Instead of a team that wins 62 and then takes a dump in the playoffs.

What does that mean exactly, or how do you do that?

Off the top, getting youngsters involved sounds good, but they usually cut the roatation by a player or 2 once the playoffs start.

Defense?

Take a page from Larry Browns playbook?

Or is it, if anyone knew for sure, everybody would be doing it.

Acquire a superstar to get calls. That seems to be it really.

Acquire a superstar to get calls. That seems to be it really.

Cogent.

Superstar + good FT shooting = success

It would seem, then, that Nike and Addidas and LA Gear have as much to do with winning as anything. Maybe the Pistons should hire a marketing firm to start a national campaign promoting Amir and Stuckey.

I turned my sneakers into Stuckey's by sticking gum on the bottom of them.
Yessir!

Acquire a superstar to get calls. That seems to be it really.


Ok, this works in the ESPN trade machine. Trade Rip, Nazr, and Maxiel for Kobe and Ronny Turiaf. Also, we could throw in both of our 2nd round picks from the Raptors to sweeten the deal.

Turiaf is a similar player to Maxiel, but who has legitimate size to play center. Put Kobe in the starting lineup and go from there.

How sick would this line up be: Turiaf, Sheed, Kobe, Tayshaun and Billups with McDyess, Stuckey, Amir off the bench!

I'd rather lose in the playoffs forever than put a superstar on the team.

Seriously.

And I'd rather die than watch Kobe put on red and blue.

I'd do it.

I'd rather get the 2004 championship team but we know those days are over.

Ok, this works in the ESPN trade machine. Trade Rip, Nazr, and Maxiel for Kobe and Ronny Turiaf. Also, we could throw in both of our 2nd round picks from the Raptors to sweeten the deal.

The Lakers wouldn't even return that phone call.

Any legit offer from the Pistons for Kobe would need to begin with two starters, IMO.

Tayshaun and rip are the only combo i could see LA taking

I'd do it, but I'm not sure that'd be enough.

I wouldn't trade Rip AND Tay for Kobe. I'm sorry, I just couldn't do that. Not straight up. We'd have to get something more than Kobe in return for an all-star and a guy on the verge of being an all-star that does all the little things.

Kobe is a selfish player, an egomaniac, and he would hate Detroit within days if he doesn't already, which he probably does. Fuck that. I don't want Kobe representing Detroit Basketball.

I'll attempt to make my case, however shallow.

My opinion of Rip has gone down some. His hustle is unbeatable, but his ball handling sucks and when he turns it over, its usually on top and results in 2 for the bad guys.

Kobe would be a huge upgrade at shooting guard.

So then we need to replace Tay. Ouch, tough. But with Kobe shooting 7 brazillion times a night, we won't need Tays O as much as we'll need a sf that can play D. I'm not going to name names, but that to me is easier than just saying replace Tay. We'll make up for Tays O with Kobe.

Kobe would not be my first choice of players to go after, but I'm also getting tired of going into the season with the same lineup. Maybe thats a knee jerk reaction cuz I want a change.

Edit...it'll never happen anyway. It seems most times when there is a SS traded there are lots of players and draft picks. There always seems to some question as to what the team is getting in return on a couple of parts of the deal (along with some good quality player or players). Some young guys with huge upside or potential upside on draft picks, type of thing. Tay and Rip don't fit that bill, imo.

I said it months ago, Kobe won't come to Detroit because Vanessa knows I'd be on the loose and I love Mexican women.

I said it months ago, Kobe won't come to Detroit because Vanessa knows I'd be on the loose and I love Mexican women.


You are living in the wrong part of the country, my friend.

You're right.

San Antonio here I come!

Sacramento ain't bad either, but San A has a better bball team.

Wherever there are some hot mamis in need of a papi, I will be there.

I said it months ago, Kobe won't come to Detroit because Vanessa knows I'd be on the loose and I love Mexican women.

Is this your second Karl Malone reference this week?

*insert karlmalone smilie*

http://www.nrawinningteam.com/9911/malone.jpg

Hard to quantify... but I think first and foremost, it means putting in consistent effort on the defensive end. Even if you're sucking as any team is want to do, its really the mindset. Maybe you are trying but you're tired so you're not effective and you get routed, ok, that's fine... it's more of an attitude thing. I think its fairly clear that we don't always have this attitude. There's always this 'don't worry, we're good enough to know what to do when it counts'.

It also requires a mindset that's scary to some people (and imo, flip saunders)... this means that sometimes you lose regular season games while trying to get ready for the playoffs... in this case, grind out the D and the boards that you could maybe have won had you just focused more on offense and outscoring. See: 2005-06 season. Why, because it's *instinctual preparation* for the playoffs, you might lose the game but it's forcing you to play the way you will eventually *need* to play for the playoffs.

This is a real trick that only some coaches have the mental ability to pull off. Popovich for instance, held back minutes for TP and Manu (or maybe just TP, i forget) early in season even as the players themselves were asking/telling him that they could do more to help... if you recall this is when they had a respectable but unspectacular record, you remember all that talk about how the Spurs looked like an 'aging team'? There's no doubt in my mind that he SACRIFICED REGULAR SEASON wins for playoff preparation.

I've said it a thousand times - talent doesn't really get you that far in basketball. It's far more important that you have smarts in lieu of talent, and those smarts are never going to be developed if you're arrogant. You need to be humble to admit that there are some things you're not good at and you need to come up with a strategy to get around that. The best basketball team in the world is always thinking: "what aren't we good at? How can I manage that weakness?"

Please. Both the Lakers and Bulls were the most arrogant teams on Earth.

you missed his point, or ignored, or whatever.

no one doubts that kobe bryant and michael jordan are two of the hardest working professionals in sport history. or atleast no one should. they were/are constantly fine tuning their games.

they're also the two most arrogant guards ever.

Point is, arrogance doesn't mean shit if you're as good as you think.

A marquee name is needed. We have none. Game over for Kobe trades.

Well, if you're elite, you can be as arrogant as you want and still win games. Most players aren't elite, and certainly no one on the Detroit squad is elite. The thing is, you can still beat incredible raw talent if you're humble enough to shore up your weaknesses.

The only team at this point who should be arrogant are the Spurs. And they aren't (well, at least not overly so).

The Pistons sometimes act like they're the Spurs.

The only team at this point who should be arrogant are the Spurs. And they aren't
One of the things I actually like about them.