JMax had a beautiful block too. While having tree trunks for arms, he also looks to have pretty fast hands.
Carlos Arroyo Is it me or there is no love for my kid? I didn't get to see the game (it's hard to get the Detroit local channels when you are 3,000 miles from michigan ) On the first game all I heard about him was how much he overdribbled and how he was trapping himself. Also heard that he couldn't score. Today he score a little and everybody is saying that he's unable to score and pass in the same game. Arroyo is going to do both in a frequent basis. This is just the second preseason game, for crying out loud, and some people here believe we are in the finals already!!! Common' guys, Flip believes in CA,so does JD. Relax, breath and enjoy your time. Arroyo will be here for the playoff and when that time comes, we will be praising his game and will be considering Flip a genious for how he turned around CA, CD, and Darko into productive players.
puertorican baller on arroyo I do hope that you are right. But I have said consistently that Arroyo can shoot (Larry wouldn't let him) but so far, he has not shown me the ability to penetrate and dish--to create havoc for the other team. We need a back up point guard to do this. When he penetrates, he usually winds up taking a tough shot. Please, I hope you are right about him. yes, it is early.
Arroyo He has been doing well. Looks a lot more comfortable out there and he will lossen more as the season goes on. I think Its safe to say at this point that there is no real competition for the backup point position. But in a 10 guy set his mins may not be more than 10-15 MPG.
Your last guess is the best one. He's trying to play extra-aggressive, so he's gotten a lot of loose ball/blocking calls while hitting the boards and showing aggressively against pick & rolls. Inexperience got him a needless over-the-back foul on a missed free throw last night, but he grabbed some nice offensive boards and the refs are starting to let him play. With our depth up front this is exactly how he should be playing.
Posting up vs. jacking up the three's Listened to the game on the radio. I don't have digital cable where I live so I can't get NBA League Pass. Anyway, it sounded as if the three ball could be a big part of the offense this season if things continue the way they are. They shot 12 last night. I'm wondering if the offense should mix it up a little to keep the defense honest. If the Pistons completely abandon the post-up game, I think it's a mistake. Hopefully, Flip will look at the matchups from game to game and tailor an effective offense.
Lanierfan By the way, I really enjoy your breakdowns of the games. They are very enlightning and appear to be dead on. Thanks, bruh. Much appreciated.
LanierFan I second what Motown said. Your recaps are far better than what is generally posted on detnews.com
good recap I agree with MotownPride and ggazoo. I watched the game and LanierFan's summary described it incredibly well. Especially the debris and dead bodies in JMax's wake. He is the enforcer many were asking for last season. I don't think you even have to send him in with a mission.
The Bad LanierFan pretty much hit the nail on the head with his posts. But ol'KGREG still has to put in his 2 cents. A few rushed jumpshots by Delfino and Evans early in the shot clock. Carlos Arroyo......not really bad, but not really good either, he's doing a POOR job of orchestrating this offense. Last night he shot really well, but he still has a tendency to dominate the ball during the shot clock leaving only one option to be ran on offense. LB harped on Arroyo wanting to make THE play, when alot of times it's very effective to make the pass that leads to the assist. He just doesn't seem to get it. Start the offense early and give the ball up, cut through, set pick, flash and get it back. In Flips offense their is alot of player movement that is dependent on ball movement also. Darko could have had 15 rebs if he'll start going after the ball with a vengeance the way, Ben, J-Max and MoEvans do. Sometimes he reaches instead of grabbing. But I'm confident that it'll come in time. Delfino can't shoot.......sorry guys. Hope he turns it around, but dude is a brick layer under Union Contract, real good slasher though, but he can't shoot free throws either?!?!?!?!? The 2nd unit for a moment got caught up running up and down the court at times and failed to take of the boards and ball, gave up many off rebs and had too many TO's.
The Good Carlos Arroyo, shot the ball VERY well, had some sweet passes that didn't get converted to assists. Carlos Delfino, great in the open court, had a few nice dishes. Solid on defense, by no means a stopper but it seems as if he's lost the concrete Nike's and matador mentality. MoEvans, dude is strong as hell, he's so frikking tough it's rediculous. If he was 6'7" instead of 6'5", his contract would have been 5x's as much as it is now. Underestimating his ability to play the wing because of his height is about as bad as those that underestimated Barkley and Ben for the same reasons. Darko, darn near a double-double. Darko has alot of skills alot players just don't have. This year he will just get better and better, when he realizes what he can do on the court with his size and skills, he will be a real plus for this team. J-Max, LMAO, another strong bully, sometimes it's ugly but he's effective, really gets after it. AJ, scrawny little runt....but not afraid to get inside and stick his young butt in the mix......and to have a jumper as ugly as he's got, he's not gun shy......go ahead young fella.
The tough unit PG: Chauncey SG: Moevans SF: AJ PF: Jmax C: Ben Now AJ may be Scrawny, but he's like that little runt that no matter what type of beat down he's getting, he'll just keep coming back....you gotta kill him to stop him.
tough unit I remember once reading a quote from Sheed about Ben and rebounding that said something to the effect of, "he's beating me up for rebounds and I'm on the same team!" The tough unit might have some Piston-on-Piston casualties. Despite that risk, it'd be fun to see the looks on the other teams' faces. I was also surprised to see AJ mixing it up, because he looks so scrawny. LOL at your "you gotta kill him to stop him."
The, good, the bad, the tough Good stuff. I can't wait to finally see my boys play so I can really weigh in on this discussion. Until then, I will just have store all this info I'm receiving from my fellow Pistons brethren and reserve my real opinions until I can see the future champs play for myself. Come on NBA League Pass package, hook a brotha up with some preseason games! ..and why aren't there any Pistons preseason games on NBATV? A brotha is about to have a nervous breakdown over here.
shooting 12 3's is mixing it up to keep the defense honest. last year we didn't shoot the 3 so teams were able to pack it in on us. this year we can shoot the 3 and extend the defense. this year we probably won't have a traditional post up game. but we are getting great low post positions of movement. darko didn't shoot outside the paint. we never had a post up game anyway. why do people keep talking about abandoning the post and we never had a post up oriented offense anyway.
i know this sounds crazy but i think the dos los backcourt will maybe switch roles offensively this season. delfino will rack up the assists and arroyo will start scoring. i like arroyo in the pick and roll though. flip should run different sets when arroyo is at the point. that chemistry with mcdyess simply can't be denied. yes. i agree darko could have had more boards than he had. i think one time i even saw flip saunders motioning with his hands for darko to use 2 hands to get the rebound. but i am still happy with the rebounding improvement darko is showing. darko is very talented but when he really realizes that he is bigger and stronger than pretty much everybody he goes up against he's going to be a beast. i think delfino can shoot. i think he's more of a volume shooter or a streak shooter. needs plenty of shots to get his shot going. he does have range though and his shot will come around.
