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Monday, May 26, 2008
Nathan (Bay City, Mich.): Flip Saunders and Chauncey Billups need to talk. Billups needs to be humble enough while nursing his injury to play behind Rodney Stuckey, who’s on a roll.
Langlois: Humility isn’t Billups’ problem. If he doesn’t feel right for Game 4 tonight, I think everyone concerned will do what they have to do – which will mean lots of Rodney Stuckey. We might get a hint of their thought process when they release the active roster an hour before tipoff – if Juan Dixon is active, it could mean that there’s concern about Billups.
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Donna (Midland, Mich.): I might be the only person that doesn’t like the Whiteout. It seems to me teams have done this ever since Miami won the championship. It looks blah and I can’t see how it energizes the crowd for a home-court advantage.
Langlois: I can’t speak to how it looked on TV, but in the arena it was pretty striking – a very bright building. But unless you’re suggesting that the brightness threw off Pistons shooters, I don’t think it had any effect on the outcome. White T-shirts or not, that was a very energetic crowd early – until Boston took them out of it.
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Heidi (Troy, Mich.): I’m sick of watching this Pistons team take nights off, especially in the playoffs. Have they learned nothing from being eliminated in the conference finals how many times now?
Langlois: Heidi, they lost Game 3 and no one is going to pretend they played well – but it’s just wrong to say they lost because they didn’t play hard. They didn’t play very smart, that’s for sure, but I’d have a far easier time arguing the case that they lost because they wanted it too much than not enough – they had too much adrenaline flowing early, missing jump shots they normally make, then started playing frantically, gambling instead of sticking with the defensive game plan. Those aren’t the characteristics of a team that “took the night off.” The Pistons won 59 games during the regular season, second-most in the league – if they were taking nights off this season, then other teams must have been taking leaves of absence.
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Tim (Negaunee, Mich.): Being a Pistons fan for a very long time and trying to be loyal to the current starters, but I feel strongly that if the Pistons lose this series Joe D needs to move them for younger players and start over. There is no explanation for them to come out so flat and unfocused considering what they had just accomplished in Boston and what is at stake.
Langlois: Your sentiments are representative of quite a few Mailbag entries, Tim – a loss like Game 3 frustrates the fan base. I understand that. I think you are more precise than a lot of fans – the ones like Heidi of Troy, for instance, who called it “taking the night off” – when you call it “flat” and “unfocused.” Maybe I’m parsing a little too much here, but I think there’s a significant difference between “focus” and “effort.” As I said, the Pistons played badly in Game 3, but it wasn’t because they didn’t care – that’s ridiculous. Focus means that no matter what happens, you stay disciplined and adhere to your core philosophies and strengths, not start flailing away and trying to make great individual plays, not gambling on defense and starting a chain reaction of similar risks by your teammates that lead to easy baskets. That’s what the Pistons did in Game 3 – for as remarkably calm and poised as they can be in big moments, like down the stretch of Game 2 on the road, they can turn around and allow themselves to be distracted and taken out of their game. But it’s Joe Dumars’ job to see the big picture – and the big picture is still pretty good. Be careful when you start talking about tearing what he’s built apart and starting over. Lots of teams start over – and then find themselves starting over again every two or three years.
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Ardrella (Detroit): Will Flip Saunders seriously consider playing more of the bench players. Jarvis Hayes is pretty good with the 3-pointer. Can he play more?
Langlois: You adjust within reason with what you have to work with as a series unfolds, Ardrella. But you have to be careful. Making radical changes after one loss probably has a greater chance of backfiring than success. For one thing, unless they’re sold convincingly to the players, drastic changes will send the signal that the coaches doubt the players who’ve gotten them to this point. That can do more damage than the potential upside of the change.
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Gil (Charlotte, N.C.): Tayshaun Prince is the NBA’s version of Derek Jeter. He’s not considered the best at his position, but any team in the league would love to have him and he’s clutch – not just scoring clutch, but clutch in every way.
Langlois: Not a bad analogy, Gil. I was thinking about this the other day – to say Prince is a “versatile” player doesn’t do it justice. Prince’s versatility has versatility. By that I mean that some players are versatile scorers. And Prince is that. He can shoot 3-pointers, he can take it off the dribble from the wing, he can post up. Some players are versatile defenders. Prince is that. He can guard pretty much everybody except overpowering post players. Some players are versatile offensively, aside from scoring. Prince is that. The Pistons use him to bring the ball up court and to run the offense when Chauncey Billups is unavailable or needs a breather. Hardly anybody in the game can do all of those things, though. Kobe Bryant comes to mind. Which is pretty nice company.
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Luca (Brescia, Italy): I’m an Italian Pistons fan. For you, which teams will go to the Finals?
Langlois: Ah, Brescia … never been there, but my wife will kill me if we don’t get there soon. Luca, it’s the best NBA final four in a long, long time, and no combination of teams would surprise me. San Antonio looked dead in the water in its two losses in Los Angeles, then blew out the Lakers in Game 3. So that’s still very much a series. And if the Pistons hold home court in Game 4, they’ll go back to Boston confident they can win another one there.
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Richard (Las Vegas): Game 2 was the art of pro basketball at its highest level. Don’t you just love it? After the game, Garnett studying the state sheets, looking for a clue, or an edge. Pierce concluding “Stuckey was the X-factor.” Lucky us.
Langlois: Touche, Richard. Game 2 stands out in my mind as one of the very best playoff games I’ve seen in a long time – then Game 3 was the polar opposite. The way both teams responded with big shot after big shot in the fourth quarter against two elite defenses was astounding. I, too, was struck by Garnett staring at the stat sheet, as if a revelation would come to him if he stared at it long enough. It must have happened, because the Celtics had every answer in Game 3.
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Steven (Southaven, Miss.): Do you think Jason Maxiell is the best player for the Pistons to use on Paul Pierce?
Langlois: No. There’s a reason Tayshaun Prince is playing more minutes than any of his teammates – Pierce is the best option on Pierce. Lindsey Hunter gives up a lot of size, but in short bursts he ties up Pierce by getting in his face and harassing him relentlessly. I think Arron Afflalo would be an option. But Maxiell shouldn’t be exposed by trying to defend such a creative off-the-dribble scorer. Maxiell has above average footwork and lateral quickness for a big man, but should never be expected to guard one of the NBA’s premier slashers.
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Shawn (Mt. Rainier, Md.): The Pistons seem to have a very bright future with the young guns they have on the bench. The problem I see is their inability to get high-percentage shots in the paint. What are your thoughts?
Langlois: If you’re looking down the road, Rodney Stuckey’s emergence is going to help. He’ll be one of the top five point guards in the league at getting into the paint. Amir Johnson has a quirky post game, but I think he’ll be highly effective with a little more experience. Jason Maxiell should continue to get better and provide some inside punch. I think points in the paint is a little misunderstood – fast-break layups count as points in the paint – and perhaps even a little overrated. A team that executes and produces a large number of high-percentage open jumpers and plays great defense to create scoring opportunities can win consistently. It’s great to have a low-post scoring monster, but they’re few and far between.
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Joe (Saginaw, Mich.): On the biggest stage imaginable, Rodney Stuckey is showing the pundits what Joe Dumars saw in him last summer and Pistons fans have been seeing of late. I feel Stuckey could supplant Chauncey in the starting rotation within the next year or two. What do you think?
Langlois: Barring injury, it sure won’t happen next year, Joe, unless Dumars does something really bold and dramatic in the off-season. Stuckey’s good enough to start for many, many NBA teams and the Pistons would be perfectly comfortable with him in that role. But there is plenty of room for three top-flight guards. The Pistons don’t have to look too far for a profound example – Isiah, Joe D and Vinnie. With Rip Hamilton’s ability to defend most small forwards, the opportunity is there to get all three on the court at the same time. I think next year you’ll even see times when the Pistons go small with all three of those players and Tayshaun Prince on the floor.
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Cameron (Paw Paw, Mich.): When a team watches tape from the previous game, what are they seeing? Is it a recording or a broadcast? Or is it void of announcers, theme music and commercials?
Langlois: The Pistons tape games off of satellite feeds, so they have the actual telecast available to them, but they’re not interested in the announcers or the halftime shows. They also contract with a service that provides tapes – mostly of college games for scouting and evaluation purposes. They have a video coordinator and an assistant who splice and edit tape to suit the coaches’ and players’ needs. They’ll put together segments, five minutes or so in length, tailored to each players’ individual matchup – the strengths, weaknesses and tendencies of the other team’s players. Coaches might request, for instance, tape of every variation a certain team uses in pick-and-roll situations, or how they defend the post. It’s come a long way over the last 20 years or so. Much more sophisticated today. It’s one reason scoring is so much more difficult these days – everybody knows everybody’s playbook and tendencies.
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Keith (Ocala, Fla.): Just moved from Detroit, but I will always be a Pistons fan. When a team has time off, why do people expect that they will be well-rested and play well, then when they lose argue that the time off kept them out of sync?
Langlois: Assume you’re referring to the extended layoff the Pistons had heading into Game 1. I don’t think anyone predicted with any degree of confidence that the Pistons would play well in Game 1, only that the rest would, on balance, be good for them. And I think it was. The Pistons got their split out of the first two games in Boston. I’m not sure that would have been accomplished if they’d had to go seven games with Orlando, which could have easily happened with Chauncey Billups unavailable to them. That’s another reason I and others thought the week off was good for the Pistons – it gave them that much more time to get Billups healthy without having to play a game without him.
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Bilal (Hartford, Conn.): I’ve been reading your responses and I’ve noticed you never seem to disagree with the Pistons’ front office? Have they ever done anything that you thought was questionable?
Langlois: It’s easy to pick out mistakes in retrospect, Bilal. Joe Dumars has obviously made personnel errors. It’s the nature of the business. What I’ve come to greatly admire about him – and you’re be surprised how rare this is – is that he is able to distance himself emotionally from his draft picks or trade acquisitions and cut his losses before they compound themselves. You can say he’s made three draft mistakes, though I contend that taking Mateen Cleaves in one of the worst drafts in NBA history wasn’t really a gaffe. But he turned Cleaves into Jon Barry and a No. 1 pick. He turned Rodney White into a No. 1 pick he used to acquire Rasheed Wallace. And he turned Darko Milicic into the pick he used to pick up Rodney Stuckey. It’s not about being perfect, it’s about staying a step ahead of your mistakes. Who’s done it any better? San Antonio – but that’s a front office that started with the gift of Tim Duncan.
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Curtis (Lansing): ESPN’s first mock draft has Detroit taking Chris Douglas-Roberts. If they got him, a backcourt of Billups, Hamilton, Stuckey and Afflalo with Prince and Douglas-Roberts and maybe Herrmann manning the three, the Pistons would be looking pretty good on the perimeter going forward.
Langlois: I wrote about that last week in my blog. I think it’s probably less than 50-50 than Douglas-Roberts will be available to them, and I don’t know what the Pistons think about him, but I think that would be a very interesting addition. I see some Rip Hamilton in Douglas-Roberts, both in his non-stop motor and the obvious desire to win he possesses. Joe Dumars called Hamilton a stone-cold warrior last week. I think there’s some of that in Douglas-Roberts. And the Pistons will know everything they need to know about him from Durand “Speedy” Walker – now serving as a Pistons scout and the man who coached Douglas-Roberts on his Detroit AAU team, The Family.
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Lochlann (France): Would the Pistons be able to get Nicholas Batum in the draft?
Langlois: Most early projections have him going a little higher than 29th, so I doubt he’d be there. I know they were impressed with Batum a year ago when he played in the Nike Challenge in Memphis. Very athletic wing player with a high ceiling.
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Roy (Northstar, Mich.): Regarding the foul on Rip Hamilton that was called a flagrant one upon review, can you explain the rule toward reviewing plays. I can understand upgrading a flagrant one to a flagrant two, but a play that is called a normal foul being reviewed confuses me.
Langlois: Anything and everything is open to review from the league office. It doesn’t matter if a play isn’t called a foul at all. In fact, you can go back to the 1987 Eastern Conference finals between the Pistons and Celtics. Remember the vicious blindside punch Robert Parrish threw at Bill Laimbeer under the basket? It wasn’t even called a foul during the game because it happened behind the play and the officials never saw it. But the league reviewed it and Parrish was suspended for Game 6.
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Thursday, May 22, 2008
Huffern (Valencia, Philippines): Is Jarvis Hayes capable of guarding Paul Pierce if given the chance?
Langlois: Based on the fact he didn’t see the floor in Game 1, the evidence suggests the Pistons have their doubts, Huffern. Pierce is a tough cover for anybody. Even Tayshaun Prince had trouble keeping Pierce in front of him on a few one-on-one drives without Kevin Garnett screens factoring into the equation. I wonder if Flip Saunders wouldn’t go with Arron Afflalo over Hayes at some point, despite the Pistons’ struggles to score, on the chance that Afflalo’s tough defense might help the Pistons score some points in transition or early offense.
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Matthew (Fostoria, Ohio): No panic! The Pistons did a good job in Game 1 for not having played for a week and going against a Boston team undefeated at home in the playoffs. I think Game 2 will be a different story. We just more production from Chauncey. What are your thoughts?
Langlois: I thought Billups looked a lot better when he re-entered the game in the fourth quarter – a nice blow-by of Rondo for a layup, an assertive jumper coming around a screen, another penetration move to draw a foul. That was the best sign coming out of the game that Game 2 will be a little different, as I wrote in my blog on Wednesday. They need more than just that, of course. The Pistons settled for too many long jump shots in Game 1. Only when they attacked the basket in the second quarter – when Rodney Stuckey and Lindsey Hunter were the backcourt tandem – did they put the Celtics back on their heels.
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Mark (Adelaide, South Australia): Disappointing Game 1 result. Let’s hope they pull it together on Thursday as I am taking a holiday day to watch the game. Maybe Stuckey should get a few more minutes?
Langlois: A holiday day? Australia sounds like my kind of place, Mark – either that or you better hope your boss isn’t a Pistons fan and sorting through the Mailbag. I think it’s possible Stuckey does get more minutes. He was one of their three best players in Game 1. It doesn’t have to come at Billups’ expense, either. I think what you’re going to see is Flip Saunders essentially look at the three perimeter positions as being shared by four players – Stuckey, Billups, Hamilton and Prince. Prince is going to get more minutes than the others, probably, because they want him guarding Paul Pierce as much as possible. But Hamilton could be used increasingly as Prince’s backup, maybe up to 10 minutes or so a game, with Stuckey filling in during those 10 minutes for Hamilton, for 10 minutes more while Hamilton sits and for 10 minutes more while Billups rests. Lindsey Hunter would be the change-of-pace option in the mix. It will fluctuate, naturally, on a game-to-game basis, but as long as Stuckey keeps showing well, they’ll figure out ways to get him more minutes.
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James (Chicago): Should Rasheed retire after this season? He doesn’t look very good, especially at crunch time.
Langlois: If you’re going to base career decisions on one performance, a lot of careers wouldn’t have gotten off the ground, James. It’s fair to say Orlando wishes Wallace would have retired after the first round – chances are pretty good the Magic would be lining up against Boston right now. If Boston didn’t think he presented a major challenge, why would they have the Defensive Player of the Year guarding him – at least until he picked up two first-half fouls, when they quickly switched Kendrick Perkins on to him – even though it was Antonio McDyess who kept the Pistons in the game with his shooting in the first half?
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Ryan (Indianapolis): The Pistons’ most glaring weakness is the lack of consistent penetration that forces defenses to rotate and prevents them from setting up. Most of Detroit’s offense is jump shots and nothing comes easily.
Langlois: Stuckey gives them a different dynamic. That’s why I’ve thought all along he was going to be important against either Cleveland or Boston (or San Antonio, if it comes to that) – teams that are great at protecting the basket. But the Pistons are what they are. They lack the elite slasher – Kobe, Wade, LeBron, Pierce. Most NBA teams do, by the way. Most NBA teams, by necessity, are jump shooting teams. The Pistons do it better than most because they can put five credible threats on the floor at one time – not many can – and they are also blessed with good passers, ballhandlers and decision-makers, so their jump shots are usually of a higher quality than other teams must take.
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D.J. (Lawrence, Mass.): Do you think it’s a good idea to start Stuckey and have Billups come off the bench since he does not look 100 percent?
Langlois: Only as an act of desperation, D.J., and losing the first game of a seven-game series at the other team’s building doesn’t qualify. Why risk changing the roles two people played for months? If Billups and the medical staff says he’s good to go, then you put him back in the role he’s accustomed to playing. Billups has to play better than he did in Game 1 for the Pistons to win the series, whether he’s starting or coming off the bench. Why complicate matters by putting him in a completely foreign position?
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Nima (Windsor): Do you feel Boston was favored by the referees in Game 1? I saw more than one no-call. And what did you think about Rasheed’s late 3-point miss? He should drive to the basket and dunk more instead of taking the turnaround jump shot.
Langlois: Boston probably didn’t think it was getting a favorable whistle at halftime, when the Pistons had shot 17 free throws to its seven. I don’t think the Pistons have much of a quibble with the Game 1 officials. Rasheed Wallace got called for a foul once when it looked like he clearly had cleanly blocked Kendrick Perkins. There was one cheapie called on Theo Ratliff for jostling someone – it might have been Kevin Garnett – as they were jockeying in the lane. But nothing that changed the tenor of the game. I had no problem with Rasheed’s late 3 – he had a good look at that one and the Pistons were down six at the time. If he makes that one, it would have been real interesting. Those baseline turnarounds he takes, those are very, very difficult shots. He makes a higher percentage than anybody I can imagine, but they’re still tough shots. I’d rather see him taking triples or posting on the right block and shooting over his left shoulder more often.
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Sam (St. Louis, Mo.): Do you see Afflalo getting more playing time in the next few games to stop Boston’s dribble penetration? His size and smarts can guard Allen, Posey, House and maybe Pierce.
Langlois: It’s possible, Sam. I think the scenario I just laid out is more likely to be tried first – more minutes for Stuckey with Hamilton becoming, in effect, Prince’s primary backup – but Afflalo’s proven defensive prowess, his poise and his competitiveness will earn him consideration if other options fail.
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Ardrella (Detroit): Despite the Game 1 loss, I still feel the Pistons will win the series. But they did look sluggish.
Langlois: No surprise, really, that the Pistons looked a half-step behind the play all night. The surprise was that Boston had as much hop in its step after playing a really demanding Game 7 two days earlier. I figured adrenaline would carry Boston early and the Pistons just had to withstand the initial rally and not get blown out. They managed that after falling behind 8-0 and took the lead late in the second quarter. Down one at halftime, I thought the third quarter was their opening. Instead, they turned the ball over seven times and put themselves in an uphill fight. Yet I, too, think they can come out of that game knowing it was their failure to capitalize, not Boston’s superiority, that led to the outcome.
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Donna (Southfield): Do you think Joe Dumars would trade up in the second round, either by trading future second-rounders – we have a lot – or maybe buying a draft pick from the Blazers or Timberwolves. It’s a deep draft and it might be worthwhile to pick a foreign big guy or small forward in the second round.
Langlois: The Pistons are going to be drafting 29th in the first round and they already have a pretty deep, talented roster. They’d have to really like two players of roughly equal ability in order to spend future assets to add two players in this year’s draft class – which, though strong, does feature what is considered a weak international crop, whereas next year’s international group is supposed to be better. It’s possible, though not likely, that Minnesota will convey the second-rounder it owes the Pistons this year. The T-wolves have the first pick in the second round, via Miami, and their own pick, the 34th overall, so they might want to send that pick to the Pistons this year.
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Joe (Center Line, Mich.): On ESPN.com it says there might be a blockbuster trade between the Nets and Nuggets involving Carmelo Anthony. Do you know anything about that?
Langlois: It seems the Nuggets are willing to listen on Anthony, though indications are that it was New Jersey that initiated discussion. Richard Jefferson and the Nets’ lottery pick would be the primary ammunition on New Jersey’s end, though it surely would involve some young players like Marcus Williams, as well, while Marcus Camby has also been mentioned going the other way. It sounds like it’s going to be a pretty active summer around the NBA with several teams who missed the playoffs or went out in the first round looking to do something dramatic.
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Patrick (Paramaribo, Suriname): Against good teams in the regular season the Pistons often won after a quick first-quarter punchout. Against the best defensive team in Boston, it will be another story. What is Flip’s Plan B?
Langlois: I don’t think Plan A is ever “let’s kill ’em in the first quarter and coast” – nice if it happens, but not exactly a blueprint for championships. The Pistons fully expect most playoff games at this point to come down to the last five minutes and bank on their execution and poise to win it for them.
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Thomas (Boyne City, Mich.): I think Tayshaun Prince is the best on-ball defender in basketball and gets better when facing All-Star-caliber players like Tracy McGrady, Andre Igoudala and Paul Pierce. I think Tay will shut down Pierce. What do you think?
Langlois: Over a seven-game series, Pierce is going to win some, Prince is going to win some. Pierce has the ball in his hands too much, is too clever off the dribble and has too many weapons around him to be fully throttled. The hope is that he doesn’t have any 41-point games in him, or even any 30-point games in him, and that Prince can keep Pierce in front of him well enough so that his teammates don’t have to leave their man to cut off his penetration and create openings for the likes of P.J. Brown, Leon Powe and Glen Davis. You’d have to give Game 1 to Pierce.
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Joel (Cadillac, Mich.): How long is a 20-second timeout? How long is a full timeout?
Langlois: How long is a 20-second timeout? Is that a trick question? It’s supposed to be 20 seconds, Joel. Sometimes it takes that long for the referees to confer with the official scorer to see if a mandatory full timeout is due – there are two of those in every first and third quarters and three in every second and fourth quarters – so the 20 seconds sometimes becomes 30 or 40, depending on when the officials start the clock ticking. Full timeouts are 100 seconds, but once the two or three mandatory timeouts per quarter are fulfilled, they become 60 seconds.
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Roscoe (Detroit): Do you think it will be a major problem if Rasheed Wallace gets in early foul trouble while guarding Kevin Garnett and if so what will the Pistons do?
Langlois: If Wallace picks up a quick foul on Garnett, look for Antonio McDyess to slide over and guard him on the next possession. They’ll trade off, depending on whose foul situation is more favorable. If they both get in foul trouble, Theo Ratliff is an option. So is Amir Johnson. The Pistons obviously would prefer Wallace to be available for up to 40 minutes a game against Garnett, but the Pistons have more and better options than just about anybody else in the league.
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Mikai (Detroit): Don’t you think the key to the series is if Ray Allen can keep up with Rip Hamilton and can Chauncey Billups get to the line and keep Boston in foul trouble and the Pistons in the penalty?
Langlois: If Hamilton can run Allen ragged on the offensive end, it makes sense that it will be tougher for Allen to come out of his shooting funk on the other end. It’s always beneficial to get the other team in early foul trouble and especially so for the Pistons because they shoot free throws so well. But there are a dozen things you could also label keys to the series – limiting turnovers, denying Boston offensive rebounds, good shot selection to prevent Boston transition, bench contributions, closing out quarters, etc.
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Santiago (West Bloomfield, Mich.): I watch “SportsCenter” every day and visit NBA.com and the Pistons seem to get downplayed. Everybody predicts Boston and the Lakers as NBA Finals opponents. What gives?
Langlois: There are two different things at work here. One is public sentiment and the other is hard analysis. ESPN.com polled its reporters who regularly cover the NBA and a majority picked the Pistons to win the series. There’s no question there’s strong public sentiment for the nostalgia and star power of a Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals, but that won’t have anything to do with who wins the series.
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Nancy (Oregon, Ohio): I recently flew from Detroit Metro to Florida and asked at the gate if they ever see the Pistons and the answer was no. Do they have their own plane and does it fly out of Metro or another airport?
Langlois: The Pistons have their own plane – Roundball Two. They started the trend more than 20 years ago and it’s revolutionized the way the NBA does business, allowing for greater scheduling flexibility and improving the quality of play, theoretically, at least, by drastically reducing the hassles and time involved in commercial air travel. More teams actually lease planes than buy them outright, but no teams fly commercial. Roundball Two docks at Metro and sometimes the Pistons fly out of there, sometimes they fly out of Oakland-Pontiac, which is more convenient to The Palace.
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Ryan (Battle Creek, Mich.): If the Pistons only come away with one ring from six straight trips to the conference finals, will it be considered a failure?
Langlois: Compared to what? There’s only one NBA team with a better history over that time than the Pistons, San Antonio. If the Pistons are a failure, then the NBA is littered with 29 failures. Everybody’s going to have their own opinion on that one, but I’d argue strongly that it’s flawed logic to characterize a six-year span with one title and two NBA Finals appearances – with the chance over the next month to make it two and three – as anything close to a failure.
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Nate (Houston): Why do you think Dwyane Wade has gone down so much? Is he getting old or did he just not do well this season?
Langlois: No mystery, Nate. He was coming off shoulder and knee surgeries that prevented him from playing last summer. The knee is the more worrisome of the two. It clearly cost Wade the quickness and explosion that made him the force he had become. I don’t know that he’ll ever get all of that back, but at 26 he has a better chance at a full recovery than someone in his 30s.
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Jack (Conroe, Texas): Will the Pistons be looking at Robert McKiver with the 59th pick? With Hunter retiring and Dixon a free agent, he’d make a great third string point guard.
Langlois: The Pistons are probably looking at a pool of 30 or 40 players with the 59th pick, ranging from college seniors like McKiver to freshmen who declared a year or two too early to young international prospects they can let grow overseas for a year or two. I doubt point guard is going to be a priority for them, but if they see someone they really like there as a point guard, they’d take him. I have no insight into their view of McKiver, who played well for Houston the past two years, other than that they’re aware of him.
