Go!

B.K.

No wonder Joe drafted him.

- 4.3 high school GPA (hat tip to STU SCOTT)

- 6'3" combo guard

- LOL @ Stuckey

- He is not Brevin Knight's brother, Brandin.

B.K.

No wonder Joe drafted him.

Excellent start.

I hope Atticus is okay.

Ben Gordon will soon be knighted and together they will come off the bench and be known as the Knight Line.

Ecstatic to be here.

Loves his momma.

Just saw my first "Daye & Knight" reference.

this is 2 years in a row now where a good player fell in our lap- joe couldn't possibly screw this one up. no doubt, the number of guards on our roster is ridiculous and i hope we can dump at least rip. but this kid while still developing is IMO the best talent in the draft. i'm WAY more shocked he fell to us than last year when monroe did. this is seriously a no brainer and he's exactly what we need.

clearly we need bigs and rebounders. and knight is not a 'true' PG. but he's got a very high b-ball IQ and with today's group of young nba PGs, having knight on the roster is a huge plus. he can develop into a good defensive PG and decent distributor while posessing the ability to create AND knock down his own shots. i think this kid is a dynamite player and i'm still shocked we got him and didn't trade up to land him!

as bad as i wanted a big man, when he was still there i was screaming for us to take him. the roster is far from finished but we took the BPA and in my mind one of the top 2-3 if not THE top player in this draft. worry about the depth chart later and take the best talent. we did that. kudos to joe for not screwing it up.

DEREK ROSE!

BPA at least Dumars was able to change his strategy/pick quick...not every GM can do that, now we are in a world of pain...Stuckey, Gordon, Bynum, White and Knight all combo guards (i hate that word) + RIP

So college basketball fans, do we have our franchise PG for the next 7-10 years or not?

Sounds like he can defend. Can he run an offense? The pick and roll?

WOW!

Wasn't this guy supposed to be a top 5 pick? One of the best prospects in this Draft? And somehow we got him at #8?

Cool.

Monroe, Jerebko, Daye and Knight is a good start

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOBcbhFToLw

Glan loves this one:

The pistons are intervieing laimbeer for the coaching job thank god they fired kuester, I hope they hire someone cool ( like laimbeer).
redwingsfan32 4 hours ago

He's a Calipari PG.

That's the only reason I like the pick.

he absolutely can be a PG. not the john stockton type but the new age, run the team type. he has to cut down on some of his turnovers but he has a very high b-ball IQ and is an outstanding player in the pick and roll- he has a very good midrange jumpshot as well as great form on his longrange shot. unlike most PGs coming into the league these days, he already has a good jumper. with more work- and he's a real workhorse- it will only get better.

i'm struggling to come up with a comparison for him but i would not worry about the 'combo guard' label with him. he's twice the player stuckey is. unlike stuckey knight has a really good jumper already- midrange and deep 3. and also unlike stuckey, knight is a great finisher in traffic and around the rim. he has the character and moxie to fulfill his potential too and i expect big things from him. he wants the ball in his hands in big situations and he wants to prove he can run the point. he and monroe are going to form a great combo in time.

so the comparison is actually a young Chauncey, and Knight is a very smart guy (does this equal to great basketball iq?!), he could figure out what a PG has to do on the court, Chauncey had to learn this too, Stuckey just lacks the basketball iq to develop into a good PG (also Stuckey never had an NBA coach like LB, Carlisle who demand certain things from their PGs)

so the comparison is actually a young Chauncey, and Knight is a very smart guy (does this equal to great basketball iq?!), he could figure out what a PG has to do on the court, Chauncey had to learn this too, Stuckey just lacks the basketball iq to develop into a good PG (also Stuckey never had an NBA coach like LB, Carlisle who demand certain things from their PGs)

I think you bring up a good point in the coaching search: who can develop a good point guard? I hadn't thought of that but I hope that's in the mix of important criteria.

I believe that talent has to be the most important decision-making factor and everything seems to indicate that Knight was not only the best player available but most likely the most talented player left on the board. I'd rather have high caliber talent and work hard to solve a glut at one position than take mediocrity to supposedly "fill a need".

I tweeted this last night, but with Knight here, I wonder if Joe makes at least a cursory phone call to Coach Cal about the coaching gig?

I tweeted this last night, but with Knight here, I wonder if Joe makes at least a cursory phone call to Coach Cal about the coaching gig?

I vomited.

I vomited.

You love it when you get to vomit.

You love it when you get to vomit.

That's what SHE said.

i don't think so. no need. we need a longterm, stable guy to insert as our coach. nothing about him fits that description IMO. plus he has a dream job at kentucky where he gets tons of top recruits every year. why would he want to take on our job in a stressed out nba environment? he strikes me as someone who is way too happy as a college coach now.

His name keeps popping up in NBA circles. There were whispers that he might get consideration for the Knicks GM job after Walsh didn't get renewed.

And then there's his connection with CAA.

From April...

Expect to hear John Calipari’s name for NBA openings (http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/04/04/expect-to-hear-john-calipari%e2%80%99s-name-for-nba-openings/)

http://cmsimg.detnews.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C3&Date=20110624&Category=SPORTS0102&ArtNo=106240424&Ref=AR&Profile=1361

WOTS is he looks like "Soulja Boy."

I don't understand. The team' s logo is a basketball. Why not make the entire basketball reflect that logo?

He looks horrified to be a Piston.

Lol wouldn't you be right now?

he absolutely can be a PG. not the john stockton type but the new age, run the team type. he has to cut down on some of his turnovers but he has a very high b-ball IQ and is an outstanding player in the pick and roll- he has a very good midrange jumpshot as well as great form on his longrange shot. unlike most PGs coming into the league these days, he already has a good jumper. with more work- and he's a real workhorse- it will only get better.

i'm struggling to come up with a comparison for him but i would not worry about the 'combo guard' label with him. he's twice the player stuckey is. unlike stuckey knight has a really good jumper already- midrange and deep 3. and also unlike stuckey, knight is a great finisher in traffic and around the rim. he has the character and moxie to fulfill his potential too and i expect big things from him. he wants the ball in his hands in big situations and he wants to prove he can run the point. he and monroe are going to form a great combo in time.

Knight is definitely more point guard than shooting guard, mainly because he's able to defend the 1 position with ease, but in terms of his mentality he's definitely more scorer than "set-up man" at the moment.

To be perfectly honest about this, and for me this is a fairly significant thing to say, the one person he reminds me of in terms of his style and ability to create shots for himself is Isiah Thomas. I remember thinking to myself during his run in the NCAA tournament that his game reminded me of Zeke back in the early 80s. High Risk/High Reward scorer that had the ball in his hands when it mattered and wasn't afraid to take the big shot (which he did throughout the NCAA and SEC tourney).

Zeke averaged 4+ turnovers a game coming out of college but you took the good with the bad with him because he was GREAT at finding ways to get shots off against opposing defenses and had that killer instinct/incredible belief in his ability to make the final play that he didn't trust anyone else other than himself. Knight has that same type of game in that he can get anywhere on the floor at any time and get a shot off regardless of the situation. You might not want him to take some of those shots but you gotta love his fearlessness. And he's proven to be successful at it.

A few key differences between knight and zeke: Knight is taller and probably will be a better defender. Zeke was SIGNIFINCANTLY quicker than knight and much better at finding ways to finish near the basket. Knight is a much better shooter than zeke was coming out of college with infinitely more range but zeke had a better understanding of how to be unselfish. I think that's mainly a difference of how kids are taught the game of basketball these days and that Zeke got to play with Bobby Knight. Both share that high/upright kind of dribbling style that led to many turnovers but again, you take the good with the bad.

The first basketball game I ever attended was an Isiah Thomas high school game (I still live in chicago). He's the reason I'm a pistons fan. I'm by no means expecting knight to be anywhere near zeke's quality (I think he'll wind up being more like vern fleming) but I like that he reminds me of him.

This is a great pick. The pistons got lucky last night.

Wearing uniform #0.

Throwing out first pitch at Tigers game tonight.

Bet Stuckey didn't get to throw out the first pitch.

Bet Stuckey didn't get to throw out the first pitch.

Yes, he did indeed get to throw out the first pitch at a Tigers game.

http://www.aolnews.com/2009/08/07/stuckey-hopes-to-be-detroits-leader/

Owned.

Bet Terrico didn't.

billups was a shoot first PG too. he learned, over time, to run a team and be a better distributor. the days of a true pass first PG are over IMO. the game is different today and i think you NEED a PG with a scorer's mentality. you also need that guy to have the ability to organize the team and get them to run their offense at times too. knight IMO has more than enough basketball smarts to do that and do that really well. he's still very young (19) and will grow into the position. but he has all the tools we want and need for him to be a really good one.

and you're right- he has the moxie and the big shot ability. he's fearless in the clutch and that is a huge quality to have especially in a kid so young. not to mention he's really young but he is NOT one of these kids who is so into himself (eh-em, *LEBRON*) that he pursues the glory more than the win. knight is a team first guy and is very humble while still having the passion and drive to be a great one.

can't wait to see this kid get started.......

You guys have me officially excited. I feel so vulnerable.

If he fails, may you burn in hell.

i just heard scottie pippen say he thinks knight is the greatest player to ever play. take that for what it's worth.....

i just heard scottie pippen say he thinks knight is the greatest player to ever play. take that for what it's worth.....
Scottie is gay.. he just saw knight on flashback night (short shorts).

billups was a shoot first PG too. he learned, over time, to run a team and be a better distributor. the days of a true pass first PG are over IMO. the game is different today and i think you NEED a PG with a scorer's mentality. you also need that guy to have the ability to organize the team and get them to run their offense at times too. knight IMO has more than enough basketball smarts to do that and do that really well. he's still very young (19) and will grow into the position. but he has all the tools we want and need for him to be a really good one.

and you're right- he has the moxie and the big shot ability. he's fearless in the clutch and that is a huge quality to have especially in a kid so young. not to mention he's really young but he is NOT one of these kids who is so into himself (eh-em, *LEBRON*) that he pursues the glory more than the win. knight is a team first guy and is very humble while still having the passion and drive to be a great one.

can't wait to see this kid get started.......

To me, I see very little of chauncey billups in brandon knight other their potential ability to lead a team and their ability to hit an outside shot (although they both take their shots at different spots on the floor). I also think they both create an atmosphere of "winning" which I think rubs off on teammates although it took chauncey some time to learn this. Knight won multiple championships in high school, would have won one in the ncaas perhaps if he took the last shot instead of lamb, considering he hit game winners against both princeton and #1 seed Ohio St., and was that national player of the year twice in high school...the 2 players previous to knight that won that award as juniors were Greg Oden and Lebron James).

Regardless, Knight is much quicker and uses it to get inside the paint differently than chauncey. Billups uses his physical advantage to get inside the paint and really wasn't a guy that created off the dribble that much (hence he didn't turn the ball over). Knight takes risks and has the ability to make more things happen with the basketball than billups. He doesn't always make the smartest play but that's because I think he was asked to be more of a scorer than he actually is.

Although I like that knight set the record for freshmen at kentucky in points and 3-pt field goals (and they've had some pretty good freshmen) I still don't think he's "only" a scorer. Calipari is a coach that asks his point guard to do what's best for his team. When Derrick Rose was a freshman under calipari he was asked to pass the ball since they had so many other scoring options on that great memphis team. Now in the pros he's become much more of a scorer than "unselfish point guard".

With kentucky heading into last year their top 4 scorers left for the NBA (wall, cousins, patterson, bledsoe) which left a gaping hole to find someone that could put the ball in the basket. Terrence Jones was supposed to be that guy and in some ways he failed miserably (to the point where calipari called him a "selfish mother fucker") leaving his point guard being asked to carry more of the scoring load and be more selfish than a calipari-coached point guard usually is.

And knight did a commendable job although I never got the impression that he was completely comfortable in that role (he had some piss poor shooting efforts yet didn't stop shooting). Still, I think he's smart enough to understand that if you play on a roster full of shooters you probably should pass the ball to some of them (and the pistons do have guys that can hit jump shots).

It will be fun to watch. At the very least we'll have someone other than stuckey being asked to run the team which is potentially the best bit of news I've heard in decades.

Having said that, despite all the good I'm still not completely sold on knight yet as he seems to lack that incredible quickness and burst of a derrick rose, chris paul, isiah thomas or some of the best point guards. He also needs to improve his handles a little. Still, you've got to like a guy with his belief in his ability to succeed and finding a point guard with legitimate skills, espcially a guy that can shoot like him. Not many people get drafted anymore that actually have identifiable skills at their position, most are drafted on potential.

I'm good Gla, no worries. Stuckey isn't likely to go anywhere. He's a good compliment to Knight, in my opinion. If you watched the Joe D/Gores presser on Pistons.com, Joe seemed pretty excited about that tandem. So, I hope the BG/Rip fans are OK, because one or both of them are more likely to depart, in my estimation.

Rip to Utah looks good to me right now. They have a glut of bigs just like we have a glut of guards.

yeah i agree- knight's game is comparable to billups only in shooting ability and 'clutch' quality (fearlessness, moxie, leadership, whatever). physically they play very differently. knight is much more athletic and quicker and is a much better finisher in the paint.

knight is not a freak athlete or lightning quick but IMO he's more than quick enough to be really good. a player doesn't necessarily have to be at the top echelon at his position in physical charcteristics- as long as he can get where he wants/needs to go and make the plays. i think that's knight. he does have to improve his ball handling and be a more consistent/selective shooter but again- i think his basketball IQ will lead him to learn this and master these qualities when surrounded with an nba roster. there will be bumps in the road but he has the determination to be as good as he can be, and IMO that will one day be an allstar quality player and a great floor general/clutch performer.

Wearing uniform #0.

Changed his mind, going with #7, Ben Gordon is switching to #8.

yeah i agree- knight's game is comparable to billups only in shooting ability and 'clutch' quality (fearlessness, moxie, leadership, whatever). physically they play very differently. knight is much more athletic and quicker and is a much better finisher in the paint.

knight is not a freak athlete or lightning quick but IMO he's more than quick enough to be really good. a player doesn't necessarily have to be at the top echelon at his position in physical charcteristics- as long as he can get where he wants/needs to go and make the plays. i think that's knight. he does have to improve his ball handling and be a more consistent/selective shooter but again- i think his basketball IQ will lead him to learn this and master these qualities when surrounded with an nba roster. there will be bumps in the road but he has the determination to be as good as he can be, and IMO that will one day be an allstar quality player and a great floor general/clutch performer.

I agree, you and I are on the same page on this. It's not like he isn't quick or is atrocious at handling the ball (just watch what he did against princeton when everyone knew he was taking the last shot). In a way, I'm nit-picking when I say those are negatives. People just need to watch what he did in the tourney starting with his game winner against princeton, his DOMINATION against west virginia (a very athletic and good defensive team), his cold-blooded game winner against ohio state and his HUGE 3-point shot against UNC that killed the tarheels and won that game after they were clawing back all game and finally got there...only to get the dagger through the heart.

Knight won me over in that tourney. And with his basketball pedigree of success (championships, awards, big shots, etc.) I'm still a bit shocked he fell to #8. Thank god for $hitty NBA franchises like the cavs, t-wolves, raptors, kings, bobcats, etc. for being consistently bad at everything they do. There's no way this kid should have fallen to #8.

Boners for everyone!

agreed yargs. when it matters, this kid rises to the occasion. he just has 'it'.

i said a while ago that i'd take him over irving. he has more upside IMO and the character (sorry to use that overused term!) to fulfill that upside/potential. i think he quite possibly could end up as the best player from this draft and IMO will at the least be one of the top 3-4 guys, for sure.

what i loved about his freshman year is his improvement from start to finish. he had a rough start and some rocky times along the way, but he grew, matured, learned, and improved. he figured out what he needed to do given the talent around him and by the tourney he was their floor general. you can't underestimate the guts and intangibles it takes for a guy to want be have the ball in his hands in the biggest pressure situations. only a limited few players TRULY want that and can come through in those situations. it's a very, very rare quality and that, along with his obvious physical skills and his determination to be as good as he can be (another thing lacking in MANY highly talented players) makes me as excited about him as any draft pick since....grant hill perhaps...?

he's 19 so i'm not going to put tons of pressure on this kid. but i think in time we'll all look back and be thrilled that brandon knight fell into our laps. we have a LOOOOONG road ahead to get this team where we want it to be. but it's picks like this that can change a franchise. we need to make a lot more right moves/draft picks/signings/trades. but this is a huge step forward IMO.

Kelly Dwyer on Yahoo draft grades:

Detroit Pistons
Additions: Brandon Knight, Kyle Singler, Vernon Macklin.
Grade: D
Ugh.
I don't understand the hype behind Knight. I understand that he has promise, a sprightly nature, and a few years to go before we can ably judge him, but that's the case for quite a few guards his age who have contributed much, much more at this age. Toss in Detroit's already-crowded backcourt and the fact that it wasa pick away from possibly adding a needed big man, and I just have to shake my head at yet another blown chance.
Singler seems like a fringe jack of all trades, and Macklin is a big man who averaged 5.4 rebounds per game last year despite working at 24 years of age.
Greg Monroe's(notes) pretty awesome, though. Let's just watch him, again.

Troof.

#7 because 7 teams passed on him...? i like it.

Best outcome, he tweets like Arenas.

Paint me less than thrilled about the Stuckey replacement... woo woo...pfft

I tweeted this last night, but with Knight here, I wonder if Joe makes at least a cursory phone call to Coach Cal about the coaching gig?


Kentucky announces new deal for John Calipari: 8 years, $36.5 million deal.

I watched Knight a lot in the tourney games because I was interested in him at #8 then (when he was projected to go around #10). He is much quicker than Billups ever was. Much more of a slasher than Billups as well. He passes well too. I wouldn't call him a floor general like Nash or Kidd, but he is a good enough passer. I think he reminds me more of a taller Tony Parker than Billups. I think it was a great pick. I'd much rather end up with a top PG than a decent PF. PF's that can defend and rebound aren't that hard to find. Joe can find a vet to do it for a year and try again next year. Just call up Utah, they have a half dozen bigs that could all be starters in Detroit next to Monroe.

Knight did get a lot of turnovers, though. 3.2 a game in what was one of the slowest paced offenses in the league.

Knight did get a lot of turnovers, though. 3.2 a game in what was one of the slowest paced offenses in the league.

Knight had 1.33 AST/TO ratio but most of his bad TO games were in the first 7 games (he was a freshman) and it was solid against 4 very good teams in the tourney. Irving had an AST/TO ratio of 1.74 BTW.

Certainly he needs to improve, but most freshman PGs were probably the best scorer on their team in High School (certainly a Kentucky recruit anyway).

For reference Rose's was 1.8 and Wall's was 1.6 their freshman years. Rose's was 2.5 his rookie year and Wall's was 2.2. I would expect the same type of progression from Knight as well (he's never going to be Nash or Paul).

#7 because 7 teams passed on him...? i like it.

7 because of Kelsey.

Just remembered that we got Brandon Knight.

Pretty exciting!

He's apparently an Obama supporter:

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7252592/nba-stars-play-exhibition-raise-funds-president-obama-re-election-campaign

7 because of Kelsey.

Appreciated.

basket balls

He has plantar fasciitis.

apparently arnie is working his magic and it's a very mild case.