OT: Gores Wants SVG to Return
And... JEFF BOWER is the scapegoat, the guy who literally does nothing for the organization.
Gores and SVG have been meeting for two unecessarily long weeks, for no apparent reason, other than to find anyone except SVG to move.
http://www.mlive.com/pistons/index.ssf/2018/05/report_tom_gores_wants_s…
As a lifelong Piston fan, I am terrified what this means for the future. Gores does not look like he has a single idea what is happening with this organization, and neither does Stan. They are treading on some dangerous territory unelss this guy is not canned. The Pistons are tied to horrible contracts and do not have any form of plan in place other than remaining wildly medicore, and never picking in the lottery because they are not willing to embrace the proper way of rebuilding.
I am gutted about this. At least the Tigers are TRYING something, whether or not it works is another discussion. They have not won a single playoff game in a decade, which completely took me off my chair after I heard that.
Brought Mitchell in, interviewed him a ton, Mitchell loved the Pistons, the Pistons loved Mitchell. SVG all but told him if he was there, he's a Piston.
And they drafted Kennard.
Could this have been a Gores thing? I know he is not really involved with the running of the team in any way; but if he wanted Kennard for some reason and pushed it, then that could be why Gores is more ok giving Stan Van more time.
No, I do not think so.
Gores is so hilariously disconnected from this team.
If the Pistons drafted Mitchell they would have played him behind Stanley Johnson.
Thank god we kept SVG so we can fight to be an 8th seed in the East.
Very excited about SVG at the beginning, especially after he brought them back to the playoffs.
But wow, this thing fell apart so quick. I do not know what his vision is.
Re: vision. Macular degeneration?
I hope he sells the team soon
The Pistons are easily the worst of our 4 major sports teams
Lions - Quinn seems to be building the team well
Tigers - re-building with some quality talent
Wings - trying to be like the Tigers; we'll see if Kenny can use the draft picks well
Pistons - pretending to be contenders
Chris Illitch is equally a HORRIBLE owner. And I work for Ford, but I'm not going to convice anyone Martha/Bill Jr. are quality owners either. What a mess! At least for the Lions, I'm excited about Patricia and like how Quinn is building the roster to be respectable with sufficient depth. Just need a little more fire power, especially on D Line.
This team is going no where fast. 10 years since winning a single playoff game. Team's ceiling is what, maybe the 7th seed in the east? Unless they move contracts and completely start over (what Tigers are somewhat doing), it will continue to look this bleak for the Stones. I think this team has the worst long-term outlook in the city. At least the Tigers have a #1 pick and an ace in Fulmer. Wings have some young players and a 6th overall pick this June. We have nothing to be excited about for the Pistons. Literally nothing.
Has quietly improved over the last few years. The teams in the bottom are no longer pushovers and finishing with sub .500 records.
Washington was a very dangerous 8, Milwaukee as a 7 seed looks to have a ton of great pieces, Miami keeps hanging around, and Indiana as the 5 have a ton of upside.
Even if Detroit somehow manages to sneak in and grab an 8 or 7, they'll be swatted aside by teams like Boston or Philly, who are going to be dominating the East for awhile. Give Boston Kyrie and Hayward and they are fantastic, we all know about Philly.
Pistons are in deep trouble.
Agreed. Honestly don't see the Pistons making the playoffs next year, even with a healthy Reggie. We are seeing now for the first time in my memory that the East actually has respectable 1-8 seeds.
So essentially, they'll finish 9th or 10th in the East and get a mid-tier 1st round pick. Oh, and we won't get lucky and draft the next superstar in the middle of the first (think Greek Freak), SVG will select a kid that doesn't even get in the lineup.
But Boston is proving that they have a lot of pieces, even being depleted. The Bucks have a ton of upside.
And I don't think anyone really expected the Pacers to be formidable this year, and they proved a lot.
As long as LeBron is in Cleveland (and the deeper we go into these playoffs the more likely he'll re-sign right here) the Cavs will be the team to beat in the east when it matters for the next several years.
Playing on one day rest, on the road, against the #1 seed, after a tough 7 game series with Indiana?
Cavs win. That homecourt advantadge Toronto worked all season to get? I think we'll take that now thank you very much.
Come on, man, he barely got out of round one playing 45 minutes per game. He is only getting older, no matter how much spray-on hair he uses.
LeBron can opt out of his deal after this season... and he should do so.
This is the worst supporting cast LeBron has had around him in forever. If LeBron somehow makes the NBA Finals this year, it will be the most impressive playoff run of his career.
Philly and Boston are absolutely set up to be the "beasts of the East" for the next 5+ years.
Stan is not the man.
I too was excited to have him at the beginning, but I am done with him. He has proven that he can only take his teams to maybe being playoff contenders.
I generally prefer the NBA to college MBB (ducks) but tanking will kill the momentum the sport has built in recent years.
Unfortunately, "trust the process" has spread to MLB.
Is a great product, and is going to be more and more popular in the future, which makes it all the more frustrating that the Pistons cannot take advantage of that wave.
How would tanking kill the momentum, in your opinion? Several teams tanked this year, ratings are at an all time high. As long as there are super teams comprised of superstars (GS, Houston, etc...) the ratings will be high. I don't see them suffering if a few horrible organizations try tanking. Pistons should have started years ago.
The NBA is flourishing because it has been deluged with skill. Not because teams tank.
Are you a fan of a team that's tanking? Watching half the teams in a sport give up on a regular season that's already somewhat meaningless will produce a bad product. The League will probably address this issue in the next couple seasons as more teams try to become the Sixers.
No doubt. But that doesn't mean that people want to see a handful of teams stop giving a shit in exchange for lottery picks.
There will be a diminishing return on this *strategy* as more teams simultaneously race to the bottom.
A lot of us can't stand Valenti, but this is a must listen/watch. He's 100 percent spot on.
Hot Take: How crazy would it be for the Pistons to hire Sam Hinkie?
The "Who are you going to get?" bit is the oldest thing in the business. That is just a line from teams that are scared to try something new.
If that's the way they want to think, keep trotting out this same, tired roster that has no hope and is tied to millions of dollars in horrible contracts.
Well, nice job ignorning 95% of what I wrote. Anyways, it is idiotic to make a coaching change without a reasonable plan in place. If you fire SVG without any decent coaches available, you end up in worse situation.
In the first 3rd of the season, we were one of the best teams in the East. Injuries took their toll and Reggie went out and things fell apart. We were 25-16 with RJ starting at pg and that's mostly wihtout Griffin. Okay, let's hire a garbage coach not named SVG just because and destroy team chemistry and let Andre Drummond's prime years get wasted?
They were doing well in the East to start? Because they were playing their bleeping ass off and teams like GS, who have been doing nothing but dominating the playoffs, were not. You think they care, Game 10 against Detroit? Do you honestly think, this team, fully healthy can win a playoff series against ANYONE worth a damn?
Wake up man, this team is broke. This team HAS been healthy before, and they aren't any different than what you saw. Their product is gross to watch, they cannot shoot, they have two big men who cannot space the floor, and have a bunch of wings that do nothing unique.
The contracts are horrible, their style is garbage, you have an owner who is clueless. I don't know how people are positive about this. Lions? Be positive. Tigers? Go for it, at least they have a plan.
This franchise is lost, unless something big happens. You cannot continue to pass on guys like Devin Booker and Donovan Mitchell for Luke Kennard and Stanley Johnson. You can't build a team around guys like Andre Drummond, who cannot space the court. You cannot handcuff your franchise to a guy in Blake Griffin whose best years are well beyond him, and he can't carry a team.
I disagree with this take - do you watch the NBA? Two bigs does not work in this league any more. The Pelicans are better without Cousins and he and Davis are better than anyone the Pistons have.
The Pistons had Drummond and needed to surrond him with shooters and hope Reggie is the playmaker they paid him to be. Griffin is a 5 who is shoe horned into the role of poor shooting stretch 4 becuase of Drummond. Plus, you are locked into paying him and Drummond and Jackson so you have no flexibility with your roster.
For all the good SVG has done, bringing in Griffin negates almost all of it. Jackson was out but before he was hurt, the Pistons were a good team. Trading Bradley was the right move, but Harris was the best player in that whole deal and he has another year on his contract at a good price. That trade should lead to SVG being fired but Gores seems to be too removed to have any knowledge of whats happening on the team.
Let's see here:
Reggie Jackson- A PG who battles a ton of injuries, can't shoot from the outside, and has a horrible A/TO ratio.
Stanley Johnson- Can't shoot, devoid of any offensive game, doesn't do ANYTHING unique other than play good defense.
Blake Griffin- One of the worst contracts in the NBA for a guy who was never a superstar. He's a very good 3rd, and maybe 2nd option on most teams. He's not a #1, and his best years are behind him.
Andre Drummond- Another huge contract, tied to a guy that cannot shoot from beyond 5 feet and is basically a dying breed type of center.
Anthony Tolliver, Reggie Bullock, Ish Smith- At best, these are NICE pieces off the bench.
Don't try that high and mighty crap that your knowledge is superior to others. This team has ZERO future the way they are built. They cannot space the court, they cannot shoot from three, they passed on great potential players and instead drafted guys like Luke Kennard, Henry Ellenson, and Stanley Johnson, and now he gave up a first round pick in the deepest drafts in recent memory.
He's been here four years, and has not won a single playoff game. Bad contracts and stuck in a plan that has absolutely no future. No one goes to the games, the product is really, really tough to watch, and the team has an owner that is beyond clueless.
Come on man.
I think the Knicks' "most dysfunctional franchise in the NBA" title is in serious jeopardy. Lions look like the Denver Broncos in comparison
Y'know what, the Pistons are stuck in place for the next few years anyway. Between Griffin's contract and the outsized contracts for role players like Jackson, Leuer, Galloway, and Smith, the Pistons won't be able to upgrade talent for a few years.
SVG bought the groceries; may as well see if he can cook a meal. If he can't, it'll be easier to start clean after the 2019 season with a new staff and a new roster, rather than forcing a new staff to make something of this collection of mismatched parts.
Two main downfalls are doling out bloated contracts to roleplayers and missing with his draft picks. I'd personally rather have Blake than the 12th pick this year because Stan's draft record is pretty spotty. I think he's a good coach, just not a great personnel guy.
I'm curious what a full season of Reggie-Blake-Andre looks like. 27-18 with Reggie this year, 12-25 without him. Get some 3 and D guys around that core and they might have something.
Especially considering his predecesors. The problem has been talent identification and contract management. I would love for Gores to go after a GM like Kevin Pritchard. It would probably take some money, but his work with the Pacers has set that team up for great success going forward.
I am a lifelong Pistons fan, but it is hard to watch this team and its current management not only drive in circles, but make a conscious effort to continue driving in circles like that's what a professional basketball franchise SHOULD be doing.