Deleterious Posted February 25 Posted February 25 1 hour ago, NYLion said: Sure but he's been really good the last 10 games or so albeit against weaker competition. I think of Beasley as their #2 scorer anyway. Regardless, the Pistons are playing with house money this year so it doesn't matter much who their #2 option is now anyway. Starting next year though, Langdon needs to build a roster capable of taking the next step. I think the current group even with a healthy Ivey has a limited ceiling without a legit #2 to team with Cade. Not sure that is any better come playoff time. Quote
casimir Posted February 25 Posted February 25 14 minutes ago, Deleterious said: That last block on Harden. I get Dennis Rodman defensive energy vibes when he's out there. Quote
Motor City Sonics Posted February 25 Posted February 25 4 hours ago, Deleterious said: Entering the playoffs........ ........that's good enough for me at this point - after where they are coming from. Most predictions had them winning fewer than 20 games this year. I think the best one I saw was mine at 30-52. And I thought I was being very generous. I just liked the offseason moves and getting rid of a coach who didn't want to be here and showed it (I would not have turned down the contract either, Monty). But this? I mean, if they end up winning just one of the next two games...... Regarding "entering the playoffs" Baby Steps, (And I think Duren is the #2 guy now) Quote
Motor City Sonics Posted February 25 Posted February 25 30 minutes ago, casimir said: I get Dennis Rodman defensive energy vibes when he's out there. I get Prince vibes from him............................OWWWAA ! No, THIS Prince Quote
gehringer_2 Posted February 25 Posted February 25 (edited) 3 hours ago, Deleterious said: That last block on Harden. talking about awareness - there was a play in the second half when the Clips had a chance to break, Ausar was the first to see it and took off. Half way down the court he reached up and back with his left arm and took a blind swat - he saw where the man in front was and was just taking a guess at the passing lane while running down court full at a full sprint. He didn't deflect the pass, but I was damn impressed at the awareness to make the attempt. Edited February 25 by gehringer_2 1 Quote
casimir Posted February 25 Posted February 25 5 hours ago, Betrayer said: Can we talk about Cade's bag of moves? Pull-up three, in-out dribble, post hook, mid-range, drives, you name it. He can score in so many ways and he's still learning. This dude is a force and will absolutely cost this team more money in the off-season because he's going to make All NBA third team. Oh, let's not forget about the 3 steals as he's becoming more of a 2-way player as well. Say what you will about the Tobias signing, but he's been really good for this team. All the players have talked about his leadership on and off the court. His three point shot is still struggling, but he's been good on the board, in the post, making the right play, and just a calming presence when they hit those scoring lulls. He's at the top of the league in +/- as well. Ausar is our Draymond and I love every minute of it. Harden was 5-22 last night with 7 turnovers and a -22 rating with Ausar in his shirt most of the time (Schroder hounded him a bit as well). Yea, he'll have some awkward moments, but the dude had 6 stocks in 25 minutes last night. That's insane. He doesn't have Curry handing him 5 easy assists a game, but his ceiling is higher than Green's due to his athleticism and body-type. Stew is so valuable. His stat-line doesn't show it, but he led the defensive effort for that bench unit at the end of the 3rd and into the 4th when they got the 10 point lead with Cade on the bench. He just makes it so tough for dudes to score, even giants like Zubac struggle against him. I don't expect wins against Boston or Denver, we're still not championship contenders, but regardless this team has been a ton of fun to watch. 32 wins already after coming off of a 14 win season is a crazy story. This team is sitting in 6th - a guaranteed playoff spot right now - while being 3.5 games ahead of the 7th seed and only 1 game behind the 4th seed. I think Duren has been making strides as the season has gone along, too. There’s still more for him to learn. Maybe he needed a coaching change as much as anybody? Quote
casimir Posted February 25 Posted February 25 1 hour ago, gehringer_2 said: talking about awareness - there was a play in the second half when the Clips had a chance to break, Ausar was the first to see it and took off. Half way down the court he reached up and back with his left arm and took a blind swat - he saw where the man in front was and was just taking a guess at the passing lane while running down court full at a full sprint. He didn't deflect the pass, but I was damn impressed at the awareness to make the attempt. I know he’s missed some time. I think by and large all of the younger guys have improved (Sasser gets an incomplete here). Thompson seems to be the guy that’s improved the most from last season. Quote
casimir Posted February 25 Posted February 25 3 hours ago, Motor City Sonics said: I get Prince vibes from him............................OWWWAA ! No, THIS Prince Prince was effective no doubt. I don’t think he had the same energy about him as Rodman did or Thompson does. Oh, sure, there was the block which was that kind of moment by itself. Maybe it’s because Prince didn’t have the top gear quickness that Rodman/Thompson had/have? Quote
Motor City Sonics Posted February 26 Posted February 26 1 hour ago, casimir said: Prince was effective no doubt. I don’t think he had the same energy about him as Rodman did or Thompson does. Oh, sure, there was the block which was that kind of moment by itself. Maybe it’s because Prince didn’t have the top gear quickness that Rodman/Thompson had/have? I think Prince might have actually been limited by his role on the team. I think he was capable of doing more, but he did the little, non-selfish things that the team needed - he did them brilliantly. I see him in a role similar to Tomas Holmstrom with the Wings. One of those guys who is never treated like a star, but you don't win without them. Quote
gehringer_2 Posted February 26 Posted February 26 15 minutes ago, Motor City Sonics said: I think Prince might have actually been limited by his role on the team. I think he was capable of doing more, but he did the little, non-selfish things that the team needed - he did them brilliantly. I see him in a role similar to Tomas Holmstrom with the Wings. One of those guys who is never treated like a star, but you don't win without them. IIRC they tried to give Prince more to do later in his career when the team was winding down but without much success -- by that time he didn't still have the energy I guess, Quote
Betrayer Posted February 26 Posted February 26 18 hours ago, casimir said: I think Duren has been making strides as the season has gone along, too. There’s still more for him to learn. Maybe he needed a coaching change as much as anybody? He has definitely improved his effort on the defensive end. He's also getting more reps as a passer with Cade getting doubled and turning it over less in those situations. Those are important improvements for sure. That said, the largest improvements in Duren's defensive play have come from JB changing the defensive scheme to trap instead of drop, Ivey's injury, and Ausar moving into the starting lineup. It's no coincidence that he's look passable on defense since those three things have helped hide his deficiencies. I'm still very on the fence about an extension unless it's a really sweet deal. I just struggle with the concept of paying big money to a rim running Center who can't shoot and isn't a positive defender in this version NBA. I'm excited for the team to make the playoffs because I think we'll learn a lot about Duren. Stew is the perfect big man for the playoffs, so it'll be interesting to see what JB does. 1 Quote
Deleterious Posted February 26 Posted February 26 Glad Stew is finally getting the love he deserves. 1 Quote
ben9753 Posted February 26 Posted February 26 I wonder what the biggest year to year improvement in wins is for an NBA team. In my very non biased eyes JB should be the unanimous COY winner. Quote
Deleterious Posted February 26 Posted February 26 Except the team that fired him last year has improved massively with just basically switching coaches. Quote
Deleterious Posted February 26 Posted February 26 And its gotta be the Spurs right? The year the lost Robinson and got Duncan in the draft. I'm gonna google this. Quote
Motown Bombers Posted February 26 Posted February 26 3 minutes ago, ben9753 said: I wonder what the biggest year to year improvement in wins is for an NBA team. In my very non biased eyes JB should be the unanimous COY winner. Off the top of my head, I think it's the Celtics when they added Garnett and Allen. This is a more organic improvement. Quote
Deleterious Posted February 26 Posted February 26 42 wins is the best improvement. So yeah, not even close. Quote
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