Posts tagged ‘Slam Online’

by Ryne Nelson

Would McDyess Have A Better Chance In Cleveland?

Antonio McDyess demaned a buyout in Denver because he wants a championship. Plain and simple. Ask mostly anyone, and you’ll hear McDyess will return to Detroit.

But other attractive suitors have stepped into the conversation. The Cavs hope to pry McDyess away from Detroit’s grasp during the obligatory 30-day waiting period, offering a better chance to win a title.

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

According to a league source, the Cavs were in touch with McDyess soon after his buyout became finalized Monday.

But their efforts will have to be in the standings, not just the balance sheet. Just offering the veteran forward the most money, which they may be able to do, isn’t likely going to be the difference.

The 34-year-old forward may already have his mind made up, but it’s possible the Pistons’ recent travails might have him listening to offers more intently than before. If the Cavs do offer McDyess more money than the Pistons, they could become a very serious destination come Dec. 7, when MyDyess is allowed to sign a free-agent contract.

Then again, McDyess could be fielding offers to mask what seems like a pre-arranged deal to return to the Pistons. In that case, Cleveland would be nothing more than a pawn on the board. Yet, as we all know, there’s always a chance to win when you still have your King.

Ryne Nelson - www.slamonline.com

Detroit Pistons Season Preview

TADOne breaks down that team in Motown.

As the champagne dripped down his face and burned his eyes, his eardrums are pierced with the sound of Rodney Stuckey yelling, “WE DID IT, BABY!” within inches of his head. After being unceremoniously run out of Denver on a bogus domestic violence charge and consequently traded to Detroit, Carmelo Anthony can hardly believe his good fortune.

After toweling-off his face, he peers across the locker room at former Denver teammate and trade deadline acquisition Allen Iverson clutching the Larry O’Brien trophy and looking like a kid who got exactly everything he wanted at Christmas. In the corner locker, Antonio McDyess sobs uncontrollably–a teary mix of joy and gratefulness.

Meanwhile, GM Joe Dumars is sharing a cigar with coach Michael Curry, who winks at Pistons center Amir Johnson and tells him to soak it all in and enjoy the moment. In the center of all the confusion, Gilbert Arenas is being interviewed by Erin Andrews about the trade that sent Rip Hamilton back to DC and Gil into this version of a running-and-gunning Pistons team that just beat the Brandon Roy-led Portland Trailblazers for the 2009 NBA Championship. “I told y’all my knee would be okay! I TOLD Y’ALL!”

Oh, what could have been…

Of course, the reality is a bit more sobering and not as exciting. After publicly declaring his intentions to make changes and basically place “For Sale” signs around the necks of all his team’s core players, Joe Dumars is answering questions about why exactly he didn’t follow through on said promise. “Hey guys, don’t just expect me to give these guys away because I’m pissed off because we lost,” Dumars said. “You don’t run your business like that. So, I was on the phone. I talked to a lot of teams, but no one wanted to a do a deal that you, I or anybody else would have looked at and said that’s a good deal for the Pistons. So, consequently, I didn’t do a deal.”

The Detroit GM answered questions on a radio interview with Detroit sports radio station WDFN-AM 1130, and it was Joe as his usual candid self. Joe D. said if there was a deal to be made that would improve the team and improve their chances to compete, he would certainly make that deal. He also stated–and this is what a lot of people overlooked–that he wouldn’t be giving guys away and wouldn’t be making a trade just to say a change was made. Joe is sticking to his beliefs that he still had a very good team and now he is selling the fact the team has a fresh, new voice leading the charge. That voice belongs to former assistant and first-time head coach Michael Curry, a person who has the player’s utmost respect and someone he believes is exactly what the team needs.

With the off-season quickly coming to a close and the pre-season peering from around the corner, new coach Michael Curry has also been busy discussing the changes he wants to put into effect during his rookie coaching campaign. Since the only new faces in Motown this year are a former No. 1 pick with bad hands and a rookie small forward with narcolepsy, Curry had to put on his salesman hat and, like a politician, put forth his best sales pitch to Pistons fans. Considering Curry survived for 11 NBA seasons with minimal skill, this may prove to be an easy task for him. He will probably try to convince people that Brick Hands Brown is an on-the-brink All-Star center with a feathery touch around the basket and promising rookie Walter Sharpe is a future fixture in the rotation whose hobbies include light napping.

Of course, Curry also has to convince fans that a veteran team that perpetually underachieved the least few years just needed a few minor tweaks and adjustments, not a major overhaul. He needs to reassure fans to have faith in a good team that has made the last six Eastern Conference Finals, but has only one championship banner to show for all its work. Curry is convinced he knows exactly what ails the team, and if you are willing to listen, he is more than willing to explain how he expects to lead this team back to where a lot of people have expected them to be the last few years–the NBA Finals.

I am listening and have been paying close attention. With that said, everyone knows the Pistons roster, or at least the main core guys. So instead of breaking-down each player or position, I’d rather delve into some of Curry’s main selling points for a successful season in the D. So sit back, relax, and allow me to explain what Coach Curry has in store:

Ending Complacency: The Pistons recent failings in the playoffs have been blamed on the core of the team having an elitist attitude and expecting to have wins given to them, and rightfully so. Curry has said that players will have to prove they want to play and give full effort, or they will be sitting next to him on the bench. No exceptions. Will it work with a stubborn group of proud veterans? It certainly can’t hurt to try.

Attention to Detail: When you are a veteran, you may not like going over the little things in practice that a college or even a high school coach may harp on, like being in the right spot on defense or finishing a pick. But when teams are just as good as you talent wise, it is the little things that may make the difference in a win or an earlier tee time in the Florida sun.

Conditioning: Curry called out all of the players. Daily conditioning sessions will be mandatory during the season. Rasheed Wallace has been specifically targeted by the coach as a culprit who wears down as the season progresses towards the Playoffs. Curry knows all about hard work and expects the players to learn to work harder. These sessions should pay dividends by year’s end.

Increased Defensive Pressure: Even though the Pistons led the league in Defensive Points Against, Curry wants to turn up the heat even more. He will ditch the zone defenses that former coach Flip Saunders liked to employ and stay with a strict man-to-man with more full court pressure and trapping, which he anticipates will turn into easy transition baskets. Easier baskets = Improved offense. Win/Win.

Capitalize On Bench Depth: At the beginning of each season, Flip Saunders would talk a good talk about using his bench depth and getting the younger players more time on the floor and resting the starters, and then he would effectively give up on this promise ten games into the season. Expect Curry to keep a consistent 10-11 man rotation all season long. This will lead to a fresher group of players come playoff time.

Increased Paint Production: Curry singled-out Rasheed to get into shape for a reason. Curry expects to get the ball into the paint with regularity and work the ball inside-out. That starts and ends with Sheed. Regardless, he expects to get all of the frontcourt players more touches in the post.

McDyess To The Bench: After Ben Wallace bolted town, the Pistons simply moved Antonio McDyess into the starting lineup and continued to roll along. While Dice has done nothing negatively that would necessitate a move back the bench, Curry knows that is where Antonio has been most effective for the team and expects either Amir Johnson or Kwame Brown to push for a starting spot. While the team raves about how good Brown looks since signing with the team, they are leaning toward having young Amir Johnson in the starting spot alongside Sheed. However, both players still have to earn it. After three years of learning on the bench, I expect Amir to do just that.

More Stuckey: Rodney Stuckey will not be starting but should end up getting starters minutes.. Curry fully expects to give Rodney 30+ minutes a game backing up both guard spots. This isn’t just a good thing, it’s a GREAT thing. Look for Stuckey to have a breakout season and push for a 6th Man of the Year Award.

Establishing a Backup For Prince: The Pistons will give rookie Walter Sharpe every chance during training camp to earn the main backup spot behind Tayshaun Prince. The former UAB small forward has gotten some high praise from GM Joe Dumars and fellow players have also noticed his splendid play during the summer. The only other option is Walter Hermann, who Walter should beat out easily. Look for Detroit to also run a few three-guard lineups as a change of pace.

Prediction: While everyone expects the Pistons to start slipping and falling back to the middle or back of the Eastern Conference pack, I don’t. A new voice is exactly what the team needed and the voice is one the players respect. Expect the Detroit youngsters to also start pushing the vets for more playing time and for Stuckey, Jason Maxiell, Amir Johnson, and Arron Afflalo to continue developing, eventually pushing aside some of the veteran stalwarts. Expect to see 55 wins and another Central Division Title, and a renewed playoff push. I anticipate nothing less than another banner to be hanging from the rafters of The Palace by next fall. Bring on all the haters.

Tim is one of the founding members of the Shawn Kemp’s Offspring blog and is a well-known and constant commenter to SLAMonline.

SLAMonline Top 50: Chauncey Billups, no. 25

The definitive ranking of the best players in the NBA today…

AN OPEN LETTER TO MR. CHAUNCEY BILLUPS

Dear Chauncey,

We write this brief note to you in the direst of straits. We didn’t know where else to turn so we decided to use this platform to present our message. Please heed these words, we write to you today. Thank you for your consideration.

Chauncey, you were largely introduced to most of the basketball world when you were the third pick in the 1997 NBA Draft, but we already knew all about you. For the decade prior, your name was already legendary around the city of Denver, Colorado. Like other basketball prodigies before you, we heard the stories about Bob Knight and his contemporaries showing up at your junior high practices. We heard the stories of you killing much older kids at the Hiawatha Davis Rec Center up in Park Hill. We heard and believed that you were the next “big thing,” and we were so proud.

You are our state’s greatest prep player, taking home three consecutive Mr. Colorado crowns and two state titles while at George Washington High. Even after you lived up to all of the “mountainous” expectations, you bucked the popular thought when you graced our little collegiate hoops program up in Boulder with your presence for a couple years; even leading them to their first NCAA tourney bid in 28 years.

Hell, even our historically abysmal professional team was able to somehow procure your services for a year and a half, but like many decisions before, (and after) the Nuggets decided to ship you off in a multi-player deal to Orlando because you were injured and hadn’t quite figured out your place in the League. And now, after all of this time, you blossomed into one of the truly great leaders in the NBA.

You give consistency in a league of erratic behavior. You are the steadiest of steady. You have literally scored 16 points and dished out 7 assists every night since you arrived in Motown some six years ago. You have led the Pistons to an NBA title (where you were named the Finals MVP), five Eastern Conference Championship series, all while finding a home for you and your family in Detroit.

But Mr. Big Shot, this is your home and we need a point guard here, badly. It appears our current diminutive guard might be available for a trade and the rumor we hear is that the Pistons are interested. Talk to Joe D. and get back to us.

Come back, we miss you.

With Love,

The State of Colorado

Want more of the SLAMonline Top 50? Check out the archive.

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What’s Going On World?

John W. Davis here.  So that’s it.  Unless Rodney Stuckey is Top 20?  Pretty Pretty please Mr. Ryne Nelson and TadOne???  Our Big 4 were ranked:  Tayshaun No. 45, Rip No. 40, Rasheed No. 34, and Chauncey No. 25.

Do you think our players were ranked too low?

Peace,John W. Davis

www.pistonscast.com

What’s Going on World?

John W. Davis here.  Say this over at www.slamonline.com and wanted to give this a plug.  They ranked Tayshaun as the No. 45 best NBA Player and Richard Hamilton the No. 40 Top player.   Everyone favorite big man comes in at No. 34, Rasheeeeeeeeeeeeddddddddddddddddd Wallace.  We all know Rasheed has the talent of a Top 25 NBA player but the problem with Rasheed is he shows that talent in spurts.  If he was consistently at 15 and 10 guy there would be no doubt because his defense and outside shot is something special.

SLAMonline Top 50: Rasheed Wallace, no. 34

The definitive ranking of the best players in the NBA today…

Rasheed Wallace is a specific type of basketball player. He’s the type that you don’t want to see when you come into the gym. He’s never averaged a double-double, but it’s his defense, sharp shooting, speed and intangible basketball skills that separate him from many NBA big men. His scruffy beard and ratty headband could belong to any tough playground player in America. He plays in uptowns like cats in the hood, and he’s got highly disruptive skills that can be a difference maker in any game. He’s a solid defender who blocked 100 shots and hit 100 threes in each of the last three seasons.  He filled a 6-foot-11 gap in the 2003-2004 Pistons line-up, and won Detroit it’s first title since Zeke was running things. Wallace is also the type of player that probably never fully hit his stride.

Sheed has always seemed to lack a true position. Too quick to be a center and probably too big to guard most power forwards, Wallace plays an awkward-yet-effective role in the success of most every team he has been on. However, there have been times when Wallace hasn’t played to his full potential and that’s probably cost him a lot of development as a scorer and rebounder. He should probably have averaged some double-doubles and added a Defensive Player of the Year Award to his resume by now, but he hasn’t.

He averaged 13 points, nearly 8 boards and 2 blocks per game during the 2004 Playoffs. By any account, he provided the major spark that turned the Pistons from a good playoff squad into a championship team. Though Chauncey Billups was the MVP, Wallace’s efforts were accounted for and his presence is still felt.

Wallace is a guy who has the skills to make an instant impact on most teams. While his technical fouls have cost his team tons of points through the years, his winning attitude is contagious, and he knows how to play to win when the time comes. He checks into our SLAMOnline Top 50 countdown at no. 34, but he’s the type of player who had the potential to be ranked much higher.

Want more of the SLAMonline Top 50? Check out the archive.

Shoutout to our boy Ryne Nelson the Main Online Editor over there at www.slamonline.com

Check out Slam’s Top 50 NBA player analysis.  I believe they will have 2 more Detroit Pistons on their Top 50 list.  Im hoping Rasheed can sneak in there,  I know Chauncey is going to be there.

SLAMonline Top 50: Richard Hamilton, no. 40

The definitive ranking of the best players in the NBA today…

by Matt Eil

If the SLAMonline Top 50 was based on how a dude looks with a plastic face-mask pressed against his mug, there is little doubt Richard Hamilton would be the Lance of that award. However, Rip, who has sported the mask since the 03-04 season (his “Superman cape,” as he calls it), surely wouldn’t mind the humble ranking.

That’s simply the type of hombre that Hamilton is. He plays big when he needs to. He can score but doesn’t need to score. He doesn’t fiend the spotlight. His career scoring average is a chin hair below 18 ppg, and that number goes up almost 3 points come playoff time – a stage Rip has been to throughout his entire b-ball career minus three seasons with the Wizards (y’all almost forgot that didn’t you).

Rip and winning have gone together for quite a while now. Dude led UConn to its first National Championship in 1999 as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, vaulting him to the seventh overall pick that summer. After the 2002 trade to Detroit, Hamilton and the Pistons have gone to the Conference Finals or better in each of his six seasons with the team including 2004-‘05 when Detroit brought it home for the first time since the Laimbeer era.

Rip isn’t your typical NBA stud though. First of all, he probably wouldn’t label himself a stud. The strongest part of his game is arguably his ability to run around a pick better than anyone in the league. And then he keeps running, and running, and then might run some more. Matter of fact, he might just outrun his own dogs, as he claims.

Not only that, despite leading the Pistons in scoring in each of his six seasons in the D, Rip has been second on the squad in assists in five of those years. Point is that Hamilton is the man without acting like the man. It’s not about him.

The examples pile up. The nickname Rip comes from a tattoo he sports in honor of a childhood friend that passed. You ever see Rip in commercials? Doing a skit at the ESPY’s? Pushing his rap albums? All of that is about as likely as me suiting-up next to Hamilton in the red white and blue next fall.

Want more of the SLAMonline Top 50? Check out the archive.

Shoutout to our boy Ryne Nelson the Main Online Editor over there at www.slamonline.com

Check out Slam’s Top 50 NBA player analysis.  I believe they will have 3 more Detroit Pistons on their Top 50 list.

SLAMonline Top 50: Tayshaun Prince, no. 45

The definitive ranking of the best players in the NBA today…

by Jake Appleman

I was going to write a short story about Tayshaun Prince being captured and taken into a cave to be initiated by the Skin and Bones society–Mick Jagger, Calista Flockhart, Snoop Dogg, the cast of America’s Next Top Model, the Olsen twins, etc. He was going to be praised for his all around selflessness (if shots were food…), and the ceremony was going to conclude with some mighty words from the next President of the United States, Barack Obama, a SK&B member himself. Then, somewhere between writing my first paragraph and Russ mentioning “Unnamed Fetus Palin”, I realized that a) I might not have the time to give the piece the creative juice it deserved and b) it would be ironically thin on actual basketball discussion.

So here goes something that’s been bothering me: I have absolutely no idea which member of the Detroit Pistons is their most valuable player. I suppose it doesn’t matter, and that’s kind of the point, but I’m miffed that I can’t make a decision, or even feel compelled to lean one way. (I voted Chauncey highest on my top 50 list but definitely feel some regret about that. In fact, all four Pistons that I put on my list were within in 10 or so spots of one another.)

Conventional wisdom and legend tells us it’s Chauncey, he of the sneaker contract and the big shots. However, it’s funny to think about his rep and realize that his nickname has served to protect him somewhat unjustly from criticism deserved for poor recent postseason play. Also worth noting: he’s been the floor general on a team that hasn’t responded to its coach annually when it mattered most. That warrants true examination.

The underdog in us says it’s Rip, the guy who logs the miles going around the screens that tire out the opposing defense, which helps D-troit clamp down and do their thing on the other end. The underdog says don’t underestimate the guy that takes good shots and practices the lost art that keeps the other team honest. But Rip isn’t a bulldog on the other end of the floor quite like Detroit’s other mainstays. And if defense is the hallmark by which half of a player is judged, then you have the counter argument right there.

The sensationalist in us might be blinded by a deep love for Sheed, so much so that his incredible talents cloud our viewpoints. But he’s too volatile and simply doesn’t perform well enough consistently.

That leaves us with Prince, the dude that looks like he was born to a pterodactyl octopus and a malnourished refugee. Since the Pistons aren’t truly built for the playoffs anymore–prove us wrong and we won’t judge you so–it’s imperative to look at which guys matter most during the course of the regular season that defines their success. To me, those two are Hamilton and Prince. Prince’s disruptive length and willingness to do the proverbial little things provide a microcosm of what the Pistons are. His two-way productivity and on-court selflessness blend the rest of Detroit’s bigger egos rather seamlessly and help the day to day of their easy 82 game ride.

Yet he still flies under the radar (even here, on this list, he isn’t getting his proper due). Just remember next time he unfurls that ugly 3-ball from the corner thanks to some transition hustle–after spending 23 seconds gobbling up the other team’s best player–that he deserves more of your respect. Just because he could temporarily house a honeydew while sucking in his man-cave doesn’t mean he isn’t a complete player.

Prince might have been invited to Beijing because Team USA’s frontcourt was thin, but as always is the case with the guy that logs the most minutes on a perennial Eastern conference contender, the whole picture is more important than the frame.

Want more of the SLAMonline Top 50? Check out the archive.

 

 

 

What’s Going on World?

John W. Davis here.  Let me update you on the Pistonscast Haiku Contest.  We have had eight entries so far.  

Check out the comments section here http://www.pistonscast.com/blog/2008/08/08/pistonscast-haiku-contest/#comments to read all the great Piston inspired Haikus.

Whose Haiku is best?  Deven Khrucell, John W. Davis and a special guest host from SLAM MAGAZINE will judge our top entries and determine the winner on an upcoming episode.

As always, drop a comment or shoot us an email at hosts@pistonscast.com.

Peace,

John W. Davis