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[Cowology]

Shooting translates. Its the one thing you can see.

Pistons @5 is a **** curse.

Who would you have taken at #5 Zeeb?

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Clingan, 100%, without hesitation. Rim protection locked up. This also makes one of the two, Duren/Stewart movable as well, opening up trade options.

Now, if Clingan was gone, Knecht. With that said, Langdon has gone out, and picked up a bevy of shooters.

What drives me insane, to the point of wondering if maybe its sabotage, why in the HELL, Holland, who is basically a clone of Ausar with better handles was the pick. If Ausar is moved, maybe it makes sense to me.

In any event, the team had two Absolutely clear needs;

Rim protection and shooting.

Langdon had a chance to correct both, and passed on a 7'2 shot-blocking monster. I am now left hoping that Clingan is a bust. He shored up the shooting, but had failed miserably at rim protection. But wait, there's more;

It has become obvious that Langdon, much like Weaver has a player fetish. Unlike Weaver, its not for centers who have washed out, but for 6'7-6'9 wings. So instead of going after a taller shot-blocking presence in free agency, of which there were many available, he signs Reed off of waivers, who is, *drumroll*

6'9

I am happy he is surrounding Cade with real NBA talent, and shooters, but the Center position is really slim, when it could have been fixed, and locked up for a decade+ with Clingan.

It looks like TL approached the draft thinking BPA. He's looking at upside, correctly understanding that "fit" or "need" alone isn't going to substantially move the needle in terms of our ceiling. Things like redundancy are sort of irrelevant; it becomes a "figure that part out later" sorta deal. He took a swing. Time will tell if he was the right choice, but in terms of strategy going high-upside here makes sense.

He then balanced that decision by focusing on fit/need in FA. Which also makes sense.

[zeebneeb]

Love sitting here watching Clingan play, and being a monster on the inside, and throwing sharp passes.

I have developed an aneurysm.

[bstein14]

Love sitting here watching Clingan play, and being a monster on the inside, and throwing sharp passes.

I have developed an aneurysm.

If you are ok with Stew being a backup PF, the Clingan fit was much better than the Holland fit as well IMO he just slotted right in at backup center as a guy who is the same age as Duren and those two would have given us a great young center duo.

C: Duren (26) / Clingan(22)
F: Tobias(28) / Stew(20)
F: Font(24) / Ausar(24) (or swap these two around)
G: Beasley (24) / Ivey (24) (or swap these two around)
G: Cade (33) / THjr (15)


Clingan has a high bball IQ when it comes to playing help side defense I think he's going to be a pretty solid big, even though I don't see him likely having all-star potential he very clearly has a high floor and is likely to be a decent starting center in a few years.

[Kalamazoo317]

If you're going to try to play Stew as a back up 4, might as well just trade him

[zeebneeb]

Love sitting here watching Clingan play, and being a monster on the inside, and throwing sharp passes.

I have developed an aneurysm.

Its been really weird watching Langdon work. He has signed so many damn wings now, it makes the Holland pick even more bizarre. He has signed shooters, so I am at least excited about that. Spacing is going to be the best we've seen as Piston fans for years.

Langdon seems allergic to Centers, and Point guards.

[Cowology]

Love sitting here watching Clingan play, and being a monster on the inside, and throwing sharp passes.

I have developed an aneurysm.

Its been really weird watching Langdon work. He has signed so many damn wings now, it makes the Holland pick even more bizarre. He has signed shooters, so I am at least excited about that. Spacing is going to be the best we've seen as Piston fans for years.

Langdon seems allergic to Centers, and Point guards.

We have Duren/Stew/Reed. How many more C's you think we need? We also have Cade/Ivey at the point.

I don't understand why people are so insistent on looking for things to be unhappy about. We could use upgrades all over, but it's not like we're bare at PG or C.

[Cowology]

OT again, but holy hell...

Clark scored or assisted on 66 points for the Fever, the most in a game in WNBA history. That surpasses a 65-point effort from Diana Taurasi on Aug. 10, 2006.

Caitlin just set the single season record with 19 assists as well (rookie record was 16). And that 66 pts she scored or assisted was out of a total 92 pts. That puts it just shy of 72% of the teams total offense.

[Kalamazoo317]

Seems like the W has gotten their Magic Johnson. I haven't seen her play, though. Is she as stylish as he was as a passer?

[Cowology]

Seems like the W has gotten their Magic Johnson. I haven't seen her play, though. Is she as stylish as he was as a passer?

She's flashy relative to the league. She'll hit you with the behind the back bounce pass in traffic. Really she is just great with leading bounce passes in traffic. She sees the seems. Also a great outlet passer, especially off the defensive glass.

Turnovers are her biggest problem, but that will improve. Last night she had 6 costly TO's, but at least 2 of those were great passes her teammates fumbled.

She's also broken a few ankles with her cross-over and that step back is nasty. And of course then have her hitting shots from the logo. Insane range.

Right now her legs look tired and her shot has been coming up a little short, but she'll have a month off for All-Star game & Olympics. She should shatter the single season assist total with something like 14 games remaining. I think she's only 20 or 30 away but leading the league with 8.2 apg and she's been better than that in July. She's had at least 2 (maybe 3?) 20 & 13 games in July.

She is FUN to watch. The hype is legit and the W as a whole is a better product than anything we've put on the floor the past 5 yrs.

There have been a buncha different comparisons but Nash/Curry is probably closest. I made a wild Gretzky comparison, but I think her point totals (points & assists) are going to shatter records.

Obviously she's gotta stay healthy and she's gonna have to win. Non of will matter without the hardware to go with it, but she's generational talent that is going to change the league.

[flow]

I'll move my gushing over Tyler Kolek over to this thread. After yesterday's post, he walked into game 3 and led the Knicks in scoring while hitting the game winning shot. Went 21/8/4/2. Now has 22 assists & 4 turnovers through 3 games.

.

[zeebneeb]

Love sitting here watching Clingan play, and being a monster on the inside, and throwing sharp passes.

I have developed an aneurysm.

Its been really weird watching Langdon work. He has signed so many damn wings now, it makes the Holland pick even more bizarre. He has signed shooters, so I am at least excited about that. Spacing is going to be the best we've seen as Piston fans for years.

Langdon seems allergic to Centers, and Point guards.

We have Duren/Stew/Reed. How many more C's you think we need? We also have Cade/Ivey at the point.

I don't understand why people are so insistent on looking for things to be unhappy about. We could use upgrades all over, but it's not like we're bare at PG or C.

If Reed is a Center, ill eat my hat, raw, uncooked. He is a PF/SF. People complain about Duren being undersized, when he is 6'10 250 lbs.

Reed is LUCKY if he is actually the 6'9 he's listed at, and he's only 210lbs. Cade outweighs him by 15lbs for example.

If Reed is a Center, then Tobias Harris, who is the same height as Reed, and outweighs him by 20lbs is a center as well.

The team has no true 7' unless we count the summer league players. 5 years ago, big deal. Now? **** monsters on every damn team. The East is gigantic.

Sixers-Embiid 7' 300lbs Drummond 6'11 300lbs
Cavs-Allen 6'11 250lbs Mobley 6'11 215lbs
Knicks-Robinson 6'11 240lbs
Bucks-Lopez 7'1 300lbs
Celtics-Porky 7'2 240lbs
Pacers-6'11 240lbs


There are way more, but its gratuitous at this point.

One things for certain though;

This Pistons team is going to be infinitely switchable. Everyone's the same damn height.

[Cowology]

Its been really weird watching Langdon work. He has signed so many damn wings now, it makes the Holland pick even more bizarre. He has signed shooters, so I am at least excited about that. Spacing is going to be the best we've seen as Piston fans for years.

Langdon seems allergic to Centers, and Point guards.

We have Duren/Stew/Reed. How many more C's you think we need? We also have Cade/Ivey at the point.

I don't understand why people are so insistent on looking for things to be unhappy about. We could use upgrades all over, but it's not like we're bare at PG or C.

If Reed is a Center, ill eat my hat, raw, uncooked. He is a PF/SF. People complain about Duren being undersized, when he is 6'10 250 lbs.

Reed is LUCKY if he is actually the 6'9 he's listed at, and he's only 210lbs. Cade outweighs him by 15lbs for example.

If Reed is a Center, then Tobias Harris, who is the same height as Reed, and outweighs him by 20lbs is a center as well.

The team has no true 7' unless we count the summer league players. 5 years ago, big deal. Now? **** monsters on every damn team. The East is gigantic.

Sixers-Embiid 7' 300lbs Drummond 6'11 300lbs
Cavs-Allen 6'11 250lbs Mobley 6'11 215lbs
Knicks-Robinson 6'11 240lbs
Bucks-Lopez 7'1 300lbs
Celtics-Porky 7'2 240lbs
Pacers-6'11 240lbs


There are way more, but its gratuitous at this point.

One things for certain though;

This Pistons team is going to be infinitely switchable. Everyone's the same damn height.

I get that and don't disagree that we need size...but what are doing with Duren & Stew if we do bring in another C? Who are you moving? Why is now the right time to make that move?

Logistically, it feels like a bad use of resources given we had greater needs. If you wanna package Ivey/Stew or something like that, then it makes a bit more sense, but realistically the size thing can be addressed at a later date. It's important, but not urgent.

[zeebneeb]

We have Duren/Stew/Reed. How many more C's you think we need? We also have Cade/Ivey at the point.

I don't understand why people are so insistent on looking for things to be unhappy about. We could use upgrades all over, but it's not like we're bare at PG or C.

If Reed is a Center, ill eat my hat, raw, uncooked. He is a PF/SF. People complain about Duren being undersized, when he is 6'10 250 lbs.

Reed is LUCKY if he is actually the 6'9 he's listed at, and he's only 210lbs. Cade outweighs him by 15lbs for example.

If Reed is a Center, then Tobias Harris, who is the same height as Reed, and outweighs him by 20lbs is a center as well.

The team has no true 7' unless we count the summer league players. 5 years ago, big deal. Now? **** monsters on every damn team. The East is gigantic.

Sixers-Embiid 7' 300lbs Drummond 6'11 300lbs
Cavs-Allen 6'11 250lbs Mobley 6'11 215lbs
Knicks-Robinson 6'11 240lbs
Bucks-Lopez 7'1 300lbs
Celtics-Porky 7'2 240lbs
Pacers-6'11 240lbs


There are way more, but its gratuitous at this point.

One things for certain though;

This Pistons team is going to be infinitely switchable. Everyone's the same damn height.

I get that and don't disagree that we need size...but what are doing with Duren & Stew if we do bring in another C? Who are you moving? Why is now the right time to make that move?

Logistically, it feels like a bad use of resources given we had greater needs. If you wanna package Ivey/Stew or something like that, then it makes a bit more sense, but realistically the size thing can be addressed at a later date. It's important, but not urgent.

Urgency ill agree with. The team just has to start showing progress, and other things can be sorted out later, like the C position.

With that said, once again, all of this could have been solved by picking Clingan.

I'm done beating that horse to death, so I'm hoping that for the first time since the 2018-19 season, the Pistons can come out of the gate, winning multiple games. It is hugely important for a team to win early, as it builds confidence. Its been 6 damn years since the Pistons won at least 2 games to start the season.

That is insane. Before that it was the 2015-16 season!

All I want is for the team to be built in such a way, that it maximizes winning. By that, I mean proper NBA level players at every position. I believe for the first time since 2018-19, the team has that. As for the excellence at every position, sure some spots are lacking, and extremely young.

Cade/Sasser
Ivey/Beasley
Ausar/THJ/Holland
Harris/Tek/Reed
Duren/Stewart/Reed

I believe the rotations are going to be similar to the Mavs.

Ivey will be the first off the floor, replaced by Beasley. This means Cade will finish the quarter, then sit, and Ivey comes back in. Staggering them will be key.

Second will be Stewart, shortly after Ivey. This will give Cade a completely different team to play with.

Cade
Beasley
Ausar
Tek
Stewart

4 shooters.

Next Ausar will be sat towards the 3 minute mark, giving Cade a complete 5 out team for the first time.

Cade
Beasley
THJ
Tek
Stewart

This is my guess, IF the teams stays as is, with no major moves left. The rest of the guys will play spot minutes due to fouls, or rest.

[bstein14]

2020 Draft Combine
Paul Reed
6'8.5" without shoes
6'9.25" with shoes
7'2" wingspan
219.2 lbs

Beef Stew
6'7.25" without shoes
6'.8.5" with shoes
7'4.75" wingspan
Weight 243.0 lbs

So Reed was an inch taller than Stew coming into the draft, but Stew has freakishly long wingspan not many NBA draft measured combine players under 7' have wingspans that big. Obviously this was four years ago so the weight numbers have likely changed a bit.

[Kalamazoo317]

Reed is our third string center

[joedumars1]

Reed is our third string center

So he’s not playing? I’d think he gets
20-25 minutes a night.

[Pharaoh]

Reed is our third string center

So he’s not playing? I’d think he gets
20-25 minutes a night.

So you're playing Stewart at the 4?

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[bstein14]

I think its very possible that Tobias and Duren are the two starting bigs and Reed and Stewart are the two backup bigs. Some matchups Stew can defend the center(Jokic) and some he can defend the PF (Zion) depending on the matchup. Reed for sure has a bit more mobility so I think he'll normally defend more PFs but the two can be interchangable. They also can both be screen setters and pick and pop or pick and roll and they also can both be guys that stand in the corner to space the floor.

[Cowology]

My fault too, but mebbe let's push this conversation back into one of the multiple threads about our rotation. This could go on for another 20 pages.

[joedumars1]

Reed is our third string center

So he’s not playing? I’d think he gets
20-25 minutes a night.

So you're playing Stewart at the 4?

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I’d try not to if we can