Will the Pistons finally make the leap?

[Dat2U]

How come every time someone has a criticism about a team, someone has to throw "troll" out?

Because you didn't 'criticize' a team, you pointed out one or two negative thing about 6 of its role players and skipped from there to a conclusion. I'm not a Pistons fan and I don't have any love for SVG, and I'm not sold they'll be a playoff team this year. But the team's fate is largely in the hands of how well Jackson and Drummond mesh (and how well they play in general) and how well the rest of the team gels, shoots, and defends around them. If they fail, it won't be because they have Jodie Meeks on the bench, or because Marcus Morris is undersized or Ilysaova has had some bad Novembers in his career.

I'm sorry I didn't follow proper protocol and procedure for making comments about another team. I appreciate your willingness to educate me regarding respectfully disagreeing with a team's moves. I'm a better person for this and I thank you for the difference you've made in my life.

[He Filled it Up]

How come every time someone has a criticism about a team, someone has to throw "troll" out? How bout there's the off-chance that maybe, just maybe one out of 30 teams actually had a bad off-season! I know, I know shocking to even consider the thought.

Just out of curiosity, do you think the Wizards had a good off-season?

[dho4ever]

How come every time someone has a criticism about a team, someone has to throw "troll" out?

Because you didn't 'criticize' a team, you pointed out one or two negative thing about 6 of its role players and skipped from there to a conclusion. I'm not a Pistons fan and I don't have any love for SVG, and I'm not sold they'll be a playoff team this year. But the team's fate is largely in the hands of how well Jackson and Drummond mesh (and how well they play in general) and how well the rest of the team gels, shoots, and defends around them. If they fail, it won't be because they have Jodie Meeks on the bench, or because Marcus Morris is undersized or Ilysaova has had some bad Novembers in his career.

I don't think you know what that word means.

So I googled it for you:

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&es_th=1&ie=UTF-8#es_th=1&q=criticize

[Dat2U]

How come every time someone has a criticism about a team, someone has to throw "troll" out? How bout there's the off-chance that maybe, just maybe one out of 30 teams actually had a bad off-season! I know, I know shocking to even consider the thought.

Just out of curiosity, do you think the Wizards had a good off-season?

Considering they didn't fulfill their biggest off-season priority, landing a stretch or play-making 4, I'd say no. But they didn't make any terrible moves either. Alan Anderson & Jared Dudley were solid pickups on one-year deals. I have hope for Oubre although he wasn't a need. I'd give 'em 5 out of 10, maybe 4 out of 10. We probably will take a slight step back unless Beal or Porter breaks out. All for a 1% chance that we may get Durant... if he doesn't opt in for 2017 to get that crazy money.

[He Filled it Up]

How come every time someone has a criticism about a team, someone has to throw "troll" out? How bout there's the off-chance that maybe, just maybe one out of 30 teams actually had a bad off-season! I know, I know shocking to even consider the thought.

Just out of curiosity, do you think the Wizards had a good off-season?

Considering they didn't fulfill their biggest off-season priority, landing a stretch or play-making 4, I'd say no. But they didn't make any terrible moves either. Alan Anderson & Jared Dudley were solid pickups on one-year deals. I have hope for Oubre although he wasn't a need. I'd give 'em 5 out of 10, maybe 4 out of 10. We probably will take a slight step back unless Beal or Porter breaks out. All for a 1% chance that we may get Durant... if he doesn't opt in for 2017 to get that crazy money.

That's a fair analysis. Personally I don't think that the Pistons had a killer offseason, but I guess I'm a bit more optimistic than you are. I think they'll beat the expectation (~35 wins).

[BigFatBob]

Thanks for the love man, I hope we do good next season too! Remember, I said hope.

I don't believe in Reggie or Illyasova, because Reggie can't shoot or lead and Illyasova is injury prone. I see us being in the lottery next season if those two are in our starting line-up man.

Tune? When in the hell did you start posting on the GB. You never leave the Piston board

[joedumars1]

Thanks for the love man, I hope we do good next season too! Remember, I said hope.

I don't believe in Reggie or Illyasova, because Reggie can't shoot or lead and Illyasova is injury prone. I see us being in the lottery next season if those two are in our starting line-up man.

Tune? When in the hell did you start posting on the GB. You never leave the Piston board

His AND1's beg to differ. Rarely see him say anything positive about the Pistons this off season or during the year. He might of been a Josh Smith fan tho

[HotelVitale]

How come every time someone has a criticism about a team, someone has to throw "troll" out?

Because you didn't 'criticize' a team, you pointed out one or two negative thing about 6 of its role players and skipped from there to a conclusion .

I don't think you know what that word means. So I googled it for you: https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&es_th=1&ie=UTF-8#es_th=1&q=criticize

It's a pretty simple distinction. A post pointing out some obvious flaws (Marcus Morris is short for a PF), some incorrect ones (Stanley Johnson is a bad fit), and some irrelevant ones (Meeks makes a lot of money for a bench shooter) doesn't help us understand the question at hand, and it's just dumping on a team for the sake of doing so. Which is trolling.

Other guy's post might have been useful criticism if the conversation was, 'did SVG kill the offseason?' or 'will the Pistons new guys be incredible and perfect?' We all know Markieff Morris is better than Marcus but that doesn't matter. And Ilyasova starting slow in Nov and Dec doesn't mean he's not going to be useful for the year as a whole. And Meeks' and Baynes' contracts don't matter either at all for the question at hand ('will the Pistons finish over .500?').

[Johnny Firpo]

If by leap you mean making the playoffs as the seventh or eighth seed before proceeding to get swept or lose 1-4 than yeah, they could be ready to take that leap. Not hating, just simply not nearly enough talent on the team. It is what it is.

[aad]

I think they will make that leap to playoffs thats about it

[RSCD3_]

I expect at least 41 wins

Anything over 45 would be cherries


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

[Def Leppard]

Thanks for the love man, I hope we do good next season too! Remember, I said hope.

I don't believe in Reggie or Illyasova, because Reggie can't shoot or lead and Illyasova is injury prone. I see us being in the lottery next season if those two are in our starting line-up man.

I love guys like Reggie who ask for the spotlight and get it... Winning mentality let's see if he can put it together though

[Dcebucks11]

Josh smith tho

[tmorgan]

I like Drummond's offense but he plays some terrible D. The Stanley Johnson pick is nice but I don't think he's going to be a difference maker in his first year - At least not to be able to get them to the playoffs. Ultimately I see them on the outside looking in if I had to put money on it. They could potentially get that last spot though.

This just isn't correct. Drummond doesn't play terrible defense, that's ridiculous. Don't confuse "he should be a lot better, but he's still making a lot of mental mistakes" with "he sucks". I'm comfortable calling him average, which is not what you're looking for from a guy with his size and athletic ability, but he's getting better.

[TheNewEra]

Because you didn't 'criticize' a team, you pointed out one or two negative thing about 6 of its role players and skipped from there to a conclusion .

I don't think you know what that word means. So I googled it for you: https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&es_th=1&ie=UTF-8#es_th=1&q=criticize

It's a pretty simple distinction. A post pointing out some obvious flaws (Marcus Morris is short for a PF), some incorrect ones (Stanley Johnson is a bad fit), and some irrelevant ones (Meeks makes a lot of money for a bench shooter) doesn't help us understand the question at hand, and it's just dumping on a team for the sake of doing so. Which is trolling.

Other guy's post might have been useful criticism if the conversation was, 'did SVG kill the offseason?' or 'will the Pistons new guys be incredible and perfect?' We all know Markieff Morris is better than Marcus but that doesn't matter. And Ilyasova starting slow in Nov and Dec doesn't mean he's not going to be useful for the year as a whole. And Meeks' and Baynes' contracts don't matter either at all for the question at hand ('will the Pistons finish over .500?').

Making a leap will take a team effort the guy made great points.

[DAWill1128]

SVG has done a great job on the roster. People forget SVG has an incredible record as a coach and his roster now fits his system. His system is bigger then the sum of its part.

I see a roster cultivated and assembled like the Dwight Magic. The Pistons will definitely make the continuous transition.

Drummond in the Dwight role.
Illaysova and Morris in the interchangeable stretch forward spots that lewis and hedo played.
KCP and Meeks in the Lee and Reddick roles.
You even have the questionable point gaurd situation that Nelson and Alston had with Jennings and Jackson now.
Baynes is actually a rock solid backup center like Gortat was.
Stanley Johnson actually reminds me of the situation Ariza was in being a high potential young small forward.

[old rem]

I still don't like the fit... or the talent. Maybe the fit is better than last year but that doesn't necessarily make the fit good. Ilyasova usually is a complete dog first half of the season. He's been consistently terrible at the beginning of every year before working himself into shape. Marcus Morris is the WRONG Morris (and a tweener). Reggie Jackson is getting paid John Wall money to be a very slight upgrade over Brandon Jennings who is still on the roster. Stanley Johnson was an okay pick (but you arguably passed on better fits) and will likely take a year or two to get acclimated. I like KCP and he should be even better but you still have Jodie Meeks (what a terrible signing that was!) backing him up and the Aron Baynes signing made everyone go WTF?

I like Van Gundy as a coach but his GM'ing is undermining his ability to do his job.

Greg Monroe and Josh Smith were used badly. Drum is good at rebounds and D.. limited otherwise. I'm not seeing where Pistons can put points on the board well. Making 8 seed in the East... is not so hard... but if you make the playoffs as under .500... a team like the Cavs probably gets a sweep.

[meekrab]

Think 6 spots are locked up in the East in no particular order Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Miami, Toronto & Washington with out any having catastrophic injury situations. That leaves Boston, Charlotte, Detroit, Indiana, Milwaukee & Orlando fighting for 7th & 8th.

When was the last time the East had 12 potential playoff teams?

[Laimbeer]

Spoiler:

Let me preface this by saying that I'm not a Pistons fan.

I just love NBA basketball and have been thinking a lot about which teams will be better than expected and which teams will be worse.

Based on the tape I watched last season I believe the Pistons are going to break through and have a winning season this year. For the past three years there have been media members that have talked about the Pistons making the playoffs but each and every one has ignored the actual construction of the team.

Greg Monroe, Andre Drummond, and (even) Josh Smith are talented basketball players but they don't fit together.
The spacing for the team has been bad and they've been unable to score or defend at a high level.

However, based on what I saw last season I feel they have the bones to be a 45 win basketball team this year.

Factors

Fit: After many years the team finally makes sense from a fit perspective. They have complimented Drummond with a PG that can attack,pass, and finish out of the PnR (Reggie Jackson), and have surrounded that attack with adequate shooters from the 3pt line (Ilyasova, Meeks, Tolliver, Pope, Marcus Morris Jennings). Toward the end of the year that Reggie/Andre PnR was eating teams up.

Defensively the team seems to make more sense as well. Rather than trotting out the corpse of Tayshaun Prince, they drafted Stanley Johnson (a long wing that should be able to guard 2-3 positions) and they acquired Ersan/Marcus who can switch onto 2s, 3s, and 4s.

Talent: From a talent standpoint they still are in the top 10 in the East. I personally think they have more talent than the Celtics and Nets. In terms of talent they are competitive with the Pacers, but they have the lead in...

Continuity: Most of this roster has had a year to learn under Stan Van Gundy. Players should feel more comfortable and actions should flow more easily. Especially on defense, where they were terrible on the perimeter. Even Drummond struggled mightily with being in position on defense.

Bottom Line: They have the versatility and depth to be very aggressive on defense and generate ball pressure that they couldn't in the past. They also have a bread and butter spread PnR attack they can go to over and over. Add in some slight improvements to Drummond's passing/defense and increased reps/growth for Jackson/Pope/Dinwiddie and they should be a problem.

How about a poll?

[JShuttlesworth]

I like Drummond's offense but he plays some terrible D. The Stanley Johnson pick is nice but I don't think he's going to be a difference maker in his first year - At least not to be able to get them to the playoffs. Ultimately I see them on the outside looking in if I had to put money on it. They could potentially get that last spot though.

This just isn't correct. Drummond doesn't play terrible defense, that's ridiculous. Don't confuse "he should be a lot better, but he's still making a lot of mental mistakes" with "he sucks". I'm comfortable calling him average, which is not what you're looking for from a guy with his size and athletic ability, but he's getting better.

Naw....I stand by my comment. I've seen JV pick the guy apart time after time with pump fakes. JV cant even shoot. Suspect D. Nor did I say he sucks. I said he plays bad D.