By Deven Khrucell aka Pimpscwalla

You mean to tell me that years ago, when I used to go see the Detroit Lions practice, all I had to do was tackle Barry Sanders in the Silver Dome parking-lot and I could have been famous?

I think Nike Messed up on this one. They just should have let everyone see the king get posterized. Now Lebron looks like a scared coward.

I wonder what his Nike advisors will have him tell the media?  I can just see him in an interview telling them “I have no recollection of any sort of dunk video.”  Then when the tape is released, we’ll have a “dunkergate” conspiracy.

Kobe’s image was almost ruined by his actions with a woman and now if he doesn’t handle this correctly Lebron’s image could be tainted by two points.

While we’re all waiting on Joe Dumars to piece together this difficult Piston’s puzzle, I thought we might enjoy a laugh or two from our new eastern conference neighbor.

By Deven Khrucell aka Pimp Scwalla

From the beginning of his tenure as president of basketball operations for the Detroit Pistons, Joe Dumars has been pretty hard to read when it comes to his prospective draft picks. No matter how many names are thrown in the mix for potential selections, I never come close to what Dumars is thinking. For example, in 2008 He made Walter Sharpe Detroit’s top pick when most people barely even knew who he was. But after watching the 2009 NBA draft I might have a clue into the thinking process behind Dumars’s selections.

Since his first draft in 2000 when he decided to select Michigan State point guard Mateen Cleaves (passing on Hedo turkoglu and Michael redd), whenever Joe Dumars is in a bind and needs to reach into his bag of tricks, he usually comes out with a forward. When I took a count of each player that Dumars selected since becoming the Piston’s president, I found that out of a total of 23 picks, 14 of them were fowards and of those 14 forwards selected, 9 of them were small forwards, which is equal to the total number of picks at the other three positions combined. It’s apparent that Joe has a lot of love for the forwards—but why?

In an interview after selecting the Piston’s first round draft pick Austin Daye in the 2009 NBA draft, Joe Dumars told everyone that when drafting a player, he looks for someone that can play more than one position. But after taking a closer look at his draft track record, I think it’s a little more than that. I think a certain body type and ability gets his attention as well. For example, not only is Tayshaun Prince able to play more than just the small forward position, his long lean frame and level of athleticism makes him one of the most versatile players in the Pistons line-up with the ability to play four positions. As a rookie, how nice was it to see Tayshaun at 6 ‘9′ slow down Allen Iverson in the 2003 playoffs and follow that performance up with locking up a very hot Tracey McGrady enabling Detroit to defeat Orlando. His length also enabled him to disrupt an otherwise unstoppable Kobe Bryant in the 2004 NBA finals, which earned him the name “Kobe Stopper” by fans. He was as important as any other Piston during their championship run in 2004. Maybe that explains why Dumars, knowing how good Carmelo Anthony was at 6 ‘9′, couldn’t resist taking Darko Milicic who had the potential to play the same position at 7 feet tall. Taking Darko with the third pick turned out to be Dumars’s worst decision to date–all other top five selections are, simply put, the franchise of their teams. In retrospect I’m sure he would have taking Anthony instead.

Carmelo Anthony wasn’t Joe Dumars’s only missed opportunity. In the 2001 draft that followed a season where the Pistons were just 32-50. Dumars was very high on a freshman forward from UNC Charlotte by the name of Rodney White. He saw enough in his game to pass up the likes of Joe Johnson, Richard Jefferson, Tony parker and Gilbert Arenas. This was at a time when Detroit had just lost superstar player Grant Hill and the best the Pistons had at point guard was a very limited, Chucky Atkins. But disappointment didn’t stop Dumars from continuing to pursue his type of players. In 2008 he took as he described it, a “long look” at UAB forward, Water Sharpe, who at the time, no one really even knew and then he drafted four more forwards the very next year in the 2009 NBA draft.

This goes to show that Joe Dumars just likes what he likes. He looks at players from a different perspective than other people do. That’s why he’s able to strike gold with Tayshaun Prince when many others passed him by and also fail miserably with Darko Milicic when others were wondering…”what the hell!” One thing’s for sure, when it goes good it really goes good and when it goes bad, he’s been able to weather the storm pretty nicely.

By Deven Khrucell (aka Pimp Scwalla)

When the Detroit Pistons go on the clock June 25th, it’ll be anybody’s guess who Joe Dumars might draft at number 15 and even more of a mystery is what position. One thing’s for sure, with the current state of the Detroit Pistons, he had better choose carefully.

The Piston’s main concern right now is trying to pick up impact players from the free agent market or by trading for them. Most of the big name free agents are big men like; Bosh, Okur, Boozer, etc… Players like those won’t come cheap. In order to make this possible, there’s a good chance they will lose Rip Hamilton and/or Tayshaun Prince.

The draft pick that I see fitting best in this mix is Louisville Cardinal, Terrence Williams. Williams is a lock-down defender with plenty of explosiveness and is able to knock down three point shots when needed. I also like the fact that he is a four year guy who can guard both the two and the three.

While Williams won’t quickly replace Rip or Tay, drafting a guy like Williams could help soften the blow of losing one or two of Detroit’s cornerstone players. His versatility makes it easy to slide him into either the shooting guard or the small forward position. He also gives the Pistons some leverage when decide which players are going to be here in the future.

Many believe Rodney Stuckey is a better fit at shooting guard and the Piston’s should draft a point guard. That definitely makes sense, but let’s look at the whole picture. Drafting and working with another young point guard (at this point) will be too daunting and could be disastrous for an inexperienced Michael Curry. Besides that, we still don’t know for sure that Rodney’s late season woes were because of the position he plays or the fact that being a great NBA point guard can’t be achieved over night.

Either way we look at it, in order for Detroit to get better, it’s going to cost them at the shooting guard or small forward position–leaving a big hole in the line-up. Why not fill in that hole with someone that can play both - it just makes sense.

What do you think?

Via Freep’s 15th pick analysis:

One of the more interesting points from Joe Dumars’ season-ending news conference was the evaluation that Rodney Stuckey is not a true point guard.  

“Playing the point can take your aggression away because you’re worried about the other four guys,” the Pistons president of basketball operations said. “What this year confirmed is he’s a combo guard. We have to play him on the ball and off the ball.”

How Rodney Stuckey will impact the 2009 NBA Draft.

“Start your discussion!”

Got a question for Pistonscast.com? Send it to John W. Davis. And for Pistonscast news and updates follow John on Twitter.

Episode 110: The Combo Guard Episode!

VIA Pistons.com Text Message:

The Pistons have announced due to problems with Iverson’s return from injury, he will miss the rest of the season.

———————————–

What’s Going On World?

See this is what I’m talking about. The truth shall set you free!  Allen Iverson will miss the last two weeks the rest of the season INCLUDING PLAYOFFS!

Hopefully, Joe D can work some magic on AI’s head (and back.)

I just talked to Deven and he brought up a good point.  Joe D is showing future superstar players that he can handle difficult situations gracefully.  This is important if you want Chris Bosh, Amare or any other superstar in the near future.

Joe D… you are always two steps ahead!

*Pistonsnationblog.com checks in with their take…

*Check out Need4Sheed.com take…

*Detroitbadboys.com take…

*PistonsPowered.com opinion piece…

Peace,

John W. Davis

www.pistonscast.com

by Prof. David Berri

· 46 Comments

On Sunday, while most basketball fans were tuned to CBS to watch the NCAA Tournament, ESPN telecast a game between the Miami Heat and Detroit Pistons.  As a fan of Detroit, I decided to look away from the tournament and look in on the Pistons basketball.  The picture was almost good.  Specifically the Pistons — without the services of Allen Iverson, Rasheed Wallace, and Richard Hamilton - managed to lead most of the way before faltering at the end.

Although the game was entertaining, the comments of Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy were more interesting.  At different points in the broadcast the conversation turned to why the Pistons have faltered.  And once again the viewers were able to see “expert” broadcasters try and reconcile these three “facts.”

• Allen Iverson is one of the greatest players to ever play the game.
• Chauncey Billups is a very good player, but not one of the greatest players to ever play the game.
• The Pistons with Allen Iverson are clearly worse than the Pistons with Billups.

The simplest way to reconcile these three statements is to acknowledge that the first is not true.  At least, if we focus on productivity, Iverson is not one of the most productive NBA players in history.

But if you can’t make that leap, then you have to resort to words like “team chemistry”.  Unfortunately, since “team chemistry” can’t be quantified (unlike player productivity) we can never properly evaluate the merits of the “chemistry” argument.

As I have noted throughout the season - most recently last month - one does not need “chemistry” to explain the Pistons demise.  No, much of the decline (although not all) is tied to the fact that Iverson is not as productive as Billups.

Another Reason Why Trading Billups was a Good Idea

Again, I have said this before.  What I wished to add to the subject is something I observed in looking at the numbers Billups is posting in Denver this season.

Table One: The Denver Nuggets after 70 games in 2008-09

As Table One notes, Billups has produced more wins than any other player on Denver’s roster this season.  But if we compare his production to what he did last year in Detroit, he clearly has declined.  Last year he posted a 0.304 WP48. This year in Denver his mark is only 0.188.  Yes, he is still above average (average is 0.100). But he clearly is offering less.

When we look at the individual numbers - posted in Table Two - we can see where he has declined.  This season Billups has seen declines with respect to both his shooting efficiency and assists.

Table Two: Evaluating Chauncey Billups

The next question we should ask is why Billups is doing less.  And one issue I would emphasize is his age.  Billups is 32 and will turn 33 in September.   This means he is rapidly approaching the age where playing basketball in the NBA is not possible.  To illustrate, across the past 30 years, 95% of player seasons were played by players who were younger than 35 years of age.   In sum, the clock is approaching midnight for Mr. Big Shot and when it hits 12, he won’t be of much use to an NBA team.

All of this suggests that the Iverson-Billups trade was a good move by Joe Dumars (Detroit’s GM). Yes, fans of Detroit are suffering this year.  But as noted previously, Iverson’s contract expires and this gives Detroit hope for next year.  Plus, Dumars got rid of a player that will be approaching 35 years of age in 2010-11 while collecting $13 million.

In sum, it looks like Dumars has done the same thing to Billups he did to Ben Wallace.  He let a player depart whose production was destined to slip.  And this is something every prudent general manager should be doing.  As the late Cotton Fitzsimmons once said (and I can’t find the quote but I think he said something like this): “Please don’t let my great players retire on me.”

-Prof. David Berri

The Wages of Wins Journal

What’s Going on Pistonscast Posse?

Pistonscast is back in full effect. We are going to have some great things for you for the rest of February 2009 so please get those ears ready for a whole lot of episodes!

First of, a special Palace Edition where John W. Davis and “The Message Board Messiah”, break down the Pistons. We both attended the game and we both have a lot to say!

***One of us even took this picture of Joe D!

Peace,

John W. Davis

www.pistonscast.com

Rasheed you are NOT the weakest LINK! You can stay. For now...

What’s Going on World?

John W. Davis here. Joe Dumars is back in the news. This time he is defend the lack of offseason moves that we all thought were a fore gone conclusion. There was just one catch and Joe D told us this in June, I’m not going to make a move just to make a move.

Joe D in the Det News:

Dumars defends lack of Pistons’ roster moves

“I said we would look to make changes but we wouldn’t do a bad deal,” he said. “The deals that were presented were not good deals for us. You don’t make deals so you can walk in here on a day like today and say, ‘Hey, we made a deal.’ You want to resist that, and I did and I make no qualms about it.”

Nor did he worry much about salving any bruised egos of his veteran players who were put on the chopping block.

“There’s nothing to patch up,” Dumars said. “I’m the one who was upset, so who do I need to patch things up with? It’s been good. Guys understand that six straight years of making the conference finals and going to the NBA Finals only twice isn’t enough and I am not going to rest on that. What you do is keep pushing, keep moving forward.”

Stuckey and Afflalo

With the same players coming back, how does this team take a step forward?

The answer: It starts with a new coach (Michael Curry), a rejuvenated attitude and a new commitment, and some significant growth from within — specifically, larger roles for second-year guards Rodney Stuckey and Arron Afflalo, the two featured players on the bus tour.

“I am ready for any challenge that comes in,” said Stuckey, whose minutes are expected to increase significantly. “I am always ready. I told you guys, I am never scared. They are going to be expecting more out of me and I love that challenge.”

Both Stuckey and Afflalo raved about how different the atmosphere is around the practice facility.

“Our head coach believes in us 110 percent and he’s going to give us the opportunity to showcase our talent,” Stuckey said. “Things are different around the practice facility, a lot more upbeat. With Michael around, there’s just a whole different vibe. It’s a lot of fun and we can’t wait to get started.”

Afflalo put it this way: “It’s just about consistent behavior and having consistent habits all year long. If you build inconsistent habits in your intensity and the way you play the game and rely on your talent level to bail you out — it can hurt you at the end. I know Coach Curry focuses on playing the game hard every day and when you do that you have no excuses at playoff time.”

Curry has called Stuckey his “sixth starter,” and there is a chance Afflalo’s minutes could double this season. Dumars was asked if he worried about putting too much pressure too soon on these young players.

“No,” he said, speaking mostly about Stuckey. “If you threw him out there last year as a rookie and tried to put it all on him, that would be too much. If we threw him out there this year and said he had to be a starter — that would be too much. We are still talking about a guy who is coming off the bench. It’s not like we’re throwing him to the wolves.”

Maxiell on the Free Agent Clock

By the end of training camp (Oct. 31), Jason Maxiell will have to decide either to take a contract extension offer from the Pistons or refuse it and become a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

Dumars said Wednesday that informal negotiations were ongoing with Maxiell’s Cincinnati-based agent Richard Katz .

“There’s nothing unusual going on and nothing new to report,” Katz said in a brief telephone interview. “Nothing is imminent.”

The Pistons have offered Maxiell a three-year extension worth approximately $15 million. Should he leave that contract on the table, he would play out the final year of his contract this season (earning $1.87 million) and become a restricted free agent — which means the Pistons could match any contract offer to Maxiell.

It’s a win-win situation for the Pistons. Either they lock up a key reserve player through 2012, or they have a hungry player fighting for a contract this season with the power to match any other team’s offer the following summer.

Cowens on Amir

Pistons assistant coach Dave Cowens had the quote of the day. Talking to a group of sponsors at the DeVos Place in Grand Rapids, he described Amir Johnson this way: “Amir does a lot of things you can’t coach and he can’t do a lot of things you can coach.”

Good news for Maxiell but something is going to have to give. We cant have four 25-30 minute players for the next 3 years. Either Rasheed or McDyess is going to have to retire soon or Maxiell will have to leave. My boy Amir needs his tick!

Peace,

John W. Davis

www.pistonscast.com

Greetings,