Out of the woodwork

DNP-CD
On Monday, I wrote, "Fans around here tend to love the very good and the very bad." Apparently, I was right.

After a summer of ultimate fan apathy, the Pistons were the hot topic yesterday on the web and radio. Prior to the season, there was zero interest in this team. Traditional fans were trying to avert their eyes from the impending disaster of a season, and the casual fans moved on to MSU football and the Wings. Yet, when the Pistons lose to the worst team in the league by squandering a 7pt lead in the final 1:44, the fans come out of the woodwork.

Ironically, the loss was probably a good thing! The Pistons' Q Score is through the roof. Everybody now knows of their painful performance and that prize rookie Greg Monroe never left the bench. Fans were livid. After a 50% free throw shooting night, Pistonpowered even chastised Big Ben for his repeated failure at the charity stripe. What is this... 2004? Had the Pistons actually pulled out the win, I have no doubt there would've been a collective yawn in this area. Ho-hum. Yet, with the spectacular loss, fans suddenly care again. It's theoretically possible that the Pistons may actually be the worst team in the NBA.

From a talent perspective, that's somewhat hard to believe. Not many teams boast three All-stars - two of which still play close to that All-star level. The roster was built around good characters guys, and they have a decent injection of youth with Austin Daye, Greg Monroe, and the now-injured Jerebko. The team should not be so dreadful. But they are. Part of the problem is that many of the players (I'm looking at you, Hamilton) are only "good character guys" when the team is winning. When the losses pile up, the grumbles become more audible. This is the NBA, don't forget. And, as we've discussed here ad nauseum, Dumars populated the team with too many friggin' guards. The players don't know their roles. Is it any surprise that the one player with a defined role - Big Ben - is the best, most consistent player every night?

The problem is that Dumars and Kuester are in denial. Both are still operating as if this is a championship team. Why else would they bring in a stop-gap like McGrady? He's just taking minutes from Austin Daye. McGrady should be a complimentary player on a playoff team. Why is Maxiell taking minutes from Greg Monroe? We've seen Maxiell for five years. We know what he can do. If the Pistons want to rebuild - which they oh-so-clearly need to do - they've got to find out if Monroe can actually play. Wouldn't it be nice to have a legit power forward? A guy who can rip down boards and pass the rock like a young C-Webb? They might just have that in Monroe. But we'll never know if he doesn't see the friggin' floor.

As for Daye, he forced Kuester's hand with stellar play at the Summer League and preseason. So Kuester found him a spot in the starting lineup - at power forward. Daye may be the lightest (200lb) power forward in the history of the game. Most PFs weigh between 240-260lbs. That's a ton of size to give up. What's the role of the coach again? All together now... to put a player in a position to succeed. How is Daye supposed to succeed when he's consistently yielding 50lbs to his opponent? Kuester be real. The kid's a 3. Or maybe a 2, but for God's sake he's not a 4.

You see? It's these dreadful losses that bring out the passion in the fans. I haven't been this worked up about the Pistons in months!