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!

The fight with Fox

The Wings open their season tonight against the Ducks. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Detroit, but I won't be able to see it. Why? Because I subscribe to Dish Network.

On October 1st, Fox blocked Dish Network from its programming due to (what Dish calls) "an unprecedented rate increase of more than 50%." This is not the first time Dish sparred with a big affiliate. In its first season carrying the NHL, Dish faced a similar battle with Versus. Apparently, Versus felt it could command more money as an NHL broadcaster. Eventually, Dish and Versus settled, but it took months.

I may be in the minority here, but I've never once had a problem with Dish. They've provided fine customer service for my entire five years of subscription. They claim they want to keep costs down, and the truth is that they do. They're significantly cheaper than DirecTV and Comcast. And when I upgraded to HD this past winter, Dish supplied with me with a $200 receiver and a ton of HD channels for just $10. This deal was a reward for customer loyalty.

No company has ever granted me a tangible reward like that before. It was incredible. So do what you gotta do, Dish. Fight with Fox. I'm not going anywhere.

Pistons

Piston fans are somewhat split on how to react to the Jerebko injury. Some feel it's a massive loss since Jerebko is one of the few exciting players on the roster. He embodies the tenacity, hustle, and passion that Joe D wants to bring back to the team. Others, however, think the injury is no big deal. The team is going nowhere anyway, so who cares? One thing is for sure - the injury will definitely hinder Jerebko's development.

Nobody quite knows what to make of his potential. He can clearly become a Joakim Noah-type hustle player. But his 25 ppg for the Swedish team this summer showed he may have untapped offensive talent. His jumpshot is a bit clunky, and he's no gazelle when attacking the hoop. The closest comparison, and I still stand by this, is Rodman. They got freakish athleticism, tenacity, and nose for the ball. You'll never hear that comparison on TV or radio because people tend to compare white dudes only to other white dudes. Last year, David Lee was the most common Jerebko comparison. Other than the color of their skin, they don't really have a lot in common. Lee has much more finesse to his game. He's an excellent passer with a high basketball IQ. He and Jerebko do tend to get a lot of offensive rebounds, but Jerebko relies on athleticism. Lee on instinct. Lee won't outjump anybody. He'll just sneak around and back-door you to death. But I suppose these comparisons are all for naught. Jerebko is gone and may never recover from the achilles injury. It's a huge blow to the Pistons.

It does, of course, open the door for Greg Monroe. As I posted earlier in the week, I'd vastly prefer to see Monroe get the starting nod than Villanueva. My guess is that Kuester will try to get Monroe to provide Jerebko's tenacious defense. That's just not going to happen. From just the four games I watched in the rookie league, I can tell Monroe is not that type of player. He just doesn't have the footspeed or active hands. Like David Lee, Monroe is more a finesse player with high basketball IQ. A more accurate comparison for Monroe would be Rasheed. If he could study Rasheed's defensive technique, Monroe may be able to partner successfully with Big Ben.

And on the offensive end, Monroe has a fairly polished game already. Once he gets used to NBA speed, he'll be fine.

No Maxiell viking hats this year

As for those Pistons

Another event that hit the back-burner during the World Cup was the NBA Draft. It's terribly unfortunate how the Pistons completely screwed themselves last Spring. Entering the final slew of games, the Pistons were positioned with the fifth worst record in the NBA. Then Ben Gordon finally shook off his season-long slump and led the Pistons to a 4-2 record to finish out the year. That brief push saw them ultimately tie Philadelphia for the seventh worst record. The Pistons then lost a coin toss to Philadelphia which officially slotted Detroit behind Philly in the lottery.

The bad luck continued.

The two teams that Detroit leap-frogged in the final week (Philly and Washington) proceeded to WIN the lottery! Washington got the first pick, and Philly the second. The Pistons settled for the 7th overall. As folks on this blog know, I was a big fan of DeMarcus Cousins. He went exactly where the Pistons should've drafted at #5. The final top-shelf big man was inexplicably passed-over at #6 when Golden State nabbed Ekpe Udoh. So, the Pistons eagerly nabbed Greg Monroe of Georgetown. I know significantly less about Monroe than Cousins. It's entirely possible that Monroe may be a better pro... but I doubt it.

Last night, in their first head-to-head, Cousins and Sac-town absolutely demolished the Pistons rookie team 97-68. Cousins posted a double-double (14 and 10 but with 5 turns). Monroe had a quiet 7 and 7. I should note, however, that the Pistons rookie team did fare significantly better in their prior two games, both wins. Austin Daye showed off a polished offensive attack that neither the Lakers nor Warriors could contain. Monroe was relatively quiet but did pull down some rebounds.

I've followed the rookie league for a few years now and know to take everything with a grain of salt. Last year, Dajuan Summers was far-and-away the best Piston player, but he ended up spending the entire season on the bench. A few years before, Rodney Stuckey dominated the rookie league, leading to his first wave of hype. Against the big boys, Stuckey fared much worse. The rookie league won't often break any new star... but, if you hope to make a splash in the NBA, you better dominate. Most of the teams are populated by - at best - bench players and rounded out by guys likely to get cut. If you can't dominate that group, you'll likely get cut yourself.

Last year, the Pistons' brass didn't know what to make of Jerebko. He played sporadically in the rookie league, as the team wanted to see Summers and Daye. They tried Jerebko at center just to get him some burn. By the end of the summer league, Jerebko finished strong when he earned some minutes at SF and PF. The kid returned this summer, to offer some veteran leadership. He's clearly a better player. Despite the presence of high draft pick Greg Monroe, the Pistons may be better off grooming Jerebko and Daye. Granted, Monroe and Daye won't compete for minutes, but Monroe may steal starter minutes from Jerebko. We'll see how it pans out.

A bit more on Daye... I was worried about his long-term viability in this league after he withered last season. He showed flashes of impressive scoring touch, but he was terribly inconsistent. Watching him tear up the scrubs in the rookie league showed me the kid has a very high ceiling. He can create his own shot, pull up off the dribble, and drain the three. It's reminiscent of Danny Granger. I don't think Daye will develop, though, unless he gets starter minutes. With Tayshaun Prince ahead of him on the depth chart, that just ain't gonna happen.

My guess is that Tayshaun will be gone by at least the trade deadline. Daye will have to be patient until then.