Will the Pistons' rebounding improve without Ben?

Discussion in 'Detroit Pistons General Discussion' started by TaS, Oct 12, 2006.

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  1. Slippy Forum Leader

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    I am so Down with the Dark Side. :starwars:
    Slippy, Oct 17, 2006
    #61

  2. roscoe36 Jedi Order

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    Yeah, Slippy gets mad if I get objective. He wants me to embrace the dark side, the side of emotion.
    roscoe36, Oct 17, 2006
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    MotownPride Contributor

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    Interesting indeed.

    My point is that more often than not champions are led by great coaches. Coupling a mediocre coach with a great team can serve to stifle versus guide the team to success. See Shaq/Kobe Lakers pre-Phil Jackson.

    By his own admission he didn't assert himself. Sure that would have been tough to do, but it was NECESSARY. Noone said being a head coach was supposed to be easy. You have to make decisions that are unpopular and be able to accept the consequences of those decisions. Allowing his players to coach themselves was in my opinion understandable....but completely unacceptable.

    There is definitely cause for optimism this year though as I do believe that we are all capeable of learning from our experiences if we humble oursleves. Here's hoping that Flip is sincere about his willingness to learn from his mistakes. We'll need it if we are to challenge for the title this year.

    And to tie this in with the original topic...... Our rebounding had already taken a sizeable drop from the previous year. I do agree that the bench will push the starters to be more agressive, but that will only happen if Flip commits to benching them when they don't show effort on defense and on the glass. This would be a departure from his coaching philosophy last year.
    MotownPride, Oct 17, 2006
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  4. aurora Member+

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    Because Rip, the most overlooked and underdiscussed and taken for granted Piston on this forum, is a true professional who has intelligence, persistence and hunger. Rip is the real deal. Which apparently makes him the least interesting for us to talk about. I just hope Flip doesn't overlook him too. There were alot less of Rip's money plays at the end last year and alot of isolation plays that didn't work for us.

    All I know is that LB looks smarter and smarter to me as we go down the road.

    Oh yeah, the topic. Rebounding better because of Nazr and Sheed.
    aurora, Oct 17, 2006
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    BillLaimbeer Contributor

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    You only have to look back a few months. Right now, Avery Johnson is about as far from "elite coach" as you can get. He was just two bad whistles from winning the championship.
    BillLaimbeer, Oct 17, 2006
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    History is filled with if-coulda-wouldas. The key word here is won not almost won. Riley won that coaching duel so that only proves my case.
    MotownPride, Oct 17, 2006
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  7. hack Member+

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    ``Larry Brown said prior to the Rasheed Wallace trade, "I didn't think I would have to coach effort.''

    Roscoe, as with much of what LB tells reporters, I don't think that should be taken at face value. LB's entire nagging/cajoling style shows he understands that.

    In theory, yes -- the players are supposed to be professionals and have a work ethic to go with it. In reality, it obviously doesn't work that way. Consider Riley's Heat team this year -- Shaq in shape, Antoine Walker hustling on defense, etc. Riley's obviously a great basketball mind, but over and above, he's a motivator. Our guy, Daly, was more of a motivator than anything else too -- ``48 minutes, 48 shots.'' It's also easy to find the genius of Phil Jackson -- how to handle players.

    So, probably the three best coaches of the last 30 years, and each of them was/is known for being a motivator more than anything else. IMO, when hiring a coach, getting someone who understands human behavior and commands respect is far and away the most important thing to consider.

    Flip: no, not all his fault. But this whole ``treat 'em like adults'' thing that he (and Mariucci) brought us is obviously a cop out. When it was time to give the team a lecture, after the Orlando stuff, Flip probably sounded like Eddie Murphy's impression of a goofy white guy. I hope Joe's learned that lesson. This year was a good refresher.
    hack, Oct 19, 2006
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    max Forum Mod

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    "Right now, I think everybody's playing well because the young guys are really starting to understand what Flip wants," Hamilton said.

    Believe in Flip!!
    max, Oct 19, 2006
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  9. TaS Member+

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    Rip seems like he is enjoying the leadership role. He was also reportedly the one spurring the Brahma on, telling him to go out there and do some damage every time.
    TaS, Oct 19, 2006
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    I'm trying...I'm trying. :)
    MotownPride, Oct 19, 2006
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  11. pass99 Member+

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    Well said. Takes the game and himself seriously. One might begin to think that he has the beginnings of a life philosophy.
    pass99, Oct 20, 2006
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