The Prince of the Palace waiting for his Olympic Coronation!

Whats Going on World?

John W. Davis here.  Our boy Tayshaun Prince is back at it again.  Showing the world that a true Detroit Piston player can always contribute, even on a world stage.  His unselfish play is exactly why the Pistons are who they are and its exactly why we don’t get the national respect we deserve.

Coming off the bench is different for Tayshaun Prince because since his 2nd year in the league he has STARTED every game.  Props to the Detroit Free Press, I really like the game by game coverage the FREEP has given the Prince of the Palace.

Hey, Tayshaun Prince had a triple-single in Team USA’s 116-85 win over Australia on Wednesday in Beijing — nine points, a rebound and a steal.

Prince is contributing but as a reserve, averaging 12.7 minutes a game, not the 32.9 he gets with the Pistons, and 4.7 points instead of 13.2. And he’s accepted his role on a roster with guys named Kobe and LeBron.

“The toughest part is trying to come in and really respond and help the team in any way you can,” Prince told the Lexington Herald-Leader, which wants his story because of his days at Kentucky.

“… Obviously, the caliber of guys that we have, we just have to be ready. And I think today I was ready. I think in the games I have been ready, whether it’s shooting the basketball or playing some defense or doing whatever.”

Whatever Coach K is selling, it’s been working. The Redeem Team is 6-0 going into the medal round.

“We’re not overlooking nobody,” Prince said. “You know why? Because we play the same way every game. … Everybody’s been playing hard and aggressive.

“So we’re gonna go down fighting, no matter what.”

Two more games until Gold Tayshaun,  keep doing your thang!

Peace,

John W. Davis

www.pistonscast.com

HELLO PISTONSCAST!!! WHAT IS UP!!

I haven’t emailed in SO long.. my bad about that! I was just wondering on a topic .. i know its not about the pistons.. but a piston.

USA basketball!! So.. how do you guys think USA will do this year?

Tayshaun is reppin’ the detroit pistons and how well do u think he will do of doing that?

My own opinion is The USA basketball team has it this year and will bring home the gold.. from all the videos all the things they have been sayin it feels like not only they want it so bad this year that no matter what they are gonna win at all costs.. thats my own opinion..

Well I am dying in this boring summer I am so excited for the season to come and hopefully I will be happy next summer because of our world championship?!?

Thanx once again Pistonscast you are just another reason that being a Pistons fan is SO GREAT!!!!!

DEEEEEEEEEEEETROIT BASKETBALL!!!

Whats Up Darian? Thanks for the email. I think you are right about USA Basketball they do have a fire this year. They look like they want to dominate every game at every second. We will see when they play some better teams though.

Thanks for the email. We will chat about this on Episode 62.

Peace,

John

I think Joe D is trying to stock pile as many good contracts as possible, so he can go for THE trade. I also think that after the Sheed trade, no one wants to trade. Just like no one will trade with the Lakers now, after they got a steal and made it to the Finals because of it.

Ok, after trading Sheed to us and us getting to the Finals in ’04, do you really think they would perform a sign-and-trade with us for Josh Smith? I highly doubt it. (Can you imagine Sheed and Smith side by side in Atlanta now? If things went different…

I do think Joe D shot himself in the foot when he announced the fire sale. I think all the teams came to him and wanted a steal, but Joe is not going to allow that. That is the #1 reason why he is waiting for THE trade.

Bill

John W. Davis here. I think Bill made some great points. What do you think? Email us at hosts@pistonscast.com.

Peace,

John

What’s up world? John W. Davis here. Anyone who guesses the special guest gets to submit a question to ask him.

I’m not giving any hints either. Well okay. You know that he is a male. I will also tell you that he plays for the Detroit Pistons.

THAT’s IT! I’m not saying anything else other than I am excited. Email us at hosts@pistonscast.com or go to Contact and submit your guess.

I’m giving everyone 2 guesses. Thats it. 1… 2… and then you are out!

-John W. Davis

Word just came in that Michael Curry will be the new head coach of the Detroit Pistons.  Joe Dumars and the Detroit Pistons are expected to make the formal announcement at a press conference on Tuesday 6-10-08. 

It is reported that Curry agreed to a three year garunteed deal at 2.5 million per season with a team option on a fourth year.

This is a move that was all but a formality after the firing of Flip. 

Honestly I don’t think anyone else was ever really a candidate.  Our favorite Bill Laimbeer was never considered and Terry Porter just got himself the job in Phoenix.

Good luck Coach Curry!

-John

I hope this is not Michael Curry’s son.  LOL He does have a son named Deon…

Just playing yall.  This is the real Deon Curry.  He plays football at Michigan State University.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Our prayers have finally been answered.  It’s official Flip Saunders is gone.   We had to expect this move.  I mean come on he’s Flip Saunders.  3 Eastern Conference Finals and nothing to show for it.  That’s not progression.  He has been a sitting duck since 2007.

We all knew Joe Dumars was not going to sit and twiddle his thumbs. (Check the link for all his past major GM moves)  This move is only the beginning.   Please believe that some of our players will not be back for the 2008-2009 season.

Thank god Larry Brown is coaching Charlotte or he would be a leading canidate for the job.  As much as I hate on Larry for leaving us, he was effective.  1 Championship and 1 Loss in the Championship in Game 7.  Can’t ask for much more than that.

Right now my Money is on either Michael Curry or Bill Laimbeer.

Tune into Episode 53 to find out who we think will be the better coach for the Detroit Pistons.

-John  (This almost makes up for losing in the ECF… but not quite)

Stay tuned!

See this is a problem alot. Sheed not playing out of the post. He can dominate down there but he chooses not to do it. Tayshaun didn’t play well in Game 3 but I think Chauncey was worst. I think overall we played better without Chauncey on the floor. If he can’t be aggressive he is holding us back right now.

We were -25 when Chauncey was on the court. (We only lost by 14 points) He was tentative and scared so he doesn’t need to start right now.

We were +3 when Rodney Stuckey was on the floor. (We lost by 14 points) Also our defense is better with Stuckey on the floor!

Chauncey Billups has already said he wont be 100% for the playoffs. He doesnt even have full confidence in himself so why should we as Pistons fan. I don’t right now and you shouldn’t either. My only problem with the Pistons is when they don’t try. Game 1 we tried and we lost and thats fine. Game 2 we tried and won and thats great. Game 3 we played about half a game and lost by 14 and thats not ok.

I would rather start Rodney Stuckey, Lindsey Hunter, Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince and Antonio McDyess right now because they try their best, game in and game out.

This wishy washy play is tiring and I’m out.

-John

On Episode 51, we got into a discussion and a playoff profile of the recent play of Antonio McDyess. Check out his playoff stats since May 10th when he got back in the starting lineup . (He got his nose broken against the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1st Round) He has been all world against the Orlando Magic and the Boston Celtics.

McDyess has been a beast! He has been a leader! He has been Antonio McNasty! He has been the best Big Man on the Detroit Pistons for the past four games and I think this is a trend to continue. When the Pistons first signed McDyess, who would have thought he would play like this when we needed him. Only Antonio McDyess, his momma and maybe Joe Dumars.

Deven and I both feel that McDyess since his injury has been playing better basketball than Rasheed Wallace. Im sorry but right now its true. If it takes Antonio McDyess being better than Rasheed Wallace then so be it.

All I want, and all you should want is a win. McDyess is providing wins.

-John

P.S. Antonio McDyess gets the “Get It In” Award.

Check out some old school Antonio McDyess!

No way in heezzy is Chauncey Billups better than Isiah Thomas. “Mr. Big shot” doesn’t come close to “Mr. Piston”. Isiah displayed the heart, the mental, and physical toughness that has come to define what Detroit Piston basketball is all about. Chauncey Billups is indeed very talented. But if he played with the kind of determination and intestinal fortitude that my man Zeke played with, there would be way more banners to hang in the rafters at the Palce of Auburn Hills.

Deven

The Pistons Close the Gap

Does all this mean that the Pistons have closed the gap?  In the regular season the Pistons had an efficiency differential of 8.17.  In the post-season this differential has declined to 5.10.  Yes, the Celtics still boast a better differential even when we compare just the post-season performance of each team.

One should note, though, that the Pistons have faced better competition than Boston.  So one could argue that the Pistons have closed the gap.  Certainly as a Pistons fan I hope this is the case.

Had the Pistons maintained their regular season performance we would not have to discuss strength of competition.  If that were the case the Pistons would have thus far surpassed the Celtics.  Why were the Pistons unable to maintain what we saw in the regular season? One answer, as detailed in The Wages of Wins, is that playoff performance tends to be worse than the regular season (due to improved competition).  One Piston, though, has decline a bit more than we would expect.

Table Three: The Detroit Pistons after the First Two Rounds of the 2008 Playoffs

As Table Three reveals, virtually all of Detroit’s decline can be attributed to Rasheed Wallace.  In the regular season his WP48 [Wins Produced per 48 minutes] was 0.142. In the post-season his mark is only 0.031. 

Wallace is not the only one whose performance has changed.  Chauncey Billups is also offering less while Tayshaun Prince is now leading the team in Wins Produced.  If Wallace and Billups can return to form, and Prince keeps producing, the Pistons might just advance to the NBA Finals.  And if that happens, I think the Pistons might just win their fourth NBA title.  Or to put it another way, I think the winner of the Celtics-Pistons series should be favored over either the Lakers or Spurs.

Let me close by noting that fans of Boston and Detroit should look forward to a great series.  As I noted a few weeks ago, the current edition of each team is the best in each franchise’s history.  In sum, this should be real fun (and even more fun if the Pistons win).

David J. Berri
Associate Professor of Economics
California State University-Bakersfield

www.dberri.wordpress.com