Pistons get stomped by Hornets

A really, really, REALLY bad 93-74 loss to the Hornets. As Dan Feldman from Piston Powered puts it:

No Piston had a positive plus-minus at halftime – and the Hornets were only up 10. It was incredible how every Piston did his small part to help the team fall behind.

More amazing: they did it again in the second half. All the Pistons who played in the first also posted negative plus-minuses in the second half.

Talking about a team effort, right? Gotta keep a sense of humor here ... This loss was truly annoying. I only got to watch the second half, but boy was that horrible. Ben Gordon was the only player playing well, showing what he's best at, shooting, shooting and more shooting. It was bad enough to hear the New Orleans announcers make fun of the roster (they really got a kick out of the number of guards. Quote when Bynum entered the game: "Oh, a substitution, look, another guard [laughter]".

We have so many guards and neither one of them gets a rhythm. The announcers talked about Bellinelli and how much confidence he has now because he is not afraid anymore to get pulled out after a missed jumper ... Well, how are you not afraid if you are a declining Rip Hamilton when Ben Gordon and T-Mac are sitting on the bench waiting to gobble up your playing time? Same issue for the other too!
I'm still wondering why we got McGrady if we are not going to use him a lot more. I'm starting to beg to make a trade so we don't have this jam at guard. Shooting is 50% about confidence and 50% about practice and talent. None of the players are truly confident. We have two potential game changers sitting on the bench most of the time (Gordon and T-Mac).

Another question: Why did we get Gordon if he's obviously not allowed to take jumpers? What made him great for the Bulls was that he was the leader of the second unit and got the green light. He could any shot anytime he wanted. He had 20+ quarters for Jesus Shuttlesworth's sake. You can't bring in players and take away their biggest strengths, they've been developing them for a mighty long time. Gordon won't be anything else BUT a jumpshooter. If you aren't going to use him you might as well sit him.

You can make the case Kuester is trying to develop the young talent. While Monroe is getting a lot more burn he's still not playing enough minutes. He's lacking confidence in a major way. He's trying to adjust but let's face it, it is not as easy for a big man, because they don't handle the ball as much.

What really annoyed me last night though, was passing up good looks for bad looks. I don't know how many times I saw a player catching the ball with a wide open look, faking, taking one dribble INSIDE the three-point line and fading away for the jumper. That's a streetball move, but you aren't going to win games with that. The Hornets didn't respect the jumper so they didn't leave their feet since they learnt rather quickly Detroit was going to take a bad shot anyway.

Detroit needs to change something! Coach, players ... I don't know, but this roster isn't built to compete. The Hornets are a bad opponent for the Pistons. They match up very well. They have a big man with a great touch (David West), a guard who's strong and fast enough to keep Stuckey from driving at will (Chris Paul) and quick and athletic wing defenders to close out on the jumpshooters (Trevor Ariza). But that's just not good enough of an excuse ...

Heat talking trades already??

Ok,

I know it's early in the season, the Heat are 6-4 (6-0 against bad teams, 0-4 against good teams) so naturally, people will be looking for the weakest link, which, at this point iiiiiis Chris Bosh!

I've never been a fan of Chris Bosh, I don't look at him as a Top 10 player in this league. Why? Well, he doesn't play defense, at all ... Look at Rondo's dunk I've honestly never seen an elite player looking at someone while standing like a statue. He was in no position to defend Rondo even if he was 3'11". You gotta be better than that CB!!!

So, to give this guy some pressure so he'll level Rajon to the floor during the playoffs (just kidding, I love Rondo,don't want him to get hurt). I'm crying out for trades usually because I love trades. The excitement to see new players work together and how they fit together, you know, it just amazes me.

So, when I was looking for trade scenarios I was looking at what the Heat need and what they could do. Obviously CB can't be traded now, so it's all hypothetical. I never saw Bosh as a fit anyway, Wade and James were Jordan and Pippen (I figured it would chance every other game) but who would Bosh be?? Rodman? Yeah, right! I'd like the Heat to get two guys in return, maybe one energy Big Man and one true PG, that's what you can get for Bosh!

1. Bosh for Josh Smith and a PG
Ok, the Hawks have been doing ok. After a 6-0 start they've lost three in a row. Trade rumors have surrounded Smith pretty much all year. He would be the perfect fit, HE IS A RODMAN!! He's a great one on one defender, great shot blocker, a hard worker, if I just look how he developed from a nutscase to coveted player. He would get a lot of open looks and has proven he can knock down open jumpers, he's being criticized for those pull-ups and contested jumpers he's shooting way too often. This is the last year on his contract and the Hawks would probably pull the trigger if they got offered Chris Bosh because of his offensive potential. If Riles can get a PG out of the deal as well, it'd be perfect.

2. Bosh for Tyrus Thomas and 2 Boris Diaws
Again, that's an energy guy who doesn't need a lot of shots. He can knock down OPEN jumpers and has the athletic ability to change games. Throw in Diaw's expiring contract and even though he's way too heavy, he is an intelligent player who can make things happen by hitting cutters and slashers out of the high post. What are the biggest strengths of Wade and James? That's right, cutting and slashing!It's easy to score that way than off the dribble. Bosh might learn how to defend under Larry Brown. We've seen with guys like Rip Hamilton and Ray Allen that when players are put in the right system they show potential in areas you'd never thought they'd be good in.

3. Bosh for Gilbert Arenas and McGee
Energetic big man and an All-Star caliber Point Guard when healthy. Honestly, I wouldn't know how to stop the team if they made the trade happen. The Wiz would probably be hard-pressed to give up one of the rising Big Men in the league but they would get one of the most accomplished PF in the game. The Wizards haven't played defense ever since I can remember so why should their front office start caring now?

So, that's it for now! You see, I see the Heat with an energetic young PF and a better PG! Defense is an effort stat and CB is not putting in the effort. We'll see what happens in the upcoming weeks, but Chris, you gotta realize that, as long as you are the weakest link, people are starting to talk about trading you!

Pistons Trade Dreams: Chris Paul

So, Chris Paul unofficially demands a trade out of New Orleans (source Yahoo!Sports)! Well, let's dream!
The Hornets ownership will not get bac equal value, there's just no way that is going to work for them, but I will propose something that will give them back good value and at the same time two expiring contracts.

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=2fnmhw3

As you can see, the Pistons would offer two expiring contracts in Tayshaun Prince and Rodney Stuckey. It would open up the 1-guard for Darren Collison and enable Stuckey to play the 2-guard. Tayshaun is such a versatile player that he'll fit with any team he plays for. If you want you can talk about draft picks too, but not necessarily. Although I'd hate to see Prince go, if you can work a trade for Chris Paul, you can't pass it up! Even Joey D, who is so fond of Stuck, would pull the trigger!

Chris Paul would be a great PG and franchise player complementing the skills of the other players as a distributor and facilitator enabling Ben Gordon and Charlie V to get open looks from the perimeter. Paul's also a terrific defender and has great leadership, he would easily carry the Pistons back into the playoffs all by himself, but as the roster is currently constructed, the Pistons might even make the second round.

So let's keep on dreaming!

Steph Curry humiliates The Birdman

Man, this play is just as good as the most thunderous throwdown by Lebron or Dwight!

Why the Pistons will probably trade Rip

Great win for Detroit last night against Denver! Check out Natalie Sitto's summary at Need4Sheed (or maybe Need4Swede soon).

I want to get into other stuff today: Why I think Rip Hamilton is going to be traded this season or during the offseason. It pains me as much to write as for you guys to read it, and this is just an assumption but looking at our roster right now, there's a good chance Joey D is thinking alike.

My assumption is based on the current roster and which player would be most dispensible and has the biggest value. We don't have a lot of big men and some of them aren't playing well (I'm talking to you Chris Wilcox, actually the rest has been great, I used the plural to make you feel better).
So it wouldn't be good to trade one of our big men plus it's highly unlikely we'd get a scoring big men for Chris Wilcox. Ben Wallace is untouchable, mainly because the league has probably accepted he can only play at an all-star level for Detroit, although his dollar for dollar production should be among the best in the league.
At Power Forward we have Charlie V, Jason Maxiell and Jonas Jerebko, Jonas at Small Forward too along with Austin Daye and DeJuan Summers. Although the latter two have shown flashes of good play, they still remain rookies, so when Tay returns I wouldn't mind having 4 Small Forwards in the rotation.
Then we have this heavy guard rotation! Will Bynum, Rodney Stuckey, Ben Gordon, Rip, Chucky Atkins. Chucky doesn't need minutes, but still Rod Stuck feels more comfortable at the two, WAY more comfortable, Ben Gordon is a 2 too, and Rip, well, yeah, you guessed it, a Shooting Guard. Joey D won't give up Gordon and Stuckey, so Rip might be the odd man out. We have too many two guards and Rip has real value on the trade market so we might have to exploit the option and get used to a line-up without Rip. We've gotten good play from our guards even without him so we aren't dependent on him anymore, I'd look to trade him for a glaring need in our rotation, a scoring big man. Ok, I know, lots of teams have thought that kind of player would get them into contention (Philly anyone?).

So here are my Big Men to watch!
Elton Brand - I know, he currently sucks! But he's been starting to show flashes of his old self, if he keeps getting better until February and remains uncomfortable coming off the bench and keeps coming off the bench he might be a great catch. I know, the Iverson signing makes it unlikely, but who knows if he'll still be there in February ...

Jermaine O'Neal - Yeah, I know he isn't the best PF in the league anymore, he's slower and everything has decreased but he's still more capable of scoring down low than any big guy we have right now. Plus Miami is desperate to get Wade a little help. Rip could let Wade handle the ball and be a catch and shoot guy like he was with Chauncey, boy, I miss that! Also, the Palace brawl stands in the way.

Nenad Krstic - He's one of my favorite big men in the league. The Thunder might have to throw in another player, either a guy like Etan Thomas (great for the locker room) or a young player like James Harden. Krstic could space the floor, allow dribble penetration, he has a great shooting touch and go to moves in the post. He would actually be a good fit in my opinion.

Mehmet Okur/Carlos Boozer - I would just like to see Memo back. I like shooting big men, but I don't really think it's going to happen. With Boozer it's a different story, Joey D might be able to get him and Utah could use an uprade at the two-guard position.

Free Agency - If the Pistons should not be in the playoff hun in February you could trade Rip for cap space and the current set-up of the team could lure coming free-agents like Chris Bosh or Amaré Stoudemire. Detroit has a lot of pieces in place to be a contender again, there's just a little bit missing.

I don't think the Pistons necessarily need a back-to-the-basket player à la Elton Brand, I think Chris Bosh or Stoudemire would actually be perfect for the Pistons, but let's be patient and I'm sure Joey D will do the right thing!