This was a good loss, if there is such a thing. A young team needs to lose games like this to grow. They'll remember this game for a long time I'm sure and this is how you grow as a team. The best part about this game was that we finally got a chance to see what our future might look like with all the kiddos getting substantial minutes. Daye was the star of the day without a doubt, and hopefully he can carry it forward and make me eat some humble pie as I've been proclaiming him to be worthless recently. The funny thing is, the loss of Prince, Gordon and CV didn't make that much of a difference. Actually, it even looked like addition by subtraction last night. So we have over $25M in players that don't bring much to the table. You could make the case for Gordon as if he was in the game instead of Wilkins in the end, it might've spaced the floor better.
He made that up. The real reason for his double ankle injury was that he tried guarding someone in practice.
I was Mr Cheevers there. Some cheerleader threw a box of pizza at him and his Chardonnay spilled all over his pants. He did not even get the Pizza as it deflected off the Chardonnay glass and landed a couple of rows behind him. Other than that it was a pretty good game. Nice to see Daye out of his slump.
I know that there's a feeling around here that Prince's continued presence hurts the team, and I understand it. I just don't agree. Say what you want about him, but the guy has a high bball IQ. He knows how to play the game the right way. That's good for young players to see. As for his Isos, I hate them, but there were times during our years as contenders, that a Prince ISo was a go-to play when the offense was struggling. It won some games for us. What I really like is Tay's ability to make plays when the game's on the line and his willingness to defer. Those end of game plays will be teaching tools. His block to seal the Portland game is an example. When the young kids are willing and able to step up, then Prince will be comfortable in reverting to form. In short, he can contribute without stunting our kids growth. The guy that I hate seeing take up minutes is Wilkens. It's not his fault in the least. He plays hard, unselfish ball, but every minute that he's out there is one less minute that Daye gets. That's fine when Daye's stinking up the joint, but if he's playing reasonably well, then I'd like to see him out there for 20+ minutes. I think that it's every Pistons fan's duty to break into Chuck V's home, while he's sleeping, and beat his feet and ankles like he's in a Turkish prison. That's what I did.
I think Lawrence Frank views Damien Wilkins as a way to motivate players. Wilkins is certainly not in the Pistons long-term plans. The guy is not blessed with an abundance of skills, but he works his tail off, plays hard defense, makes good decisions, and he gets rewarded for all this with some playing time. When guys like Daye follow suit, their minutes will go up and Wilkins will slide further down the bench.
That makes sense. I've been interested in watching what Frank is doing in general, just knowing that he knows that this isn't our year. He knows that he has significant job security because of all of our coaching firings, his strong resume, and the low expectations for the team. That sort of opens it up for him to coach for the long run vs the short run.
I agree with your take on Tay even though he is kind of wasted on this team. (So are Gordon and JJ.) Tay is the only player on the team that has shown he can win games/make plays individually down the stretch. I'm struggling to word this a bit. I'm not saying he's LBJ, but it takes hot shooting/miracles/catch lighting in the bottle for these other guys to make shots to win games and it takes all of them to do it. I think the word I am looking for is fluke.
