Bleacher Report - Articles by Will Dias

Detroit Pistons' Rodney Stuckey Under Fire Already

Will Dias — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:39:25 -0500

The Detroit Pistons are eight games into the season, and already some are questioning the progress of point guard Rodney Stuckey.

Stuckey came into the league relatively under-the-radar from Eastern Washington. He made a splash at the end of his first season with the Pistons in the playoffs when Chauncey Billups when down with a pulled groin.

That performance led Pistons President Joe Dumars to trade Billups for Allen Iverson and his expiring contract.

Since then, Pistons fans have had high expectations for the young guard, and rightly so. Stuckey seems to posses every physical tool to be a perennial All-Star, but has not yet reached that pinnacle.

Coach John Kuester recently made his feelings known about Stuckey, saying "(Stuckey) has a chance to be one of the best defensive guards I’ve ever been around because he’s so strong, he’s got size and he’s athletic."

The rest of this article can be read by clicking these words.

Pistons-Bobcats: Charlie Villanueva's Third Quarter Explosion Secures the Win

Will Dias — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:27:31 -0500

The Detroit Pistons trounced the Charlotte Bobcats 98-75 in Wednesday's game. The win puts Detroit at .500 and tied for third in the Central division with Chicago.

Charlie Villanueva looked amazing in the third quarter. The Bobcats were slow to close out on him early in the quarter and he made them pay by hitting his perimeter shots. Once they started to venture out to more heavily contest his shots, he began burning people off the dribble.

On his own he outscored Charlotte in the third quarter, racking up 18 points on 8-10 shooting while the Bobcats only managed 12. He seems to have put his sluggish start far behind him, averaging 22.5 points in the last four games.

Another great sign for the Pistons is their assist total at a season high 26. They all seem to be getting more comfortable knowing where to find each other on the court, especially Ben Gordon and Villanueva.

Gordon dumped the ball off to the tune of eight assists. Many of those were to Charlie, including a nice no-looker to set up a long jumper. He also was the second highest scorer with 22 points on 10-16 shooting.

Rodney Stuckey had a solid all-around game with 16 points, seven assists, and five rebounds. The young point guard looked very poised against Charlotte, finding open shooters and controlling the tempo.

Read the rest here.

Detroit Pistons Can't Overcome First Quarter Deficit Against Orlando Magic

Will Dias — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:01:46 -0500

The Detroit Pistons fell again last night to the Orlando Magic, 110-103. The Magic came out firing on all cylinders in the first quarter, hitting their first five triples. They rode that hot streak to a 40 point quarter and a 17 point lead over Detroit.

Dwight Howard managed to stay on the floor much longer than his 17 minute stint on Tuesday, playing 38 minutes before fouling out late in the fourth quarter. He was also much more productive with 22 points, 12 rebounds, and two blocks.

Charlie Villanueva had his breakout performance as a Piston, scoring 28 points, 22 of which came in the fourth, on 11-17 shooting. He looked unstoppable in the fourth, making highly contested shots, and drawing fouls when he missed, even drawing the sixth foul on Howard.

His effort in the fourth is what kept the Pistons within fighting distance of Orlando. Every game Villanueva seems to get more and more comfortable, which is an excellent sign for the Pistons going forward.

Read the rest at PistonsPalace .

Detroit Pistons Fall Short In Toronto

Will Dias — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:49:34 -0500

The Detroit Pistons lost Wednesday night against the Toronto Raptors 110-99. It was the Pistons' second game in two nights, and it showed in the second quarter where they were outscored 44-28.

The Raptors' Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani killed the Pistons on the offensive end, with a combined 47 points. Detroit could not seem to keep Bosh off the free-throw line, as he went 15-for-20.

The Pistons' three-guard combo saw heavy action again, with Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton out. Will Bynum and Rodney Stuckey both had some upsides and downsides. Stuckey got into foul trouble early and only managed 13 points on 18 shots, but he did snag 10 rebounds.

Bynum showed some more of his sensational moves as he burned the Toronto defense on his way to the basket multiple times. His plus minus might be a concern though as he was the Pistons lowest at negative 14.

Read the rest here.

Detroit-Orlando: Pistons Stun Magic Behind Will Bynum's Eye-Opening Night

Will Dias — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:24:07 -0500

The Detroit Pistons live inside the Orlando Magic's collective head. This was very apparent in Detroit's 85-80 win on Tuesday night at the Palace. No Piston deserves more credit for this win than Will Bynum.

Bynum finished with 20 points, on 7-15 shooting, along with three rebounds. Bynum took a "Three Stooges" poke to the left eye from Marcin Gortat halfway through the fourth, which left him gripping his face as he was led to the trainers room.

He wasn't gone long though, and made his presence felt immediately when he returned. He took the ball right at Dwight Howard, unafraid of being poked again. He missed the lay-up but drew the sixth foul on Howard.

Read the rest here .

What's Ailing the Detroit Pistons?

Will Dias — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:40:43 -0500

It’s now three games into the season and the Pistons are 1-2. This isn’t as bad as it sounds, as the two losses came when the Pistons' leading scorer for the past seven seasons, Richard Hamilton, was riding the pine.

It does raise some concerns though, as the Pistons have gotten beaten pretty badly in the post. Keith Langlois’ latest article talks about just how badly Detroit’s big men have done offensively and collecting rebounds.

The things that stand out to me are, between six of the frontcourt players, they managed to only put up 30 points in three games. Yes, that means Kwame Brown, Ben Wallace, Chris Wilcox, Jonas Jerebko, and Jason Maxiell put up a combined 10 points per game. That won’t cut it in the NBA, plain and simple.

Read the rest here.

Detroit-Milwaukee: Bucks Kick Pistons

Will Dias — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:22:43 -0400

The Detroit Pistons dropped their second game in a row to the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, 96-85. Brandon Jennings, the Bucks first round pick this summer, torched the Pistons for 24 points. Hakim Warrick was also able to exploit the Pistons to the tune of 21 points, thanks in part to taking 15 free throws and sinking 10.

Similar to the game against Oklahoma City, the Pistons came out strong in the first half, yet fell flat after the halftime break.

The Pistons hot start can be attributed to a combination of Ben Gordon and Rodney Stuckey. By the six minute mark in the first quarter the two guards had combined to shoot 5-5, giving the Pistons a comfortable 17-7 lead.

As well as the Pistons played in the first half, they could not bring themselves back to that level after the break. Most notably was Stuckey, whose game resembled something out of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Although he looked good during the second quarter, he had a really nice series where he drove to the basket hard and missed a lay-up but managed to grab his own rebound. He then powered toward the rim again this time drawing contact and sinking the shot. He also ran the point well, racking up six assists in the first half.

His second half performance left much to be desired. He got burned by Jennings throughout the third quarter, which could just be attributed to Jennings being a streaky shooter. His lack of points and inability to draw fouls in the second half is much more concerning.

Gordon also had trouble drawing fouls. At one point in the third he became visibly upset after drawing a heavy amount of contact on a drive and not getting a whistle. Gordon wasn’t the only Piston who displayed frustration.

Charlie Villanueva was looking to get his season on track with a trip back to his former team but came up lame in the first three quarters. He started to turn it around in the fourth, hitting two quick threes to pull the Pistons within fighting distance.

It was all for naught though, with the Pistons offense unable to pull itself out of its second half stagnation.

Detroit travels back home for a Tuesday matchup against last years Eastern Conference champions the Orlando Magic. Look for Richard Hamilton to be back in the lineup.

Detroit Pistons-Oklahoma City Thunder: Thunder Strike Pistons

Will Dias — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:52:43 -0400

The Detroit Pistons dropped their home opener Friday, to the Oklahoma City Thunder 91-83. Playing without shooting guard Richard Hamilton they continued their solid defense but faltered offensively in the second half.

Ben Gordon, starting in place of Hamilton, led the Pistons offense with another strong performance, scoring 25 points to go with his seven boards and four assists.

On defense the Pistons continue to get much better than expected play out of a rejuvenated Ben Wallace. Wallace who had 12 rebounds, two blocks, and three steals matched Gordon’s plus/minus stat with plus three. The two Bens were the only Pistons on the positive side of that stat.

Detroit’s offense looked fluid in the first quarter as they shot 55 percent. Rodney Stuckey and Gordon were both able to get good penetration. Stuckey had a good game despite shooting a poor percentage, racking up 21 points, five boards, and 12-13 free throws.

The one thing that really helped the Pistons in this quarter though was their three point shooting, making three out of a total of five in the first. Will Bynum capped off the quarter nicely with a buzzer beater, putting the Pistons up 24-16.

Austin Daye made his debut as a Piston in the second, although it was very brief, lasting only one minute and amassing only a foul in that time.

One of the key successes of the second was the defense of Stuckey on Thunder guard Russell Westbrook. Besides Westbrook burning him on a pick and roll halfway through the second, Stuckey managed to keep him out of the lane, forcing perimeter shots.

The other key success was Tayshaun Prince’s defense on Kevin Durant. Princes most prominent play was his lock-down of Durant to cause a shot clock violation with three seconds left in the half. Prince also led all Pistons in minutes played at 43.

The Thunder came out in the third quarter and played some very scrappy defense, causing the Pistons to miss their first few shots. It didn’t help the Pistons case either that the offense looked more stagnant in the second half, having to rely more on one-on-one basketball.

Nenad Kristic also really hurt the Pistons, often getting away from Detroit’s big men to get an open jump shot. He finished with 14 point and five rebounds in 23 minutes.

The Thunder opened up the fourth with a 62-61 lead. They orchestrated this comeback without having to hit a three point shot until the last two minutes of the game, which might raise some concern for the Pistons.

With three minutes left in the game and the Pistons down by six Gordon tried to put the offense on his back. He came close drawing a few fouls and answering a triple by Thabo Sefolosha with one of his own.

It wouldn’t be enough though, as Durant had an answer of his own 20 seconds later with a three. Durant finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds on 8-19 shooting.

The Pistons played great perimeter defense and also protected the paint well, but Oklahoma City was able to use their mid-range game to make up for it. The Thunder also used their quickness on defense to get stops which allowed them to control the pace of the game.

Through the first two games, defense has not really been an issue for the Pistons, and their offensive troubles will probably get better with Hamilton back in the lineup.

Detroit plays the Bucks tomorrow at Milwaukee, look for Charlie Villanueva to break out of his slump against his former team.

Detroit-Memphis: Pistons Dominate Grizzlies

Will Dias — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:32:29 -0400

The Detroit Pistons opened the 2009-2010 season Wednesday night with a 96-74 blowout win at Memphis. The win, only one point away from tying a season opener record for margin of victory, was largely due to the outstanding play of the Pistons guards and a certain four-time defensive player of the year.

Richard (Rip) Hamilton poured in 25 points after a dismal shooting performance early in the game.

New Piston Ben Gordon added 22 points of his own, while hitting 4-of-7 three-pointers.

Rodney Stuckey and Will Bynum both had solid contributions as well, with Stuckey snagging 12 points on 6-for-10 shooting and Bynum dishing seven assists while being a pest on defense.

Ben Wallace looked very active, altering what seemed like every shot in the paint. He also led the team in rebounds with nine.

The Pistons opened the game with a couple really nice fast breaks ending with lay-ups by Tayshaun Prince. The Grizzlies were able to keep the first quarter tight due to poor shooting by Hamilton early and by some highly contested shots that Rudy Gay somehow made fall.

With three minutes to go in the quarter and the shot clock at two, Gordon made a bank shot triple which looked like it had no business even touching the rim. Oh, and he was fouled on the shot.

If that wasn’t enough, Gordon managed to grab an offensive rebound and sink a base line jumper to beat the first quarter buzzer. That man is going to be a blast to watch this season.

Hamilton came alive in the second quarter. He ran screens well all night, but his shots started dropping in the second and didn’t stop until he landed funny on a long jumper in the fourth.

The Pistons managed to shoot above 70 percent in the second quarter, thanks in part to draining their last six shots. Hamilton capped off the half by nailing a jumper with less than a second to go, putting the Pistons up 53-41.

Detroit continued in the third where they left off in the second, with Wallace leading the charge on defense. Officially, he only tallied one block and no steals, but he made sure that Memphis could not get anything easy.

Charlie Villanueva battled with foul trouble and poor shooting most of the night but started to turn things around in the last six minutes of the third. He had three really nice series in a matter of a minute where he hit an awkward looking triple, then a jump shot, and finished with a very nice block.

The Pistons entered the fourth with a 71-57 lead. Gordon proceeded to hit two early threes to take away whatever hope Memphis had of getting back in the game.

The quarter was not all good news though as Hamilton had to leave late in the fourth after being fouled and landing awkwardly on his ankle. He did manage to take his free throws but was noticeably limping. He did not return.

The most impressive aspect of Detroit’s game was their ability to control the tempo. This is especially impressive because Memphis was able to press the ball at will against Detroit in their preseason meeting.

When Detroit saw opportunities to press they did. When Memphis was able to get back they pulled up and executed in a half-court set. Although at times, the half-court offense looked frantic, it was still effective, with the Pistons able to shoot 51 percent.

Overall this was a very strong win for the Pistons. They showed gritty defense, potent half-court sets, and executed the fast break with ease. If they can find some consistency this team is going to turn a lot of heads.

Detroit Pistons Summer League: Game Five Recap

Will Dias — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 18:54:30 -0400

The Pistons closed out the Las Vegas Summer League with a solid win over the Cleveland Cavaliers squad, 92-86.

Austin Daye had another terrific outing, going off for 20 points, 10 rebounds, three steals, and at least one blocked shot. He also made a couple of very nice passes, one being a one-handed laser pass to Trent Plaisted in the paint. Plaisted missed the shot which cost Daye a deserved assist.

He has consistently shown his smooth stroke during the summer league and continued to do so against the Cavaliers hitting seven of 14 shots. One prime example was a nice three pointer to open the fourth quarter that only touched twine.

Almost as impressive as Dayes game was Jonas Jerebko's. Jerebko earned 19 points and five rebounds on 5-for-8 shooting while taking seven trips to the line making 8-for-14 free throws.

Jerebko again spent a portion of his time at the center position. He continued to look more comfortable in that role, altering a number of shots and keeping balls alive with well timed tips.

Jerebko did spend some minutes playing at the four position as well, as the Pistons only put two of their three 2009 draftees on the floor at a time for most of the second half. That could have been from the Pistons staff wanting to see what each of the rookies can do at the three front-court position, but more likely from Dajuan Summers foul trouble again.

Summers had an poor game offensively, only managing 12 points on 5-for-15 shooting. He did round up five rebounds and also blocked two shots but he fouled out in the fourth after collecting his tenth personal.

It seems that when Summers can stay out of foul trouble he can be a very productive player, but it's not going to get any easier with the foul limit in the NBA set much lower at six per game.

Deron Washington had his typical game, 12 points and four rebounds on 4-for-7 shooting. He also looked much better at the free throw line going 4-for-4.

He continued to showcase his athletic gifts as he was very active getting his hands on passes and getting up and down the court. He also had a vicious dunk attempt but got fouled and headed to the line for two.

Jeremy Pargo might have made it a two horse race for the Pistons third point guard spot. He played the entire second half, finishing with 13 points, four rebounds, and two assists while shooting 4-for-8 from the field.

Pargo displayed some nice driving skills on a cut through traffic for a hard one handed jam. He also had an impressive steal but coughed the ball up three times. A two assist to three turnover ratio is not great but in only 20 minutes of play it would not be something to be overly worried about.

The Pistons have had a terrific summer league season going 4-1. More importantly however is the promising play out of the three 2009 draft selection. I expect all three will be on the Pistons roster for the 2009-2010 season as well as Washington and either Sean Singletary or Pargo.

Detroit Pistons Summer League: Game Four Recap

Will Dias — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:37:39 -0400

With four games under their belt, the Pistons' big three, Austin Daye, Dajuan Summers, and Jonas Jerebko appear to be much more comfortable playing together.

After a bad third game, where the Pistons looked tired and couldn't keep up with Golden State's frantic pace, the Pistons came back with a blowout win over the New York Knicks, 96-73.

Early on in the first quarter, Jerebko looked to establish an aggressive mindset, getting a nice lay-up and one. He continued that style of play all game, driving hard to the basket from the perimeter on multiple occasions and finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds on 5-for-11 shooting.

Halfway through the third quarter, Jerebko had a clear drive to the basket except for one Knicks forward. When Jonas got to the basket, the Knicks player (possibly Jordan Hill) went up for the block only to have Jerebko make a beautiful mid-air adjustment to score the lay-up.

The real standout of this game was Austin Daye, who finished with 27 points, 13 rebounds, and one block while shooting over 50 percent from the field. Daye showed his versatility by displaying good ball handling skills and also nailing a handful of catch and shoot opportunities.

His ball handling abilities definitely were showcased on a nice shake-and-bake move, in which he was fouled on the shot, to open the second quarter.

Daye and Summers seemed to take over the third quarter with Daye flushing home a hard dunk, then Summers hitting a three-point shot, seconds after rolling in a lay-up.

In fact, Summers had a rough shooting night in the first half, but managed to turn it on to start the third quarter and kept it going the rest of the game.

Summers finished with 26 points, eight rebounds, and one block on 11-for-21 shooting. Summers continued to be a brute force for the Pistons in the paint, knocking players to the ground while going for lay-ups and slamming down hard jams.

Deron Washington had a ho-hum type of game. He only managed five points, five rebounds, and two assists.

He did however show good awareness by getting his hands on a few passes and even managed to save a ball from going out of bounds by throwing it off of a Knicks player. This was not one of his better outings though.

Lastly, Sean Singletary played a very respectable game.

He finished with 15 points, six assists, two steals, and only one turnover all while shooting 5-for-8 from the field. He even rebounded well for a guard, hauling in five boards.

He had a very nice dump inside to Jerebko for an easy two in the last minute of the game.

It looks like Singletary might be the front runner for the Pistons third point guard spot if Joe Dumars is looking at the summer league roster to address that need.

Notes: I missed covering game three because of work related circumstances, but I will definitely be covering game five versus the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Detroit Pistons Summer League: Game Two Recap

Will Dias — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 18:57:15 -0400

Game two for the Detroit Pistons in the Las Vegas Summer league came down to the last couple of possessions. Dajuan Summers sealed the game with two clutch free throws with 4.7 seconds remaining giving the Pistons a 91-87 win over the Toronto Raptors.

Summers had another good game to go along with his player of the game performance in game one. He finished the game with 19 points and six rebounds, going 7-17 from the field and 1-4 beyond the arc.

He flashed some strong play-making ability beating coverage along the baseline multiple times, finishing with reverse lay-ups. He also had a powerful dunk courtesy of an assist by Austin Daye halfway through the first quarter.

Daye had the best Piston performance of the afternoon, finishing with 19 points, eight rebounds, while going 8-14 from the field and 2-4 from the three point line. One of those treys was from deep downtown to, this kid has some serious range.

Daye was also a pest on defense altering a number of shots with his crazy long arms. Although he wasn't credited with a block he certainly made his presence known.

Another notable performance came from last years pick Deron Washington. Washington had a pretty scrappy game, more than once ending up knocked to the floor.

He totaled 13 points, six rebounds, on 4-11 shooting, but left a lot of points on the floor by going 4-12 from the charity stripe.

He also had a brilliant series that started with a massive put-back dunk by Washington. Then after a Raptors foul, Sean Singletary lost the ball back to the Raptors. This caused a breakaway for Ekene Ibekwe when Washington sprinted out of nowhere to block the shot.

Very impressive hustle play.

Jonas Jerebko had a much better showing in game two. He finished with 12 points, seven rebounds, and three steals. Jerebko displayed some very nice post moves under the basket and also had some great moves to get open but missed a few of those open looks. He also managed to rack up eight fouls, but was aggressive on defense.

He showed a lot of hustle during the game, even diving on the floor to pursue a loose ball which sadly got tipped away from him.

Lastly, Trent Plaisted had a decent performance getting four points, five rebounds, and a block in his very limited time on the floor, playing only 12 minutes. He seemed to find his aggressiveness against the pick and roll, but he looks to be headed back to Europe for another year though which should help his consistency.

Overall another very good showing by the Detroit Pistons. Next up the Golden State Warriors and Stephen Curry.

Detroit Pistons Summer League: Game One Recap

Will Dias — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:50:29 -0400

Well, Detroit's first game in the summer league was pretty impressive. They beat the Sacramento Kings' squad 86-77 handily. In fact, the Kings only led for the first minute of the game.

The rest was all Pistons.

Winning isn't the real point of summer league though—evaluating young talent is, and there were a couple of great performances.

First and foremost, Dajuan Summers, the Pistons' first second round pick, was outstanding. He showed a nice stroke from inside and outside the arc. He had some very nice post moves, navigating around taller players for clean looks at the basket. He even had a great defensive game with seven defensive boards, one block and two steals to go along with his 24 points on 9-15 shooting.

His best moment was opening up the second half by hitting his first three shots within a minute for seven points. Summers is looking like a steal this summer.

A surprising performance came from Mike Bramos from Miami (Ohio). He showed a nice shooting touch hitting 5-6 shots for 13 points. He even had a posterizable two-handed jam on Omri Casspi.

A little less impressive were Austin Daye and Jonas Jerebko.

Daye had a few nice plays, including a sweet crossover towards the end of the game but ended up missing the lay up. He also flashed some range hitting a three-pointer. It looked like they decided to play him at the power forward position for most of the time he was in the game, so maybe they are grooming him early to be more physical.

Jerebko also showed flashes of greatness. In the first half, he pulled off a nice behind-the-back dribble on his way to the hoop. But he had a poor shooting night overall going 1-6 from the field with his only make coming off a nice alley-oop. He did however have three steals, a block, and showed no fear defending under the rim.

The two second round picks from last year also had up and down games.

Deron Washington had a mostly rocky game with a few spurts of promising play. He seemed active in the first half but didn't accomplish much beyond causing a few turnovers.

He had a couple of nice plays in the second half, one being a hard slam dunk halfway through the fourth.

Trent Plaisted seemed to have less errors in his game, but still did not produce much with five points and three rebounds. He also didn't seem as aggressive defending the pick-and-roll as he was last year. That could be a problem because that is why the Pistons liked him so much in the first place.

This was only the first game of the season, so it is definitely to early to make clear assessments on players, but a few are looking very promising.

The Pistons Offseason So Far

Will Dias — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:18:34 -0400

As expected, there have been major changes to the Detroit Pistons this summer. Just like clockwork, there have also been portions of the blogging community that have glanced at the situation and shrieked failure.

First off, it is way too early to tell how truly successful Joe Dumars has been in the off-season, but for the sake of balance I would like to present a counter viewpoint to all the negativity surrounding this off-season.

Let’s start with the coaching fiasco. After having a disappointing season, Michael Curry was fired one day before free agency began. In all honesty, I believe the firing was justified but Curry was not given a fair shake. That’s another article in itself.

Then Dumars began his search for a new head coach, publicly stating he wanted a coach with experience. Very early on the media pegged three candidates that Dumars was contemplating: Doug Collins, Avery Johnson, and John Kuester. Later Tom Thibodeau was added to the list.

Some report that the first choice was Collins. I have also heard accounts that Collins was never a serious candidate and pulled out early to save face.

He might not have been a serious candidate because besides being known as a perpetual burn out, he apparently broke down in front of his Pistons team that included Dumars as a player.

Granted that was over 10 years ago and Collins might have matured his coaching ability since then. When asked about the possibility of Collins coming to Detroit when Dumars first took over as GM supposedly Joe just rolled his eyes.

I was never sold on Collins, while he might be an offensive guru he has a repeated history as being more trouble in the locker room than Rasheed Wallace and Allen Iverson. To me that doesn’t sound like someone I would want to mentor such a young team like the Pistons.

Next up was Avery Johnson. The former Dallas Mavericks coach with a very good, albeit short, resume. Johnson, a former NBA champion for the Spurs, took over the Mavs job from Don Nelson.

Johnson was handed the reins to a very talented roster that included Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry, a young Devin Harris, Jerry Stackhouse, and Josh Howard. I feel pretty confidant in saying that Johnson was in an enviable position.

His first full year was a resounding success, capturing second in their division with a 60-22 record and making it to the finals were they eventually lost the Miami heat 4-2. After that playoff wins became hard to come by.

His second year the Mavs lead the league with a 67-15 record, but as high as that achievement was his biggest low followed shortly after.

Going up against his former mentor, Nelson, in the first round Johnson could not make the correct adjustments to counter Nellie’s high octane offense. Johnson's almighty Mavericks were ousted in five games from the big show by an eighth seeded Warriors who barely made the playoffs.

That might have been a bad match up for Dallas and Nelson reportedly had a grudge against his former team based around payment issues, so maybe Don was pulling out all the stops in order to gain revenge.

It's more likely though that Avery was just in over his head against his former mentor.

The next year is even more telling, as the Mavs stumbled even farther finishing with a 51-31 record and a seventh seed playoff spot in the west. During this season Dallas made a blockbuster trade that sent Harris to New Jersey for all-star Jason Kidd.

Avery was always known as being controlling on the offensive side of the ball with Harris running point, but that could be forgivable since Devin was so young. The way he tried to control Kidd though baffles me. It's reported that Avery would try and call every play down the court.

I'm not a huge Kidd fan, but even I know that Jason absolutely doesn't need or want that kind of micromanaging stifling his game.

Needless to say, Dallas made an early exit in the playoffs by the Hornets in five games. There seems to be a trend there.

After their trouncing by Chris Paul and Co. owner Mark Cuban fired Avery saying he had no choice as there was a mutiny brewing that could only end with the release of Johnson.

Getting run out of town is not a good way to leave a team, especially if the primary reason was your personality not your record.

I do like Avery and at the right price he might have really helped Detroit. He was not looking for a fair price though. Not only did he want a hefty contract, which wasn't absurd, he wanted personnel control, which is absurd.

Dumars is a very involved GM and has a clear vision of how he wants to build a team. So giving that kind of control to any coach for him would be incredibly hard.

Besides, there are very few coaches who get the kind of roster editing powers that Johnson reportedly wanted, and those are the proven greats like Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich.

Although Mike Dunleavy Sr. is the GM and coach of the Clippers, but look were that got them last year, 19 wins. Even though that 19 win record got them Blake Griffin I doubt Pistons fans could endure that type of season considering half of our heads exploded after a 39-43 season.

That left Kuester and Thibodeau. Kuester has history with the Pistons winning a championship as Larry Brown's main assistant. He also was Brown's assistant during Brown's 76ers era.

Not only that, but Kuester has a 19 years coaching experience in the NBA. Yes, that was as an assistant, but that's still time served. Johnson only had four years experience total as a coach, 3.2 years as a head coach and .8 as an assistant (numbers not exact). Curry for those who want to compare had one year as an assistant and one as head coach.

My point is Kuester has been around the block, plus he is a good x's and o's guy. He boosted the Cavaliers offense significantly in all categories. Granted the Cavaliers did add Mo Williams but I doubt his 17 points and 4 assists per game was the real reason for jumping so many other teams in offensive potency.

Honestly, I didn't know much about Kuester before the hire but the more I hear the more I like.

That brings us to the free agency acquisitions. Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva both agreed to sign with the Pistons on the first day of free agency when Detroit had no coach.

In case you didn't catch that last part THEY HAD NO COACH, and yet these top tier free agents had enough faith in Dumars to agree to deals without talking to anyone else.

That is incredible.

Besides the good faith in Dumars' ability, these players are going to bring a whole heap of talent to this team.

The combo of Stuckey driving to the basket for a lay-up only to kick it out to Gordon or Chucky V. for a smooth trey is going to be a great sight compared to the bricks we were throwing up last year from beyond the arc.

That three-point shooting is also going to do a lot more than put three points on the board, it's going to force defenders off the double teams which should open up clearer paths to the basket. We didn't get that benefit last year.

Gordon has only been in the league for five years, but already he is shooting a higher career three point percentage than Reggie Miller, 41.5% to 39.5%. On top of that, he is a 20 point per game scorer.

He might be a defensive liability considering he is only about 6" 2' in shoes. With Stuckey being 6" 5', we can mitigate some of that by having him guard the taller shooting guards leaving Gordon to the point guards.

Another point to note is that this signing creates a very crowded backcourt with Bynum, Stuckey, Hamilton, Gordon, and Afflalo all competing for two positions.

The Pistons camp has said repeatedly that they are moving forward with this current backcourt. I believe, however, that a trade is coming.

Recently, the Pistons offered a guaranteed contract to Deron Washington before even seeing him play one game is the summer league. This is unusual because they had no pressure to sign him blindly as Washington cannot sign with anyone else even after summer league. Also deals like this are often used to make salaries match according to league rules.

Even if we signed Washington to be the fifth in line for shooting guard or third or fourth in line at small forward (doubtful), I still see a trade in the future of Detroit.

While I think Villanueva has the potential to be a great power forward, his stats per 36 minutes 21 points and 9 rebounds, he needs some help defensively. The only way we can get him a defensive partner, who would complete the emulation of the two Wallace's, is to trade for one at this point.

This isn't bad because the Pistons have a couple bargaining chips to work with.

Hamilton is a likely candidate with the addition of another high scoring shooting guard, as well as Prince with his much more attractive contract. I think Rip is more likely to go from a Pistons point of view as I don't believe Dumars has confidence in starting a rookie or Rip at small forward.

There have been a few names kicked around, Tyson Chandler, Chris Kaman, Emeka Okafor, even Samuel Dalembert.

After unloading Zach Randolph to the Memphis Grizzlies the Clippers freed up time and cap space for the young Blake Griffin, making it unnecessary to trade the big Chippewa.

Chandler is still a possibility if the Suns can find another taker for Ben Wallace's contract. Although Chandler has a bad injury history, he would provide some much needed shot blocking and physicality in the post.

The Okafor rumor is admittedly a fringe rumor but might be intriguing given Emeka's defensive and offensive prowess would mesh nicely with Villanueva's.

Lastly that leaves Dalembert. The 76ers have reportedly been shopping him hard, and they probably should by just looking at his contract. Dalembert is not known for his offensive capabilities but is an accomplished defender. While he is overpaid he might make a nice compliment to Villanueva, each players strength would help hide the others flaws. That contract is a killer though, $25 million over the next two seasons.

A trade might not come this summer but by the time the trade deadline comes around in February I would expect that someone is headed out of Detroit and a new face and a big new body is coming in.

Overall Dumars has made some impressive moves that gives the Pistons a lot of potential. Detroit doesn’t have all the pieces yet but the mechanisms to get them exist and Dumars is well aware of that.

Joe Dumars and Detroit Piston Fans: Love and Hate

Will Dias — Wed, 27 May 2009 18:20:59 -0400

This year has been a rough one when viewed through the eyes of a Detroit Pistons fan.

We have had multiple lineup changes, a blockbuster trade that did not meet expectations, and a first-round playoff sweep. These are things not typically characteristic of a Pistons team post-teal uniform era.

As a result of this season, there have been some very loud rumblings from fans that Joe Dumars has failed this team and is leading them to the brink of disaster. This could not be farther from the truth.

Let’s first take a moment to appreciate the level of excellence that Dumars has brought to the Pistons.

Dumars' teams have been to the NBA Finals five times. Of these five trips, we have taken home three championship trophies. Two were while he was a player and one was as a general manager. Oh, he won a finals MVP award as well.

These accolades were not just some lucky breaks: they were the result of hard work, and preparation.

Now onto the problems that have been brought up against Dumars as a general manager.

First let’s talk draft picks, most notably Darko Milicic. Darko was the second pick in the 2003 NBA draft. He was picked ahead of Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, and Carmelo Anthony.

Out of the first five picks of that draft, Darko was by far the least productive. This is what many fans cite as a failure. But in order to truly understand why the pick was made, one must look at more than just ability.

In 2003, the Pistons already had a premier shooting guard, a young, athletic small forward, and a defensively bruising power forward. What we did not have was a true seven-footer to put in the post.

On top of needing a player of his size, Darko was thought very highly of by a large portion of the scouts in the NBA. The situation then looks like this: The Pistons lacked a true seven-foot center and Darko was the highest sought-after draft pick that fit that spot.

After we drafted him, we began to see he was not a quality pick for the lottery.

Dumars, though, did not sit on his hands and allow this mistake to hurt his team. He traded Darko away for a first-round draft pick.

That pick ended up being the 15th in the 2007 draft in which we selected Rodney Stuckey. If you don't like Stuckey or his potential, I suggest you check out my last article here.

So yeah, the Darko draft was bad, and if Dumars had sat and hoped that he would pan out, we would have been in trouble. He didn't though and turned a dud into a future star.

The second main concern fans have repeatedly expressed is the way Dumars has changed the Pistons this year.

A lot of people are up in arms about the Billups-Iverson trade that took place. Even more so now that Billups has Denver competing for a Western Conference title.

That trade can only be partly judged at this time because of its huge financial repercussions to both teams.

Iverson’s $20 million contract comes off the books this summer along with Rasheed Wallace's. This is going to give us roughly $17 million in cap space. This cap space is going to afford the Pistons some amazing options this summer, including a possibility of acquiring Chris Bosh.

On Denver's side, they benefited greatly in the short-term by being able to make the playoff run that they have. But what most people forget is that Billups is 32-years-old and comes with a long and expensive contract. By the time his contract is up he will be about 36-years-old making roughly $14 million.

The Pistons where in a similar situation in the mid-90's with other well-known guards, Isiah Thomas and Dumars himself. In that instance, Thomas and Dumars were both allowed to retire as Pistons. This had some very serious financial consequences for the Pistons.

The Pistons could not use them as leverage to gain any additional assets and, as such, ended up rebuilding the franchise extremely slowly.

What Dumars has done this time around with an aging roster was trade a player with marginal value to the team, because of emerging young talent, in order to rebuild the franchise basically over one season.

That is a feat that very few NBA general managers can pull off. Most teams in the NBA have to suffer terrible seasons in order to gain high lottery picks to rebuild their franchise.

The third problem people seem to have with Dumars is the coaching carousal that has happened under his watch. Since 2001, the Pistons have had four different coaches: Rick Carlisle, Larry Brown, Flip Saunders, and current coach Michael Curry.

While I think Carlisle was an amazing coach and really got the Pistons to play defense, I don't think he could have won on the big stage for us. Besides, he was replaced by the now infamous Brown.

Brown had it all. He had the respect of the players, made them play defense, and was savvy enough to win in the playoffs. Losing him definitely hurt the team, but this was not the choice of Dumars.

Brown and former owner Bill Davidson (may he rest in peace) had a very heated feud, mainly due to Brown's abrasiveness. Not to mention Brown had been flirting with job offers from other teams while the Pistons were in the middle of the NBA Finals.

Then came Saunders. Saunders is regarded as an offensive guru in the NBA with his zone style of play.

His main problem though was that all the players not named Billups did not respect him. He came from the CBA and lacked real NBA credentials; this seemed to cause dissent, most notably with Wallace. As such, he was forced to have to address the team through Billups.

It was an incredibly difficult situation to have that much dissent on a team while still trying to compete for a title. After the third straight season of not getting back over the Eastern Conference Finals hump, Saunders was let go.

This leaves us at Curry. This has become another touchy topic for many Detroit fans. I’m still reserving judgment on Curry because of the whirlwind of changes that took place this season in Detroit.

If I had to guess, though, I think Curry was hired to be a transitional coach much like Carlisle was for the start of this past era. Dumars knew that the team was going to be rebuilt and needed a fresh coach that was going to try to develop and assess our younger players.

Those who wish to see Curry fired have to consider a couple of things. First is that he was put in a position that he was not prepared for in the Billups-Iverson trade. He had spent the entire summer game-planning for Billups, only to have everything change two days into the season.

Coaching in the NBA is a tough job and massive changes like that can definitely affect the performance of a first-year coach.

Second is that it would be a terrible idea financially to fire Curry because that would require the Pistons to pay two coaches who where not actually coaching the team (Saunders is still being paid his contract).

So Dumars' best option is to continue to let Curry coach and see what he can do with a stable roster and full summer of game-planning.

Honestly, after all that Dumars has done for this franchise, especially in recent years, I can't understand why anyone would believe that one 39-43 season means Dumars has failed this team.

Dumars has engineered a plan with numerous options for the future that will have the Pistons in contender status very soon with another six years of potential dominance.

Detroit Pistons Are Not Giving Up On Rodney Stuckey Yet

Will Dias — Fri, 22 May 2009 22:48:16 -0400

It seems a lot of people have given up on Rodney Stuckey as a point guard. I still think this is premature.

There are several things that happened this season that might lead fans to believe that Stuckey should be moved to the two guard.

A lot of people believe that Stuckey can't run the point in the NBA. There have been questions about his passing skills, some say his decision making is not on par, and others call his instincts more in line with a shooting guard's instincts than a ball distributor's.

And with the emergence of Will Bynum late in the season expectations seemed to have dramatically risen for Stuckey. Joe Dumars said in an interview at the end of the season that he thinks that, "Stuckey should spend some time playing off the ball alongside of Bynum".

All these reasons to a fan seem to scream that Stuckey is a two. But here's why he is still our point.

Last year Stuckey played 19 minutes per game. He also averaged 2.8 assists per game. This year he played 32 MPG while averaging 4.9 APG. That comes out to one assist every 6.78 minutes the first year and one assist every 6.53 minutes the second year.

Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics played 23 MPG his first year (he also had the benefit of playing a full rookie season). He averaged 3.8 APG. That equals one assist to every 6.05 minutes. His second season he averaged 5.1 APG in 29 minutes. This comes to 5.69 minutes per assist.

Stuckey improved his minutes per assists by about .25 while Rondo improved his by .36, these are very similar improvements and Rondo's second season was the Celtics championship season.

Rondo and Stuckey also had comparable turnovers per game their second years at 1.9 and 2.1 respectively.

Just for good measure I'll throw in Devin Harris' stats as well. He averaged 2.2 assists in fifteen minutes his first season. In twenty three minutes his second season, he averaged 3.2 assists. He was actually less efficient his second season by about .37 minutes per assist.

By the way Harris' current stats are 21 PPG, 6.9 APG, 44% FG, and 3.1 TO. Not to shabby.

Moving on to the claim about Stuckey having a shoot first instinct, some people point to his forty and thirty eight point games and say he managed those numbers by being selfish.

I disagree wholeheartedly. Not only did he shoot over 50% in the feild in each of those games, but in his thirty eight point game he dished out seven assists.

On top of that when Stuckey was going through his rough patch in February Curry and Dumars said that he was deferring too much and not being aggressive enough.

Stuckey had a really tough balancing act to handle this season. On one hand he was being pushed to look for his shot but on the other hand he had to make sure that this team loaded with veteran scorers (Hamilton, Iverson, Wallace, Mcdyess, and Prince) each of whom got their touches.

If that wasn't enough egos became a huge problem this season, which I'm sure put added pressure on Rodney not to step on any toes.

Due to this balancing act, in some games he looked like he was afraid to shoot, often passing the ball shortly after crossing mid court. In others when he was aggressive and getting in the paint he seemed like a completely different player.

Once the line-up started to stabilize at the end of the season he began to show more consistency. He scored in double digits in his last nine games, while having five or more assists per game in all but one of those games.

Also, at the end of the season Bynum started to catch fire. Let me say first I really enjoy watching Will play. He is quick, has a nice shot and good defense. However, he is not going to be as good as Stuckey.

Bynum is far more experienced than Stuckey, having played in Israel for a couple years and also a stint with Golden State. So Bynum was not really a true rookie coming into this year.

This means that Bynum's abilities are probably much closer to his ceiling than Stuckey's. It's also why he seems more comfortable running a team heavy with veterans.

Bynum's emergence also caused Dumars to take notice. At his season ending interview he stated that Stuckey will be playing off the ball alongside Bynum for spurts next year.

This does not mean he is going to be a shooting guard. What Joe D. seems to be thinking is that having another player who can penetrate and breakdown defenses on the floor is going to make it hard for teams to keep them out of the paint.

In fact, I fully expect them to pass point guard responsibilities back and forth while they are on the court together.

So before everyone gives up on Stuckey being the point guard of the future, just remember that players need time to develop and Stuckey is definitely developing as a point guard.

Pistons Need To Focus Frontcourt Rebuilding On Chris Bosh

Will Dias — Mon, 18 May 2009 23:46:29 -0400

The Detroit Pistons are looking to rebound from a poor performance in the 08-09 season. With Rasheed Wallace and possibly Antonio McDyess leaving for free agency, the Pistons' frontcourt needs a major rebuild.

The most likely scenario for this rebuild is going to center around a trade involving Richard Hamilton or Tayshaun Prince and Amir Johnson or Jason Maxiell for Chris Bosh.

Trading away Hamilton or Prince is a reasonable risk because there are a couple of players entering free agency that could be very serviceable replacements. Players such as Ben Gordan or Hedo Turkoglu, both of which would vastly improve our three-point shooting. Also Marvin Williams from the Hawks will be a restricted free agent.

This trade will allow the Pistons to get a quality big man, a position this free agency and draft are relatively week in.

I'm not sold on Carlos Boozer, he does have some minor injury problems, although none of the injuries should hamper his ability to play in the future. He is a decent inside threat and averages 20ppg and 10rpg whens he's healthy.

His size and defense are of concern though. He averages well under one block per game and his scoring on the inside could be viewed as inflated because he plays next to Mehmet Okur in Utah.

Okur likes to play around the perimeter and shoot threes, which he is very good at (1.3 treys a game at 44% shooting), this forces the opposing center to play further out, allowing Boozer to work inside more effectively. Boozer most likely won't get that luxury here in Detroit, with Wallace probably not returning.

Pairing Boozer with McDyess, if we do re-sign him, doesn't look too appealing on paper either. Both are only around 6' 9", would not be able to handle the likes of Dwight Howard or Yao Ming, and neither have impressive blocks per game.

Also, McDyess is getting older and probably wouldn't be too thrilled playing starters minutes again this year.

This year's draft could improve the Pistons' frontcourt a lot if they draft in the first three spots. Outside of Blake Griffin and Hasheem Thabeet there's not much belief that there's an impact big man in the draft.

I do like Dejuan Blair, he gets about 10rpg in college and scouts say rebounds translate to the NBA level better than most other stats. Dejuan Blair could even be available when the Pistons pick at 15.

However, his faults are that he is little undersized for a four. Listed at 6' 7", he might have a hard time adjusting his game to playing under the rim if he can't use his bulk against the fours and fives in the NBA like he did in college.

If the Pistons end up drafting the highest quality player left, it's likely to be a point guard. Ty Lawson, Johnny Flynn, Tyreke Evens, Stephan Curry, and Jeff Teague all have a chance of being around at the 15th pick. It might be a good idea for the Pistons to take one of these players.

I like Rodney Stuckey a lot, he has great potential and is still the future for Detroit, but Dumars has said that he wants to play Will Bynum and Stuckey together for stretches of games. This leaves room for a third point guard to make up the left over minutes.

I really like Curry because of his ability to make treys, which the Pistons were terrible at this year.

So, with little help to be found for the frontcourt in the draft or free agency, a trade looks to be the surest way to patch the hole down low.

Now, the Pistons could go a couple of ways here. New Orleans is looking to shed payroll and were open to sending Tyson Chandler away.

The Clippers have a glut of very good big men in Chis Kaman, Marcus Camby, and Zach Randolph.

Also, the Wizards could look to unload Antawn Jamison if they manage the first pick and draft Griffin.

Or the Raptors could shop around Bosh in fear of losing him for nothing to free agency in 2010.

Chandler might seem like a good fit for the Pistons and could be had for really cheap, but he might not be as good as advertised. A lot of his points come from fast breaks and alley-oops from Chris Paul.

He is a seven-footer though and could be a force down low, but his price might be to high for giving us similar skills to Kwame Brown, who is half the price (if he doesn't opt out).

The Clippers look tempting as trade partners too, in order to shore up the frontcourt. They might be looking for a little more back in a trade than the Hornets though, because they aren't in payroll shedding mode.

That would most likely mean Hamilton or Prince as bait and I don't know if either of those players are wanted by the Clippers, since they have Eric Gordon and Al Thorton up and coming. I do like all three of their big men though but not nearly as much Bosh.

Getting Jamison would take a large amount of luck by multiple parties. First the Wizards would have to draft Griffin. They would most likely need to win the lottery to do that.

Then they would have to be open to a trade with the Pistons. Prince seems to be the most likely option as it would give the Wizards a strong defensive presence, which they have lacked for a while. This seems to be the least likely option today (draft lottery happens Tuesday, so it might seem more plausible then).

Now, on to Bosh. He's listed at 6' 10" or 6' 11", depending on who's listing. He averages over 20ppg, 10rpg, and one bpg, as well as 2.5apg. He's also only 27, so he still has a long career left.

For this to work, Toronto is going to have to really fear losing Bosh to free agency in 2010. This might be more likely near the trade deadline in February. We also have a piece to the puzzle that the Raptors lack in Prince.

Shawn Marion is old and has shown significant signs of decline in his game. The trade would also most likely require Maxiell or Johnson, who could be replaceable if we draft Blair.

To me, trading for Bosh and replacing either Hamilton or Prince with Gordon or Turkoglu seems like the surest way to address the needs of the Pistons.

Ideally this would leave us with a starting five of Stuckey, Gordon, Prince, Bosh, and Brown or Stuckey, Hamilton, Turkoglu, Bosh, and Brown.

Either of those lineups should be capable of putting 50 wins in the Pistons' stat box.