This year vs last year.

[xpen...@gmail.com]

What difference was there? Not much according to a story in this
mornings Free Press. This year they gave up three fewer points but
scored three fewer per game. Shooting % dropped slightly. On the
bright side they have won two more games. Coaches come and coaches go
but it seems the outcome continues to remain the same.

[Grey Matters]

xpen...@gmail.com wrote in news::

One big change was the new GM, although that seems an even bigger
mystery how it will turn out. This year SVG seems like he's more clever
than is good for him -- he thought he could make Josh Smith work and he
was leading the team in minutes until he was cut, when it was obvious to
pretty much the entire world that Smith should have been A) traded in
the offseason for whatever junk they could get or B) given the ultimatum
that he was going to be coming off the bench in limited minutes or not
coming off the bench at all.

He then pulled off the huge roster shakeup that didn't seem to
accomplish a lot. Reggie Jackson has shown some promise as a scorer,
but he's a turnover machine. The strategic issue as I see it is that
getting him this season seems counterproductive. By trading for him and
starting him, Van Gundy pretty much guarantees that he'll be earning
huge dollars. If he'd let Jackson stay for a couple of months in OKC,
Van Gundy could have had him for a lot less, since there was almost zero
chance the Thunder would have made a serious effort to keep him. And
I'm not even convinced he's better than Jennings.

It seems like Monroe and Jennings are being shown the door by Van Gundy
in favor of Jackson, but the one truly dominant stretch the team played
was with Monroe and Jennings getting significant playing time. Monroe
and Drummond played well together, despite claims that they didn't fit
together -- what doesn't work is when they don't have strong perimeter
support.

It's possible the Pistons will luck out in the lottery and get a top
three pick, which would give them enormous flexibility in building the
roster, but it seems like they have the exact opposite luck that
Cleveland has, so they'll probably get someone who gives them no
immediate help. I think Van Gundy will continue to bring in patchwork
roster guys like Butler and Tolliver, and unless they get a major bump
in the draft, they end up around 40 wins next year and a playoff spot
only because the East is still weak.

[SkippyPB]

While Jennings is under contract for at least another year, Jackson is
not. Had DJ Augustine not been traded there would have been no need
to go after Reggie. The second thing Van Gundy did wrong in my
opinion was trade Jerebko. Datomi didn't matter one way or the other
and Smith was an obvious move. I think we had to give SVG at least a
little time to see if the Josh Smith experiment would work or not. It
didn't and he was sent to the Rockets to come off of their bench.

During parts of the season, especially while Jennings was playing, it
looked like the Pistons might climb right back into the playoff
picture. Then again when DJ settled in and was effectively running
the team, it looked like they might have a chance. Last season that
hope was never there. So, I'm watching the off season with much
anticipation.

Regards,
--


"He taught me housekeeping; when I divorce I keep the house."
-- Zsa Zsa Gabor


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Steve

[Grey Matters]

SkippyPB <swie...@Nospam.neo.rr.com> wrote:

> While Jennings is under contract for at least another year, Jackson is
> not. Had DJ Augustine not been traded there would have been no need
> to go after Reggie.

I think Augustin was traded in order to make room for Jackson, but I
think Van Gundy was just too impatient. I don't think anyone else was
all that serious about entering a bidding war for him when his contract
expired at the end of the season, and there's no way OKC was going to
make more than a token effort to keep him. Jackson would be there for a
decent price this offseason -- all Van Gundy has done now is made it
much more likely he's going to have to pay him something like 45-60
million for four years. I don't think he's worth it.

> The second thing Van Gundy did wrong in my
> opinion was trade Jerebko. Datomi didn't matter one way or the other
> and Smith was an obvious move. I think we had to give SVG at least a
> little time to see if the Josh Smith experiment would work or not. It
> didn't and he was sent to the Rockets to come off of their bench.

Jerebko-Singler was probably a better combo than Prince, and I can't see
Prince staying next year. Both Jerebko and Singler weren't sure things
for staying with the team at any rate, but for the remainder of the
season it's hard to see what advantage came from moving them.

As far as Smith, the writing was on the wall for him last year and a
day's worth of tape watching should have been all Van Gundy needed to
know he wasn't going to work out getting significant minutes. Instead
he played over a third of the season getting maximum minutes on the
team.

I think Van Gundy's fault is that he overthinks things -- he ends up
putting too many things in motion due to overconfidence and then sees
everything come crashing down.

> During parts of the season, especially while Jennings was playing, it
> looked like the Pistons might climb right back into the playoff
> picture. Then again when DJ settled in and was effectively running
> the team, it looked like they might have a chance. Last season that
> hope was never there. So, I'm watching the off season with much
> anticipation.

My fear is that Jackson gets a huge contract for four years and turns
out to be a 43% high volume shooter who can't hit threes and never gets
more than two assists for every turnover. He'll be another Stuckey,
maybe a bit better, at an elite PG's salary. Add in a huge salary for
Drummond, who is showing signs of peaking as a great rebounder and good
scorer with almost no range and a very mediocre defender, and the
Pistons will find themselves overcommitted to two players who can't
carry the team.