Betrayer

I wouldn't be surprised if Denver scores 184 against our defense.

And it doesn't end there. You didn't even mention Wiseman's play tonight. He just stands in the paint and guards nobody. Wiseman, Hayes, and Livers are not NBA players right now and may never be. Yet this 78M dollar coach can somehow take a bad team and make them a historically bad team. @buddha said that Hayes is a bench player on an average team - false. A guy who's the worst rotation player on the worst team in NBA history would be lucky to be on any other roster in the league. More likely he'd be playing overseas. And Monty started him for 30 games this season! He might be the only guy on the team who's shot looks more broken than Ausar and he's been in the league 4 years with reports that he "reworked his jumpshot" every offseason. Why does he get minutes? Simply stagger Cade and Ivey so one creator is in the game at all times (which should be happening anyway), and give Sasser more minutes because at least he can space the floor and has potential.

I've watched all of these games and Ausar is very good at passing and making reads. He has a very high BBall IQ. His turnovers come from trying to do too much off the dribble, which is totally different. His handle is loose, but I'm not asking him to play PG. Draymond isn't great at dribbling either and he's often playing alongside Looney who's not a shooter (like Duren) and Wiggins who's shooting 30% from three. They use him in DHOs or at the elbow while guys are screening and cutting. Obviously, we don't have Curry, but imagine Ivey zooming around off-ball screens. Bogey is also very good at shooting off of screens. If Duren's defender tries to step up on Ivey/Bogey, he's got a easy cut to the rim with a lob. Not saying they'll be GS 2.0, but it would certainly be better than what we're seeing. Of course, that would require Monty to be creative offensively and he's trash. There's no off-ball movement, cutting, he can't even figure out something as basic as Ausar in the dunker spot on a Cade/Duren pick and roll. Or that same play inverted. There are VERY basic ways to use Ausar's strengths in the offense rather than stick him in the strong side corner where his man can easily double with no penalty. This coaching is criminal. And even for this hopeless offense that Monty is running, is playing Livers a better idea? He's gives you far less in every other aspect of the game, isn't a cornerstone of the team, and his shooting is M.I.A. (25% from three).

Two Pistons on Shaqtin’…

"I didn't even think about it" Pretty much sums up his coaching career in Detroit. btw, Livers is shooting 25% from 3 and Ausar is shooting 15%, so neither are spacing the floor. Which guy would you rather have out there when the other team is scoring at will and getting way too many offensive rebounds? Unfortunately, Monty also hasn't even thought about how to use Ausar. Why not use him like GS uses Draymond who also can't shoot, but plays defense, rebounds, and makes the right passing reads.

He was actually pretty solid and was hitting shots on offense. But Burks was absolutely on fire and so was Bogey. You aren't taking Cade out, and Utah plays with two bigs, so Ivey didn't really get any minutes in the 4th or OT so they could keep Duren and Livers out there for some size. Not that Livers played well, but it was basically him or Knox at the 4 all night.

This is why he doesn't have to do anything. They can just remove the game from national tv and move right along. As a side note, this is why I've been so against NBA expansion. The stars aren't just going to spread out for fun. You'll still have the same number of really good teams and just more bad ones. There will just be more teams like the Pistons, Wizards, and Spurs and that means less competitive games.

Exactly. Problem isn't the extension, it's the role he's been given by this coaching staff and front office.

This is it in a nutshell. I like Stew as a bench big, but he's not a starting 4 (or 5 for that matter).

I wish he had learned something. The reality is simply that Stew was out with an injury.

Finally!

Please stop playing Killian. Please.

Right, and we have Monty as our head coach, so if it didn't work for the last 28 games let's just keep doing the same thing. Maybe those players who should be playing in China (Hayes, Wiseman) will eventually get them over the top because they dive on the ball in practice.

Why is Killian getting minutes? He's not an NBA player. Same with Wiseman. Also, can we stop rolling out the entire bench at once? How about keeping one of Cade and/or Ivey in the game at all times to have someone that can create for himself and others? Is staggering a lineup that hard for a Detroit coaching staff? First Casey and now Monty, neither understand how to stagger. While you're learning how to coach, is calling a good play out of a timeout too much to ask? On a positive note, Stew was injured and so we rolled out a starting lineup (if you squint real hard) that actually looked like a real NBA lineup instead of two Centers. I don't expect Monty to figure that out and make a change, but there it is. Knox isn't that guy in the long run, he's like the G-League version, but he fits the profile of the type of player you need in that spot: Length, athleticism, spacing, can attack a close-out and finish.

I read that Burks called his own number and the call was actually for Cade. Burks was a train wreck in many, many ways this game. Not that Monty doesn't have plenty of things to answer for as well.

I'd say it was when he hired Flip. A regular season, jump-shooting coach for a defensive minded, playoff team. Square peg in a round hole. Ben left a year later and we all knew that team was going to put up some regular season numbers but would never make it back to the top of the mountain.

Wait, is OG being called a "4 man"?

As a player, I'm sure I'd cope with crying while swimming in my pool of cash like Scrooge McDuck. The guys who shouldn't be coming back to work are the ones you fire for failing at their jobs: Monty, Troy, and Arn. And while you're at it, fire yourself, Tom.

Me too. Imagine that. If everywhere you go you smell crap, maybe check the bottom of your own shoe.

Yep… I swear this guy is my spirit animal or something.

Nerleans Noel is out there on twitter making comments about this front office and coaching staff: and followed it up with...

This guy is pretty much me watching this team right now:

I'd say both the roster and Williams have been a disaster for sure. Even look at their record last year after the trade deadline. They only won 2 games. This roster isn't just bad, it also doesn't make sense. You can't have zero wings and almost no players who can play both sides of the ball in today's NBA. Then Williams comes in and makes it worse by alienating players, giving minutes to G League level players, and taking 25 games to supposedly start "learning the players."

If they're trying anything it's to blitz him on every pick and roll because they know he and Bogey are all we've got. He's doing what he's doing in the 100th game of his career, coming off a season long injury, with zero help, and constant defensive pressure because they don't have to guard anyone else. Yeah, this season is bad, this owner is bad, this GM is bad, this coach is bad, and this roster is bad...but a developing All-Star in Cade is one of the few things we have going for us. People act like this dude should just walk in and dominate as if he's in his prime in what amounts to his second season in the worst situation you could put him in.

Let’s go! I’m heading to the game now. Time to break this streak. Maybe I can hit a jump shot if they put me in.