Articles worth mentioning II - Page 16 - Detroit Pistons Fan Community

mikhail1973 · #**151** (**permalink**) 07-23-2008, 06:23 PM

Five Catergories of NBA Teams: Which One Is Your Team In? | Bleacher Report

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The NBA is a constantly evolving league. Just when teams think they have things figured out, something unexpected happens to throw things out of whack.
Sometimes that unexpected thing can be a pleasant surprise, such as the Bulls winning the draft lottery despite having the ninth-worst record in the NBA.
Other times that unexpected thing can be of the unpleasant variety—such as when your starting point guard/franchise player opts out of his $17.8 million contract to join the Clippers for five years and $65 million.
It's not as if the NFL, NHL or Major League Baseball are any different in that respect.
What separates the NBA from the other three major leagues is the summer of 2010. If you don't believe me, take a look at RealGM.com's list of the 2010 free agents. The list is highlighted by names like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Amare Stoudemire, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, and Chris Bosh.
The NBA could undergo a carousel of player movement, resembling that of a fantasy draft.
As a result, the current state of the NBA has put teams into five sub-categories:

mikhail1973 · #**152** (**permalink**) 07-24-2008, 01:48 PM

In Milwaukee, there are signs of life - Ian Thomsen - SI.com

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Hammond, the lead assistant to Pistons president Joe Dumars for seven years, recruited Detroit director of basketball operations Jeff Weltman to join him in Milwaukee as assistant GM. While they aren't trying to recreate the second coming of the Pistons, it's obvious that the core principles will prevail.
"I was brought up in the Iba system,'' said Hammond, whose career began three decades ago as an assistant coach at Nebraska with Moe Iba, son of Hall of Fame coach Hank Iba. "First and foremost, you defend with good transition defense, you defend in the half court, and on the offensive end you execute and take good shots. It's sound basketball, and the best coaches I've had a chance to be around have a similar philosophy.''

TaShawn · #**153** (**permalink**) 07-24-2008, 11:12 PM

ESPN Page 2 - Jackson: Staying Melo

Scoop Jackson interviews Mello about his Olympic experience.

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Let's go back to '04. Coach Larry Brown. I've talked to more than a few people, heard a lot of stories and come to my own conclusions. One of those conclusions is that he played you unfairly.

I thought he did, too.

You came into the last Olympics leading the team in scoring, and once you all got to Greece, you didn't play anymore with no explanation as to why.

I really don't know what it was. Honestly, now that I have had the chance to see what really happened and get to really tell my story -- back then, everyone was only listening to Larry Brown; they weren't listening to me. Larry Brown and I never had any words amongst each other. I never argued with him; he never said anything to me about any problem he had with me. Like you said, I was leading the team in scoring during all of the exhibition games, and then we get to the Olympics, and the whole script is flipped and I never play.

And he never said anything to you?

Honest to God, he never said anything to me. And I never said anything to him. I don't know where all of that came from. We were at practice one day, and a couple of guys from some newspapers came up to me like, "What you do to Larry? What you do to Larry Brown?" And I'm like, "What are you all talking about?" They said, "They got it in the papers like you two are going at it." I didn't know anything about it because there was nothing to know. Larry Brown and I never spoke.

I know Brown has always had an issue with playing rookies or young players, but since you were a man -- young or vet -- he should have said something like, "Look Carmelo, I'm going to go to a different plan." He should have at least told you that, and you are saying he never did?

When we were in Jacksonville trying out, although LeBron and I were the last additions to the team, he sat us down and told us, "You guys gotta get ready; you guys are going to play." And he played us -- he played us in the exhibition games. And after that, he never said anything, and we -- myself, Bron, D-Wade and Amare [Stoudemire] just ain't never play no more.

Maybe drafting Mello wouldn't have worked out great either.

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Yeah, in those Olympics, I think the four of you averaged only 11 minutes a game.

Yeah, we were coming off the bench, and after a while, when you have a team like we had in '04, something like that starts getting in your head, starts messing with your confidence and a whole lot of other stuff. So we had to stick together. That's really what brought me, LeBron and D-Wade so close. Out there, we had to stick with each other and hold each other up. We'd say, "We ain't going to let this get all of us down." We had to figure it all out by ourselves, together. We weren't playing, we were on the back of the bus, at the end of the bench, so we had to find a way to still get workouts in after practice to keep our confidence up.

He had a support system to deal with the abuse.

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But I do want to prove to the world that when it comes to this basketball thing -- and I don't want to sound arrogant and cocky or nothing, but this is ours! This game, we started this! I want to regain that.

This is the part that confuses me. Is he Canadian?

mikhail1973 · #**154** (**permalink**) 07-25-2008, 12:28 PM

Early peek at the 2008-09 season - Ian Thomsen - SI.com

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The Pistons' reinvention. When he can make the trade that makes sense, Joe Dumars will move one or more of his starters to rejuvenate their title hopes. It may not happen until the New Year, when the allure of Rasheed Wallace's expiring $13.7 million salary will be peaking. But let's not be carried away: As things stand today, no rival has done enough to unseat the Pistons as the No. 2 team in the East -- and with new coach Michael Curry's emphasis on setting standards and holding players accountable, the Pistons won't be sliding anytime soon. But they need to change something to renew their postseason confidence.

The article takes a look at the upcoming 2008/09 season

mikhail1973 · #**155** (**permalink**) 07-30-2008, 04:04 PM

Michael Curry won't make much of a difference | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press

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Chauncey Billups said he thinks the “core” should get one more chance with Michael Curry as coach. Do you agree?

They certainly haven’t “earned” that right. Dumars has every right to break the core up. This group has been given plenty of chances and has wasted them away. If they had left it all on the floor against the Celtics in June, I might re-think that. But don’t we all feel like the Pistons had the upper hand after Game 2. That if they had simply won their two games (granted…nothing simple about it, but a little effort would have been nice) that the Celtics might have easily folded their tents up. Boston went from being a fragile team that couldn’t win on the road to becoming champs. Detroit’s passiveness played right into that. If Dumars traded away all five starters, none could claim they got a raw deal.

But the issue isn’t what “deserves” to happen. This is still a business and the business is winning and making money. And the Pistons stand the best chance to win by coming back with this group. Unless there is some 11th hour trade that sneaks up, how does it improve things by simply shipping guys out? (And just for the record, I am in favor of making both the Tracy McGrady trade and the Josh Smith trade that have been rumored).

I don’t think that Michael Curry will make that much of a difference. All the junk about accountability is just talk. If these “pros” aren’t already accountable on their own, I fail to see how Curry will make much of a difference. But even so, the Pistons are one of the best teams in the East. That never changed. Are they the favorites? Perhaps not. But they’re contenders, and they wouldn’t be if they started dealing Billups or Wallace just to give a fresh look. I’ve been banging this drum all summer, but different isn’t better. Fresh isn’t better.

mikhail1973 · #**156** (**permalink**) 07-31-2008, 11:21 AM

ESPN - Chris Broussard Blog

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First, it was about great teams -- the '60s Celtics, the '80s Lakers, Celtics, Sixers and Pistons.

Then, it was about great duos -- Jordan and Pippen, Olajuwon and Drexler, Kemp and Payton, Stockton and Malone, Duncan and Robinson, Shaq and Kobe.

Now, it's about trios, and Houston just created one. That's why the Rockets (assuming they're healthy and "distraction free") suddenly are legitimate title contenders.

That being the case, here's my list of the league's Top 10 threesomes. Remember, this is not a ranking of teams but of Big Threes:

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7. Detroit: Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace
Could be another stretch because in my opinion the Pistons, as currently constructed, are no longer contenders. But they'll probably finish with a fairly strong regular-season record. If new coach Michael Curry can get Billups and Wallace to turn back the clock two years, they'll be in business. But that's a big "if." Also, like the Lakers and Hornets, the Pistons have something of a Big Four with Tayshaun Prince.

mikhail1973 · #**157** (**permalink**) 07-31-2008, 11:30 AM

PISTONS: Afflalo, the Leader

BallDon'tLie · #**158** (**permalink**) 08-08-2008, 12:34 PM

http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=9710

ECF power rankings.

...The Cavs are #2.

TaShawn · #**159** (**permalink**) 08-08-2008, 12:48 PM

I think the Bucks will be a little better than #13.

**lurker** · #**160** (**permalink**) 08-08-2008, 01:18 PM

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Originally Posted by BallDon'tLie

http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=9710

ECF power rankings.

...The Cavs are #2.

The author appears to have psychic powers.

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While the Hawks are returning their playoff-experienced starting lineup (including Josh Smith, Joe Johnson, and Rookie of the Year candidate Al Horford), they lost their one bench player who could make a legitimate impact in Josh Childress