DRE KILLS AT RAISING STARS CHALLENGE.

[sc8581]

I wanted Burke but that was when I thought we had Knight as our PG. After we got Jennings I was fine with not drafting him. I wanted no part of KCP though and while he's shown potential defensively, he hasn't shown to be worth the 8th overall pick. Put it this way, if he were on another team right now, would you trade a future lotto pick for him right now just for his defense? I wouldn't, thus as of now its looking like a bad pick.

The real debate though is between Jennings, Burke, and MCW. We passed on them because Dumars obviously had plans of acquiring a veteran PG somehow in FA/trades, and didn't want to go through more years of developing a rookie (after 3 years of Stuckey and 2 years of Knight) and there was nothing wrong with him taking that approach. What it comes down to is which of the three will end up the better PG in the long run?

Right now I can't definitively say Burke or MCW will be better than Jennings based on what I've seen, so talking about we should've taken them instead is premature. I agree though from a value standpoint we should've taken them over KCP, even if we just used them as reserves for a few years behind Jennings, as they have more trade value than KCP. The guy we might really regret passing on of all of them though is Hardaway.

Why, because he scored a lot in a game where nobody was playing much defense except the Plumlees? He's started playing more minutes recently and has been awful.

[need4detroit]

KCP's ceiling > Hardways ceiling. I could really care less about their floors.

[Q00]

I wanted Burke but that was when I thought we had Knight as our PG. After we got Jennings I was fine with not drafting him. I wanted no part of KCP though and while he's shown potential defensively, he hasn't shown to be worth the 8th overall pick. Put it this way, if he were on another team right now, would you trade a future lotto pick for him right now just for his defense? I wouldn't, thus as of now its looking like a bad pick.

The real debate though is between Jennings, Burke, and MCW. We passed on them because Dumars obviously had plans of acquiring a veteran PG somehow in FA/trades, and didn't want to go through more years of developing a rookie (after 3 years of Stuckey and 2 years of Knight) and there was nothing wrong with him taking that approach. What it comes down to is which of the three will end up the better PG in the long run?

Right now I can't definitively say Burke or MCW will be better than Jennings based on what I've seen, so talking about we should've taken them instead is premature. I agree though from a value standpoint we should've taken them over KCP, even if we just used them as reserves for a few years behind Jennings, as they have more trade value than KCP. The guy we might really regret passing on of all of them though is Hardaway.

Why, because he scored a lot in a game where nobody was playing much defense except the Plumlees? He's started playing more minutes recently and has been awful.

I've liked Hardaway better than KCP since college, so my opinion of them has nothing to do with a rookie game. I think he's the better overall player, and for this team, the better fit because he's a better shooter. So if Dumars was really looking for a true SG in this draft to spread the court for his bigs, Hardaway is looking like he would've been the better pick right now.

I don't see how anyone can say KCP has more longterm potential than him either. Based on what?

[MrBigShot]

Hardaway is extremely one dimensional. I don't regret passing up on him at all.

[need4detroit]

I wanted Burke but that was when I thought we had Knight as our PG. After we got Jennings I was fine with not drafting him. I wanted no part of KCP though and while he's shown potential defensively, he hasn't shown to be worth the 8th overall pick. Put it this way, if he were on another team right now, would you trade a future lotto pick for him right now just for his defense? I wouldn't, thus as of now its looking like a bad pick.

The real debate though is between Jennings, Burke, and MCW. We passed on them because Dumars obviously had plans of acquiring a veteran PG somehow in FA/trades, and didn't want to go through more years of developing a rookie (after 3 years of Stuckey and 2 years of Knight) and there was nothing wrong with him taking that approach. What it comes down to is which of the three will end up the better PG in the long run?

Right now I can't definitively say Burke or MCW will be better than Jennings based on what I've seen, so talking about we should've taken them instead is premature. I agree though from a value standpoint we should've taken them over KCP, even if we just used them as reserves for a few years behind Jennings, as they have more trade value than KCP. The guy we might really regret passing on of all of them though is Hardaway.

Why, because he scored a lot in a game where nobody was playing much defense except the Plumlees? He's started playing more minutes recently and has been awful.

I've liked Hardaway better than KCP since college, so my opinion of them has nothing to do with a rookie game. I think he's the better overall player, and for this team, the better fit because he's a better shooter. So if Dumars was really looking for a true SG in this draft to spread the court for his bigs, Hardaway is looking like he would've been the better pick right now.

I don't see how anyone can say KCP has more longterm potential than him either. Based on what?

Hes younger
He's faster
He's quicker laterally
He doesn't take plays off
He does more than 1 thing

Ohh and he's not an ****. Btw this is coming from someone who goes to Michigan.

[DBC10]

Regarding KCP, not to harp on this, but I'd really like to see him back in the starting lineup now that Loyer has us sharing the ball more evenly; I'd love to see how he develops if he actually got 10-12 FGAs per game. Along those lines, when was the last time the Pistons ever actually ran a play for him? I've complained about Moose and Dre being ignored on offense under Cheeks, but it was even worse for KCP. He wasn't even an afterthought as the 5th option on the floor with the first unit, and no rookie is going to develop in such a non-role.

That said, it really doesn't speak well for him that Loyer has stuck with Singler at SG. But regarding the revisionist draft history, I think it's time to start admitting that the class of '13 has really sucked so far. I'm sure we all would have swooned had McLemore dropped one more pick to us, yet his numbers are eerily similar to KCP's. For all the love The Alphabet gets, other than a few more rebounds per game (which, granted, it a big difference considering the similarly low minutes they all play), his stat line is in that same ballpark, too. Not to mention all the highly-drafted prospects (some who went before KCP, some who went after, all of whom we discussed prior to the draft) who, for various reasons, have yet to produce anything at all — Bennet, Porter, Zeller, Len, McCollum, Muhammad and Schroeder (leaving Noel out). I guess this all boils down to a "glass half empty vs. glass half full" situation. On one hand, KCP has received limited minutes and opportunities and therefore has struggled to develop, same as most of this year's rookies, which begs for patience; on the other, rookie or not, there's cause for real concern / pessimism if you can't outplay Kyle Singler playing out of his natural position to earn more of an opportunity.

I don't get why people are freaking out over KCP, since he's more or less filled his role perfectly as a defensive stopper that can shoot. You know who else was a good defensive specialist when he was a rookie? Arron Afflalo. Right now, their careers are blooming in very identical situations in comparison to their 1st years. I expect KCP to pick up his shooting in his 2nd year, since when he was in the starting lineup, he was improving week after week until he was taken off of there.

And it doesn't help that KCP is not even considered the 5th option, and is ignored almost every time on the offensive end.

[sc8581]

Regarding KCP, not to harp on this, but I'd really like to see him back in the starting lineup now that Loyer has us sharing the ball more evenly; I'd love to see how he develops if he actually got 10-12 FGAs per game. Along those lines, when was the last time the Pistons ever actually ran a play for him? I've complained about Moose and Dre being ignored on offense under Cheeks, but it was even worse for KCP. He wasn't even an afterthought as the 5th option on the floor with the first unit, and no rookie is going to develop in such a non-role.

That said, it really doesn't speak well for him that Loyer has stuck with Singler at SG. But regarding the revisionist draft history, I think it's time to start admitting that the class of '13 has really sucked so far. I'm sure we all would have swooned had McLemore dropped one more pick to us, yet his numbers are eerily similar to KCP's. For all the love The Alphabet gets, other than a few more rebounds per game (which, granted, it a big difference considering the similarly low minutes they all play), his stat line is in that same ballpark, too. Not to mention all the highly-drafted prospects (some who went before KCP, some who went after, all of whom we discussed prior to the draft) who, for various reasons, have yet to produce anything at all — Bennet, Porter, Zeller, Len, McCollum, Muhammad and Schroeder (leaving Noel out). I guess this all boils down to a "glass half empty vs. glass half full" situation. On one hand, KCP has received limited minutes and opportunities and therefore has struggled to develop, same as most of this year's rookies, which begs for patience; on the other, rookie or not, there's cause for real concern / pessimism if you can't outplay Kyle Singler playing out of his natural position to earn more of an opportunity.

I don't get why people are freaking out over KCP, since he's more or less filled his role perfectly as a defensive stopper that can shoot. You know who else was a good defensive specialist when he was a rookie? Arron Afflalo. Right now, their careers are blooming in very identical situations in comparison to their 1st years. I expect KCP to pick up his shooting in his 2nd year, since when he was in the starting lineup, he was improving week after week until he was taken off of there.

And it doesn't help that KCP is not even considered the 5th option, and is ignored almost every time on the offensive end.

I understand why you're comparing KCP to Afflalo but look at the age difference their rookie years.

[Q00]

Why, because he scored a lot in a game where nobody was playing much defense except the Plumlees? He's started playing more minutes recently and has been awful.

I've liked Hardaway better than KCP since college, so my opinion of them has nothing to do with a rookie game. I think he's the better overall player, and for this team, the better fit because he's a better shooter. So if Dumars was really looking for a true SG in this draft to spread the court for his bigs, Hardaway is looking like he would've been the better pick right now.

I don't see how anyone can say KCP has more longterm potential than him either. Based on what?

Hes younger
He's faster
He's quicker laterally
He doesn't take plays off
He does more than 1 thing

Ohh and he's not an ****. Btw this is coming from someone who goes to Michigan.

KCP is only 11 months younger and being faster/quicker laterally does not equate to a better basketball player.

You say he doesn't take plays off, which I'll give you on defense, however on offense he takes almost every play off, because he literally provides nothing on offense. So I'm not so sure that he does more than 1 thing. All I see him ever doing is playing solid defense. While we need perimeter D as much as O, our problems are more team oriented on defense than getting owned individually at the SG position, to where we needed a shutdown defender there. What we needed most was 3 pt shooting.

I think if we had Hardaway we could be just as good of a team defense as we could with KCP, and better offensively with his 3pt shooting. I don't think there's anything wrong with his character either (that I'm aware of). I don't have any affiliation with UM or MSU, so my opinion of him is just as an unbiased observer. I liked him a lot in college and thought he was the better SG than KCP.

[sc8581]

I've liked Hardaway better than KCP since college, so my opinion of them has nothing to do with a rookie game. I think he's the better overall player, and for this team, the better fit because he's a better shooter. So if Dumars was really looking for a true SG in this draft to spread the court for his bigs, Hardaway is looking like he would've been the better pick right now.

I don't see how anyone can say KCP has more longterm potential than him either. Based on what?

Hes younger
He's faster
He's quicker laterally
He doesn't take plays off
He does more than 1 thing

Ohh and he's not an ****. Btw this is coming from someone who goes to Michigan.

KCP is only 11 months younger and being faster/quicker laterally does not equate to a better basketball player.

You say he doesn't take plays off, which I'll give you on defense, however on offense he takes almost every play off, because he literally provides nothing on offense. So I'm not so sure that he does more than 1 thing. All I see him ever doing is playing solid defense. While we need perimeter D as much as O, our problems are more team oriented on defense than getting owned individually at the SG position, to where we needed a shutdown defender there. What we needed most was 3 pt shooting.

I think if we had Hardaway we could be just as good of a team defense as we could with KCP, and better offensively with his 3pt shooting. I don't think there's anything wrong with his character either (that I'm aware of). I don't have any affiliation with UM or MSU, so my opinion of him is just as an unbiased observer. I liked him a lot in college and thought he was the better SG than KCP.

Hardaway has looked like garbage recently, his shooting included.

[princeofpalace]

LOL, so now passing on Hardaway Jr was a mistake? Some posters really make me chuckle.

Also, writing off a rookie in his first season when he has been productive is funny. Prior to be yanked from the SL- KCP's shot was falling and he was looking pretty good.

December: 41%FG, 38% from deep
January: 47% FG, 32% from deep

He was improving, hopefully he goes back to the SL soon and can continue to progress.

[MrBigShot]

Hardaway is one dimensional. He does one thing: score. He does so efficiently, but KCP is a far better prospect. Better defender, better rebounder, better athlete.

[imagump1313]

The biggest thing holding KCP back is that he is now 6 months behind every other pick in that draft because of the horrible coaching he received.
Now he will have to wait another 4 months to hopefully get better coaching.

[DBC10]

The biggest thing holding KCP back is that he is now 6 months behind every other pick in that draft because of the horrible coaching he received.
Now he will have to wait another 4 months to hopefully get better coaching.

Story of Detroit Basketball.

Our rookie development history is atrocious besides Monroe and Dre lately.

[jakebernat]

plenty of perceived "shooters" struggled in their first year adjusting to the nba's 3 point line. kevin durant, aaron afflalo, and melo are some that come to mind immediately, and i'm sure that there's been countless others. KCP will be fine. he shot a higher volume and percentage from the 3 AND free throw line than hardaway in college. i have no doubt that he'll greatly improve his percentages in the nba over the next year or so.

[Illmatic21]

Michael Lee ‏@MrMichaelLee 12m
Andre Drummond had 25 rebs. Team Webber had 28 rebs. Bradley Beal on AD: "He shoved me out of the way for a few rebs. I didn’t like that."

Wasn't there some beef between these two at the USA game this summer too?

I get the impression he doesn't like Drummond lol

Honestly I think dre looks at beal and could care less.

yeah I agree

They have beef.

1. Beal got in Dres face at the USA camp and was yelling at him
2. Beal never passes him the ball, even last night when Dre was open
3. This.

Oh come on, give me a break. Beal probably said that quote sarcastically. I'm a Wiz fan, Brad is one of the nicest kids ever. Him and Drummond are good friends, or at least it appears that way because I've always seen them joking around and laughing every time we've played the Pistons, or whenever I've seen behind-the-scenes stuff going back to last year (the Rising stars game, USAB camp etc)

Tbh it seems like Andre is Beal's closest friend among the other rookies/sophs (except maybe McLemore because they played on the same AAU team). I was watching some Rising Stars behind the scenes thing on NBA.com, and in the background Drummond was showing Beal something on his phone and they were joking around like tight friends.


None of these players hate each other man, in this day and age all these kids grow up playing AAU, all-star camps, hanging out together on recruiting trips, etc. Stop trying to create something that isn't there.