I want to see us draft, we really need a young big man, a legit 6'11 - 7'0 footer we can develop, all our big's are getting on, and apart from Cheick Samb (who I'm not convinced about) we have nothing in place for the future. If we can get some one like Roy Hibbert or Aaron Gray, I'd be happy.

we usually stash them on the bench or nbdl and let thier trade value drop. the pistons often lose young players to free agency or just waive them. i don't recall the pistons trading a young good player for a decent return on the investment.

Rodney White - 1st round pick (and players). First round pick used in Sheed trade, became Josh Smith.

Mateen Cleaves - Jon Barry and 1st round pick, became Carlos Delfino.

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Nov 13 LW Milan Lucic had an active night. He scored his first goal in eight games since his Oct. 25 hat trick and also pounded Michael Komisarek in a third-period fight. Lucic cut his hand in a fight with Michael Komisarek. "I'll be fine," he said. "(X-rays are) negative, but there's so many broken bones in there from before you can't really tell."

How about Drew Neitzel? I like his game. Local guy, too.

JMax is characteristic of the problem not the solution.

The Pistons play defense. They are still a defensive orientated team even though their offense is better with C-Webb than it has been before.

When it comes to crunch time defense is what gets it done. In Orlando the other night they put the screws on the Magic in the beginning of the 4th quarter enabling the Pistons to open up the lead and eventually win.

JMax' defense is not up to Piston' standards. I think part of that problem is that he is a tweener which is okay on offense but bad on defense. He is too short to guard the power forwards, especially those that post up and he is too slow to guard the shooting forwards.

The rookies don't play for the Pistons because their defensive skills are lacking. The truth of the matter is, is that it is darn difficult to find a guy in the draft who can play quality Piston type defense and be a contributor on the offensive end.

Hunter has survived in his second trip with the Pistons because of his defensive skills and 3 point shooting (He is still dangerous, especially when he gets hot).

To find a guy who was a star player in college who plays defense, scores and fits in by playing unselfishly is no easy task. It isn't even easy when it comes to making trades.

Most people look at a guys offense and think, man that guy would be great for the Pistons. The problem is that they don't look at his defense and his ability to fit in chemistry wise.

Delfino is now getting major minutes off the bench because of his defense and hustle, not because of his offense, even though it has improved measurably this year.

Amir is not playing not because he wouldn't score, which he would given the minutes, but because his defense at this point is not up to Piston standards.

Great post!

Thanks

I've been following Drew in the papers. The kid looks very impressive lately. I wonder if his game will transition well to the NBA.

I agree with you also on a few of your points. However, how long can you go without some hands on OJT for these guys. They will never learn pistons style defense unless they actually get some time in game time situations.

Sheed and the gang will be 50 years old in basketball years and we will still have an under developed bench. Not only that, free agents will not pursue coming to detroit as an option due to the lack of playing time.

At some point you have to take a short step back, certainly we may go a year or two without going to the NBA finals, however, I continue to think that with a good coach in place, we undoubtedly can develop the youngsters, incorporate them into our defensive schemes without losing a beat.

I think that the closest guy to the one your describing in this years draft is Acie Law, Acie Law is coming from the best defensive clubs in the nation, and that is Texas A&M. Gillespie hangs his hat on defense and it is always somthing he stresses, and because of that Acie Law plays good defense well and it will be easier to get him to play defense better on an NBA level.

He is unselfish, in game play he normally gets his teammates involved early and if they are in a bind it becomes Acie Law time and he completly takes over and scored. He outscores opposing teams in the final 5 minutes of the game. He is extremely clutch and mentally tough.

We need a PG, and I think that Acie Law would be the best fit, and I honestly see him getting playing time off the bench in front of Blalock, if we draft him.