wrote:Examples: Round 1 vs. The Magic in 2003.
No way they should have pushed us to a full game 7. In fact previous years, we would have been eliminated.

ECF vs. The Nets in 2003
We play them tight for two games, then get blown out in the other two. No way that they should have man-handled us some much in that series.

Round 2 vs. The Nets in 2004
We got pounded for the first two games in New Jersey, yet we managed to pull out game 6. That's pretty inconsistent.

Playing hard and playing well are not the same thing and I'm not sure you are making the distinction.

We didn't always play well. Coaching, talent and execution were often lacking. But we DID play hard.

HeroicKennedy · Post #9 » by **HeroicKennedy** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 6:23 am

Hunter wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

Playing hard and playing well are not the same thing and I'm not sure you are making the distinction.

We didn't always play well. Coaching, talent and execution were often lacking. But we DID play hard.

Talentwise, we were on par with or better than the Nets in 2004.

Coaching, we had Larry Brown, so we were never out-coached.

But there were a lot of games where we just came out flat, and got our asses handed to us. Yes, I am making the distinction between playing well and playing hard, and a lot of our losses we were not playing hard.

nasty daddy · Post #10 » by **nasty daddy** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 6:36 am

Just trust Joe to make the right decision in whether or not to make the right trades.

Low-Ki · Post #11 » by **Low-Ki** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 5:31 pm

Same **** as always - when we win it's because we're that damn good, and when we lose it's because we didn't play good. Nobody is ever better than us.

I wonder why nobody stopped to think that maybe the San Antonio win was more a case of San Anronio having an off-game.

Post #12 » by **Snakebites** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 6:01 pm

Im gonna be honest, if you had told me at the beginning of the season that we were gonna be 29-12 with the season half gone, Id have been thrilled with that.

Our play over the last couple of weeks has been a bit worrisome, though. The bench looks flat, and so do Tay, Sheed, and Dice. And you all know how we do when the guards are the only ones scoring. Ick. Even at our highest point in the season (tail end of the 11 game streak), I knew this slump would come. I know this team too well to expect otherwise, and you all should have, too.

After looking, I still think this is about the same team we had last season. Still lacking in intensity and urgency at times. The Lakers were the same way throughout their 3 championship run, but they had two HOF who really COULD turn it on whenever they wanted just like our guys think they can now, so they got away with it a lot better than we have the last few years.

This team does need a shakeup (not a blowup), but unless a deal comes along like the one that landed us Rasheed, I dont think a big move is the right move. Guys like Gasol and Marion are great, but their trade values arent exactly at a low point like Rasheed's was. We'd have to pay through the nose.

I dont see any trade coming along that makes our team significantly more likely to win than it is now. And thats not because I think this team cant be improved, but because I dont see the environment for a Rasheed type trade at the moment.

Eh, just enjoy the season. We'll have another good stretch like the one we recently finished, than itll be hit or miss in the playoffs just like it has been the last 3 years.

HeroicKennedy · Post #13 » by **HeroicKennedy** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 6:03 pm

Low-Ki wrote:Same **** as always - when we win it's because we're that damn good, and when we lose it's because we didn't play good. Nobody is ever better than us.

I wonder why nobody stopped to think that maybe the San Antonio win was more a case of San Anronio having an off-game.

Gonna have to disagree. Hunter did a great job of shutting down Parker, who is key to the San Antonio offense. The problem with Hunter (and Afflalo, too) is they are pretty much offensive blackholes. For all they do shutting down opposing players (which is great), they rarely do much on the offensive side. However, the win over San Antonio was a legit win. We dominated them from start to finish.

Low-Ki · Post #14 » by **Low-Ki** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 6:26 pm

San Antonio looked completely flat and disinterested in the first quarter - where we did most of our damage. It was just another game for them, whereas it was a big statement game for us coming off of the Dallas spanking and Boston home loss.

HeroicKennedy · Post #15 » by **HeroicKennedy** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 6:44 pm

Low-Ki wrote:San Antonio looked completely flat and disinterested in the first quarter - where we did most of our damage. It was just another game for them, whereas it was a big statement game for us coming off of the Dallas spanking and Boston home loss.

Once again, I disagree. San Antonio started off well and stay with us for a good chunk of the first before we turned it up and proceeded to beat them down.

Muzzleshot · Post #16 » by **Muzzleshot** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 8:20 pm

They're 5-5 over the last 10 (3 home, 7 road), but played three of the top five teams in the NBA. Not to mention four games in five nights, all on the road. That's insane.

Overall they've played 23 road games and 18 home games.

I'll be concerned with how this team is playing in March and April.
In the first two weeks of January with a difficult schedule, not so much.

Dirtgrain · Post #17 » by **Dirtgrain** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:06 am

Saunders was recently quoted as saying that you don't want your team playing its best ball in January.

Big Steak · Post #18 » by **Big Steak** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 2:16 am

Our record doesn't concern me one bit. We could be .500 or .800 and I would feel the same way about this team. The problem is that the same weaknesses that have plagued the Pistons 2-3 years ago still have not been corrected. The way I see it, here are our biggest issues:

1. Young, energetic big men absolutely rip us a new one. Lately, average bigs like Okafor and Glen Davis have had very good games against us. This is not a new trend; don't get me started on our old buddy Varajao.

2. The Pistons are a team full of jump shooters; we have no slasher-type player on our team who can consistently earn trips to the free throw line. When our jump shots fall, we look unbeatable. When they don't, all hell breaks loose for us. This is a big issue when the Pistons play strong defensive teams who are good at taking away the jump shot. See: Cavaliers, Cleveland.

3. We still have no consistent backup 1-2 after three years, which is almost comical. Stuckey is supposed to be that guy but it's unfair to expect a rookie player who is getting spot minutes to immediately fill that role. Jarvis Hayes has helped but only when his jump shot is falling.

4. Like him or not, Saunders has proven over and over that he is not a good playoff coach. Obviously, that's a huge issue.

I do believe that with this roster, the Pistons can eek into the Finals as long as they bypass Cleveland in the playoffs and play a tired/depleted Celtics team. If Boston or Cleveland make improvements, we are facing an even steeper up-hill battle.

Which leads me to the conclusion of this long-winded post: there is no excuse for us NOT to improve our roster. Cleveland and Boston are trying their hardest to improve their weaknesses and we do not have the luxury of standing pat. With three expiring contracts and a first round pick, I find it very hard to believe that Dumars can't pull some improvement off.

HeroicKennedy · Post #19 » by **HeroicKennedy** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 3:30 am

Actually, there is an excuse.

No deals come along that are worth it. There's a difference between change for the sake of change, and change for the better. I don't want to fire Flip unless we plan on having a coach that will come in and do better than him (which isn't a guarantee with any new coach), and I don't want to make a trade unless it improves our team.

nasty daddy · Post #20 » by **nasty daddy** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 7:40 am

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar ... 10323/1127

Chauncey Billups :Like all great captains, Billups continues to be a rock on the court and in the locker room. His scoring, shooting percentage and offensive efficiency (assists-to-turnovers) are up. He has made a concerted effort to keep opponents' dribble penetration to a minimum -- still a nightly struggle. But his size, skill and savvy, the mismatches he creates on a nightly basis, give Detroit a great advantage against the other primary contenders in the East. Richard Hamilton :What a wacky first half. He missed a chunk of camp (ankle) and started the season inactive (birth of his son). It took him another month to get used to reduced playing time (33-35 minutes, from 38-40). He also had to get used to having a fifth scorer on the floor (Antonio McDyess). But from about Game 25, Hamilton has played some of his best basketball. His offensive efficiency improved greatly. He is passing better and more willingly. And his defense has been aggressive and contagious.

Tayshaun Prince :The ups and downs have been more pronounced this season than in the past, but overall, his statistics are above his career averages in everything except shooting percentage. If you were expecting Prince to have a break-out season and put up 18 points and eight rebounds a game, then you are disappointed. Nobody in the organization had those expectations, especially with the addition of another offensive option (McDyess) in the starting lineup. That said, nobody thinks Prince has played up to his standards. Antonio McDyess :The offense isn't there every night, but the rebounding and the defensive effort is. The way he and Wallace play off each other has mitigated one of the biggest worries this season -- the absence of a true center. He is the team's leading rebounder and has been effective using his athleticism and smart positioning to negate the bigger frontcourt players on most nights. He's averaging 31 minutes, which should help keep him fresh down the stretch.

Rasheed Wallace :He's been sensational on some nights, great on most nights. Rarely, maybe three or four games, was he a nonfactor. His consistency has fueled the Pistons' successful first half. He has provided more of a low-post presence on offense, while still knocking down 36 percent of his 3-pointers. But his greatest contribution has been on defense, where through 39 games he led the team in steals and blocks. He's also done a better job keeping his temper under control (six technicals).

Please note: All the bench players summaries are in the link above^.