The new lineup looked good at first, but I noticed on 3-4 possessions in the first quarter that AI didn’t even touch the ball. Gotta move him to the bench.

@TAD and everyone else.

I went to Cleveland for a meeting last night.

I got to watch Lebron and Chris Bosh in person.

Let me tell you, Lebron is better than advertised…

1) Curry’s coaching: How the hell do Amir, Maxiell, and Kwame get absolutely NO burn?! I’d love to hear Curry’s reasoning on this….

2)Defense: I did also say specifically POST DEFENSE! Detroit allowed 42 pts in the paint in the last 3 quarters. Are you telling me the 3 mentioned above couldn’t have helped that?

3)Amir and Kwame not stepping up: Well, obviously they can’t if they don’t play….

4) No McDyess: Dice played well in his return. Too bad we wasted it…

5) Integrating Iverson: While Iverson didn’t play good, he also wasn’t to blame.

Curry is overmatched…..

A message to any team that’s struggling right now to even win a game: come play the Pistons!

pistons 98 wizards 86

go pistons!

Here is the thing: Do you blame the teams shortcomings of late ALL on Iverson? Better yet, do you see him as culprit #1 of all of the Pistons issues? I don’t see it as such. Iverson is not without blame, but this has to have a chance to work. I’ll run down a list of issues in order of significance in how I see them:

1) Curry’s coaching. Clearly overmatched at this juncture. Still needs time.

2) Defense. Specifically post defense. We all knew Iverson was not the equal to Billups on D.

3) Amir and Kwame not stepping up. Sheed is playing his most minutes in 6 seasons. How is this possible? It is possible because…..

4) No McDyess. Dice has brought almost as much to the table in 4 seasons as Billups/Tay/Rip/Sheed have. This will be remedied shortly, however….

5) Integrating Iverson. YES, this is 5th on my list. Billups and Iverson are so different, they blur everything in between. How can this not be seen as a difficult transitionn?? However, if any of those top 4 could be rectified than this wouldn’t be a big issue.

*We won against Orlando without Chauncey.

*We won when Chauncey was traded and Iverson was not cleared to play.

We dont need either one of them.

Rip and Tay and Sheed are all stars!

Stuckey is a future All-Star!

They can do this the Piston way without Iverson.

So unless Iverson wants to do this the Piston way he can go on somewhere because his style of play doesnt work. Never has, Never will.

That’s my take.

Bottom line: If Curry believes Stuck NEEDS to start, then either talk to Rip about coming off the bench or leave it alone. This is a panic move, plain and simple. Curry is starting to show signs of being overmatched and I don’t like it. He likes Tay at the 4 because of all the “matchup problems is causes for other teams”. Ok, what about the matchup problems is causes for US?!

Quite simply, this lineup will not last for the season. Mark my words: the good health we have had for 5-plus seasons with no significant injuries will come to a halt with this lineup. The two most vulnerable are Tay and Rip.

Rip or AI?

The better player for the Pistons needs to start along with Stuckey and the Amir/Kwame rotation.

I think Rip is a better half court player and thats how we play most of the game.

Let Rip start and then AI present some controlled chaos of the bench!

With all that said, AI to the bench will also not happen. Starting Stuckey is a panic move by a rookie headcoach. Stuckey is just fine sitting on the bench and learning the ropes for another season. Why are we building for the future when we still have the present with a very good team? If Curry absolutely HAS to play Stuckey, then send Rip to the bench. Again, that is also a dumb panic move.

The whole point of having Tay run the point forward was to get AI and Rip looks off-of-the-ball. Curry needed to ride this out a bit longer and stayed the course. I mean, it is only December! We are not the Warriors!

This lineup can work against a lot of teams, but not ones like Boston and Cleveland, who the Pistons will have to get through if they want to win a title.

Starters should be
Stuckey-Rip-Tay-Sheed-Kwame

Bench
AI-Afflalo-Herrmann-Maxiell/Amir-McDyess

Obviously you can sub in whoever you want at any point. Like you’re not going to be taking out all the starters at once and putting in the entire second unit at once. And AI will probably be a closer at the end of close games. But I love the idea of AI running the second unit.

Seriously, what teams’s second unit could compete with AI, McDyess, and Maxiell?

I get the argument that AI and Rip are going to have to play together since they’re two of the est players on the team, so they might as well start. But let’s face it: they’re both SGs.

I think your team could give them a run for their money! LOL

starting lineup…. negative!

I hate to pull a joke here, but he might just skip practice if that happened.

If he REALLY wants to contend for a championship, we/he should do that!!!

We’re better starting Stuckey, Rip, Tay, Sheed, and Kwame, and having our second unit as Iverson, Afflalo, Herrmann, Maxiell, and McDyess.

Add in a lot of Bynum and a major dose of Amir (both not to seem any less — Maxiell/McDyess/Amir can be swapped interchangeably).

And you’ve got a healthy serving of Excellence Stew!