Tied w/ GSW

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=OffseasonPredictions09-TeamTurmoil

Pistons (8 votes)
It's not hard to see why voters think Detroit will continue its fall from grace. The Pistons have a new coach again, John Kuester. They let mainstays Rasheed Wallace (Boston) and Antonio McDyess (San Antonio) skip town and replaced them with defensively challenged Charlie Villanueva, underachieving Chris Wilcox and an aging Ben Wallace. And they gave a big contract to Ben Gordon, who will compete for minutes with Richard Hamilton and Rodney Stuckey -- a la Allen Iverson last season. That can't be a good omen, right?

Now I'm no defender of Joe's offseason by any means, but I think citing Sheed/Dice's walking as a negative is a stretch. I guarantee you that if either/both were brought back, that would be spun negative as well (because it would be, in Sheed's case, at least).

This is probably splitting hairs but I don't think turmoil is the right way to describe this pistons team compared to some of the other teams on the list. They're a rebuilding team with a long list of question marks but they're entering camp with some financial sanity and at least a semblance of order and direction.

Compare them to the #3 team on that list, Houston. Are the pistons really worse off than a team paying for two superstars and likely only to get a fraction of one out on the court? They are fucked for this season and have no base upon which to build for the future--but the pistons are in more turmoil?

Then there's the Knicks... ah screw it, it's just a poorly constructed list.

Yeah, if this is "turmoil" then they must have missed the :SHIT STORM!:

flux = turmoil if you say it enough

fucking media

This is exactly why I don't read ESPN stuff anymore. It's not worth my time. I do enjoy Stein's Power Rankings though, at least typically.

Pistons are ESPN's #1 "Team in turmoil"

But it's my #1 team in turmoil too....and that says a lot when you are a Lions fan.

I don't know...UofM football is busting lots of peeps balls right now too

This is exactly why I don't read ESPN stuff anymore. It's not worth my time.

I'm sure as fuck heading this way, if not already there.

These people (Broussard, Hollinger, Sheridan, Thorpe) give absolutely brutal insight. Even Bill Simmons is guilty of it sometimes, although I typically give him the benefit of the doubt most of the time.

The only 3 I can stomach are Ford, Bucher and Stein. All the rest can die.

When you look at our roster, I don't see where the 'turmoil' sets in.

Is there any team in the league that will have a better five guard rotation than Detroit?

I can't think of one.

Also, since when did we become the only team in the league that has defensive shortcomings?



And they gave a big contract to Ben Gordon, who will compete for minutes with Richard Hamilton and Rodney Stuckey -- a la Allen Iverson last season

What the fuck does this last bit mean? "a la bullshit", Ben Gordon and Allen Iverson are two completely different personalities.

Also, one is a good player.

2008-09 Season

Ben Gordon- 20/3/3, 45% FG, 41% 3PT

Allen Iverson- 17/3/5, 41% FG 28% 3PT

Both avg. about 36 mpg.


Yet ESPN is implying that Iverson for Gordon is a wash?

They don't care about %s
Or age
Or chemistry
Or style of play
Or range
Or being correct


Or black people

Were we a team in turmoil last year? Did the King fix the turmoil with a new coach? a couple of new players? getting rid of AI? getting rid of sheed?

I don't see a big problem characterizing Pistons as a team in turmoil.

We can call it rebuilding... but the public sees it as the Pistons fell off the map after 6 straight conference finals appearances and didn't gut enough to be rebuilding, and aren't making it back this year either. If the Pistons were guaranteed on paper to have a good lottery pick after selling the team off, or be a top 4 playoff seed, I doubt they'd be at the top of the list.

Lenon (Detroit): I read on ESPN.com that the Pistons were voted the team in the NBA most likely to take a fall this season. Please do a story on why this will not happen.

Langlois: Um, check out my archives.

Real answer, probably funnier


Lenon (Detroit): I read on ESPN.com that the Pistons were voted the team in the NBA most likely to take a fall this season. Please do a story on why this will not happen.

Langlois: Eh … take it with a huge grain of salt, Lenon. For starters, ESPN.com polled 53 of its “experts” and eight voted for the Pistons. (Eight also voted for Golden State.) That hardly makes it an overwhelming consensus – about one in seven. Let’s set aside the results for a second. It’s the framework of the question, which is far too broad, that makes the results essentially meaningless. The Pistons won 39 games last year. I’m not a gambler, but I would be happy to wager with the eight who picked the Pistons that there will be teams (many, more than likely) that suffer a greater negative differential in wins over a season ago. Wins aside, even that ignores the reality that what the Pistons did this off-season – and this is the part that renders the results meaningless – was intended to prevent exactly that, a hard fall. Holding on to a core whose average age would have been 33 on opening night likely would have had disastrous long-term consequences.

polled 53 of its “experts” and eight voted for the Pistons

1. John Hollinger
2. Chris Sheridan
3. Chris Broussard
4. David Thorpe
5.
6.
7.
8.

Anybody care to round out the list...?

Jon Barry maybe?

Who are the 8 smartest of the 53?

waiting...

It should be noted that Pistons.com esteemed panel of 1 strongly disagrees with this.