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Langlois: While Jerebko and Daye are off to very promising starts, it’s premature to expect Joe D to actively start shopping his veterans at this point. I don’t think it’s out of the question that after the season, and only then if he’s convinced that Jerebko or Daye or some combination of them plus DaJuan Summers is ready to assume full-time duty, he explores his options. In the same way Rodney Stuckey’s emergence made Chauncey Billups a valuable bargaining chip, it’s possible that the rookies – and the accompanying cost certainty of their rookie-scale contracts – will make it possible for Joe D to make a similar move that benefits the Pistons economically and eventually benefit them with a roster upgrade.
Langlois: DPOY is a long shot, Tim, because the perception built up over the last three seasons won’t easily dissipate and the Pistons aren’t likely to get much national TV exposure this season. But if he can maintain his minutes-per-game average and keep his rebounding numbers up around 10 – and I don’t know about the likelihood, given the 23 back-to-backs the Pistons have scheduled and John Kuester’s plan to monitor his minutes in such circumstances – then he’ll at least be in the running for a berth on one of the All-Defensive teams.
Langlois: Starting from scratch? They retained Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Rodney Stuckey, Will Bynum, Kwame Brown and Jason Maxiell from last season – and all six are in the rotation, or would be, if Hamilton and Prince were healthy. That’s a long way from scratch. Had the Pistons stayed pat, their nucleus would be 35 (Rasheed Wallace), 35 (Antonio McDyess) and 34 (Allen Iverson), to go along with Hamilton (31), Prince (29) and the rest of the players still here. When you say “add a few pieces” to them, understand that you couldn’t add anything to that roster without sacrificing something else, because that roster also would have meant the Pistons were significantly over the salary cap.
Langlois: Nobody’s saying much about a timetable for either’s return, Joseph. Even though Prince’s injury is being desribed as a “small rupture” of a disc in his lower back, there’s no such thing as a minor back injury for a basketball player. And back injuries are notoriously unpredictable. As for Hamilton, I wouldn’t be surprised if he misses several more games. He said before Friday’s game at Orlando that he wasn’t close to returning. He hasn’t even begun to run yet. Once that happens, you can start to set a timetable for his return.
Langlois: Not sure which Rasheed Wallace you were watching. This year, Wallace is taking a whopping two-thirds of his shots – 50 of 75 through Saturday’s game – from behind the arc. Villanueva, going into Sunday’s game with Philly, had taken 23 of his 68 shots from behind the arc. He posted up quite effectively at Orlando the other night. It’s not something the Pistons are going to force against bigger teams, but they very much believe that Villanueva can give them a post scoring presence.
Langlois: Villanueva is a talented scorer, Byron, and it’s important that he provides the Pistons with a steady 16 or 18 points a game to give them some inside punch to balance their outside scoring. As for Wilcox, his lack of production probably ranks as the biggest disappointment of the season so far – outside of the injuries to Prince and Hamilton, at least. John Kuester gave him his shot at moving into the rotation last week, but he moved Jason Maxiell back ahead of him in Sunday’s Philly game.
Langlois: No doubt about it. Prince is obviously a huge part of team defense and Hamilton, as I’ve maintained for years, is an underrated defender. Their experience and the depth the Pistons will have when those two get back should bolster them across the board. The three huge quarters they’ve had defensively – at Milwaukee, at Toronto and at Orlando – probably cost them three games.
Langlois: It’s at the discretion of the official scorer, but in most cases it goes to the player who tips the ball to a teammate.
Langlois: Doesn’t come close to working from a cap standpoint, Ben, and Sacramento is much more interested in shedding contracts than adding. The Kings are in serious rebuilding mode and Evans, along with Jason Thompson and Spencer Hawes, are the cornerstones along with young vets Kevin Martin and Francisco Garcia – both of whom are hurt, which would further discourage the Kings from trading for veterans to help them win now.
Langlois: Fact of life: People advocating change are far more likely to voice their opinion than people who prefer the status quo. I don’t think it’s anything more than that, other than the natural curiosity people harbor about the newcomers. It’s like the old line: The most popular player on a football team is the backup quarterback – at least until he gets in the game and everybody then sees why he’s the backup, not the starter. The Pistons strongly believe all three of their rookies have bright futures, but to suggest the Pistons wouldn’t feel the effects of losing Prince and/or Hamilton is foolishness.
Langlois: He’s more advanced defensively. He played two years of pro basketball in Italy, one of Europe’s top leagues. That’s a little different than playing in the West Coast Conference, as Daye did for two years at Gonzaga.
Langlois: He’s said that this is the best he’s felt physically since he left the Pistons the first time around. It’s only November, of course. He might feel a little differently in February or March. But so far, so good. Have to believe if he doesn’t suffer any physical setbacks, and if he enjoys the rest of the season as he so far seems to be enjoying the early going, he’ll naturally be interested in suiting up again next season. But that’s a long way down the road.
Langlois: I don’t think you’d get the Pistons to bite on that for two reasons, Casey: First of all, you can’t ignore West’s emotional difficulties. Bipolar disorder is manageable in many cases, but it’s a pretty big gamble when you’re talking about millions of dollars and the overall welfare of the franchise. Even at that, you might take the risk if you were convinced the cap space would give you significant room next summer. I’m not sure it would. If the cap comes down to the low end of projections, which would put it just above $50 million next season – about $7 million less than it is this season – then that wipes out a very large chunk of the space you would anticipate having from Z’s expiring deal.
Langlois: I think it’s a lot easier to the fantasy GM of 30 teams than it is to be the real GM of one, Josh. Nothing against Hollinger. He’s paid to speculate about such things and he does it well. But trade Rip for a big guy? Which one? The ones in his price range who teams wanted to shop are players like Samuel Dalembert and Erick Dampier. Does that excite you? And Hollinger understands as well as anyone that the primary motivation for the trade wasn’t to get Iverson, it was to get his expiring contract. Yeah, Joe Dumars hoped Iverson’s unique offensive ability would give the Pistons a new look in the muck and grind of the playoffs and that didn’t happen. But it was always about having the chance to remake the team on the fly without having to tear it down completely.
Langlois: It’s worth noting that at 23, Stuckey’s current age, Billups was in his third season, as Stuckey is, and had just been traded for the third time. He averaged 8.6 points and 3.0 assists that season, one in which he was limited to 13 games by a shoulder injury. It would be three more years until he became a full-time starter in the NBA upon joining the Pistons for the 2003-04 season.
Langlois: There are many Web sites that deal with more obscure statistical categories, but go to NBA.com, find the Stats tab and drag down to Team Stats. There you can choose either opponents’ points per game or opponents’ field-goal percentage. When you click on the category, it will automatically sort the information from best to worst in the league. There is no official “best defense” stat. Most coaches say field-goal percentage defense is the best barometer, because points per game is dependent on the pace at which teams play offensively.
Langlois: The Pistons should benefit from their versatility so that, in effect, it doesn’t matter what positions they play. Jerebko is showing already that he’s capable of defending both spots. Daye has also been better than anyone expected defensively, showing that his combination of length and smarts allows him to stay in front of athletic small forwards. Will Daye ever be strong enough to guard power forwards in the post? Maybe not the most clever scorers who have a significant edge in bulk and power over him, but most others. It could be a situation similar to what Orlando experienced last year when the Magic had both Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu, both players about 6-foot-10 and both comfortable playing on the perimeter. The Pistons would be delighted if Daye and Jerebko ever approach the offensive proficiency of Lewis and Turkoglu, but it’s fair to say they’ll be a better defensive combo. To answer your question more specifically, I think the Pistons would say they’re more sure of Jerebko’s ability to play the three than they are of Daye’s ability to play the four, but they believe both can give them minutes at either spot. And more of the same for DaJuan Summers, though he’ll probably spend more of his minutes at three than four.
