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Monday, February 25, 2008
Charlotte (Brooklyn, N.Y.): What a game! I felt a little sorry for Shaq until he sandbagged Amir. The NBA commentators were a little too silly for me. When George and Special K are on the mike, an intelligent assessment is always given. Good luck on the rest of this road trip.
Langlois: Shaq just got traded from a hopeless situation to one of the best teams in basketball – and he traded Miami’s humidity for Phoenix’s dry air. He’s also got $40 million coming to him for the next two seasons. So I’m glad to hear you rescinded your sympathy. In fairness to the ABC crew, when a game devolves as unexpectedly and rapidly as that one did into a 36-point rout, it’s hard to give nothing but meaningful analysis. I thought they did a pretty good job of pointing out some of the nuanced ramifications of the Shaq deal, for instance. Jeff Van Gundy is a much more colorful and engaging character as a commentator than he ever was as a coach. Who knew?
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Kevin (Bloomfield Hills): I’m curious why the Pistons traded a big man for a guard when they already have two guards who are inactive and now they’re really short on centers. Even if they waive Flip Murray and sign Dale Davis, why not just keep Primoz Brezec. What do the Pistons gain?
Langlois: Good question, Kevin. Here’s the thinking. The Pistons have a ton of confidence in the futures of Jason Maxiell and Amir Johnson and fully believe that the young legs will prove a great boon in the postseason this year, providing the spark the Pistons clearly lacked in losing to Cleveland last spring. But there’s cause for concern in that Maxiell lacks the length to guard certain interior players (Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Dwight Howard come to mind) and Johnson lacks the sheer bulk to guard many of the same players. Davis, though obviously limited offensively, is a very big man, a very savvy veteran and a very capable defender. For four- or five-minute stretches in each half, he could be an important piece and a nice security blanket against certain playoff matchups. Why him and not Brezec? Primo just isn’t a very good defender or a very physical player. That much became clear during his two months here. He’s got a nice touch, but he’s not a defensive presence. The Pistons see Dixon as a better fit than Murray for two reasons – he’s a far more consistent perimeter shooter and he’s quick enough to defend point guards and long enough to defend some shooting guards. Murray – and this surprised the Pistons a little – just wasn’t a very good defender.
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T.J. (Rochester Hills): I agree the Pistons needed a proven scorer for the bench, but couldn’t they have gotten a better player had they combined the expiring contracts of Brezec, Murray, Herrmann, Hayes and a draft pick?
Langlois: Could they have gotten someone better? Not sure. It depends who was available and if that package would have been desirable to the other team. In the age of the salary cap, there are different motivating factors to do trades – to get better now, to acquire future draft picks, to clear cap space by trading better players for lesser ones. The Pistons weren’t looking to do a major move unless it represented a clear win for them. They weren’t willing to sacrifice a big chunk of their future unless it resulted in a significant increase in their chances this year. I’m not privy to everything Joe Dumars was presented, but the fact he didn’t do anything dramatic tells me that there was nothing out there that tempted him to do something more than tweaking the roster for the reasons I explained in Kevin’s question above.
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Hameed: How is Alex Acker still property of the Pistons if they have 15 players? Isn’t that the maximum? Also, if you waive someone, do you still have to pay them?
Langlois: You can only have 15 players under contract once the regular season starts until the end of the season. Acker is not currently under contract with the Pistons, but they retain his NBA rights as long as he’s playing professionally elsewhere or until the Pistons renounce his rights, for whatever reason. Yes, if you waive a player, you still owe him the money remaining on his contract, though often young players or others with little bargaining leverage will sign a partially guaranteed contract. At some point in the season – it was Jan. 10 this year – all contracts become fully guaranteed, which explains why so many players were waived that day.
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Michael (Sydney, Australia): We want to catch Boston to secure the No. 1 seed and missed two ideal chances to move within two games of the Celtics with losses to Orlando and Milwaukee while the Celtics were losing at Denver and Golden State.
Langlois: I hear you, Michael, but the Pistons aren’t putting extraordinary emphasis on finishing with the best record this season. They’ve been up front about the priority this season being to get their young bench up to speed so that by the time the playoffs open, they’ll be fully confident in using them liberally to exploit matchups. Remember, the Pistons have won several big series over the past five seasons when they didn’t have home-court advantage and, conversely, they’ve lost series where they held the edge.
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Luca (Italy): Do you think there’s any chance the Pistons can take Italian player Dano Gallinari in the next draft?
Langlois: Very likely that they won’t get the chance, Luca. Gallinari will probably be selected before the Pistons get around to picking, which should be near or at the bottom of the first round.
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Mike (Holland): Keith, Flip, et al: From the “Play Amir” crowd, we told you so – in a nice way. Is it going to be Dale Davis or Jamaal Magloire coming in?
Langlois: Touche, Mike, though I don’t remember ever arguing against Amir Johnson. I’m sure Flip would make the case that he’s playing so well now because he waited until Johnson was ready to hold up. My hunch is Dale Davis will join the Pistons soon.
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Jason (Battle Creek): The Pistons have a great record when leading at halftime, but they struggle when trailing at halftime. Why do the Pistons struggle in that situation when they’re such an experienced team?
Langlois: They’re 3-11 when trailing at halftime. Not a great surprise, though it’s not a very large sample size, either. There are statistics that show the team that scores the first basket of the game wins more often than it loses. When you’re leading halfway through the game, the odds are in your favor.
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Chris (Honolulu): Who do you think will pick up Flip Murray? Also, I heard a rumor on ESPN Radio the other day that the NBA is talking about seeding the playoffs solely by record instead of giving preference to division leaders. What do you think?
Langlois: Boston or Washington have been mentioned as possible destinations for Murray. He makes sense for any team looking for versatile backcourt depth and a guy with playoff experience. The NBA has already eliminated automatic home-court advantage for division winners. I can’t see it being further devalued. There’d be no point in having a division format if that were the case.
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Travis (Chesterfield Twp.): What’s the possibility of the Pistons in the NBA Finals this year?
Langlois: If you were laying odds on them right now, Travis, they’d be better than whatever they were at this time four years ago – when they made the Finals – and worse than they were two years ago – when they didn’t. So who knows? I think the Pistons are the best-equipped team in the East for a long playoff run because of their experience and depth. Boston obviously has the firepower to make a run and I think Cleveland did themselves good with the 11-player deal that added four rotation pieces that appear better fits for LeBron James than the two they shipped out. Orlando would be the darkhorse at this point. I don’t see anyone else with more than a remote shot.
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William: Do we have any shot of getting Shawn Marion this summer if he opts out of his contract. We need players who are hungry for a title. My second choice would be Elton Brand and my third would be Chris Wilcox.
Langlois: Marion’s supposed to make something like $17 million next year. If he opts out – and I’ve been told by a number of people that they’d be shocked if he did – the Pistons could only offer him the mid-level exception, which starts at something under $6 million a year, unless Joe Dumars was inclined to start a radical overhaul of his team. Even then, I’m not sure how he’d get far enough under the salary cap to make it worthwhile for Marion. Ditto with Brand. Wilcox? Maybe. Seattle is in rebuilding mode and there were rumblings he was available at the trade deadline. But he only has one year left on his reasonable contract ($6.5 million) and somebody has to play inside for the Sonics. Here’s the problem I have with picking up Wilcox: Where does he fit on the Pistons? If you’re picking him up, you’d only be doing it unless you thought he was a clear upgrade over Jason Maxiell. I don’t think that’s the case.
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Terry: I’m sure there must be more than meets the eye, so please fill me in. Who can box out Ben Wallace, Joe Smith or Anderson Varejao better: Primoz Brezec or Juan Dixon?
Langlois: Dale Davis.
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Steve (Lincoln Park): Isn’t Rasheed Wallace a free agent at the end of the season? If he is, are the Pistons going to re-sign him?
Langlois: No. He has one more year on his contract after this one. If he plays next year as he has this one, there’s no question he’ll still be a very valued commodity come the summer of 2009. The question will be how much longer he wants to play.
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Sam (St. Louis): In the playoffs against Cleveland last season, the Cavs shot better than 40 percent from the 3-point line in three of Detroit’s losses. With the addition of Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West to go with Daniel Gibson, how do you see the Pistons countering that?
Langlois: The Cavs became potentially better offensively with the addition of West, Szczerbiak and even Joe Smith, who’s been very productive of late, and potentially better defensively up front with the addition of Ben Wallace. The Cavs will have to pick their spots with Szczerbiak, who’s a major defensive liability. What the Pistons will have to do is maintain better discipline in adhering to defensive principles. Whatever tactical devices they employ, it’s going to come down to execution and energy – those are the areas the Cavs won out in last spring.
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Joe: Early in the season, I thought the Pistons’ bench really had it going when they were playing Lindsey Hunter. Then Rodney Stuckey came back and it seems management is determined to develop him even though he has struggled. What’s your opinion of the Hunter-Stuckey situation?
Langlois: Same as it’s been since I first saw Stuckey last summer – the kid has a chance to be a star. The game is almost always a blur to rookie point guards and Stuckey’s adjustment is greater than most because of the level of competition he faced in college and the disproportionate amount of the scoring load he had to carry at Eastern Washington. So the Pistons are wise to let him play through as many mistakes as they can tolerate now as part of the process of getting him as up to speed as possible for the postseason, where points come grudgingly and what Stuckey has to offer will be valued.
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Byron (Detroit): Who do you see being inactive most nights during the playoffs besides Cheikh Samb?
Langlois: It could vary from round to round based on the opponent. Against Boston, which doesn’t have a very deep or big frontcourt, Dale Davis (assuming he’s signed) might be inactive. Walter Herrmann or Juan Dixon are the other logical candidates, assuming the Pistons stick with their plan to use Lindsey Hunter as a situational defender in the postseason.
