Kwame on the Pistons

sascha · Post #1 » by **sascha** » Tue Aug 5, 2008 6:59 pm

I know there's already a thread for other teams' moves, but because this concerns one of the most infuriating players in Wizards history, I thought it'd be appropriate for this topic to have its own thread. Needless to say, mods, if you disagree, feel free to merge it into something else.

I, for one, am terrified that Kwame's going to the Pistons. I think he may well succeed there. Ben Wallace bounced around a couple teams (including our Wizards) before turning into a beast in Detroit. After his injuries, Antonio McDyess just took up roster space in New York and Phoenix before signing with Detroit and enjoying something of a resurgence.

Of course, Wallace and McDyess differ from Kwame in important respects. Neither of them had the emotional baggage that Kwame has, and McDyess had already proven himself to be an immensely talented player. But I think there are two things weighing in Kwame's favor:

1) Kwame's now seen the end of the Earth -- he's been traded to the Grizzlies. After getting a glimpse of the NBA's wasteland, he should be very grateful to be part of a team with so much talent and such a devoted fan base.

2) In Detroit, Kwame's role should be well-defined. I don't think anybody in the Pistons organization wants or expects Kwame to change the team's overall approach. With all that veteran talent, and with Joe Dumars running things, Kwame will know exactly what's expected of him. As a player who's been through 4 GMs and as many coaches in his 7-year career, he should respond well to that kind of stability.

Now, I won't be that upset if Kwame produces well in Detroit because, after all, we did manage to parlay him into Caron, and Caron's been great for us. But there's still a part of me that's bitter about his behavior in that playoff series against Chicago. If we run into Detroit in the playoffs and Kwame comes up big for the Pistons, I'll be furious.

Wizards2Lottery · Post #2 » by **Wizards2Lottery** » Tue Aug 5, 2008 7:14 pm

They didn't strike gold with Hayes and Dixon.

Kwame won't develop a pair of hands magically overnight. He is what he is and will forever be that.

long suffrin' boulez fan · Post #3 » by **long suffrin' boulez fan** » Tue Aug 5, 2008 7:39 pm

Gilbert0Arenas wrote:They didn't strike gold with Hayes and Dixon.

Kwame won't develop a pair of hands magically overnight. He is what he is and will forever be that.

I agree. KFB's problems are pretty intransigent. His hands are awful (and tiny) and his basketball iq and temperament are low and bad respectively. I don't see him logging many minutes with Detroit.

JWizmentality · Post #4 » by **JWizmentality** » Tue Aug 5, 2008 8:38 pm

yawn. Lock.

Halcyon · Post #5 » by **Halcyon** » Tue Aug 5, 2008 8:52 pm

If he does anything significant, I'll eat my hat.

Wizardspride · Post #6 » by **Wizardspride** » Tue Aug 5, 2008 9:11 pm

I don't expect much from Kwame but I wouldn't be at all unhappy if he turns his career around.

closg00 · Post #7 » by **closg00** » Tue Aug 5, 2008 9:58 pm

Gilbert predicted that this would be Kwame's breakout year sealing his fate as one of the biggest #1 busts in NBA history.

BruceO · Post #8 » by **BruceO** » Wed Aug 6, 2008 12:05 am

it's not his fault that he was drafted no. 1. It's not that hard to toss him a few balls and realize he's got small hands and isn't able to catch it. The organizations at fault for not checking the basics of whether he would suck or not. It's michael jordans fault for picking him. It's michael jordans fault for emotionaly traumatizing and intimidating kwame as a very young basketball player just because he was dissapointed that his guy was not panning out the way he promised. We all hoped and were let down. He didn't promise us anything. We selected him.

If he wasn't a no one pick we'd not be mad at him because he is right now a very capable defensive player. He will contribute as much as ben wallace did. Ben wallace gave detroit a guy who didn't score but could rebound and defend screens really well. This last year Detroit never had a true center. Kwame will come in and give them atleast that capability as far as a team player. He won't be an eye popping guy who's taking over the game but he will be a good addition for that team. He has defended the Jermaine oneals, Garnetts and Tim duncans well in the post in the past. Big men in general other than the greats aren't ready to contribute from day one. We've been knocking brendan haywood up till last year. Tyson chandler as well. Let kwame do his thing and stop hating him for not being everything we expected or were led to believe he'd be. If he has success thats fair. I'm a fan of the players in the NBA and I won't wish someone to be unsuccessful regardless what team they play for. The only way is if the guy was someone who wasn't a good person at heart. Kwame hasn't done anything to deserve bad karma

yungal07 · Post #9 » by **yungal07** » Wed Aug 6, 2008 12:26 am

BruceO wrote: He will contribute as much as ben wallace did. Ben wallace gave detroit a guy who didn't score but could rebound and defend screens really well.

Dude, you can't be serious. Ben Wallace was DPOY 2 seasons in a row, and was arguably the Pistons MVP the year they won the championship. To think Kwame is going to contribute as much as Wallace did in Detroit is about as outrageous as thinking Andray Blatche is going to develop into the next Wilt Chamberlain.

Kwame will be a semi-serviceable 4th big of their bench who will give them spot relief at the 5. Nothing more.

Scabs304 · Post #10 » by **Scabs304** » Wed Aug 6, 2008 2:53 am

I'm still a huge Kwame fan and I'm glad I'm not the only one not rooting against him. I believe he will do well in Detroit and will parlay this contrtact that some people believe to be overpriced into alot more overpriced contract. He will be serviceable and rebounding alot better than anyone thinks he can this year. Detroit will be pretty good with him.

Post #11 » by **nate33** » Wed Aug 6, 2008 1:04 pm

Kwame has terrible hands which renders him ineffective on offense. It's not worth all the turnovers you sacrifice just to get him the ball in the post. He also misses out on a lot of "gimmes" because he can't catch a pass in traffic when a guard drives and dishes. Because of this weakness, Kwame will never be a big time offensive player. Defensively, Kwame is very good as a man defender, and terrible as a help defender. He's also a terrible rebounder for his size because he has poor rebounding IQ and poor hands.

The best case scenario for Kwame is that he eventually figures out the game of basketball mentally. If he could just learn to be in the right spot on help defense and on the glass, he could be a very effective defensive player. Defensively, he could be a bigger, more athletic version of Kurt Thomas.

I'm not holding my breath though.

adarsh1 · Post #12 » by **adarsh1** » Wed Aug 6, 2008 5:16 pm

Scabs304 wrote:I'm still a huge Kwame fan and I'm glad I'm not the only one not rooting against him. I believe he will do well in Detroit and will parlay this contrtact that some people believe to be overpriced into alot more overpriced contract. He will be serviceable and rebounding alot better than anyone thinks he can this year. Detroit will be pretty good with him.

Agreed. I hope he does well and proves Jordan wrong. MJ has no business being in a NBA front office.