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Sign up for E-newsPistons Mailbag - Thursday, June 30, 2011 - Page 4
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.
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Shadd (Detroit): With the glut of guards and the possibility of Joe D not being able to find significant trade value, do you think the Pistons would consider using Rip exclusively at small forward?
Langlois: Rip has played and produced when used at that spot in the past, Shadd. But I think as he gets older, you probably would want to reduce the amount of time he spends at that spot, especially considering the groin and hamstring issues he’s had in the past three seasons. It’s a more physically taxing position, though as Tayshaun Prince emphasized often in the past few years, the bigger transition is going from guarding small forwards to power forwards. I think the Pistons are more likely to use Rodney Stuckey at small forward than Hamilton to accommodate a three-guard lineup – he’s younger and stronger if not quite as tall. But, sure, I still think there will be matchups that make it possible, favorable even, for the Pistons to use Hamilton at small forward.
Tyler (Grand Haven, Mich.): What number will Brandon Knight wear, 0 or 7? I know he requested 0 and was given 7 at his press conference. I would like to know so I can get a jersey for my son.
Langlois: He only requested 0 originally because 12 (his college number) was taken (Will Bynum) and so was 7 – or so he thought. But when it was pointed out that Ben Gordon, who wore 7 last season, had long since planned a switch to 8, Knight was happy to take 7. That will be his number. As for when his jersey will be available for purchase, I suspect that will all be contingent on a new collective bargaining agreement.
Wesley (Warren, Mich.): If the Pistons do not hire a coach by July 1, or whenever a lockout might begin, will they have to wait until it is over to make the hire?
Langlois: No. Teams can make any personnel moves they choose, lockout or not, except those involving players.
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