'Nasty News - Traversing Time & Space' Vol: 54

[nasty daddy]

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Ryan (Troy, Mich.): If the 2008-09 Pistons had replaced Stuckey with Derrick Rose do you think he could have done any better?

Langlois: There’s no reason to think they would have, Ryan. Let’s remember the first meeting between Rose and Stuckey last season – Stuckey scored 40 points and Rose spent half the game on the bench in foul trouble caused by trying to stay with Stuckey. It’s undeniable that Stuckey hit a wall in February and didn’t play well for a stretch, but any point guard would have struggled to look good and get last year’s offense in a rhythm given all the instability around that position.

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Elmer (Detroit): There has been much talk about the Pistons’ defense, but I haven’t heard anything about them possibly playing a zone, which may help shore up some of the weaknesses. What do you think?

Langlois: At the NBA level, if you’re a weak man-to-man defensive team, you’ve got no shot to win, and switching to a zone won’t mask your weaknesses. Now, that doesn’t mean a zone isn’t worth employing. But the evidence suggests that it’s best used in small doses – a handful of possessions here and there as a changeup. In effect, what we call man-to-man defense in today’s NBA is really a hybrid defense, anyway, frequently meaning a quasi-zone being played on the offensive strong side.

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Alex (Detroit): Would you be surprised if the Pistons got in as the fourth or fifth seed?

Langlois: Fourth, yes. Fifth, not so much. Boston, Cleveland and Orlando are the clear to three and Atlanta is just as clearly No. 4. From 5 through 10, though, it’s pretty tight.

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Andrzej (Elblag, Poland): Will Chucky Atkins be on the Pistons’ roster for the upcoming season?

Langlois: As of the weekend, no final decision had been reached, Andrzej. We’ll know more in the next few days, but it’s certainly a good sign for Atkins that they’ve kept him on past the preseason games.

[nasty daddy]

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Joe (Troy, Mich.): I watched the final preseason game, where Ben Wallace played amazing defense, and it go me thinking about the Pistons starting him over Charlie V. I know it gives the bench another great scorer, but then our starting rotation would have less of a scoring punch and our bench will not have as much depth defensively. What’s your opinion?

Langlois: If they get enough scoring out of a starting lineup that includes both Wallace and Kwame Brown, then it’s a win-win for the Pistons – they get to put their best defensive group out to start games and get to come off the bench with a lot of firepower. But we won’t know until they get some regular-season games under their belt.

[nasty daddy]

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Jens (Cologne, Germany): The rotation is one of the hottest topics of the season and could make the difference between a 30- or 50-win season, especially in the frontcourt. I would start Ben for his defense along with Charlie for the scoring he brings and give Kwame a lot of minutes off the bench. Wilcox, because of his better offensive skills, might have the edge over Max and his better defense. I wouldn’t play Jonas on a regular basis this season. What would you do as coach?

Langlois: I’d do what John Kuester is doing – evaluate them every day in practice. Since I’m not privy to what goes on in practice, it’s tough to give any credible advice to Kuester. Based on what we’ve seen in the preseason, Ben Wallace and Kwame Brown appear to have solidified roles because of their defense and rebounding. Charlie Villanueva is easily the most skilled offensive player of the group. Those three look like locks. Wilcox’s size might get him the first look of the remaining big guys, but if he doesn’t produce or play solid defense, that edge won’t mean much. I think it’s probable that the veterans are going to be given the chance to succeed or fail before Kuester turns to Jerebko, but the Pistons think he’s going to be a terrific all-around player someday.

[nasty daddy]

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Steven (West Bloomfield, Mich.): I think small ball can work, but only if Tayshaun’s minutes at the four are extremely limited and solely matchup-based. We have a lot of depth at the four, so there’s no need to expose him to the physical abuse of guarding bigs.

Langlois: John Kuester isn’t going to put him in bad matchups, but it’s possible he’ll pick and choose some spots where a traditional power forward will be at a disadvantage trying to guard Prince. It works both ways. But for the most part, I think Prince’s minutes at the four will be either when the other team has gone small – which plays to the Pistons’ advantage, because it gets their best players on the floor – or when the Pistons trail and Kuester is looking to put his best scoring unit out there.

[nasty daddy]

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Pistons Points
• The Pistons cut Deron Washington and Macro Baston last week, meaning their roster stands at 14. Here’s how it looks:

Point guards: Rodney Stuckey, Will Bynum, Chucky Atkins
Shooting guards: Richard Hamilton, Ben Gordon
Small forwards: Tayshaun Prince, Austin Daye, DaJuan Summers
Power forwards: Charlie Villanueva, Jason Maxiell, Jonas Jerebko
Centers: Kwame Brown, Ben Wallace, Chris Wilcox

Strengths: Backcourt scoring, versatile forwards, depth
Weaknesses: Center, defense, passing

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T.J. (Wixom, Mich.): I’ve heard talk about the starting lineup and three of our bigs. Does this mean Charlie Villanueva might be taking Prince’s starting spot at small forward?

Langlois: Not sure what you heard, but that’s not happening. But it’s not out of the question that Charlie V will get some minutes at small forward this season. In fact, he’s probably more likely to play small forward than center. But Prince’s starting job is safe.

[nasty daddy]

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Marty (Bloomfield Twp., Mich.): I was wondering if you could tell me how you can become a ball boy for the Pistons?

Langlois: I’ll refer you to Mailbag FAQ, Marty.

[nasty daddy]

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James (Houston): I would love to see Kwame and Ben start the game with Prince, Rip and Hot Rod. They would set the defensive tone and allow us to bring firepower off the bench.

Langlois: I think you’re going to get your wish, James, though John Kuester as late as after Sunday’s practice has yet to tip his hand and said the starting frontcourt is still up for debate. But Ben Wallace’s effect on the defense in the preseason finale against Milwaukee probably cemented his spot in the starting lineup.

[nasty daddy]

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Clark (Detroit): You recently answered a question I had about the Pistons looking into Nathan Jawai and stated if the Mavs didn’t have a lot of interest in carrying him on their roster, they probably had a good reason. Well, Minnesota values him enough to give up basically nothing – a conditional second-rounder – to get him. I think we missed out, so be waiting for my “I told you so” when the Aussie Shaq is putting up 20 and 10.

Langlois: The fact Dallas took a conditional No. 2 sort of screams that the Mavs don’t exactly see 20 and 10 potential in Jawai. Minnesota was thin in its frontcourt even before losing Kevin Love to a broken hand that will keep him out at least the first month of the season. That leaves them with Al Jefferson, who is limping as well, and limited vets Ryan Hollins, Brian Cardinal and Oleksiy Pecherov – although Hollins and Pecherov looked pretty good when they beat the Pistons last week. That’s about as bleak a frontcourt picture as an NBA team has had in a long time.

[nasty daddy]

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Madison (Redford, Mich.): Not sure if this will make the cut, but what’s going on with DaJuan Summers? He has not been getting a lot of playing time in the preseason in comparison to the other rookies. Is he destined to be sent to the NBDL?

Langlois: Just a numbers crunch, Madison. You can only take extended looks at so many people and meet the larger objective of getting the team best ready to start the regular season. We know from what we saw in Summer League that there isn’t a wide gap between the NBA-ready skills of Summers, Austin Daye and Jonas Jerebko. They seemed to take turns in Las Vegas being the best on any given day. But in trying to get even his preseason rotation down to a workable number, John Kuester had to draw the line somewhere. As for the NBDL, Joe Dumars has shown he likes to use it in moderation. The pattern – with Amir Johnson, Cheikh Samb and Walter Sharpe – has been to give them a week here or there when the schedules of the Pistons and Fort Wayne overlap in such a way that both are playing a number of games, which would both reduce the practice time young players would get with the Pistons and increase their opportunities to play under game conditions with the D-League affiliate.

[nasty daddy]

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• The Pistons finished the preseason with a 4-4 record. They averaged 98.6 points while allowing 102.7 points.

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• The Pistons will open the season at Memphis on Wednesday night. Allen Iverson is unlikely to play in the game due to his sore hamstring that has caused him to miss the entire preseason. The Grizzlies bested the Pistons 115-94 in the preseason. Memphis shot 52.6 percent in that game as Rudy Gay, O.J. Mayo and Zach Randolph combined for 63 points. The Pistons were out-rebounded 29-32 while the Griz accumulated 25 assists to the Pistons’ 14.

[nasty daddy]

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• After a slow start to the preseason, Rodney Stuckey finished the exhibitions with a total of 20 assists and 20 turnovers. He led the team with 15.8 points per game.

[nasty daddy]

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• Charlie Villanueva should be in line to start in the season opener. He returned from a hamstring injury to average 12.3 points and 7.0 rebounds in three games. He hit 4-of-9 of his three-point attempts.

[nasty daddy]

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• The Pistons as a team hit 38.7 percent of their three-pointers but just 73.1 percent of their free throws.

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• Ben Wallace started each of the six exhibitions that he appeared in.

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• Richard Hamilton wants to see his jersey retired by the Pistons. Why not? He ranks seventh on the all-time franchise list in minutes played, seventh in points, and eighth in assists. Should he finish the remaining four years on his contract with the Pistons, he will probably be in the top five in each of those categories.