Glenn
09-14-2007, 01:22 PM
:langlois:
Renee (Troy): I’ll call it now – Nazr won’t start. I think Jason Maxiell will want it too much and if given the chance – which he will – he’ll get the minutes. Do you think the offense will change with all the new players? Do you think Chauncey and Rip are trying to learn how to create for themselves?
Langlois: The most intriguing question heading into camp, Renee, will be who becomes the fifth starter? It could be somewhat similar to last season – either Nazr Mohammed starts or he fights to stay in the rotation. One possibility I wouldn’t rule out is Antonio McDyess. I know he’s said he prefers coming off the bench, but McDyess is first and foremost a team guy and it just wouldn’t be that difficult to not just talk him into starting, but convincing him it’s a great idea. It’s going to depend largely on how readily Rasheed Wallace buys into spending a significant number of minutes at the center position. Most nights, it’s just not that big a deal. On nights you’re playing Miami (Shaq) or New York (Eddy Curry), that’s a load – but I think the Pistons would just put McDyess on the other team’s big guy. McDyess would be perfectly fine with that. Do I see the offense changing? I see the chance for significant offensive improvement when Flip Saunders goes to his bench this year because of Rodney Stuckey, Amir Johnson and Jarvis Hayes and the different things they’ll provide – Stuckey with his slashing ability, Johnson with his ability to beat other big guys down the floor and to get his hands on loose rebounds, and Hayes for his perimeter stroke.
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Kevin (Bloomfield Hills): I read on HoopsWorld.com that Chris Webber didn’t sign with Detroit because the Pistons didn’t offer him the two-year deal he wanted. Is that true? It also said that Webber will more than likely sign with Dallas now because of Erick Dampier’s injury.
Langlois: Joe Dumars doesn’t negotiate publicly, so I can only speculate as to what they’ve discussed. But the Pistons already have 16 players under contract and, by most reasonable accounting, have less than $500,000 remaining under the luxury-tax threshold. Add up those two facts and I’d say it’s 99 percent certain that the current roster is the one that shows up for training camp in less than three weeks – barring a trade, at least. As for whether Dallas and Webber are talking, who knows? The Mavs also have roster and tax issues. I read the article you reference. The author only suggests that it would make sense for Dallas to inquire, not that a deal was imminent. A lot of people scoff at the notion of Webber playing for a Western Conference team in any prominent role because of the generally faster tempo played there. But I still think the guy is capable of playing 25 solid minutes a night for somebody. The Pistons, though, are intent on developing Jason Maxiell and Amir Johnson, and adding another veteran to the frontcourt mix would limit their opportunities. That doesn’t mean the Pistons are short-changing this season. It means that the front office has determined that the best way for the Pistons to be a formidable team come playoff time is for Maxiell and Johnson to get the minutes they need to develop.
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David (West Bloomfield): Do you see the Pistons trading Flip Murray and Nazr Mohammed for a first-round pick and then signing Webber?
Langlois: Very tough to do that deal, David. First of all, trading Murray and Mohammed would require the Pistons to take back about $8 million in salary unless they found a team with a trade exception (not too many of them out there) and two free roster spots (even fewer of them) – and a team that thought those two players were worth a first-rounder. Bottom line: a very, very long shot.
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Mark (Grand Rapids): I recently read an article that said “the Pistons are on the downside of their mini-dynasty.” While I disagree with that opinion, there’s not much that can be argued considering the Pistons have been increasingly unimpressive in the postseason for the past couple of years. With the Celtics headlining the “New East,” what is your honest opinion of how the Pistons will fare in the 2008 playoffs and what do you think they have to do to improve?
Langlois: It’s pretty early to speculate how they’ll do in the playoffs. How will injuries affect the season? How will all the teams that made major moves in the East over the off-season – Boston, New York, Orlando, Charlotte – develop? How much help will Chicago get from Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah? And that’s just outsider questions. The Pistons have several of their own: How big an impact will Rodney Stuckey have? How about Amir Johnson? Will Jason Maxiell emerge as a starting-quality big man? Can Jarvis Hayes contribute enough that Flip Saunders feels comfortable resting Tayshaun Prince more often? If most or all of those questions get answered positively for the Pistons, then they’ll hit the postseason in very good shape. And we’ll be monitoring those questions throughout the season.
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Fran (Southfield): In a Bill Laimbeer interview, he stated that at the end of the season he gives each Shock player things to work on to improve their game. Besides Rip, do any of the Pistons work on improving their game?
Langlois: It’s pretty standard stuff, Fran. Players do exit interviews before breaking up for the summer where the coaches and personnel staff review their season, talk about off-season preparation and look ahead to next season’s role. Everybody works on something in the off-season and most players keep themselves in top-notch condition year round. There’s too much money at stake these days and too many people who covet their jobs to do otherwise. You already know that Chauncey Billups and Tayshaun Prince spent a good chunk of their summer preparing for and participating in the Tournament of the Americas Olympic qualifier. The young players – Rodney Stuckey, Amir Johnson, Arron Afflalo, Sammy Mejia and Cheick Samb – were at the Pistons’ practice facility many weeks getting put through the paces by assistant coach Michael Curry. Jason Maxiell took the unusual step for a third-year pro of volunteering to participate in Summer League play.
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Paul: I know everyone, including me, is optimistic about the upcoming season with the additions of Stuckey, Afflalo and Hayes. Are we expecting a breakout year from Amir Johnson and Jason Maxiell? What happens if Stuckey and Afflalo turn out to be busts and Jason and Amir don’t have breakout seasons?
Langlois: What happens is there’s no lessening of the burden on the Pistons top six players – Billups, Hamilton, Prince, Wallace, McDyess and (perhaps) Mohammed. But I don’t expect the Pistons to go 0-for-5 on Hayes, Johnson, Maxiell, Stuckey and Afflalo. At least two or three of those guys are going to give them positive contributions – and that’s going to mean an upgraded bench.
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Gil (Charlotte, N.C.): I just don’t get it. When SI.com was reviewing and grading each team, they didn’t even mention the expanded roles for Amir Johnson and Jason Maxiell, and in fact said the frontcourt was thin. How can ESPN The Magazine be writing that Amir might be another Kevin Garnett, but most of the media is just writing off the Pistons?
Langlois: Just like anything else, you read as much as you can and learn to trust some sources and not others. Hey, at least it’s about basketball – a diversion. If ESPN The Magazine is wrong about Amir, fans might be a little disappointed but they’ll move on. When you read and believe that an adjustable-rate mortgage from a subprime lender is the way to go and three years later find out you owe twice as much on your house as you can sell it for, that’s trouble. And that, in a nutshell, is why sports is such a significant part of American culture – in an increasingly complex and cut-throat world, it remains a wonderful diversion. As for why SI.com didn’t mention Johnson and Maxiell, it could be anything from they simply aren’t aware that the Pistons have decided their time is now to they simply don’t believe they’ll make an impact. Either way, it’s bad analysis to not mention the expectations the organization has for them and then offer some insight as to the wisdom of such a decision.
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T.J. (Rochester Hills): Why didn’t the Pistons make an attempt for Ruben Patterson? The guy signed with the Clippers for one year at the veteran’s minimum. That’s a major steal. I know we signed Hayes and I liked that move, but I wish there was a way we could have added Patterson, too.
Langlois: At some point, you’ve got to draw the line and say this is our team. Hayes already puts the Pistons one contract over the maximum allowed for the regular season, so they’re already looking at the possibility of waiving one player and swallowing his contract. Signing another veteran puts the Pistons into luxury-tax territory, which isn’t the end of the world but is something most teams this side of the Knicks try to avoid. With Prince sure to gobble up at least 30 minutes at Patterson’s position and Hayes and Arron Afflalo – in management’s estimation, at least – more than capable of dividing what’s left, where would Patterson play? And who would you cut to make room for him? Patterson, for all his toughness and competitive fire, also has some big red flags for character in his history that scares a lot of teams away.
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Lee (Oklahoma): How does Minnesota look after the Garnett trade? Do you think they can make the playoffs?
Langlois: I wrote a blog the other day saying I don’t remember an NBA season where more teams went into training camp with legitimate hopes of contending for a playoff spot than this one. But Minnesota is the exception to the rule. In my mind, they’ve got the longest odds of any team to crack the playoff field – and second place isn’t even close. They’d have received a better return on Garnett if they’d traded him on draft night, but they did OK. Al Jefferson is already a fringe All-Star candidate who should still have room to grow. Gerald Green is a boom-or-bust prospect. Ryan Gomes is at least a nice rotation piece. And the T-wolves got back their own No. 1 pick – sure to be a lottery selection – in the trade, as well, along with another No. 1. That package could be the nucleus of a playoff contender – two years down the road – when combined with the past two No. 1 picks, Randy Foye and Corey Brewer.
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Andrew (Dearborn): Joe D said over the summer that he would like to give Tayshaun Prince less time to keep him from wearing down in the playoffs. What do you think of bringing Tayshaun off the bench and starting Jarvis Hayes? Tay could be a Ginobili-type off the bench.
Langlois: I’m not a big fan of that idea, Andrew. Ginobili makes sense coming off the bench for a few reasons. No. 1, San Antonio goes to Tim Duncan early in games. Not many teams could afford to keep a player of Ginobili’s stature on the bench to start games, but the Spurs can. No. 2, Ginobili’s an explosive, streaky scorer. Prince’s best attribute is that he doesn’t have one skill that stands above the rest. There are no holes in his game. You want that steady hand out there at the start of games. If I were to take any Pistons starter out of the lineup – and I wouldn’t do this, either – it would be Rip Hamilton, because he would definitely provide that type of Ginobili scoring explosiveness off the bench. The trouble with that is the Pistons often rely on Hamilton to get them out of the gates early in games.
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Bryan (Remus): I heard NBA teams can have 15 players under contract but only 12 can be on the active list. Is this true? And if so, what 12 players do you think will be there.
Langlois: True and true, Bryan. Twelve has long been the magic number for players who can be in uniform. It used to be that NBA teams would invent injuries – a strained back was always a good one, because it’s pretty hard to disprove – to keep players stash on the “injured list.” A few years ago, the NBA ended the wink-wink hypocrisy by setting rosters at 15 and allowing coaches to designate three players every game as inactive. Just a guess, but I think the 12 players the Pistons will choose to activate most nights – assuming everyone’s healthy – are Billups, Hamilton, Prince, Wallace, Maxiell, Johnson, Mohammed, McDyess, Stuckey, Afflalo, Hayes and Murray.
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Jack (Conroe, Texas): I really liked your “Golden Age” article and I agree 100 percent. But I wonder how much Kobe has left. I know he’s only 29 or so, but I think he’s got about two or three years left before we start to see a significant change in his play. Also, how does Jason Maxiell match up against guys like Greg Oden or Kevin Garnett or even Emeka Okafor?
Langlois: I can’t see Kobe starting to slip that soon. Realistically, I’d say he’s got another five or six years left as an elite player. The 20 pounds he shed this summer – from a frame that hardly looked like it needed to shed half of that – tells me he’s as maniacally focused as anyone could be. In talking to Pistons executive Tony Ronzone, who worked with Team USA in preparing scouting reports for their opponents at the FIBA Americas Tournament, it’s clear that Bryant’s skill level and work ethic is held in very high esteem by everyone associated with the program. As for Maxiell, the Pistons are very optimistic about his future, but he’s not going to match up very well with the three players you mentioned. Maxiell is listed at 6-foot-7 and only his toughness, explosiveness and competitiveness allows him to compete with most power forwards. You list two legitimate centers and a freakishly long power forward. The Pistons won’t ask him to go against those types very often. The better question is how does he match up against Drew Gooden, Zach Randolph, Andres Nocioni, Udonis Haslem, Nenad Krstic, Jeff Foster, Kendrick Perkins, et al. The guess is he’ll do pretty well initially and keep getting better. We’ll start finding out over the next few months.
Renee (Troy): I’ll call it now – Nazr won’t start. I think Jason Maxiell will want it too much and if given the chance – which he will – he’ll get the minutes. Do you think the offense will change with all the new players? Do you think Chauncey and Rip are trying to learn how to create for themselves?
Langlois: The most intriguing question heading into camp, Renee, will be who becomes the fifth starter? It could be somewhat similar to last season – either Nazr Mohammed starts or he fights to stay in the rotation. One possibility I wouldn’t rule out is Antonio McDyess. I know he’s said he prefers coming off the bench, but McDyess is first and foremost a team guy and it just wouldn’t be that difficult to not just talk him into starting, but convincing him it’s a great idea. It’s going to depend largely on how readily Rasheed Wallace buys into spending a significant number of minutes at the center position. Most nights, it’s just not that big a deal. On nights you’re playing Miami (Shaq) or New York (Eddy Curry), that’s a load – but I think the Pistons would just put McDyess on the other team’s big guy. McDyess would be perfectly fine with that. Do I see the offense changing? I see the chance for significant offensive improvement when Flip Saunders goes to his bench this year because of Rodney Stuckey, Amir Johnson and Jarvis Hayes and the different things they’ll provide – Stuckey with his slashing ability, Johnson with his ability to beat other big guys down the floor and to get his hands on loose rebounds, and Hayes for his perimeter stroke.
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Kevin (Bloomfield Hills): I read on HoopsWorld.com that Chris Webber didn’t sign with Detroit because the Pistons didn’t offer him the two-year deal he wanted. Is that true? It also said that Webber will more than likely sign with Dallas now because of Erick Dampier’s injury.
Langlois: Joe Dumars doesn’t negotiate publicly, so I can only speculate as to what they’ve discussed. But the Pistons already have 16 players under contract and, by most reasonable accounting, have less than $500,000 remaining under the luxury-tax threshold. Add up those two facts and I’d say it’s 99 percent certain that the current roster is the one that shows up for training camp in less than three weeks – barring a trade, at least. As for whether Dallas and Webber are talking, who knows? The Mavs also have roster and tax issues. I read the article you reference. The author only suggests that it would make sense for Dallas to inquire, not that a deal was imminent. A lot of people scoff at the notion of Webber playing for a Western Conference team in any prominent role because of the generally faster tempo played there. But I still think the guy is capable of playing 25 solid minutes a night for somebody. The Pistons, though, are intent on developing Jason Maxiell and Amir Johnson, and adding another veteran to the frontcourt mix would limit their opportunities. That doesn’t mean the Pistons are short-changing this season. It means that the front office has determined that the best way for the Pistons to be a formidable team come playoff time is for Maxiell and Johnson to get the minutes they need to develop.
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David (West Bloomfield): Do you see the Pistons trading Flip Murray and Nazr Mohammed for a first-round pick and then signing Webber?
Langlois: Very tough to do that deal, David. First of all, trading Murray and Mohammed would require the Pistons to take back about $8 million in salary unless they found a team with a trade exception (not too many of them out there) and two free roster spots (even fewer of them) – and a team that thought those two players were worth a first-rounder. Bottom line: a very, very long shot.
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Mark (Grand Rapids): I recently read an article that said “the Pistons are on the downside of their mini-dynasty.” While I disagree with that opinion, there’s not much that can be argued considering the Pistons have been increasingly unimpressive in the postseason for the past couple of years. With the Celtics headlining the “New East,” what is your honest opinion of how the Pistons will fare in the 2008 playoffs and what do you think they have to do to improve?
Langlois: It’s pretty early to speculate how they’ll do in the playoffs. How will injuries affect the season? How will all the teams that made major moves in the East over the off-season – Boston, New York, Orlando, Charlotte – develop? How much help will Chicago get from Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah? And that’s just outsider questions. The Pistons have several of their own: How big an impact will Rodney Stuckey have? How about Amir Johnson? Will Jason Maxiell emerge as a starting-quality big man? Can Jarvis Hayes contribute enough that Flip Saunders feels comfortable resting Tayshaun Prince more often? If most or all of those questions get answered positively for the Pistons, then they’ll hit the postseason in very good shape. And we’ll be monitoring those questions throughout the season.
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Fran (Southfield): In a Bill Laimbeer interview, he stated that at the end of the season he gives each Shock player things to work on to improve their game. Besides Rip, do any of the Pistons work on improving their game?
Langlois: It’s pretty standard stuff, Fran. Players do exit interviews before breaking up for the summer where the coaches and personnel staff review their season, talk about off-season preparation and look ahead to next season’s role. Everybody works on something in the off-season and most players keep themselves in top-notch condition year round. There’s too much money at stake these days and too many people who covet their jobs to do otherwise. You already know that Chauncey Billups and Tayshaun Prince spent a good chunk of their summer preparing for and participating in the Tournament of the Americas Olympic qualifier. The young players – Rodney Stuckey, Amir Johnson, Arron Afflalo, Sammy Mejia and Cheick Samb – were at the Pistons’ practice facility many weeks getting put through the paces by assistant coach Michael Curry. Jason Maxiell took the unusual step for a third-year pro of volunteering to participate in Summer League play.
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Paul: I know everyone, including me, is optimistic about the upcoming season with the additions of Stuckey, Afflalo and Hayes. Are we expecting a breakout year from Amir Johnson and Jason Maxiell? What happens if Stuckey and Afflalo turn out to be busts and Jason and Amir don’t have breakout seasons?
Langlois: What happens is there’s no lessening of the burden on the Pistons top six players – Billups, Hamilton, Prince, Wallace, McDyess and (perhaps) Mohammed. But I don’t expect the Pistons to go 0-for-5 on Hayes, Johnson, Maxiell, Stuckey and Afflalo. At least two or three of those guys are going to give them positive contributions – and that’s going to mean an upgraded bench.
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Gil (Charlotte, N.C.): I just don’t get it. When SI.com was reviewing and grading each team, they didn’t even mention the expanded roles for Amir Johnson and Jason Maxiell, and in fact said the frontcourt was thin. How can ESPN The Magazine be writing that Amir might be another Kevin Garnett, but most of the media is just writing off the Pistons?
Langlois: Just like anything else, you read as much as you can and learn to trust some sources and not others. Hey, at least it’s about basketball – a diversion. If ESPN The Magazine is wrong about Amir, fans might be a little disappointed but they’ll move on. When you read and believe that an adjustable-rate mortgage from a subprime lender is the way to go and three years later find out you owe twice as much on your house as you can sell it for, that’s trouble. And that, in a nutshell, is why sports is such a significant part of American culture – in an increasingly complex and cut-throat world, it remains a wonderful diversion. As for why SI.com didn’t mention Johnson and Maxiell, it could be anything from they simply aren’t aware that the Pistons have decided their time is now to they simply don’t believe they’ll make an impact. Either way, it’s bad analysis to not mention the expectations the organization has for them and then offer some insight as to the wisdom of such a decision.
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T.J. (Rochester Hills): Why didn’t the Pistons make an attempt for Ruben Patterson? The guy signed with the Clippers for one year at the veteran’s minimum. That’s a major steal. I know we signed Hayes and I liked that move, but I wish there was a way we could have added Patterson, too.
Langlois: At some point, you’ve got to draw the line and say this is our team. Hayes already puts the Pistons one contract over the maximum allowed for the regular season, so they’re already looking at the possibility of waiving one player and swallowing his contract. Signing another veteran puts the Pistons into luxury-tax territory, which isn’t the end of the world but is something most teams this side of the Knicks try to avoid. With Prince sure to gobble up at least 30 minutes at Patterson’s position and Hayes and Arron Afflalo – in management’s estimation, at least – more than capable of dividing what’s left, where would Patterson play? And who would you cut to make room for him? Patterson, for all his toughness and competitive fire, also has some big red flags for character in his history that scares a lot of teams away.
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Lee (Oklahoma): How does Minnesota look after the Garnett trade? Do you think they can make the playoffs?
Langlois: I wrote a blog the other day saying I don’t remember an NBA season where more teams went into training camp with legitimate hopes of contending for a playoff spot than this one. But Minnesota is the exception to the rule. In my mind, they’ve got the longest odds of any team to crack the playoff field – and second place isn’t even close. They’d have received a better return on Garnett if they’d traded him on draft night, but they did OK. Al Jefferson is already a fringe All-Star candidate who should still have room to grow. Gerald Green is a boom-or-bust prospect. Ryan Gomes is at least a nice rotation piece. And the T-wolves got back their own No. 1 pick – sure to be a lottery selection – in the trade, as well, along with another No. 1. That package could be the nucleus of a playoff contender – two years down the road – when combined with the past two No. 1 picks, Randy Foye and Corey Brewer.
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Andrew (Dearborn): Joe D said over the summer that he would like to give Tayshaun Prince less time to keep him from wearing down in the playoffs. What do you think of bringing Tayshaun off the bench and starting Jarvis Hayes? Tay could be a Ginobili-type off the bench.
Langlois: I’m not a big fan of that idea, Andrew. Ginobili makes sense coming off the bench for a few reasons. No. 1, San Antonio goes to Tim Duncan early in games. Not many teams could afford to keep a player of Ginobili’s stature on the bench to start games, but the Spurs can. No. 2, Ginobili’s an explosive, streaky scorer. Prince’s best attribute is that he doesn’t have one skill that stands above the rest. There are no holes in his game. You want that steady hand out there at the start of games. If I were to take any Pistons starter out of the lineup – and I wouldn’t do this, either – it would be Rip Hamilton, because he would definitely provide that type of Ginobili scoring explosiveness off the bench. The trouble with that is the Pistons often rely on Hamilton to get them out of the gates early in games.
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Bryan (Remus): I heard NBA teams can have 15 players under contract but only 12 can be on the active list. Is this true? And if so, what 12 players do you think will be there.
Langlois: True and true, Bryan. Twelve has long been the magic number for players who can be in uniform. It used to be that NBA teams would invent injuries – a strained back was always a good one, because it’s pretty hard to disprove – to keep players stash on the “injured list.” A few years ago, the NBA ended the wink-wink hypocrisy by setting rosters at 15 and allowing coaches to designate three players every game as inactive. Just a guess, but I think the 12 players the Pistons will choose to activate most nights – assuming everyone’s healthy – are Billups, Hamilton, Prince, Wallace, Maxiell, Johnson, Mohammed, McDyess, Stuckey, Afflalo, Hayes and Murray.
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Jack (Conroe, Texas): I really liked your “Golden Age” article and I agree 100 percent. But I wonder how much Kobe has left. I know he’s only 29 or so, but I think he’s got about two or three years left before we start to see a significant change in his play. Also, how does Jason Maxiell match up against guys like Greg Oden or Kevin Garnett or even Emeka Okafor?
Langlois: I can’t see Kobe starting to slip that soon. Realistically, I’d say he’s got another five or six years left as an elite player. The 20 pounds he shed this summer – from a frame that hardly looked like it needed to shed half of that – tells me he’s as maniacally focused as anyone could be. In talking to Pistons executive Tony Ronzone, who worked with Team USA in preparing scouting reports for their opponents at the FIBA Americas Tournament, it’s clear that Bryant’s skill level and work ethic is held in very high esteem by everyone associated with the program. As for Maxiell, the Pistons are very optimistic about his future, but he’s not going to match up very well with the three players you mentioned. Maxiell is listed at 6-foot-7 and only his toughness, explosiveness and competitiveness allows him to compete with most power forwards. You list two legitimate centers and a freakishly long power forward. The Pistons won’t ask him to go against those types very often. The better question is how does he match up against Drew Gooden, Zach Randolph, Andres Nocioni, Udonis Haslem, Nenad Krstic, Jeff Foster, Kendrick Perkins, et al. The guess is he’ll do pretty well initially and keep getting better. We’ll start finding out over the next few months.