Glenn
11-06-2007, 10:32 AM
In case you forgot...Langlois loves the Pistons!
Sibu (Roseville): In the NBA box scores on NBA.com this season, I noticed there is a new addition this year – +/-. What does this mean?
Langlois: It’s plus-minus, which indicates the point differential between the two teams while that particular player was on the floor. For instance, in the Pistons’ season-opening win over Miami, the ranges went from Arron Afflalo (minus-9) to Flip Murray and Jarvis Hayes (plus-14), which means while Afflalo was on the floor Miami outscored the Pistons by nine points – Afflalo was out there when Miami took a 16-8 lead to start the game – and that the Pistons outscored Miami by 14 while Murray and Hayes were on the floor
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Sam (Troy): With Ronald Dupree, Flip Murray, Lindsey Hunter and Jarvis Hayes all on the last year of their contracts and the fact that Luol Deng is due to become a restricted free agent, what is the likelihood of Deng wearing Pistons red, white and blue – sort of like what Chicago did to us with Ben Wallace?
Langlois: Slim to none, Sam. It’s very difficult to pry a restricted free agent away from a team that wants to keep him, Sam, and the Bulls want to keep Deng badly enough that they refused to include him in a trade for Pao Gasol last season. Ben Wallace was an unrestricted free agent when the Bulls signed him away from the Pistons – a big difference. As a restricted free agent, Deng would stay in Chicago even if another team signs him to an offer sheet. All the Bulls would have to do is match the offer. There are some instances where a team lets a restricted free agent go, but it would be highly unlikely Chicago would choose to not match whatever offer Deng receives. And, knowing that, other teams are going to be reluctant to even make an offer. Because when they sign a player to an offer sheet, they effectively use up their cap space and can’t pursue other free agents until the player’s original team decides to match or not. So if you sign a restricted free agent to an offer sheet and the other team matches, you’ve effectively taken yourself out of the running for all other free agents – and then it’s highly likely you won’t get the restricted free agent, anyway.
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Dave: I read a Peter Vecsey article that said with all the talk of Kobe Bryant going to Chicago, that the better fit would be with Detroit by trading Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince. What are your thoughts on this?
Langlois: While Bryant is a marvelous talent, consider what you’re getting with him. The way he’s manipulating his trade talks now – apparently he’ll veto any trade to Chicago, one of the two teams he’s said he’d waive his no-trade clause to join, if the deal includes Luol Deng. Effectively, you’re letting Kobe run the team. That runs counter to everything Joe Dumars believes about team building. I think there is no chance the Pistons consider entering the Bryant sweepstakes, unless Kobe says he wants to come to Detroit and the Lakers are willing to take 50 cents on the dollar for him. Neither will happen.
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Ryan (Grand Rapids): OK, I know Kobe isn’t coming to Detroit but humor me a minute. What about trading Rip, Prince, Mohammed, Murray, a future first-rounder and Minnesota’s second-rounder for Kobe, Kwame Brown and Javarris Crittenton? We’d have the best starting five in the league and our bench would allow us to stay on top for the next 10 years – Stuckey, Crittenton, Afflalo, Maxiell, Johnson, Samb and Brown.
Langlois: Call Mitch Kupchak and see what he says, Ryan, and then see if Kobe signs off on it.
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Tim (Virginia Beach, Va.): The Pistons have made some improvements to their bench this season, however their frontcourt is not as deep and it seems they might meet their match in Chicago. Is there a possibility they’ll try to add someone before the trade deadline?
Langlois: Even Joe Dumars doesn’t have an answer for that question yet, Tim. That’s what you use the first half of the season to determine – are we good enough to win a title? By the end of January, Dumars will have a pretty good handle on that question. If he thinks the Pistons need a tweak, he’ll do his best to get it done. If nothing else, Dumars has proven he’s not paralyzed by fear when it comes to making deals. I don’t happen to think the Pistons are understaffed up front, though. When Amir Johnson gets healthy, they’ll have five guys capable of manning the two power positions and deserving of minutes. (I’m not including rookie Cheikh Samb in that equation just yet.) That still beats the league average. Last year, after Chris Webber hopped on board, they had seven if you included Amir Johnson. That was a luxury – but it also left them short on the perimeter, where they had to rely too heavily on aging Lindsey Hunter and inconsistent Carlos Delfino. I like the balance better this year.
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Della (Detroit): Where is Chris Webber?
Langlois: Not on anyone’s NBA roster, Della. Webber has said publicly he only wants to play for the Pistons but the Pistons have no room for him now. The door is slightly ajar to a Webber return at some point during the season, but a roster spot would have to open somehow for that to happen.
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Travis (Chicago): Assuming Joe Dumars is responsible for the Pistons’ return to glory, who was responsible for their rise during the late ’80s?
Langlois: Jack McCloskey all the way, Travis. Trader Jack was as fearless in his own way as Dumars is today, making bold moves throughout his reign as Pistons GM. McCloskey drafted Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, John Salley and Dennis Rodman. He traded for Bill Laimbeer, Vinnie Johnson, Adrian Dantley (and subsequently traded Dantley for Mark Aguirre), James Edwards and Rich Mahorn. That’s pretty much the entirety of the Bad Boys. The Mahorn acquisition really epitomized McCloskey’s tenacity. Back then, the Pistons knew they had to beat Boston if they were going to get to the NBA Finals. But Kevin McHale killed them, so McCloskey kept trying to find a solution at power forward. Everybody thought he found the answer in 1984 when he traded to get Dan Roundfield from Atlanta. But Roundfield was on his last legs when he got to Detroit and suddenly lost his effectiveness. So McCloskey cut his losses and shipped Roundfield to Washington for the less skilled but more robust Mahorn. It wasn’t a deal that made anyone sit up and take notice, but Mahorn brought an aura with him that helped make the Pistons complete – and his defensive presence in the post at least gave the Pistons a fighting chance to compete with McHale’s Celtics.
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Mark (Grand Rapids): The possibility of the Sonics moving out of Seattle upsets me. No city wants to see their team move away, especially if they just drafted a young talent like Kevin Durant. I would love it if Durant threatened not to play for the team if they were to move out of Seattle. I mean, the city of Seattle are his fans now. An organization turning its back on the fans is terrible. Don’t you think Durant would be setting a good example of serving the city that loves him by doing that? Do you think he would do it?
Langlois: Not a chance, Mark. It’s his livelihood and his passion. He has no reason to hold any particular allegiance to Seattle. He grew up in the Washington, D.C., area and spent his only year in college at Texas, so if anything he has roots closer to Oklahoma City than to Seattle. I agree that it would be a shame if a vibrant city like Seattle loses its NBA team, but Durant isn’t about to martyr himself for the cause.
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Cyle (Allen Park): Do you think Michigan will get a Development League team?
Langlois: It’s possible, Cyle. Minor league basketball has a history in Michigan, particularly in Grand Rapids. But Van Andel Arena might be too pricey for a D-League team to lease. I wouldn’t expect anyone to even attempt to launch a Michigan franchise until the state’s economy begins to rebound.
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Preston (Muskegon): The Pistons got off to a decent start by beating Miami and Orlando, but so far I’ve only seen very few minutes given to Amir Johnson. Doesn’t it bother Amir to sit on the bench when there are teams that would put him on the floor as a starter?
Langlois: Amir’s minutes were limited because of injury, Preston. He played in only one preseason game and missed practice time last week with pain in his Achilles, a byproduct of his ankle injury. He’s rounding into shape, though, and figures to have an expanded role as soon as he does.
Sibu (Roseville): In the NBA box scores on NBA.com this season, I noticed there is a new addition this year – +/-. What does this mean?
Langlois: It’s plus-minus, which indicates the point differential between the two teams while that particular player was on the floor. For instance, in the Pistons’ season-opening win over Miami, the ranges went from Arron Afflalo (minus-9) to Flip Murray and Jarvis Hayes (plus-14), which means while Afflalo was on the floor Miami outscored the Pistons by nine points – Afflalo was out there when Miami took a 16-8 lead to start the game – and that the Pistons outscored Miami by 14 while Murray and Hayes were on the floor
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Sam (Troy): With Ronald Dupree, Flip Murray, Lindsey Hunter and Jarvis Hayes all on the last year of their contracts and the fact that Luol Deng is due to become a restricted free agent, what is the likelihood of Deng wearing Pistons red, white and blue – sort of like what Chicago did to us with Ben Wallace?
Langlois: Slim to none, Sam. It’s very difficult to pry a restricted free agent away from a team that wants to keep him, Sam, and the Bulls want to keep Deng badly enough that they refused to include him in a trade for Pao Gasol last season. Ben Wallace was an unrestricted free agent when the Bulls signed him away from the Pistons – a big difference. As a restricted free agent, Deng would stay in Chicago even if another team signs him to an offer sheet. All the Bulls would have to do is match the offer. There are some instances where a team lets a restricted free agent go, but it would be highly unlikely Chicago would choose to not match whatever offer Deng receives. And, knowing that, other teams are going to be reluctant to even make an offer. Because when they sign a player to an offer sheet, they effectively use up their cap space and can’t pursue other free agents until the player’s original team decides to match or not. So if you sign a restricted free agent to an offer sheet and the other team matches, you’ve effectively taken yourself out of the running for all other free agents – and then it’s highly likely you won’t get the restricted free agent, anyway.
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Dave: I read a Peter Vecsey article that said with all the talk of Kobe Bryant going to Chicago, that the better fit would be with Detroit by trading Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince. What are your thoughts on this?
Langlois: While Bryant is a marvelous talent, consider what you’re getting with him. The way he’s manipulating his trade talks now – apparently he’ll veto any trade to Chicago, one of the two teams he’s said he’d waive his no-trade clause to join, if the deal includes Luol Deng. Effectively, you’re letting Kobe run the team. That runs counter to everything Joe Dumars believes about team building. I think there is no chance the Pistons consider entering the Bryant sweepstakes, unless Kobe says he wants to come to Detroit and the Lakers are willing to take 50 cents on the dollar for him. Neither will happen.
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Ryan (Grand Rapids): OK, I know Kobe isn’t coming to Detroit but humor me a minute. What about trading Rip, Prince, Mohammed, Murray, a future first-rounder and Minnesota’s second-rounder for Kobe, Kwame Brown and Javarris Crittenton? We’d have the best starting five in the league and our bench would allow us to stay on top for the next 10 years – Stuckey, Crittenton, Afflalo, Maxiell, Johnson, Samb and Brown.
Langlois: Call Mitch Kupchak and see what he says, Ryan, and then see if Kobe signs off on it.
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Tim (Virginia Beach, Va.): The Pistons have made some improvements to their bench this season, however their frontcourt is not as deep and it seems they might meet their match in Chicago. Is there a possibility they’ll try to add someone before the trade deadline?
Langlois: Even Joe Dumars doesn’t have an answer for that question yet, Tim. That’s what you use the first half of the season to determine – are we good enough to win a title? By the end of January, Dumars will have a pretty good handle on that question. If he thinks the Pistons need a tweak, he’ll do his best to get it done. If nothing else, Dumars has proven he’s not paralyzed by fear when it comes to making deals. I don’t happen to think the Pistons are understaffed up front, though. When Amir Johnson gets healthy, they’ll have five guys capable of manning the two power positions and deserving of minutes. (I’m not including rookie Cheikh Samb in that equation just yet.) That still beats the league average. Last year, after Chris Webber hopped on board, they had seven if you included Amir Johnson. That was a luxury – but it also left them short on the perimeter, where they had to rely too heavily on aging Lindsey Hunter and inconsistent Carlos Delfino. I like the balance better this year.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Della (Detroit): Where is Chris Webber?
Langlois: Not on anyone’s NBA roster, Della. Webber has said publicly he only wants to play for the Pistons but the Pistons have no room for him now. The door is slightly ajar to a Webber return at some point during the season, but a roster spot would have to open somehow for that to happen.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Travis (Chicago): Assuming Joe Dumars is responsible for the Pistons’ return to glory, who was responsible for their rise during the late ’80s?
Langlois: Jack McCloskey all the way, Travis. Trader Jack was as fearless in his own way as Dumars is today, making bold moves throughout his reign as Pistons GM. McCloskey drafted Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, John Salley and Dennis Rodman. He traded for Bill Laimbeer, Vinnie Johnson, Adrian Dantley (and subsequently traded Dantley for Mark Aguirre), James Edwards and Rich Mahorn. That’s pretty much the entirety of the Bad Boys. The Mahorn acquisition really epitomized McCloskey’s tenacity. Back then, the Pistons knew they had to beat Boston if they were going to get to the NBA Finals. But Kevin McHale killed them, so McCloskey kept trying to find a solution at power forward. Everybody thought he found the answer in 1984 when he traded to get Dan Roundfield from Atlanta. But Roundfield was on his last legs when he got to Detroit and suddenly lost his effectiveness. So McCloskey cut his losses and shipped Roundfield to Washington for the less skilled but more robust Mahorn. It wasn’t a deal that made anyone sit up and take notice, but Mahorn brought an aura with him that helped make the Pistons complete – and his defensive presence in the post at least gave the Pistons a fighting chance to compete with McHale’s Celtics.
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Mark (Grand Rapids): The possibility of the Sonics moving out of Seattle upsets me. No city wants to see their team move away, especially if they just drafted a young talent like Kevin Durant. I would love it if Durant threatened not to play for the team if they were to move out of Seattle. I mean, the city of Seattle are his fans now. An organization turning its back on the fans is terrible. Don’t you think Durant would be setting a good example of serving the city that loves him by doing that? Do you think he would do it?
Langlois: Not a chance, Mark. It’s his livelihood and his passion. He has no reason to hold any particular allegiance to Seattle. He grew up in the Washington, D.C., area and spent his only year in college at Texas, so if anything he has roots closer to Oklahoma City than to Seattle. I agree that it would be a shame if a vibrant city like Seattle loses its NBA team, but Durant isn’t about to martyr himself for the cause.
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Cyle (Allen Park): Do you think Michigan will get a Development League team?
Langlois: It’s possible, Cyle. Minor league basketball has a history in Michigan, particularly in Grand Rapids. But Van Andel Arena might be too pricey for a D-League team to lease. I wouldn’t expect anyone to even attempt to launch a Michigan franchise until the state’s economy begins to rebound.
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Preston (Muskegon): The Pistons got off to a decent start by beating Miami and Orlando, but so far I’ve only seen very few minutes given to Amir Johnson. Doesn’t it bother Amir to sit on the bench when there are teams that would put him on the floor as a starter?
Langlois: Amir’s minutes were limited because of injury, Preston. He played in only one preseason game and missed practice time last week with pain in his Achilles, a byproduct of his ankle injury. He’s rounding into shape, though, and figures to have an expanded role as soon as he does.