Betrayer

I've watched every game since 2001, even with this losing streak. But this might be the thing that pushes me over the edge.

I like the format right now if it remains at 2 rounds. If they're going to increase the number of rounds and create a draft and stash, then sure, make a second night. Nobody will watch it, but go for it.

Just brutal. Worse than that, you can see that the locker room has eroded beyond repair. Guys are just out there to try to get their own and team basketball is out the window. Duren's showing some flashes of more offensive skills, but he's also out there dribbling into pull-up 20 footers that clang off the rim. Ivey jacking up bad threes and throwing no look passes every time. Even Burks is getting in on the action, trying to take it to the rim against 4 defenders. Zero defense, zero communication, and the .5 offense is nowhere to be found. It's time to clean house. I would say "sell the team", but nobody can make Tom do that. At the very least, Weaver should be fire before he has time to try to save his job with a Lavine (Blake Griffin) Trade that damns the franchise for another 4 years. And Monty should be fired as well. He inherited a terrible roster, but he's somehow managed to make things even worse. As for the players, I don't want to see one more minute of Killian or Wiseman on the court. Just stop. Quit telling me you can't play Ausar because he can't shoot and then run Hayes (and Livers) out there for 32 minutes. Sasser and Ausar should absorb all of Killian's minutes until Cade returns. For now it's Ivey and Sasser at PG and then when Cade comes back you stagger him and Ivey at PG until Morris starts playing backup PG. Wiseman plays defense like a video game with extreme lag. You press the button and he jumps three seconds later.. I watched him fumble a rebound out of bounds in this game when there wasn't a defender within 20 feet of him. Just play Bagley until Stew gets back and then make Stew the bench Center. My lineup for when this team is "healthy" Starters: Cade, Ivey, Bogey, Knox, Duren Bench: Morris (Sasser for now), Burks, Ausar, Stew That's right, you don't need to play 10 or 11 guys on a roster this bad.

"Does anyone talk about this ever, like in film or practice?!"

I still haven't missed a game since 2001. Someone please kill me now.

Being held accountable for his actions is "too much" to handle. A bully with a persecution complex.

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.