Next Year's Reserves

mercury · Post #1 » by **mercury** » Thu Mar 28, 2013 6:54 pm

At the start of the year Singler was playing well and had to be considered a strong candidate for the backup SF spot... he may have hit the wall... I'm not sure we should completely eliminate him from contention as a 10+ minute candidate for next year.

Middleton's stock has risen (which is amazing considering the rust & pine needles).... looks smooth offensively... the jury still out on defensive intensity... are we comfortable giving him major minutes at the backup 2/3?

English has played fairly well considering it's his rookie year playing a position he has little to no experience at... asking him to play PG borders on riding shotgun on the short bus.... I'm trying not to be biased so I'll let others give their thoughts on his future.

Knight... I think he would be a great combo guard at 30 minutes off the bench... possibly allowing us to go bigger at the starting 2... maybe opening the door for someone like Burke or Oladipo.
Is JC's influence going to improve BK's court vision?

Slava... talk about a wasted opportunity to see what the kid has to offer... we need to leave this year knowing if he's got a real shot as our backup Center... the price is right... Is Monroe gonna take all of the backup minutes at the 5?.. we'll still need a 3rd big for depth.

Opinions?

ComboGuardCity · Post #2 » by **ComboGuardCity** » Thu Mar 28, 2013 7:07 pm

Starters: Knight, Mayo, Brewer / Chandler, Monroe, Dre

Bench: udrih, shabazz, singler, cv, Kaman

Goldtop · Post #3 » by **Goldtop** » Thu Mar 28, 2013 7:40 pm

I'm 50-50 on Singler and Middleton, as far as who I want as the backup SF. I'd be fine with either. I give a slight nod to Singler because of his experience as a starter, but it could be one of those things where you pick/choose between them on a nightly basis, based on matchups and whos playing best.

I haven't seen enough good things from English. I thought he'd be more consistant shooting from 3, but probably hard to be consistent when your PT is so inconsistent. I think he could still be a 3 pt specialist off the bench.

Knight, I agree. I think he's going to end up coming off the bench next year in the combo guard role - assuming Calderon resigns. But even if they don't bring Calderon back, Dumars comments about him giving them a "snapshot of what the team looks like with a true PG" leads me to believe they are all in now with going for a true PG for this team. If not Calderon I could see them signing or trading for some other true PG. I really think Joe D is done experimenting with combo guards as PGs.

Plus I think we are going to be adding another SG, either through FA, trades, or the draft. So I just don't see where Knight fits in the starting lineup next year. I think his best role is as a 6th man/combo guard anyways, in terms of what will make the team most successful.

I could see a Calderon/Evans starting backcourt next year with Knight as 6th man.

As for Slava, I don't see any way he gets brought back. He was completely useless and with Drummond set to start next year we are going to need a reliable backup Center. Who knows, maybe Big Ben still plans to come back next year, and just took a year off to rest. Even a 40 yr old Wallace would be better than Slava

Jodi · Post #4 » by **Jodi** » Thu Mar 28, 2013 8:10 pm

Knight coming off the bench?.. Hell no...

mercury · Post #5 » by **mercury** » Thu Mar 28, 2013 8:13 pm

Was thinking about comparables for our rooks...
English.... Mo Evans
Drummond... Chocolate Thunder
Middleton... Sean Elliot (best case)
Singler... ???

MrBigShot · Post #6 » by **MrBigShot** » Thu Mar 28, 2013 9:28 pm

Jodi wrote:Knight coming off the bench?.. Hell no...

Especially not for a guy who has no future here long-term and can't stay in front of quicker guys....why do people want to pull the plug on Knight's development after 2 seasons, one of those without a camp or preaseason. Give him another year to make a breakthrough. It's not as if he's been handed the keys to the offense like other PGs like Kemba and Jennings.

On the bench, next year I want to see:

Jarret Jack
Chauncey (I wish, lol)
Corey Brewer
Speights
Brandan Wright
Middleton

Goldtop · Post #7 » by **Goldtop** » Thu Mar 28, 2013 9:59 pm

MrBigShot wrote:
Jodi wrote:Knight coming off the bench?.. Hell no...

Especially not for a guy who has no future here long-term and can't stay in front of quicker guys....why do people want to pull the plug on Knight's development after 2 seasons, one of those without a camp or preaseason. Give him another year to make a breakthrough.

I'm just using deductive logic. I think all signs point to us adding another starting-caliber SG this summer. When you consider most of the talent in the draft is at the SG position, we're more likely to draft a SG than any other position. Then you look at the FA list, and 2 of the players that stand out the most as realistic targets are probably Evans and Tony Allen - also SGs. So it just seems likely to me that we are going to add another starting SG, who is probably going to be good enough to win the job from Knight.

Then you read all the reports of how determined the Pistons are to resign Calderon to start at PG, and the only option left is for Knight to come off the bench.

Personally, I just want to win. I don't care who starts, as long as it gives us the best chance to win. If that is Knight, great. But if Knight still needs developing, and there's other better options who can help us win now, I'd rather go with them for the time being, and Knight can still get big minutes developing off the bench as 6th man.

We've been going young for almost 5 yrs now, since Stuckey was given the keys at PG. I'm tired of developing young players. We need to start winning. From now on if a young guy isn't ready, then he needs to do his developing off the bench, and get someone who is ready to start in their place. No more gifting starting jobs to young players who aren't getting it done. Thats how you remain in the lottery every year.

ComboGuardCity · Post #8 » by **ComboGuardCity** » Thu Mar 28, 2013 10:00 pm

I don't trust any mouthpieces we have at all. Tay was not coming back after 2010-2011....Joe Signed him to a multi-year deal. Tay was virtually untouchable according to KL and now he's gone.

Goldtop · Post #9 » by **Goldtop** » Thu Mar 28, 2013 10:14 pm

ComboGuardCity wrote:I don't trust any mouthpieces we have at all. Tay was not coming back after 2010-2011....Joe Signed him to a multi-year deal. Tay was virtually untouchable according to KL and now he's gone.

Agreed, but Dumars is the one coming out and saying how much he wants to resign Calderon, not just the beatwriters.

http://www.nba.com/pistons/features/tru ... 30324.html

Defor · Post #10 » by **Defor** » Fri Mar 29, 2013 1:21 am

I saw in the DET.NEWS today Terry foster thinks we should resign Calderone .He says he should get a contract 10mil plus .this is exactly what i've been worrying about, thatJoe's gonna throw a 10 to 11 mil a yr contract to a guy that can't play a lick of defense.

JD43320 · Post #11 » by **JD43320** » Fri Mar 29, 2013 1:29 am

Why would you ever think that?

Ohh yeah. History.

Goldtop · Post #12 » by **Goldtop** » Fri Mar 29, 2013 1:41 am

Defor wrote:I saw in the DET.NEWS today Terry foster thinks we should resign Calderone .He says he should get a contract 10mil plus .this is exactly what i've been worrying about, thatJoe's gonna throw a 10 to 11 mil a yr contract to a guy that can't play a lick of defense.

I think you misread that. He said Calderon could demand a 10 mil/yr deal from someone else, but that he may choose to stay here for less because he's happy here.

ComboGuardCity · Post #13 » by **ComboGuardCity** » Fri Mar 29, 2013 1:50 am

Defor · Post #14 » by **Defor** » Fri Mar 29, 2013 2:12 am

LOL Comboguardcity that's funny .

mercury · Post #15 » by **mercury** » Fri Mar 29, 2013 2:21 am

Oh man CGC...that's funny!

Goldtop · Post #16 » by **Goldtop** » Fri Mar 29, 2013 2:57 am

ComboGuardCity wrote:

Pharaoh · Post #17 » by **Pharaoh** » Fri Mar 29, 2013 3:16 am

We should be using the remaining games to see exactly what we have with English, Middleton, Slava etc

The more minutes you give them now the better they'll be next season IMO