Betrayer

Good coaches elevate their teams and make them better than the sum of their parts. Bad coaches...well, I don't need to explain this. We've all lived through the past 20 years together. Monty was just the exclamation point. So tired of hearing how "Monty will do better if he gets better players." Sure, and they'll only perform at or below their individual ability. That's the definition of a bad coach. We've all just forgotten because it's been so long since we had Larry Brown and Rick Carlisle.

The core of this whole thing is Mikal Bridges, and although it's arguably a slight overpay for a guy who's never been an All-Star, I'd still do it. He's exactly what this team needs, from his defense to his shooting to his iron man availability. As for what we're losing, I'm ok with it because I don't buy Ivey next to Cade with his streaky shooting and poor defense, and we don't have the luxury of keeping him to be a 6th man. Duren may be a better version of Drummond, but I'm not sure if he'll ever space the floor or protect the paint, and I think you have to do one of those two things to be a playoff Center in today's NBA. As for the pick, we all know it's a weak draft. His other moves are OK. I haven't run the cap numbers to see if that maxes us out, but let's assume it does. Centers: I would also have Hartenstein on my list for that Center spot if Claxton gets too pricey. Hartenstein might be cheaper, although his value is going up with his playoff performance. Guards: I'm not sure I like Sasser, Grimes, and Wright as the other 3 guards. It all depends on how comfortable you are with Wright as your backup PG (and starter for 20 games when Cade is out). I might look to move Sasser (maybe with a couple seconds) to bring in an actual backup PG. We should also keep in mind that Ausar works at SG in lineups with other guys who can space (Bridges, Tek, Stew). They were always counting on Cade + one of the other 3 to pop or this whole things goes down the drain. Nothing new there. However, none of these contracts are bad (depending upon what Claxton/Hartenstein costs) and this team would probably be good enough to allow our pick to finally convey to the Knicks. That opens up our flexibility even more for future trades to bring in another All-Star.

That was a really good game. Despite my dislike of Kyrie, I love watching Luka play so I'm rooting for Dallas (and also because Harden is on LA). It was awesome seeing the Wolves win again as well. Ant has arrived and I love seeing KD fail. Wolves vs Nuggets next round would be epic. East hasn't been quite as compelling to me yet outside of Knicks vs Sixers.

Can't get more underwhelming than JEIII saying Casey is a candidate.

There are some people grumbling about the refs, but all of these playoffs games have been officiated like that. It's playoff officiating and I just wish the entire season was officiated that way.

My Mount Rushmore is Thomas, Wallace, Dumars, and Billups in that order. But I never paid much attention to the guys (like Lanier) who came before my time and are probably deserving of a spot.

JJ has a really good basketball mind. I have no idea what kind of coach he'd make, but I'd definitely interview him. Unfortunately, we haven't even picked our POBO yet, so we'll miss out on even interviewing most candidates and probably be stuck with Monty regardless.

Last night was ridiculous. Two amazing games with crazy endings. That Denver comeback was epic, especially on a night where they shot so terribly from three. Lakers have to be feeling pretty defeated after Lebron, AD, and Russell were all playing well and they still couldn't hold a huge lead despite Denver playing like garbage.

That was the only good game of the day, after a bunch of good ones on Saturday.

I’ll say it once again this year - the Pistons are the victim of identity theft. Miami is now the “going to work” team. Call the cops, or better yet steal Quinn to be our coach this offseason after making Hammond the POBO.

They’re probably going to lose Claxton or simply not want to pay him. Getting a rookie (or Duren) could be appealing since they’d be on rookie contracts.

Topic and Wemby are gonna be a nice combo. He can set Wemby up on offense and Wemby can cover for his poor defense. Rough draft for the Pistons. Risacher takes a big dive and nobody in the top 5+ other than Sheppard can hit a three. Maybe you take a chance on Sheppard's poor size, length, and athleticism not killing him since his raw defensive numbers are so good despite those concerns. He can certainly shoot, but you could just be getting Sasser 2.0, except with a top 5 pick this time. If you do pick him then it's time for some trades (Ivey and/or Sasser). I'm probably still leaning towards the idea of drafting Sarr and using Duren in a trade package, but that could also blow up in your face because Sarr looks really raw. You'd definitely have to bring in a vet rebounder and rim protector (not Wiseman) to give Sarr time to develop and show him the ropes. I suppose you could just let Sarr come off the bench behind Duren and make the decision at the deadline, but you still need a veteran 3rd big (again, not Wiseman). I suppose you could also trade the pick. It won't net you much on its own, but maybe in combination with Ivey (and/or Duren) and a future pick to get you an actual player (Mikal or something).

So glad someone else noticed this. I was so confused while watching this and listening to him talk.

They said they're going to do it quickly, but if James isn't just making up names and they're actually going after guys from Orlando and Milwaukee, then it probably doesn't get done until at least after the first round of the playoffs. Then that guy has to come in and decide if he wants to keep Monty and Gores, then conduct a replacements search, which means all those good replacement names will be gone.

If Giannis doesn't play a couple of these games, the Bucks could very well be headed home early.

I can only hope they're letting the players do their thing and seeing them off before the firings begin and then we don't even need to see those two take the podium.

Tell me that the NBA has gone soft without telling me the NBA has gone soft. These dudes would have been broken by week 2 in either of the Pistons championship eras.

I just hope it's PHX and LAL. GS can go in the next round so I don't have to watch Daymond choke anyone out.

It seems like Gores is the "fire you on a Friday" type of boss. He thinks he's running a more classy organization by not creating mid-season drama and apparently has a blind spot to the fact that doing nothing has created even more bad press and media attention. Basically, I suspect that even if he had made the decision already, he would wait until the end of the season. But who knows, maybe this is all wishful thinking and we're going to be stuck with these clowns for 5 more years.

They've already failed spectacularly. You don't fail any better than setting franchise, NBA, and even cross-sport records for losing. If they don't get fired now, they never will. And unfortunately, nobody can fire Gores. He'd have to choose to sell and that has little to do with success or failure at the sport itself.

Which is why it's silly to want them to fail. You aren't punishing anyone but us.

Sadly, when I read your intro line I thought this was going to be any one of Duren's offensive plays from the past 30 games.

I need to see him play 65 games for that max contract. He's not helping the case against him being injury prone and/or soft.

Where do Monty, Weaver, and Silas fall on that list?

I like how Omari has been calling this team and org out a lot lately Jaden hit a lot of threes. Coach still ripped him after the game for his turnovers and shot selection. One of those two will be gone this offseason for sure. They can’t coexist. Jalen did another Drummond impression all game. All you had to see was that play at the 10 minute mark in the first quarter. Messy dribble drive into a bad contested shot that leads to a fast break by Memphis that Duren didn’t get back fast enough to contest. If that doesn’t say Dre, I don’t know what does. Of course he continued to do that stuff all game, so it didn’t end there. Malachi who? Along with the Sasser hype train, I think we can officially get back off the “Wiseman is improving” train as well. Honestly, without Cade both of the bigs are looking suspect.