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Sign up for E-newsPistons Mailbag - Monday, September 14, 2009
Pistons.com editor Keith Langlois answers your questions about the Pistons and NBA. Click here to submit your questions - please include your name, email address and city/state on the form. Return to the Mailbag homepage.
We reserve the right to edit your question for the sake of brevity or clarity.
Rob (Rockford, Mich.): If Daye, Summers and Jerebko prove they deserve minutes, whose minutes would be affected?
Langlois: Major hypothetical here, Rob, because not only can’t all three of them play if the roster is whole and healthy, but it’s unlikely all three will make the 12-man active list most nights. I expect Deron Washington will most likely be one of the two inactives and logic dictates the other would come from the group of 2009 draftees. But if Daye, Summers and Jerebko were somehow to all press for playing time, then Tayshaun Prince would logically be affected – since all three, and especially Daye and Summers, can play small forward. Jerebko is more likely to push for a role at power forward, so the group of Charlie Villanueva, Chris Wilcox and Jason Maxiell would figure to be most affected by Jerebko’s readiness.
Arvetta (Atlanta, Ga.): Can someone please tell me if some Pistons games will air on TNT or ESPN? Please don’t tell me that only four games will be televised so I can’t see my team play this year.
Langlois: The Pistons aren’t scheduled for any TNT or ABC games as of now, Arvetta, with four games scheduled for ESPN. A subscription to NBA League Pass is the best way to see the Pistons frequently. It’s available via most cable provides and through satellite providers DirecTV and Dish Network, as well as via broadband over your computer.
Joshua (Kalamazoo, Mich.): Do you believe the Pistons aren’t going to make it into the playoffs this season? I know most of the “experts” – and I mean people from ESPN.com – say they won’t, but what do you think?
Langlois: I don’t think anyone predicting the Pistons to finish out of the playoff field do so with great conviction, Joshua. I think they’re more likely to make it than not, but it’s not a lock. If you concede that Cleveland, Orlando and Boston are the top three in the East and pencil Atlanta into the field, as well, then somebody from the group of Detroit, Miami, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington and Toronto is going to be disappointed – but four of those teams are probably going to make it. If the Pistons can tread water over the season’s first 20 games or so, when the schedule is pretty daunting and eight new faces will be trying to establish roles, then things will be looking good for them.
Josh (Boston): As I see it, the Pistons have a lot riding on whether Kwame can live up to his new role as the starting center. In what ways can Brown compensate for his small hands in the area of rebounding and shot-blocking? How would you measure a successful season for him this year?
Langlois: John Kuester is going to give Kwame Brown a very short list of objectives – be strong and be big defensively, box out your man whether you get the rebound or not, set solid screens and take care of the basketball. Brown’s small hands are what they are. I don’t know that they limit his ability to rebound or to block shots to a significant degree. Success for Kwame will be measured by his maintaining his starting position and giving Kuester what he expects of him consistently for 20-25 minutes.
Donavon (Oak Park, Mich.): Do you think Joe D is satisfied with his frontcourt or are there more deals in the making?
Langlois: Looking for ways to upgrade the roster is a 24/7/365 concern, Donavon. He’s always receptive to ideas to improve the team’s present and future. But I’d put the odds of another move of Billups-Iverson magnitude at 1 in 100 at this point. Joe D has effected the change he hoped to make already. I think he wants to see what he has in players like Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva and Chris Wilcox, plus the rookies, before recasting the mix.
Ken (Ankara, Turkey): Defense seems to be scheme, technique, attitude and fitness. You have talked about scheme and recently about technique. What about the team’s attitude toward defense? Will they be in shape to play defense in the fourth quarter?
Langlois: Mind-set is critical, Ken. And talking to John Kuester and his assistants and watching them recently go over in intricate detail the nuances of their defensive rotations leaves little question in my mind that Kuester is going to make defense the major priority of training camp. I think his view is that he’s got plenty of talented offensive players and that scoring, by and large, is going to take care of itself. He’s going to preach defensive communication and team defense every day. I’m not saying the Pistons are going to be a top-five defensive team, as they’ve so often been over the past decade, but concerns that they’ll be a poor defensive team, I predict, will be alleviated quickly. As for being in shape, that all comes down to self-discipline. I don’t see conditioning being a particular worry with this team. The one player left who sometimes tends to put on weight over the course of the season is Jason Maxiell, who’ll be on the first year of his four-year extension this season. It’ll be interesting to see how that affects him. By all accounts, Maxiell is in great shape now. He knows, with Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess moving on, that the opportunity to solidify a role has never been greater.
Moses (Alpena, Mich.): Your thoughts on the Iverson to Memphis deal?
Langlois: Mostly like everyone else’s: Iverson and Zach Randolph together could be … hmmm. Troubling? Iverson, Randolph, Mayo and Gay … lots of firepower, but good luck fitting the parts together. Iverson said this year was going to be “very personal” for him. That might worry me a little if I were Memphis management or coaching. He said the tank is no longer overflowing, it’s merely full. I don’t think he gets back the quickness that enabled him to not just beat his man, but to beat help defense to the rim. He still makes as many tough shots as anyone; the problem is he almost never takes anything but a tough shot.
Jonny (Hudsonville, Mich.): Most would agree that the Pistons are one or two impact players away from contending for a championship, specifically at the center position. Do you think Detroit would categorize Chris Kaman as an impact player? If so, would Joe D look at making a deal for him?
Langlois: When Kaman’s healthy, he’s a double-double guy. That seems to qualify him as an impact player. I don’t think Joe D has many hard and fast rules, but on first blush I would guess that Kaman isn’t as well-rounded as he would prefer for a player who takes up such a big chunk of payroll. Joe D likes his big men to be able to play away from the basket – at least to be able to defend away from the rim, if not be a great perimeter shooting threat – and Kaman is pretty much limited to playing in the paint. In anticipation of responses that point out Kwame Brown doesn’t fit that profile, I’d say two things: (1) Brown can’t score away from the rim, but he’s got quick feet and the ability to defend farther away from the basket than Kaman, and (2) Brown’s salary and role are different than Kaman’s and a trade for him would cost the Pistons assets that would make it tougher to get away with using a limited player in a prominent role.
Mark (Grand Rapids, Mich.): When was the defining moment in Michael Jordan’s career where people said, OK, he’s passed Bird and Magic?
Langlois: If the question is historically, as opposed to at that moment (which surely would have been when Jordan led the Bulls to their first title in 1991 and it was apparent that certainly the Celtics and likely the Lakers had seen their moment pass), it’s tough to say when it became generally accepted that Michael Jordan was the greatest player of his generation (and ever in the minds of many. I never bought it, as I’ve continued to contend Magic Johnson was the greatest player of my lifetime.). For many, it might have been in 1997 when Jordan led the Bulls over Utah in what’s become known as the “flu game” – Google “Michael Jordan flu” and see what happens. That resulted in Chicago’s fifth NBA title, which matched Johnson’s five with the Lakers and obviously surpassed Bird’s three with Boston. Given Jordan’s greater scoring stats and his unparalleled highlight reel fodder, the case seemed to close for good around then.
Jason (Algonac, Mich.): I’m curious because you’ve said I before and I just wanted to know why you say Magic is the best player ever. What puts him above Michael in your eyes?
Langlois: The five titles Johnson won all came during the era I consider the most competitive in NBA history. By the time Jordan’s Bulls were dominating the ’90s, there wasn’t another team I considered on a par with the Celtics, Lakers or Pistons of the ’80s. If the best teams Magic’s Lakers had to face in the ’80s were the likes of Utah or Houston or Phoenix that Michael’s Bulls had to beat in the ’90s for their titles, the Lakers might have won eight or nine out of 10. I also include their college careers when considering their greatness, and Magic Johnson was a dominant college player from the moment he stepped on the court as a freshman. I think it’s possible that LeBron James could challenge Magic and Michael before his career is over, but he’s going to have to win multiple titles in order to work his way into serious conversation among the masses.
Cam (Melbourne, Australia): If no big trades are made, then the Pistons could set themselves up for a good 2010-11 season if they pick up a good center in 2010. I see the options as Brendan Haywood, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Tyrus Thomas and Brad Miller for the mid-level exception and possibly Chris Hunter for the biannual.
Langlois: It might play out that Joe Dumars determines another quality big man is the thing to spend his 2010 MLE on, Cam, but it’s a little early to be making that call. If the MLE is what it takes to get Haywood, I’d expect Washington to hang on to him. Abe Pollin seems willing to spend the money. Cleveland probably isn’t going to keep both Shaq and Z beyond this season – and there’s even a real chance the Cavs deal Ilgauskas at the trade deadline when his expiring contract will be a very attractive piece. Not sure how much longer Ilgauskas can play and be productive. Thomas isn’t really a center. Miller might not have much left in the tank by then. Hunter has to prove he can stick in the league before even thinking about a biannual deal.
