Thursday, October 15th, 2009 at 8:00 am  |  56 responses

30 Teams, 30 Days

Detroit Pistons Season Preview

We continue previewing the Central Division with the DetroitTayshaun Prince, Richard Hamilton & Ben Gordon Pistons. You can read past previews here.

by Eric Woodyard

We’ve seen this before!

The pieces are in place. The hunger is back. The story is just waiting to unfold.

• Is it just me, or does this year’s Detroit Pistons team remind you of the team in 2001? Think about it for a minute…

• Rookie Head Coach (check)

• Solid Veterans (check)

• New cast of players (check)

• Youth (check)

Just like in 2001, under the direction of Rick Carlisle, look for the Detroit Pistons to be the silent assassin of the Eastern Conference. There is no reason that they don’t have the opportunity to compile a 50-win season.

Let’s be honest here…no one expects them to do much of anything this year right? This makes them the undisputed underdogs of the league, putting them in unfamiliar territory than what they’ve been accustomed to throughout most of the new millennium.

Starting with their new head coach, John Kuester, who has spent over 13 years in the NBA as an assistant coach the franchise has already established leadership from the sidelines. During his tenure as an assistant coach, Kuester has helped guide the Philadelphia 76ers to the Finals in 2001 and played a solid role in helping Cleveland reach the Eastern Conference Finals this past season. He has also helped coach six different franchises, including the 2004 Pistons championship team, under Larry Brown.

This is similar to Carlisle’s coaching journey as he also performed as an assistant coach for the New Jersey Nets, Portland Trailblazers, and Indiana Pacers before ultimately shining alone in the head position.

Lack of direction from the sidelines may have been the key to last year’s dismal team that went 39-43 with Michael Curry calling the shots. This clearly won’t be the case this season as Kuester brings respect and keen knowledge, just like Carlisle did back in 2001 and 2002 when he led the team to consecutive 50-32 records, winning 61 percent of their contests. Carlisle even garnered the Coach of the Year award in 2002, which may be highly possible for Kuester this season.

The Pistons also had the luxury of acquiring a couple of solid, hungry veterans, notably Ben Wallace and Chucky Atkins who were also a part of those two seasons under Carlisle. These veterans will establish the importance of defense which helped build the Pistons to national prominence.

Although a few things have changed with this year’s Ben Wallace than the one from the past, he still will be effective. We no longer fear the fro, he’s in his mid-thirties, and he has a number change (6), but he will now understand his role.

This was a problem in his latter years with the franchise when he wanted to focus more on scoring and forgot what propelled him to the top: Defense! Who knows…we may even see him make a return onto one of the NBA’s All Defensive Teams this season. Look out.

Atkins will be able guide the younger players through the tough grind of full NBA season. Averaging double digits (10.2 points) throughout his entire 10 year career, he has the credibility to impose his will onto the team. This was also missing from last year’s team. When times got rough, there were not any veterans like Dana Barros or Cliff Robinson to help direct the younger players in the right path like they did with the 2001 team.

Atkins and Wallace will serve as that role and bring stability into the locker room, weeding out all of the frivolous bickering that often occurred in the past.

While there has been much publicity given to the new cast of players onto the organization, I really don’t feel as though they have been given their proper respect. Really take a look at Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, and Chris Wilcox! Those are some big-time pick ups.

Gordon is coming off of a playoff season in which he averaged a career-high 24.3 buckets per contest, Villanueva is fresh off of a 16.2 ppg and 6.7 rpg season with the Bucks, and Wilcox brings that grittiness back to the squad. He also cut the braids to show his fresh start to life…if that means anything.

Anyway to get back to the point, the Pistons will be fresh this year. Unlike any of the past 6-7 years when we knew what we were gonna get when we watched the Pistons: A slow it down, grind it out approach to the game. But now, we really don’t know what to expect.

Teams will fear the unknown because they won’t know how to approach the new team. Will Ben Gordon go bananas? Will Rip Hamilton regain his mid-range stroke? How focused will Ben Wallace be on Defense? Who will take the last shot? Will they focus more on defense or offense? Who are the Detroit Pistons??

All of these questions have yet to be answered. But one thing we know is that the Detroit Pistons do have the potential.

You’ve got Rodney Stuckey (Dumars’ golden boy), Rip Hamilton (Coatesville’s finest), Will Bynum (Chi-Town legend), Tayshaun Prince (lock-down defender), Jason Maxiell (a beast), and DaJuan Summers (hot-shot rookie), just to name a few.

Will this be enough to help them return to championship status? I honestly don’t think so, but I do think the possibility of a 50-win season is within reach.

Don’t think so? Hey, people didn’t think the Detroit Pistons of 2001 would do it either but shit happens!

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  • Ken Posted: Oct.15 at 8:11 am
    It’ll be interesting to see how Rip and Gordon divide up shots. I can see these guys in the playoffs, but certainly not much past the first round.

  • Ken Posted: Oct.15 at 8:20 am
    Oh, and Gordon didn’t average 23 buckets. The last person to do that was Wilt.

  • kobesbestfriend Posted: Oct.15 at 9:00 am
    they need 2 trade rip and get a big man

  • tavoris Posted: Oct.15 at 9:39 am
    kobesbesfriend, they need to trade Rip and get a true PG.

  • Jukai Posted: Oct.15 at 9:49 am
    Ken: You’re wrong on that statistic. Nice try though.

  • sab Posted: Oct.15 at 9:54 am
    highly optimistic preview i think. can’t see them being relevant, to be honest…

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Oct.15 at 10:42 am
    No veteran point-guards, no pure-point guards, two shooters who will conflict in the same way Iverson/Hamilton did… I don’t see the Pistons getting anywhere near 50 wins. Playoffs, maybe.

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Oct.15 at 10:44 am
    I also see Hamilton being traded, at least by 2010.

  • niQ Posted: Oct.15 at 10:56 am
    I really don’t see how they will win 50 games. Especially since Stuckey is HIGHLY overrated. Rip and Gordon will not mesh. I can (almost) guarantee that.

  • niQ Posted: Oct.15 at 10:59 am
    Will Bynum is a Chi-Town legend?

  • Wayno Posted: Oct.15 at 11:03 am
    The write up was a little too optimistic, but I can definitely see this team doing more damage than people are expecting. I think there are too many good teams around for them to put up a 50 win season, but I hardly think 45 wins is out of the question. They’re really only two pieces away from being a contender. 1.) another starting quality big man and 2.) A true PG, they have enough scorers, they just need someone to run the offense, especially against good defensive teams. Anyways, I’m excited about this year, despite the lack of respect this team is getting. They’re hungry, talented, and young and they have a bright future.

  • Wayno Posted: Oct.15 at 11:12 am
    @ niq – Stuckey isn’t overrated, he’s just not a PG> He’s a combo gaurd capable of running the point for small periods of time. He put up 13.4 ppg, 4.9 apg, 3.5 rpg, and 1 spg in his first full season in the league and there was complete chaos going on around him. Terrible coach, whinny stars, and other players who just didn’t care. And he was asked to run the show amidst all the upheaval. That’s not too shabby for really. I expect him to do ALOT better this season because he’s not going to be asked to defer as much and the PG responsibilities are going to be spread around a bit more. His midrange J is looking alot better so far in the preseason too.

  • logues Posted: Oct.15 at 11:26 am
    wow, prince and hamilton are really ugly, rip looks less ugly with his dumb mask

  • Orlando Woolridge Posted: Oct.15 at 11:30 am
    I don’t know about a legend, but Bynum tore it up at Crane back in the day.

  • Clark Posted: Oct.15 at 11:53 am
    I liked this writeup, but I think the one think this writeup should have addressed is that this team is at that point where the pistons were BEFORE the Sheed’ trade. We need that one big trade to push us into the conversation with the contenders. I hope Rip or Tay gets traded for either a PG, or a 20/10 big man.

  • TADOne Posted: Oct.15 at 12:01 pm
    I want to believe in Kuester, but I just have to wait and see. I beleive in Stuckey and I expect him to have a bounce back season. Rodney worked very hard over the summer to improve his jumper and handles and I think he will be surprising some people this season. The Pistons have also been running a lot of 3 guard sets this preseason and pushing the pace to some good success. Kwame Brown (GASP!) has been learning how to play with consistent energy and strong defense with help from Ben Wallace and has been surprisingly effective in the preseason. The same with Chris Wilcox. They both seem to understand they we don’t need them to be world-beaters, just consistent with their effort when called upon. The up-tempo approach has also had positive effects on the games of Bynum and Maxiell and they should lead a revived and revamped second unit. Out of the rookies, the one who has impressed the most is Jonas Jerekbo. The Swedish product plays with all out hustle and his time in the euro-league has toughened him up for the NBA grind. He can also shoot the rock. If the Pistons can get production from at least one more rookie, I can see them pushing for 45-50 wins and the playoffs. The first few weeks of the season will be telling.

  • TADOne Posted: Oct.15 at 12:09 pm
    I ‘believe’ I can spell better too.

  • kobesbestfriend Posted: Oct.15 at 2:03 pm
    i like kwame!should be a starter!

  • Josh D. Posted: Oct.15 at 2:32 pm
    Damn right he’s a chi-Town legend…look it up!”Will da thrill” you’d betta ask somebody

  • BETCATS Posted: Oct.15 at 3:35 pm
    according to slam the Bobcats will win 20 games and the Pistons will win 50! I knew their was a reason i havent been comming by as much..

  • BETCATS Posted: Oct.15 at 3:39 pm
    If Kareem couldnt teach Kwame anything that would translate to the way he plays the game, i dont see Ben Wallace getting through to him either. And factor in that Kwame is their only semi-legit Center (Wilcox is a PF, so is Maxiell, so is Charlie V, Ben Wallace hasnt been Ben Wallace in about 4 years) plus they will have another crazy 3 starting guards/3 starters egos/1 rookie head coach. I smell a trainwreck.

  • matt the other jazz fan Posted: Oct.15 at 3:48 pm
    it aint gunna work until they get the shooting guard situation worked out. rip for booz, right now!

  • TADOne Posted: Oct.15 at 3:53 pm
    Another trainwreck is not happening.

  • Wayno Posted: Oct.15 at 4:05 pm
    I can garauntee that this team is better than last year’s team BET, I can also garauntee that there won’t be the same kind of drama this year. Also, the bobcats are going to be terrible this year…Okafor for Chandler was a HORRIBLE trade for them. They’ll get more than 20 wins, but they won’t be good. They’re looking at 30 to 35 wins tops.

  • BETCATS Posted: Oct.15 at 4:12 pm
    Wayno, i am guessing you never watched the Bobcats last year. Okafor>Chandler offensivly, but Chandler>Okafor knowning his role in the offense. Larry didnt want Okafor to do anything other than dunk and get rebounds last year, Emeka wasnt capible of doing that. Tad- How do you see the guard rotation working out? If Rip gets traded for a legit Center (ie Dalembert/Chandler/Bogut) then i see things working out better then last year, if not i only see it getting worse.

  • Jacob J Posted: Oct.15 at 4:29 pm
    i dont get how people are thinking that Detroit needs a 20/10 big man. If you see with what happened with Bob McAdoo and AI you can see that the pistons is not a team for big stars.

  • TADOne Posted: Oct.15 at 4:31 pm
    It will not get worse, I can pretty much guarantee that. The guard rotation will be Stuckey/Rip starting with BG/Bynum coming off the bench. Kuester has already said we will have a 10 man rotation and be running a lot of 3-guard sets. However, this will be nothing like last season because BG, and even CV, have said they have no issue with coming off the bench. They both know they will get their minutes.
    As for the Bobcats, I actually expect them to have around 40-45 wins this year, barring any injuries. Felton will be playing for a long term contract and Diaw, Wallace, Chandler and Augustin should provide just enough scoring to back up what should be a good defensive team. It is a shame ya’ll couldn’t get a legit scorer like Iverson on the team.

  • Jacob J Posted: Oct.15 at 4:33 pm
    I would love to see Joe D picking up Samuel Dalembert because he could flourish with pistons the same way Big Ben Did.

  • Jacob J Posted: Oct.15 at 4:36 pm
    This is my Eastern Conference playoffs bracket.
    1.Boston
    2.Orlando
    3.Cleveland
    4.Detroit
    5.Atlanta
    6.Chicago
    7.Philadelphia
    8.Either Miami or Charlotte but I expect miami to be in the playoffs at the eith seed.

  • Allenp Posted: Oct.15 at 4:39 pm
    Jacob
    Isiah Thomas would like a word with you…
    And if anybody thinks Dalembert is a diamond in the rough then you stopped thinking a long time ago.

  • Ken Posted: Oct.15 at 4:42 pm
    Mark my words, the Wizards make the playoffs in the East.

  • BETCATS Posted: Oct.15 at 4:56 pm
    I see what your saying now Tad. But wont 3 guard rotations just lead to 2 things: bad defense and tayshaun prince not getting enough minutes?

  • BETCATS Posted: Oct.15 at 4:57 pm
    3 guard rotation = 3 guard lineup

  • BETCATS Posted: Oct.15 at 5:03 pm
    One thing we can almost all agree on: Detriot, Philly, Charlotte, and Chicago will all be battling for 2 playoff spots. The east will be more intresting then usual this year…

  • TADOne Posted: Oct.15 at 5:15 pm
    Well, I fully expect the defense to take a hit regardless. Kuester is emphasizing a team defense and running whenever the oppurtunity comes around. The thing with the 3 guard lineup is on the flip side of teh floor the other team will also have a hard time matching up with us. Besides, Stuckey is big enough and strong enough to guard most SF’s. As for Tay, he will get his minutes regardless. Tay is very versatile in that he can literally play any position 1-4 on the floor and thrive. No worries there.

  • Big D Posted: Oct.15 at 5:20 pm
    Incredibly fast, Dumar-like guards who can shoot the lights out, but this team is seriously under-sized. Chris Wilcox is more a 4 than a 5. Ben Wallace was good 5 years ago. Maxiell is an undersized 5. They need a serious 5 to compete. Also, there is no way BGordan and Rip are able to share the ball.

  • TADOne Posted: Oct.15 at 5:32 pm
    The Pistons have no legitimate 5 outside of Kwame. So basically, the Pistons do not have a legitimate 5.

  • Wayno Posted: Oct.15 at 5:36 pm
    BET – Chandler is a WAY overrated defender and can’t create his own offense. He can rebound, block, and catch alley-oops from Chris Paul…that’s about it. The number of blocks he get makes everyone think he’s an amazing defender (kinda like Marcus Camby).

  • Wayno Posted: Oct.15 at 5:40 pm
    If Kwame can grab 8-10 boards a game I would be EXTREMELY happy… Seriously though, how many legit centers are there in the NBA even? Like 5? Everyone else just plays PF. Detroit’s frountcourt is definitely lacking, but it’s not as bad as people make it out to be. This team is pretty much a lock for 5th or 6th in the east and you can quote me on that. The battle for 7th and 8th will be Chicago, Toronto, and Philly.

  • TADOne Posted: Oct.15 at 6:17 pm
    I like your optimism Wayno, but I can’t guarantee any playoffs lock yet for this team. I do honestly believe that this team has a high ceiling, but I am tempering my enthusiasm until i’ve seen them play for at least the first month.

  • BETCATS Posted: Oct.15 at 6:25 pm
    Wayno- all okafor can do is block shots. Chandler can do that but he also has the ability to alter shots and make the attacking player totaly rethink what they are going to do. Not to many players (including Okafor) can do that. But this is a Pistons preview…

  • nbk Posted: Oct.15 at 6:41 pm
    Tad i see detroit locked in a battle for 6-8 seed for the next 4 years. Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva were horrible decisions they completely underminded the defensive concept.

  • TADOne Posted: Oct.15 at 6:53 pm
    Horrible? Really? Can they play some games first before we call them ‘horrible’ decisions??

  • nbk Posted: Oct.15 at 6:59 pm
    dude they are supposed to be championship contenders and you commit what 18 million dollars a year on an undersized offensive minded 4 and an undersized offensive minded 1? When has an idea like that EVER worked?

  • nbk Posted: Oct.15 at 7:00 pm
    2*

  • nbk Posted: Oct.15 at 7:05 pm
    not to mention they lost the only 2 players on their roster that can check a big man.

  • BETCATS Posted: Oct.15 at 7:55 pm
    nbk, the pistons havent been a team that ‘was suppose to be a championship contender’ since the 2006-2007 season.

  • nbk Posted: Oct.15 at 8:06 pm
    Im talking about the culture of the pistons. they are supposed to be building toward a championship not mediocrity

  • BETCATS Posted: Oct.15 at 9:33 pm
    cultures change with the times. Detroit has been rebuilding ever since Big Ben left.

  • Tweets that mention SLAM ONLINE | » 30 Teams, 30 Days -- Topsy.com Posted: Oct.15 at 10:43 pm
    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Eric Woodyard, Terence Jones. Terence Jones said: SLAM ONLINE | » 30 Teams, 30 Days: 49 Responses to “30 Teams, 30 Days NBA Live 10 ”. Ken Posted: Oct.15 at 8:11 .. http://bit.ly/27NMCJ [...]

  • serevei Posted: Oct.16 at 1:12 am
    I like the Ben Wallace All Def prediction there. It’s pretty much the only thing you could have thrown in to make 50 wins from this team sound sane.

  • KH10 Posted: Oct.16 at 3:01 am
    “Atkins will be able guide the younger players through the tough grind of full NBA season. Averaging double digits (10.2 points) throughout his entire 10 year career, he has the credibility to impose his will onto the team. This was also missing from last year’s team. When times got rough, there were not any veterans like Dana Barros or Cliff Robinson to help direct the younger players in the right path like they did with the 2001 team.”
    CHUCKY ATKINS??? are you serious?? and no veterans last year?? how about rip, tay, sheed, dice?? this team will kill on NBA live, but will suck in real life.

  • melvin ely Posted: Oct.16 at 3:09 am
    @nbk: Ideally that’s what all teams should be doing otherwise they’re just wasting their time. Realistically, we have teams like the Grizz signing Iverson to a team full of impressionable youngsters. There is such a thing as a championship window and Detroit’s closed up right after LeBron handed them their 3rd straight ECF exit. I don’t think the Charlie and Ben signings were horrible, actually if you look at it with how the team is built right now, it makes a lot of sense. They’re looking to be more offensive-minded and create matchup problems, and those two pickups look like a great fit. It’s not like their defensive minded toughness makeup from 2-3 years ago was bringing in much championships. They were smart enough to know when somethings not working anymore and try new things.

  • Nbk Posted: Oct.16 at 4:04 am
    Except they went from a big playEr in the FA palooza of 2010 to not a contender to get a stud. I could be wrong but offensive minded teams with no bigs at any poisition but pg and sf rarely win

  • Wayno Posted: Oct.16 at 10:28 am
    There is 0 chance that this team is worse than last year’s Detroit team. @ nbk – if Detroit would have sat on thier cash this season and not signed players, they would have lost some of that money due to the projected cap decrease, not to mention, the majority of the big names involved in next years FA class would have 0 interest in signing in Detroit.

  • SLAM ONLINE | » Pistons ‘10-11 Preview Posted: Oct.2 at 8:03 am
    [...] “on paper.” I liked the additions of Charlie Villanueva, Ben Gordon, and Big Ben and I predicted that the Pistons had the possibility to compile a 50-win season, just like in 2001. Instead they lost 55 [...]

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