MoTown
02-07-2008, 09:40 AM
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Paul (Essexville): Should we be concerned about Antonio McDyess’ minutes and him being fresh for the playoffs? Also, when does Jason Maxiell’s contract expire?
Langlois: I can’t imagine anyone’s minutes being a concern where being fresh for the playoffs is the issue. The Pistons’ schedule sets up favorably this year with far more home than road games down the stretch – 14 of their last 23 games are at home and when they get home after a March 1 game at Los Angeles, their longest road trip of the season will be two-gamer to Boston and New York in early March and every flight will be under two hours except an April 6 game at Miami. Beyond that, nobody’s minutes are close to excessive. Now that Amir Johnson is part of the rotation, there are four big men splitting time at the power positions. McDyess’ recent diminished offensive production in no way should be interpreted as him being worn down. His rebounding numbers – a far better indication of energy level than field-goal percentage – are going up. McDyess told me about a month ago that when he plays 35 minutes this year, now that he’s accustomed to starting, he doesn’t feel as worn out as when he would play 20 minutes off the bench. As for Maxiell, his rookie contract falls under the previous collective bargaining agreement, which means the Pistons hold options on his contract through the 2009-10 season – which they will almost surely exercise.
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James (Chicago): After watching Chauncey Billups rise to Finals MVP in 2004, I haven’t seen him make big strides in improving his game. Also, he does not consistently perform at a high level and makes questionable decisions during tight games. In no way is there a better point guard out there for this team, but has Chauncey peaked and are his late-game errors against decent teams a reflection of lack of direction and poor coaching from Flip?
Langlois: Can’t buy your premise, James. Look at his numbers this year: He’s shooting 46 percent from the floor – a career best – and 41 percent from the 3-point arc with 7.0 assists and 2.1 turnovers a game. His best scoring and assists year was 2005-06 when the Pistons won 64 games and he had norms of 18.5 points (17.6 now) and 8.6 assists, but he was playing two-plus minutes more per game then and his shooting percentage was 42. I haven’t seen any evidence that he’s a poor decision-maker in tight games, either. No point guard is going to be flawless given the level of athleticism in the NBA for the amount of time he has the ball in his hands, but 2.1 turnovers a game is far more than acceptable.
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Dennis (New Baltimore): Why do you think Dwyane Wade hates the Pistons so much?
Langlois: Not sure the depth of Wade’s feelings toward the Pistons. He grew up outside Chicago a Bulls fan – that probably explains some of it. Then there were the two hotly contested conference finals between the Pistons and Heat. If I’m the fan of an NBA team, I’d rather have great players from other teams hate your team. Any team worth hating must have something going for it.
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Steve (Walled Lake): What’s up with Rip always throwing something at Rick Mahorn before each tipoff? I find it funny, but it seems neither of them ever find it funny. Is there some beef going on between them or is it just a little fun before the game?
Langlois: Part of the ritual, Steve, and there’s no ill will. Hamilton tears off the sticky plastic sheet that players stomp their sneakers on before the game to rid the soles of dirt that might cause them to slip, wads it up and fires it at Mahorn. Rasheed Wallace pretends he’s going to slap hands with Mahorn and instead flicks Mahorn’s capped bottle of water at him. Mahorn gives both his best Mahorn scowl and feigns anger. Mahorn’s a larger-than-life character who in his playing days was one of the best locker-room provocateurs who ever lived. But his teammates universally loved him.
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Tou (Detroit): Jarvis Hayes has proven himself a worthy defender and team player. I know the Pistons aren’t lacking much and we’re all awaiting the breakout game of Rodney Stuckey, but I was just wondering about the possibility of trading Flip Murray for Grant Hill. His talents would really add a spark off the bench.
Langlois: And maybe the Suns will throw in Amare Stoudemire for Primoz Brezec while they’re at it. That ain’t happenin’, Tou. For all his injury problems, Grant Hill remains a dynamic player still capable of major contributions. And as the Shaq-Shawn Marion trade shows, Phoenix is going for it now. Flip Murray is a role player capable of filling in when a starter goes down but best suited to spot minutes at either guard spot. They’re just not on the same level and there’s no way a trade like that would ever happen.
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Joe (Grosse Pointe Farms): Why do you think that the building of The Palace is not considered one of the Pistons Unforgettable 50? It seems like it would at least be in the top 25 and when you consider the on-court success of the last 20 years, it would be a no-brainer.
Langlois: It’s on there, Joe – at least the opening of The Palace is, which is pretty all-encompassing. There’s no question that the decision to build The Palace was a monumental step not just in Pistons history but for the NBA as a whole. I wrote about that extensively last season during a four-part series on Pistons owner William Davidson – his decision to not only build but privately finance The Palace revolutionized arena construction and forever changed the way owners viewed them as revenue streams for the placement of suites at more advantageous sight lines than had ever been done. Many arenas built at the same time at The Palace became obsolete overnight. They had to replace new arenas in Miami and Charlotte with even newer ones that included revenue-producing suites. The Palace helped the Pistons built a reputation among players, too, as an organization that did things the right way, along with Davidson’s pioneering decision to buy his team their own plane to make travel that much easier.
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Mark (Lansing): My wife and I watched the Pistons taking apart the Lakers last week when all of a sudden the referees stepped in and took the game over, particularly a ref by the name of Jack something. What’s up with referees that seem to take over NBA games? As Rasheed said last year, refs need to understand fans don’t come to the games to see them.
Langlois: There was a crazy sort of snowball effect that took over in the second quarter of that game. Foul shots were 22-2 at halftime. That’s a little extreme, but over the course of the season every team is going to have something similar happen to them. The Pistons have been better this season at not letting those occasions get under their skin, but they blew their cool in the Lakers game and Jack Nies is not one who tolerates challenges. Flip Saunders rightly said after the game that the Pistons have to be smart enough to know that. A veteran team, as the Pistons are, know the tendencies of NBA referees as surely as they have a book on other players. To their credit – and this probably wouldn’t have happened last year – the Pistons were able to bottle their emotions and not get caught up in ref-baiting after halftime.
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Balazs (Hungary): I watched the Dallas game and the Hungarian commentator mentioned about the young guys that Chauncey calls the “Zoo Crew.” Usually I read your blog and all Pistons.com articles but I never heard this name. Anyway, it’s funny and also apt.
Langlois: Yeah, Chauncey came up with that one sometime back in December, I think, just called the young bench players the Zoo Crew after one game where they were particularly effective. It does have a certain appropriateness to it, given the way they come in and play with the pedal to the mettle.
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Harold: Do you think Jarvis Hayes should be getting more playing time? I think he has potential to be a big-time scorer and would benefit by being on the floor more when Rasheed and McDyess are out there together. What do you think about the team going back to being more physical like the Bad Boys were? Those great Pistons team would not let superstar players like LeBron and Wade take over like we have the last few years. Somebody has got to start laying hard fouls on these guys to let them know we aren’t going for that.
Langlois: Hayes gets playing time when he stays out of foul trouble and holds his own defensively. It’s more likely Hayes will be out with Jason Maxiell and Amir Johnson – the second unit needs his scoring ability. Forget about returning to a Bad Boys-level of physicality. That wouldn’t fly in today’s NBA. Erick Dampier laid a hard foul on Tayshaun Prince the other day and got slapped with a flagrant foul – two shots and the ball for the Pistons. No one can play the way Mahorn and Laimbeer once did – they’d be sitting out half the schedule with suspensions.
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Connie (Sault Ste. Marie): I live in the Upper Peninsula and would like to see more Pistons games on television. What can be done next year?
Langlois: Call your local television stations, Connie. You can rest comfortably knowing that the Pistons would love to have greater TV exposure. You don’t say, but I’m guessing your cable provider carries FSN Detroit, so you get roughly half of Pistons games, plus the ones on ESPN, ABC and TNT. That leaves the rest, which are aired on the network of stations the Pistons cobble together with TV20 in Detroit as the flagship. If your local station senses enough interest in its viewership area, management will be moved to join the network.
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T.J. (Sparta): Would you say that Rodney Stuckey’s game reminds you of Sebastian Telfair’s with a little bit of Devin Harris?
Langlois: Sebastian Telfair? I could list 50 point guards before I’d get to Sebastian Telfair when comparing Stuckey to anyone. Harris doesn’t have nearly Stuckey’s powerful build. Stuckey isn’t as fast as Harris – who is? – but I don’t see many similarities in those two, either. Think of big, physical point guards good at attacking the rim when drawing Stuckey comparisons. Not sure anybody is a particularly apt comparison, but Deron Williams or Baron Davis are closer fits than Telfair and Harris.
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Brian (Colorado Springs, Colo.): After watching Rasheed Wallace dominate the Dallas game, it got me to thinking: What was the trade that got him to Detroit and where are the guys the Pistons gave up? Also, any possibility Flip Murray will be on the Pistons’ roster after the trade deadline?
Langlois: The Pistons sent Chucky Atkins, Lindsey Hunter and a first-round pick to Boston and Bob Sura, Zeljko Rebraca and a first-round pick to Atlanta – the first-rounders were obtained from Sacramento in the Mateen Cleaves deal and from Denver in the Rodney White deal – and also received Mike James from Boston. Both Atlanta and Boston were mostly interested in clearing cap space by taking on expiring contracts and the first-rounders sweetened the deal. Hunter was waived by Boston, soon returned to the Pistons and became a critical part of the bench along with James during the run to the 2004 title. Atlanta also got Chris Mills from Boston in the deal. As for Murray … the Pistons are open to trading him. It’s 50-50.
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Nikolai: Chauncey Billups, to the best of my knowledge, did not play in the entire fourth quarter as the Pistons routed Dallas. This is incredibly encouraging and clearly a sign our bench is for real.
Langlois: It was pretty much the norm back in December when the Pistons went 15-2, Nikolai. If a game is in hand, the Pistons are going to take every opportunity to get minutes for Rodney Stuckey, Amir Johnson and Arron Afflalo, in particular. They’d like to keep every starter’s minutes in the low to mid-30s.
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Paul: Walter Herrmann seems to be outplaying Jarvis Hayes lately and certainly plays better defense. Any change of bringing him in ahead of Hayes and using him more in the playoffs or are the Pistons dedicated to playing Hayes?
Langlois: The Pistons signed Hayes last summer with the idea that he would be their “gunslinger” – that’s the word Joe Dumars used to describe Hayes in the Q&A I conducted with him last week. They’ve stuck by him through a couple of shooting slumps. They like Herrmann, too, but Flip Saunders thinks he’s probably more of a fit at power forward at both ends. Herrmann is pretty intriguing, but I don’t think he’s leapfrogging Hayes at small forward unless Hayes gets hurt or really hits the skids.
Paul (Essexville): Should we be concerned about Antonio McDyess’ minutes and him being fresh for the playoffs? Also, when does Jason Maxiell’s contract expire?
Langlois: I can’t imagine anyone’s minutes being a concern where being fresh for the playoffs is the issue. The Pistons’ schedule sets up favorably this year with far more home than road games down the stretch – 14 of their last 23 games are at home and when they get home after a March 1 game at Los Angeles, their longest road trip of the season will be two-gamer to Boston and New York in early March and every flight will be under two hours except an April 6 game at Miami. Beyond that, nobody’s minutes are close to excessive. Now that Amir Johnson is part of the rotation, there are four big men splitting time at the power positions. McDyess’ recent diminished offensive production in no way should be interpreted as him being worn down. His rebounding numbers – a far better indication of energy level than field-goal percentage – are going up. McDyess told me about a month ago that when he plays 35 minutes this year, now that he’s accustomed to starting, he doesn’t feel as worn out as when he would play 20 minutes off the bench. As for Maxiell, his rookie contract falls under the previous collective bargaining agreement, which means the Pistons hold options on his contract through the 2009-10 season – which they will almost surely exercise.
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James (Chicago): After watching Chauncey Billups rise to Finals MVP in 2004, I haven’t seen him make big strides in improving his game. Also, he does not consistently perform at a high level and makes questionable decisions during tight games. In no way is there a better point guard out there for this team, but has Chauncey peaked and are his late-game errors against decent teams a reflection of lack of direction and poor coaching from Flip?
Langlois: Can’t buy your premise, James. Look at his numbers this year: He’s shooting 46 percent from the floor – a career best – and 41 percent from the 3-point arc with 7.0 assists and 2.1 turnovers a game. His best scoring and assists year was 2005-06 when the Pistons won 64 games and he had norms of 18.5 points (17.6 now) and 8.6 assists, but he was playing two-plus minutes more per game then and his shooting percentage was 42. I haven’t seen any evidence that he’s a poor decision-maker in tight games, either. No point guard is going to be flawless given the level of athleticism in the NBA for the amount of time he has the ball in his hands, but 2.1 turnovers a game is far more than acceptable.
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Dennis (New Baltimore): Why do you think Dwyane Wade hates the Pistons so much?
Langlois: Not sure the depth of Wade’s feelings toward the Pistons. He grew up outside Chicago a Bulls fan – that probably explains some of it. Then there were the two hotly contested conference finals between the Pistons and Heat. If I’m the fan of an NBA team, I’d rather have great players from other teams hate your team. Any team worth hating must have something going for it.
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Steve (Walled Lake): What’s up with Rip always throwing something at Rick Mahorn before each tipoff? I find it funny, but it seems neither of them ever find it funny. Is there some beef going on between them or is it just a little fun before the game?
Langlois: Part of the ritual, Steve, and there’s no ill will. Hamilton tears off the sticky plastic sheet that players stomp their sneakers on before the game to rid the soles of dirt that might cause them to slip, wads it up and fires it at Mahorn. Rasheed Wallace pretends he’s going to slap hands with Mahorn and instead flicks Mahorn’s capped bottle of water at him. Mahorn gives both his best Mahorn scowl and feigns anger. Mahorn’s a larger-than-life character who in his playing days was one of the best locker-room provocateurs who ever lived. But his teammates universally loved him.
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Tou (Detroit): Jarvis Hayes has proven himself a worthy defender and team player. I know the Pistons aren’t lacking much and we’re all awaiting the breakout game of Rodney Stuckey, but I was just wondering about the possibility of trading Flip Murray for Grant Hill. His talents would really add a spark off the bench.
Langlois: And maybe the Suns will throw in Amare Stoudemire for Primoz Brezec while they’re at it. That ain’t happenin’, Tou. For all his injury problems, Grant Hill remains a dynamic player still capable of major contributions. And as the Shaq-Shawn Marion trade shows, Phoenix is going for it now. Flip Murray is a role player capable of filling in when a starter goes down but best suited to spot minutes at either guard spot. They’re just not on the same level and there’s no way a trade like that would ever happen.
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Joe (Grosse Pointe Farms): Why do you think that the building of The Palace is not considered one of the Pistons Unforgettable 50? It seems like it would at least be in the top 25 and when you consider the on-court success of the last 20 years, it would be a no-brainer.
Langlois: It’s on there, Joe – at least the opening of The Palace is, which is pretty all-encompassing. There’s no question that the decision to build The Palace was a monumental step not just in Pistons history but for the NBA as a whole. I wrote about that extensively last season during a four-part series on Pistons owner William Davidson – his decision to not only build but privately finance The Palace revolutionized arena construction and forever changed the way owners viewed them as revenue streams for the placement of suites at more advantageous sight lines than had ever been done. Many arenas built at the same time at The Palace became obsolete overnight. They had to replace new arenas in Miami and Charlotte with even newer ones that included revenue-producing suites. The Palace helped the Pistons built a reputation among players, too, as an organization that did things the right way, along with Davidson’s pioneering decision to buy his team their own plane to make travel that much easier.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark (Lansing): My wife and I watched the Pistons taking apart the Lakers last week when all of a sudden the referees stepped in and took the game over, particularly a ref by the name of Jack something. What’s up with referees that seem to take over NBA games? As Rasheed said last year, refs need to understand fans don’t come to the games to see them.
Langlois: There was a crazy sort of snowball effect that took over in the second quarter of that game. Foul shots were 22-2 at halftime. That’s a little extreme, but over the course of the season every team is going to have something similar happen to them. The Pistons have been better this season at not letting those occasions get under their skin, but they blew their cool in the Lakers game and Jack Nies is not one who tolerates challenges. Flip Saunders rightly said after the game that the Pistons have to be smart enough to know that. A veteran team, as the Pistons are, know the tendencies of NBA referees as surely as they have a book on other players. To their credit – and this probably wouldn’t have happened last year – the Pistons were able to bottle their emotions and not get caught up in ref-baiting after halftime.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Balazs (Hungary): I watched the Dallas game and the Hungarian commentator mentioned about the young guys that Chauncey calls the “Zoo Crew.” Usually I read your blog and all Pistons.com articles but I never heard this name. Anyway, it’s funny and also apt.
Langlois: Yeah, Chauncey came up with that one sometime back in December, I think, just called the young bench players the Zoo Crew after one game where they were particularly effective. It does have a certain appropriateness to it, given the way they come in and play with the pedal to the mettle.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harold: Do you think Jarvis Hayes should be getting more playing time? I think he has potential to be a big-time scorer and would benefit by being on the floor more when Rasheed and McDyess are out there together. What do you think about the team going back to being more physical like the Bad Boys were? Those great Pistons team would not let superstar players like LeBron and Wade take over like we have the last few years. Somebody has got to start laying hard fouls on these guys to let them know we aren’t going for that.
Langlois: Hayes gets playing time when he stays out of foul trouble and holds his own defensively. It’s more likely Hayes will be out with Jason Maxiell and Amir Johnson – the second unit needs his scoring ability. Forget about returning to a Bad Boys-level of physicality. That wouldn’t fly in today’s NBA. Erick Dampier laid a hard foul on Tayshaun Prince the other day and got slapped with a flagrant foul – two shots and the ball for the Pistons. No one can play the way Mahorn and Laimbeer once did – they’d be sitting out half the schedule with suspensions.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Connie (Sault Ste. Marie): I live in the Upper Peninsula and would like to see more Pistons games on television. What can be done next year?
Langlois: Call your local television stations, Connie. You can rest comfortably knowing that the Pistons would love to have greater TV exposure. You don’t say, but I’m guessing your cable provider carries FSN Detroit, so you get roughly half of Pistons games, plus the ones on ESPN, ABC and TNT. That leaves the rest, which are aired on the network of stations the Pistons cobble together with TV20 in Detroit as the flagship. If your local station senses enough interest in its viewership area, management will be moved to join the network.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
T.J. (Sparta): Would you say that Rodney Stuckey’s game reminds you of Sebastian Telfair’s with a little bit of Devin Harris?
Langlois: Sebastian Telfair? I could list 50 point guards before I’d get to Sebastian Telfair when comparing Stuckey to anyone. Harris doesn’t have nearly Stuckey’s powerful build. Stuckey isn’t as fast as Harris – who is? – but I don’t see many similarities in those two, either. Think of big, physical point guards good at attacking the rim when drawing Stuckey comparisons. Not sure anybody is a particularly apt comparison, but Deron Williams or Baron Davis are closer fits than Telfair and Harris.
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Brian (Colorado Springs, Colo.): After watching Rasheed Wallace dominate the Dallas game, it got me to thinking: What was the trade that got him to Detroit and where are the guys the Pistons gave up? Also, any possibility Flip Murray will be on the Pistons’ roster after the trade deadline?
Langlois: The Pistons sent Chucky Atkins, Lindsey Hunter and a first-round pick to Boston and Bob Sura, Zeljko Rebraca and a first-round pick to Atlanta – the first-rounders were obtained from Sacramento in the Mateen Cleaves deal and from Denver in the Rodney White deal – and also received Mike James from Boston. Both Atlanta and Boston were mostly interested in clearing cap space by taking on expiring contracts and the first-rounders sweetened the deal. Hunter was waived by Boston, soon returned to the Pistons and became a critical part of the bench along with James during the run to the 2004 title. Atlanta also got Chris Mills from Boston in the deal. As for Murray … the Pistons are open to trading him. It’s 50-50.
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Nikolai: Chauncey Billups, to the best of my knowledge, did not play in the entire fourth quarter as the Pistons routed Dallas. This is incredibly encouraging and clearly a sign our bench is for real.
Langlois: It was pretty much the norm back in December when the Pistons went 15-2, Nikolai. If a game is in hand, the Pistons are going to take every opportunity to get minutes for Rodney Stuckey, Amir Johnson and Arron Afflalo, in particular. They’d like to keep every starter’s minutes in the low to mid-30s.
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Paul: Walter Herrmann seems to be outplaying Jarvis Hayes lately and certainly plays better defense. Any change of bringing him in ahead of Hayes and using him more in the playoffs or are the Pistons dedicated to playing Hayes?
Langlois: The Pistons signed Hayes last summer with the idea that he would be their “gunslinger” – that’s the word Joe Dumars used to describe Hayes in the Q&A I conducted with him last week. They’ve stuck by him through a couple of shooting slumps. They like Herrmann, too, but Flip Saunders thinks he’s probably more of a fit at power forward at both ends. Herrmann is pretty intriguing, but I don’t think he’s leapfrogging Hayes at small forward unless Hayes gets hurt or really hits the skids.