February 9th, 2014 at 12:04 PM ^
#TankForAnyone
February 9th, 2014 at 12:11 PM ^
firing cheeks would be an argument against Tanking
February 9th, 2014 at 12:15 PM ^
Ha. Good point. You forgot the second half of my plan, which involves re-hiring John Kuester as coach. Tank away.
February 9th, 2014 at 2:00 PM ^
Can't wait for the next retread.
February 9th, 2014 at 12:43 PM ^
Given that Gores has already issued a "playoffs or else" ultimatum for this season, it's hard to imagine him backing down.
February 9th, 2014 at 12:47 PM ^
February 9th, 2014 at 12:05 PM ^
like Emeril goes through seasoning.
February 9th, 2014 at 2:13 PM ^
hire a coach with a poor prior record and expect to see something different second time around. It does happen once in a while but the odds are against it. And it happens far less often in basketball. In football, we have examples of Carroll and Belichick. The only one I can think of in NBA is Doc Rivers.
February 9th, 2014 at 12:06 PM ^
All it took was one trade to fuck up an entire franchise.
February 9th, 2014 at 12:06 PM ^
February 9th, 2014 at 12:09 PM ^
February 9th, 2014 at 12:24 PM ^
I don't think the trade itself was the issue so much as how Joe D used the cap room generated from the trade. Picking up AI's expiring contract was a smooth move. Using the money he freed up to sign Gordon and Charlie V however was the big problem.
February 9th, 2014 at 2:23 PM ^
Who should he have signed?
February 9th, 2014 at 3:57 PM ^
He should have punted and tried again the next season. He could have added a couple of players to one year deals if necessary.
February 9th, 2014 at 9:41 PM ^
or use the cap space to facilitate trades with teams that were trying to dump salary. There are other ways to use cap space than just signing whatever stiff free agents happen to be available that year. Joe made that decision even worse by resigning Rip and Maxiell the same week as they traded Billups assuring that while they had some cap space it would not be enough to sign quality players without having to dump Afflalo and Amir for nothing. Since 2008 Joe has been among th 5 worst GM's without a doubt and he would probably be the worst if it weren't for the Cavs and Kings.
February 9th, 2014 at 12:24 PM ^
I don't think the trade itself was the issue so much as how Joe D used the cap room generated from the trade. Picking up AI's expiring contract was a smooth move. Using the money he freed up to sign Gordon and Charlie V however was the big problem.
February 9th, 2014 at 12:57 PM ^
IIRC, when the Pistons got AI & traded Billups, they tanked the rest of the 2008-09 season and somehow got into the playoffs as the 8 seed.
Got swept by Cleveland easily and bon voyage to any hope for quite some time.
February 9th, 2014 at 12:06 PM ^
HIRE IZZO SO I NEVER HAVE TO SEE HIS STUPID FACE EVER AGAIN.
February 9th, 2014 at 12:07 PM ^
Re-hire Flip Saunders.
February 9th, 2014 at 12:07 PM ^
Seriously? He didn't even last a season. The coaching carousel is speeding up. >_<
February 9th, 2014 at 12:08 PM ^
February 9th, 2014 at 3:31 PM ^
Dumars deserves a ton of credit for putting that '04 championship team together, and he gets way more grief over Darko than he deserves. But ever since he traded Billups for Iverson, he's just been completely lost. Loved him with the Bad Boys, always will respect him but, yeah, it's time for him to move on.
February 10th, 2014 at 2:02 PM ^
Agree with everything you said cept the Darko part. I remember all the hype and was really excited but after they showed a 30 second highlight film, I thought WTH! The kid was a toothpick, gumpy and slow as dirt. If his scouts told him Darko was amazing then all of them should have been fired immediately.
February 9th, 2014 at 12:08 PM ^
Meanwhile, Trey Burke helped the Jazz beat the Heat last night.
February 9th, 2014 at 12:28 PM ^
I love Trey, and I'm sure he will improve, but he's shooting 37.3% from the field. That's pretty awful for an NBA PG, and would rank him last in the league in FG% among all qualified players if he qualified. He's also shooting 32% in his last 10 games.
Yeah, there's more to playing point guard than being a good shooter, but passing on Trey isn't the reason I would cite for firing Dumars.
February 9th, 2014 at 12:33 PM ^
Now compare him to who the Pistons did draft...
February 9th, 2014 at 12:45 PM ^
February 9th, 2014 at 1:26 PM ^
PG Trey Burke (rookie)
| PPG | APG | RPG | PER |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12.7 | 5.5 | 3.1 | 12.90 |
PG Brandon Jennings (4th year)
| PPG | APG | RPG | PER |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17.7 | 8.2 | 3.3 | 17.32 |
Is a fourth year guy who is marginally better than a rookie support for Dumars decision not to draft Burke?
Especially considering the guy they got instead of Burke in the first round is doing this:
SG Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
| PPG | APG | RPG | PER |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.8 | 0.9 | 2.1 | 8.93 |
February 9th, 2014 at 1:30 PM ^
about the numbers to me. Burke plays in the western conference, it's tougher competition. The thing is Burke is a leader and plays well in the clutch, Jennings is just a role player.
February 10th, 2014 at 2:03 PM ^
A role player that jacks 8 horrible threes a game.
February 9th, 2014 at 12:46 PM ^
February 9th, 2014 at 12:36 PM ^
And yet he was named the West Rookie of the Month both months he's played in.
February 9th, 2014 at 12:43 PM ^
Not exactly alot to choose from when it comes to rookies this year. Trey's having a very solid year, but not nearly as great as some seem to think.
February 9th, 2014 at 12:53 PM ^
Forget the stats. Utah started out 1-14 and then, from the time he was inserted into the starting lineup, have gone 16-19 while playing in the much tougher West. If that's not evidence of Trey being an impact player, nothing is.
February 9th, 2014 at 2:16 PM ^
Where did I argue that he's not an impact player? I just don't think the fact that he's been rookie of hte month twice tells us much. It hasn't been a competitive year for that honor.
February 9th, 2014 at 12:45 PM ^
February 10th, 2014 at 2:05 PM ^
EIther would've been better than a shooting guard with a terrible outside shot in KCP.
February 9th, 2014 at 12:54 PM ^
Brandon Jennings is shooting 38.2% from the field in his 5th year in the league. I'm sure Trey will figure out how to improve his efficiency as he continues to adjust to the NBA game.
Trey's value comes from his intangibles--his leadership, clutchness, and ultra competitive spirit. Things the Pistons are clearly lacking right now.
February 9th, 2014 at 1:19 PM ^
He also provides poor defense, which is something that the Pistons aren't lacking right now. I would have been fine with picking Trey, but I don't think PG play has been our biggest bugaboo this season. I think we'd be pretty much where we are if Trey was the PG. In signing Smith, trading for Jennings, drafting Drummond and KCP we appeared to want a team that could run up and down the court and be a phenomenal transition team. Trouble is, you have to get stops on defense to get into transition. We're not doing that and having a front line of Smith-Monroe-Drummond congests things. Cheeks solution was to play Smith as a traditional 3, which is a disaster in the halfcourt.
February 9th, 2014 at 1:35 PM ^
....some very traditional Pistons values. Trey would have been such a good fit for the Pistons. I still can't believe they passed on him. And as a young point guard with a young big man like Drummand to complement him, they could have been the foundationof the team for the next decade. Ugh, I don't like even thinking about what might have been.
As for the coaching carousel, maybe Dumars should do the job himself and if he can't get it done then maybe it is time for him to go.
February 9th, 2014 at 2:43 PM ^
but I suspect it will get better. What's Jennings' excuse for essentially the same fg% in year 5.
February 9th, 2014 at 12:10 PM ^
Passing on Burke has to be the straw that breaks the camels back... Glad I am a Bulls fan...wait.. meh.
February 9th, 2014 at 12:10 PM ^
February 9th, 2014 at 2:19 PM ^
At the very least, we'd have a coach that looked like he was actually watching the game. Cheeks looked like he was being forced to watch The Game reruns with his girlfiend.
February 9th, 2014 at 12:11 PM ^
February 9th, 2014 at 8:33 PM ^
Easy. Dumars hired Larry Brown, has a championship as a GM and the Pistons went to quite a few Eastern Finals in a row. Matt Millen did absolutely nothing to improve a franchise that was a traditional loser. Dumars' time has been up, but a Millen comparison is awful.
February 9th, 2014 at 12:12 PM ^
February 9th, 2014 at 1:26 PM ^