Betrayer

That was an impressive defensive sequence.

I still love George. But I’d be happy with smooth Johnny once George is done.

Looks THJ is starting. Don’t love that. Maybe the org really wanted Ausar in there so they’re just keeping the spot warm.

The line is +5.5. If they can cover that spread and make this a competitive game then I’ll be happy after the kicking Indy gave us in all four games last year.

We often hear this theory, but I'm not sure it's true. People were saying the same thing for the Wemby draft and yet there were only 4 teams under 30 wins that year compared to last year (a terrible draft) where there were 7 teams with less than 30 wins. The bottom few teams might sit some players in Mach and April to fight for the bottom, but that's going to happen every year when teams realize they aren't making the play-in.

Most sportsbooks had them at 24.5 a few weeks ago (I took the over at that time). Now I'm seeing more lines at 25.5, 26.5, and even 27.5. I think it's likely they hit around 28, but I'm not wiling to put money on that just yet.

Not sure what people expected or wanted. Lavine? Brandon Ingram for 50M/yr? Nobody is expecting a playoff team, but the doom and gloom here is pretty bad. This isn't the same team as last year and these aren't nearly the same vets. 45% of the total minutes played were from guys who are no longer on the team. We're talking about garbage players like Wiseman (1000 minutes), Livers (500), Bagley (500 minutes), and more. 30% of the total minutes played last year were from guys who aren't even in the league anymore. Led by Killian who started 31 games and played 1000 minutes. Knox with 500 minutes. Fournier with 500 minutes. Metu had 400 minutes. Umude had 300 minutes. The two vets who got the most minutes last year (~900 each), didn't get much run on an NBA playoff team after being traded. They're also 35 and 33 years old with a ton of injury history. Conversely, the two top vets this year are 32 (Tobias) and 27 (Beasley), having started 70 and 77 games respectively for playoff teams last year. Oh, and they willingly signed here. Even the depth vets (Reed, Fontecchio, THJ) are guys who can fill out a roster and play in the NBA unlike Gibson, Harris, and Fournier. But most importantly, the coaching terrorist is gone and from what we've seen so far this team is running actual NBA sets on offense, with actual NBA rotations and staggering. Imagine that. Putting solid, floor-raising vets around your young core without burdening yourself with long contracts was the right move. You don't have the assets to trade for a superstar, so you need to see if your core pans out. If the core looks legitimate alongside real vets and an actual coach, then you have the cap flexibility to continue to build. If not, it's a great draft to start the rebuild over and then you can move some players this offseason. A Brandon Ingram band-aid wasn't getting you anywhere except back to Blake Griffin land.

Weird. If the only requirement is standard roster spot, then shouldn't Pistons be in the "6 new players" list? Harris, Hardaway, Beasley, Reed, Holland, Klintman They also have one open roster spot which will go to someone that will be #7 and you could make a case that Fontecchio should be an honorable mention in that group as well since he only played 16 games and was acquired at the deadline.

I'll be happy to see real games, but that was a good note to end preseason on. Pistons starters played just 8 minutes and looked great against Cavs starters who played about 25 minutes, well into the 3rd quarter.

Just wait until 20 games in when we're 2-18 and THJ is starting or something. Then the rage will flow! 😄

The Pistons got three 2nd round picks for this trade. Also, it was reported by multiple local guys that Grimes didn't want to be here. Plus, he was injured and that seems to be a recurring problem with him. Hardaway isn't a good player, but he's a vet who's always available and seems to be a solid locker room guy that won't block playing time for the youngsters. In the end, they moved an often injured bench guy who didn't want to be here for a bench vet on an expiring contract and 3 second round picks. It's fine.

When we finish last, we get the 5th pick, so does it matter? I'm just hoping to see an identity begin to form and let the ping pong balls do as they will.

Last night's game...ugh. Once again, Ivey looked good, but I don't have much more to say other than that. GS was on fire from three all game no matter who touched the rock and the Piston's were exactly the opposite. So, we've had 2 good games and 2 bad ones. Let's see what Wednesday brings against the Cavs.

Another really fun one! Got to see something closer to the real starting lineup now that Tobias is back from Covid. He and Cade both looked really good in the first half against most of the Suns starters (no Booker). I know Harris gets a lot of hate around here, but he'll be a major floor raiser for this team. A legitimate NBA PF is something we haven't had in a while. Cade nearly had a triple double and looked way more engaged in this one after looking like he didn't want to play in the last game. We even got to the see the floater he worked on in the off-season. Ivey is a man on a mission in every game so far. You can tell he's on the revenge tour and I hope it continues. I also really like what I'm seeing from Bickerstaff so far with his staggering of Cade and Ivey, 9-man rotation, and the way he's using Ivey. Holland is going to be a fan favorite. He's wearing the other player's jersey on defense and this is the second game in a row where he got into it with an opposing player because he wouldn't let go in the fight for a loose ball. Love seeing that tenacity from the youngster against vets. Only bad news is it looked like Duren hurt his leg/foot. He went down and then limped a bit. Came out of the game on the next play so I'm not sure how bad it is or if he just walked it off.

😄😄😄

OK, that one wasn't nearly as fun.

I've invested too much time, money, and emotion in this team to give up hope. ...at least until mid-season when they've thoroughly smashed my spirit in the ground.

That was the most fun I've had watching a Pistons "game" in a while. Sure, it's preseason, but whatever. I saw some things I haven't seen from this team in years: Staggered rotation! It IS possible! Off-ball and weakside movement/screens - actual NBA plays! Really good ball movement, not just one dude pounding the ball into oblivion Defensive intensity up and down the rotation. They were disruptive. Just an 8 man rotation in the first half! That alone is remarkable from this team and those are good signs even in preseason because they're indicative of the system JB is putting in place. I liked what I saw. Ivey - He came out with regular season intensity and looked like he's out to prove some things. Better job defensively and fighting over screen, hitting corner threes, and they were getting him the ball in motion. It looked more like how they were using him at Purdue. His speed was on display and he got to the line 9 times as a result. Holland - The game changed when Holland and Stew came in. He was immediately disruptive on defense, fighting for rebounds, and making quick passes on the perimeter. He gets into trouble when he has to initiate alone, but really did some positive things in his minutes when he playing his role. If he and/or Ausar can shoot just league average in the next year or two you could be looking at a seriously lock-down defensive duo. THJ - Meh. But, we all expected that. He started this game, but then JB started Holland in the second half. During the regular season when Tobias and Ausar are back, I think it's obvious he'll just be a bench guy who can sometimes get hot. Beasley - He looked good, and surprisingly it was on both ends. Maybe it was just because he was playing the Bucks, so we'll see if that defensive energy continues. We all knew he could shoot. Super fast trigger too, which is nice. Reed - He played the 4 a bit alongside stew off the bench and was really disruptive on defense. They're going to have to find some minutes for this kid. Sasser - Looked really good in the second half running the point and racked up 9 assists in no time.

So, you're saying the Pistons are going to make the 8th seed then?

I hear ya. It's tough to get into the hype after where this team his been for so long. As far as Ausar working on his shot, I don't doubt that kid's work ethic, bball IQ, or commitment for a second. That said, whether or not he improve his shot that much is still a big question and I understand the doubt based upon how bad it looked last year. Holland talked like he's going to be Cade's backcourt partner and kept saying things like "my team." It came off really awkward to me when you've got guys like Ivey and Ausar still on this roster in front of him and honestly, we all know he's going to be a project that will be lucky to be in a 9 man rotation this year.

Media day was pretty interesting. I was most relieved to hear Stew talking about how JB wants to use him. The PF experiment is over and he's going to be primarily at Center. He talked about looking forward to banging down low again, offensive rebounding, and the defensive mindset. A lot of guys talking about how JB is really emphasizing "Grit" and "Detroit style basketball". A lot of talk about "Building an identity" first and foremost. It's just media day, but the talk does seem more genuine than anything I've heard in previous years. A lot of the questions about this years vets led to damning comparisons to the previous vets Troy brought in over the past few years. The young guys seem absolutely astonished that these vets are helping them, telling them "come over here and shoot with me", and actually mentoring them. They're talking about how these guys really "want to be here" unlike vets from previous years. Ausar and Trajan both seem frustrated with the League and how long it's taking to clear him. According to Ausar he's spent a lot of time working on his shot and his handles in the off-season. He's also doing full workouts and all that, but the NBA won't let him play yet. Cade talked a lot about the things he's worked on as well, including his floater, finishing at the rim, and ball security. Tobias talked at length about wanting to be here, his ties to Detroit outside of basketball, and how it's his job to make sure the young guys develop. Nothing about his stats, his playing time, or his personal goals - only about his goal of being a leader, mentor, and taking responsibility for the young guys improvement. Yeah, it's media day stuff, but all of the comments from the young guys seemed to directly corroborate this story. I'm not expecting 30 wins, but I'd love to see an identity built this year.

One must fully commit to the tank.

1 Million per game he'll miss with those knees made of Doritos.

Spurs and Pistons were clearly designed by the same person. Not a huge fan of most of these. Can we just take that Memphis jersey and put "Detroit" on it instead? I'd buy one of those.

He's way too sensitive to be in NYK.