[Goubot]

Flip isn't really much of a point, he's historically been a poor passer and he turns the ball over a lot. Outside of emergencies, he should be used as an SG, through and through. I think that setup is okay, because he should be getting good looks from Billups if that's the case.

[JoeD]

Nazr is a pretty nice surprise after expecting nothing from him. He's doing pretty good for someone that has been fasting (btw, is it over?). I didn't see the game... barely heard anything on the radio as I was driving home tonight. Mark Champion said Maxiell was so eager for rebounds he knocked it out of Mohammed's hands and somehow fouled Minnesota in the process. I didn't get any other game details because it seemed like the rest of the 25 minute trip Champion was talking about Mark Madsen...

[Goubot]

Wiki says Ramadan ends on the 22nd or 23rd. I still don't know why you didn't expect anything from him, though. Good all around game for everyone, including Blalock, who was fairly surprising. Delfino disappointed and Murray could've made more shots, but everyone else did fairly well.

[JoeD]

Originally Posted by MLKG

I've been really impressed the last 2 games by Will Blalock. He's looked better than Arroyo ever looked.

Max is continues to be a beast. He's going to contribute this year.

I don't know where Nazr's 19 points came from. I guess the ability to make free throws can push that number up there. The best thing you can say about him so far is he is steady. He isn't going to create much offense for himself or anybody else, but within the offense, if he's put in a position to score he's converted well. He's a (physically) weak rebounder though. Maybe that will change when he starts eating again, maybe not.

I've only seen the games on FSN, but Delfino has looked awful in both. He has the ability to fool you because he makes solid plays in transition and has a nice looking stroke. The reality is he has been very sluggish in the half court, possesses no first step whatsoever, and that sweet looking jump shot never actually goes in.

I didn't see the game, but we've known Delfino can shoot from before, in situations much more meaningful in the preseason. Take Tayshaun, he was shooting 25% the last time I looked. Delfino has also shown himself to be athletic in Europe, the worlds, and his brief time with minutes under LB before his injury. I've never seen a problem with him looking sluggish before. He might have some extra weight on now, some article said that he said so himself, but I don't know to what degree.

[MLKG]

Originally Posted by JoeD

I didn't see the game, but we've known Delfino can shoot from before, in situations much more meaningful in the preseason. Take Tayshaun, he was shooting 25% the last time I looked. Delfino has also shown himself to be athletic in Europe, the worlds, and his brief time with minutes under LB before his injury. I've never seen a problem with him looking sluggish before. He might have some extra weight on now, some article said that he said so himself, but I don't know to what degree.

Delfino is a career 39% shooter. That's Dajuan Wagner territory.

I didn't say he wasn't athletic, I said he has no first step. He's a good slasher, but he needs to be on the move when he gets the ball because he's not quick enough to turn the corner otherwise.

He's a creative player in transition and can finish, but he has to find a way to make himself effective in the half court game because he's been pretty invisible.

Like I said, Delfino can fool people because his game is so polished and the plays he does make are usually pretty memorable. He just doesn't make nearly enough of them. He has to get himself more involved. If the regular season started tomorow and Mo Evans was still on the team, Delfino wouldn't be in the rotation.

[JoeD]

Delfino has had some good showings this preseason... was he that bad this last game to sink your opinion of him so low? I don't want to make excuses for his bad play, but I think we need to give him some patience, like we tried with Arroyo last year. Delfino has a chance to be really valuable for us. We don't seem to have any back up options since Dupree is the only back up SF and we haven't even given him time in the preseason. Since I love Dupree and think he is undervalued I wouldn't mind trying to work him in, but Delfino has more potential. I also worry that if Delfino does not work out, instead of using Dupree, Flip would just keep Tayshaun's minutes very high (since Max and Amir are both 4s).

[MLKG]

Originally Posted by JoeD

Delfino has had some good showings this preseason... was he that bad this last game to sink your opinion of him so low?

I've only seen the last two games, you can't really say my opinion of him has sank because it wasn't very high to begin with. At least not since he got injured his rookie year. He just isn't as quick to the ball or agressive as he was before the knee injuries.

I like his game a lot and I think he can be a productive player, but right now he isn't.

His presence on the court reminds me a lot of what Tayshaun was like during the first half of his rookie year, where he was really uninvolved and would just stand behind the 3-point line and had a lot of people calling him lazy. Only Tayshaun grew out of that by the time the playoffs started and we're on year 3 of it with Delfino.

Maybe it's a confidence thing, maybe it's a play calling thing, I don't think it's a talent thing. Whatever it is, he needs to fix it and start getting involved.

[Goubot]

Pistons lose today's game against Denver, 124-105. Nazr, Amir, and Maxiell were all beasts today, each scoring efficiently, getting a good rebound total, and avoiding turnovers. Murray and Delfino had awful shooting nights. The only shot Delfino made was a three, but he did have two steals and four assists. Ronald Dupree helped himself to some garbage baskets, which is about what I expect from him. Didn't get the win, but Nazr and the draft picks had good showings.

[JoeD]

In their brief stints, Dupree and Davis impressed me. Nothing spectacular they just were doing well. Davis was shutting down the paint early. Dupree played some good defense on Carmelo. I've always liked his D. He defensively humiliated Josh Howard, during our last preseason, before he got traded to Minnesota. He looked good on offense as well.

Davis is the only one not letting people walk to the basket for free dunks. It is so not Pistons to see this. We have been push-overs on the inside... it's making me nautious. I guess that is the price of losing Ben. He wasn't one on one spectacular once he was at the basket, but he stopped people from waltzing in. McDyess is the only other big man to try and stop entry but he's been picking up fouls. If this carries over to the season, I want to see Davis getting time. He got some nice blocks. He looked big and quick.

I like Blaylock a lot. He sets people up well, drives... just moves well. And like ten times the camera caught him talking to teammates, looking like he is trying to really get something going. I guess it is foregone he is going to the NBDL, and we don't really have the room for him this season, but I hope we activate him a few games. I think it would be good to develop with the team a little, under Chauncey, Lindsey, and Flip too, I guess. If he is that type of guy, Joe made another very good pick while picking late in the draft. Maxiell, Amir, and now maybe Blaylock, in mostly bottom of the draft picks.

This was the first game I thought Amir looked like an NBA player instead of a out of place kid (as in his appearance, not his game)... his game looked like it more than belonged too.

With all the talent we have in reserves, most of whom know they aren't getting any time, I hope this puts pressure on the starters. In the past we never benched a starter. If they had a bad game and we were behind, it was seen as more of a reason to play them more... which is ridiculous.

I actually liked watching that game and haven't stopped to think Denver made us look awful. I hope we don't have a problem guarding the fast break in the regular season.

[JoeD]

A little OT, I've been watching the local broadcast of these games. Anyone else? It is a lot more interesting to see Dave Cowens talk to the camera at half time than Sidney Lowe or Don Zierden. Not just because of the intrigue that follows someone who savagely bit someone's nose in a bar fight, he actually sounds interesting and like he is thinking of something. Mike Woodson did too, but those two last year sounded so generic and didn't say anything.

We have a pretty colourfull coaching staff this season. Cowens, Porter, Harper. I hope they are a help. I think Cowens has been working with Maxiell a lot. Not to credit Cowens with what Maxiell has been doing, since I expected around this anyway, but Maxiell looks better than he did in summer league. Got to be a good pair--young maniac and old maniac.

[JoeD]

I just thought of one more thing while watching the replay (mostly paying attention to the computer). Chauncey has been so invisible this preseason.Tayshaun has been pretty bad compared to his usual standard but he is involving himself, Rasheed too.

Tonight
Chauncey Billups, PG 21 0-5 0-3 1-2 0 1 1 5 1 0 2 0 1

I don't know what his excuse is for not having to show up in the preseason. I would have liked to see him trying to figure out the new look of the team with everyone else.

[Goubot]

Eh. Chauncey has been fairly effective except for that game. His turnovers have been higher than normal, but that might be adjusting to the new ball (or that's what I tell myself).

Prince struggled early on but he seems to have gotten better offensively as the preseason has progressed. I just don't want to see any of those 2-9 games that he used to have last year.

Rip's doing fine.

I'd argue that Rasheed has been more invisible than the others. He's been taking an awful lot of threes, which is something he said he'd have to do less, but he's not even making them now. Haven't looked up the numbers, but he's bricked a lot this postseason. He also strikes me as someone who doesn't really care about the preseason, but it's still a concern.

As far as the preseason goes, I'm more concerned about the bench, which is what we're supposed to be showcasing in these games. Flip Murray's alternated between brilliant and bricking, Maxiell showed that he can be a force, but there remains the question of whether he'll get any minutes or whether he can perform the same way when people are playing for real (he's been okay in stints in the regular season, but he didn't play much). Delfino is a solid rebounder and passer and can play defense, but he's only had one game where he hasn't looked offensively overmatched. I haven't seen much of Davis, but I think he could be used well as a guy who comes into games to defend, get rebounds, and garbage points. Dupree strikes me as mostly the same as he was when he was here last time, which means that he's a solid defender and little else.

I like Blalock and think he could be a serviceable backup point guard down the line. He can run the point and has pretty good defensive potential, but his shooting is a little suspect.

[PistonFAN81]

I think that are bench looks better than it has previously, i think that it might really help us out this year but with it being the first year w/o ben it is tough to predict how things will go on this season. I like what nazr has brought so far he almost seems like a double-double. but it is pre-season.....

[Goubot]

Detroit wins against Washington, 101-94. Starters didn't play except for Prince, and he had a pretty unremarkable game. We had a pretty horrid first quarter, but we picked up offensively through the rest of the game. We were good 2nd and 3rd quarter defensively before both teams basically started trading hits for the fourth. Draft picks all looked good, though Amir got hit with an offensive foul and had a lot of turnovers (as did Maxiell). Maxiell showed up in force again today, and Delfino also had a good game (shooting wasn't fantastic, but 12 rebounds and 6 assists and 4 steals). Flip Murray had 8 assists, maybe he's a better passer than I thought (he's always been poor when I've seen him play, though).

Game against Memphis tomorrow, maybe we can avenge that horrifying preseason loss.