[tin mad dog]

Probably money well saved but it would've been nice to go to the Garden.

[Lou Stefanic]

Yeah, you could've seen two highly dysfunctional teams.

[tin mad dog]

I know! I think the Knicks will feast on us. We have looked totally deflated the last two games. The travel won't help us.

The one saving grace is we do have a better backcourt than they do, so maybe that will matter.

[Hobbs]

This 7 in 9 stretch is going to cement our status as a bottom 5 team.

[zdwtr]

I dont even bother watching the scores these days

[Hobbs]

Monroe has been very good. Chandler is known for his defense, but Moose seems to be doing whatever he wants.

Knicks are hitting everything so far. We aren't, but we're killing the offensive boards.

[tin mad dog]

I just started watching a couple of minutes ago and we are hanging with them. Monroe with 9 and 4 so far. The NY announcer said that Monroe has the demeanor of a guy from the 50's or 60's.

[tin mad dog]

Knicks finish the quarter on a 12-4 run. 33-24 after 1.

[Hobbs]

Knicks hit everything. Our defense was bad, but it wasn't THAAAAT bad.

Daye showing once again he should not dribble.

Knight not looking terribly good. Tay shooting too much. Stuckey kind of nonexistent.

[zdwtr]

Monroe twice committing silly TO after the good team D and rebound. Concentration is lacking led to two easy basket. the PG has to demand the ball, come to Moose and ask for it to limit the TO. always with the TO. That's why we loose

[zdwtr]

Field's payroll is 788.872 and he's killing us with threes

[tin mad dog]

The lead has been cut to 6 and Walker just got called for a travel.

[tin mad dog]

Russell Jr. is playing pretty well tonight. Still down 6.

[Stefan S]

btw, New York Knicks vs Detroit Pistons Live Stream Online

[tin mad dog]

Wilkens cuts it to 4.

[zdwtr]

WTF.. the same TO by Moose led to easy basket and another three by the 700+ guy. this is nuts

[tin mad dog]

Again, a 12-4 run for the Knicks to end the 2nd quarter.

Down 12 at the half.

[Hobbs]

Monroe is going to get his first triple double (turnover edition) tonight.

Knicks shooting 66% on the night and 75% from 3. We are either the worst defensive team ever or that will drop some in the second half. Not that it will matter.

Our guards aren't doing enough and we're turning the ball over half the time.

[tin mad dog]

It sucks to be shooting 51% and still be down 12.

[Orwellian O.]

This hasn't gone well.

[Money23]

I did like that drive by Knight where he set up the Monroe layup. Gorgeous play.

[tin mad dog]

Yes, money well saved tonight.

[ghandi]

Yikes another ugly loss......Gotta love that 13 assist to 20 turnover ratio.....When do we start the Dumars is fired watch?

[Kstat]

...when we're still playing like this next year.

This season is a tank job. We're gunning for a high draft pick. Games like this are what happens when you tank.

[Dave Bing]

I don't mind us playing for the future, giving Bradon major minutes, shielding Gordon and Villa from the court, a mini-tankapalooza. But losing this way, showing no toughness on defense, no progress in terms of offensive flow, hideous turnover after hideous turnover is terrible. I'm afraid of developing a culture of sucking and being expected to suck.

[Dave Bing]

Although we are right on Charlotte's tail for the most ping pongers! Yay! Whoopee!

[Jeff Hause]

True. You want the front office tanking, not the players...

[rpmfla]

I subscribed to NBA LeaguePass, so I have (unfortunately) watched every game this season, only turning it off lately in the late part of games when they are getting blown out and are playing horribly.

It is really hard to find anything positive to say about this group. This is the worst display of basketball I have ever seen.

Stuckey: He has one skill, and that is to plow into the lane to try to get fouled and sometimes make the shot too. He supposedly plays good defense but I haven't seen that on display for a while.

Prince: I liked him a lot as a complimentary player on our great teams but he is not a good veteran leader. His whole demeanor is wrong for the role, as he is always whining and looking sad and disappointed...like a broken bobble head doll whose head is always pointing at the floor.

Wallace: He still shows occasional glimpses of his former greatness, but that is very seldom now. I can't blame him as he was resigned as a mentor and positive bench presence, not as a starter to be counted on as a major player.

Jerebko (or as one...Minnesota?..commentator called him, Jerricho): I really like this guy and would say he is one of the few semi-bright spots this season. He does not shy away from physical play at all (which has resulted in a lot of fouls called against him), and as an energy player off the bench he may be a keeper. Not to make excuses, but he does get a lot of calls that could go either way or not called at all, as not many of his fouls are the reaching in kind. I see him standing straight with his arms up and the other player rams into him and he gets called for a foul.

Knight: He has obviously hit a wall...or he has just realized he is on a horrible team and has lost his positive energy. His shot is very unorthodox but it seems to work, but he frequently looks weak and overwhelmed by the physicality of the NBA. I see Frank on the sidelines waving and admonishing him to speed the ball up the court, but when he does he actually gets past his teammates who are not also speeding up the court so he ends up dribbling past his teammates and into the teeth of the defense, often resulting in a trap and turnover. Not a lot of evidence, but I am hopeful that as he matures and gets stronger he will be a solid guard for the Pistons.

Monroe: Obviously the one player who is consistently solid, although he needs to work on his outlet passing. He is not allstar material but is a very good, solid big.

Gordon, CV, Bynum: Gordon is a great shooter who is reluctant to shoot. He is pretty awful at most other aspects of the game. CV...I like the guy and think he could be a quality bench player for instant offense. Bynum has some offensive skills and is ok on defense for short bursts, but he is not much of a PG.

Daye: I actually had high hopes about him but I am now totally against drafting anyone who is described as thinner than Tayshaun Prince. Daye could be a good scorer, but he nearly always lets his man get by him on defense. Sometimes his length can make up for his slow foot speed, but he is all finesse and cannot handle the physical nature of the NBA.

Max: He has improved the range on his shot, and he is one of the only above the rim players on the team. If he was 3-4 inches taller I think he'd be a great player. As it is he is an undersized PF who on occasion can have an impact.

Wilkins: Like Max, he is a solid end of the bench player who is forced to play a larger role than his abilities warrant. Not a bad player, and above average on D, but he should not be counted upon as much as he has been.

Macklin: Long arms, good motor, has not made a fool of himself in his brief moments at the end of blowouts. I thought he had the possibility to stick and get some PT but if he cannot get more minutes on this team I don't know. I'd rather see him get more playing time to see if he can get comfortable and be a quality rotation big.

I think overall this team is more dysfunctional than it is bad. Our individual players are better than this record would indicate. It seems with this group the whole is worth less than the sum of its parts.

[hack]

Has been for a long time. I dunno what to say. It just always seems like we're an addition-by-subtraction player or two away from realizing that potential. Maybe it really was a terrible idea to resign Prince.

[DYNOMITE]

I really think we need to be very patient with Brandon. Terrible year for a 19 year old point guard entering the league. Year 3 will be the year he starts putting it all together. Joe has his work cut out for him from now till then.

[DYNOMITE]

Originally Posted by hack

Has been for a long time. I dunno what to say. It just always seems like we're an addition-by-subtraction player or two away from realizing that potential. Maybe it really was a terrible idea to resign Prince.

It was a bad idea considering the money. A few million here or there can be the difference between a fill-in and an actual contributing player.

[hack]

Terrible year for a 19 year old point guard entering the league.

Well on the one hand you look at Irving (GC ain't been posting much) and you say no to that, but, ultimately, each at their own pace and there's reason to believe Knight will take a bit longer to piece together his bits and flashes into a consistent and valueable player at his position, if not an actual PG in the traditional sense. Either way, there's no sense in writing him off now based on what's gone on so far. He's gonna grow and hopefully the team grows around him. But I do agree that this losing is insane. Nobody's gonna grow if they go into every game knowing it's going to be a beatdown. I'm fine with ``tanking'', so to speak this season, but Joe's got to get some help for these kids in the offseason. Forget Tay; we really do need Uncle Cliffy II.

[DYNOMITE]

Irving has been great. I would like to think we would have picked him had we had the #1 pick.

I think with Knight he is being asked to do too much. Considering they have few practices and so many games it has to be difficult for him to process his own mistakes. Point guard is a mental position. Knight has tremendous physical tools for the position. He just needs time.

[Stefan S]

Each player has a different trajectory of development, depending on natural skills, experience in college, training camp, and so on.

So far, lots of things have been stacked against Knight (little college exp, no training camp, dysfunctional team). I agree with Dynamo, we really need to very patient with him. (BTW, he obviously have talent. I do not know he has as much or less or what talent as Wall. But the guy has a chance to be a major asset on this team for years to come.)

[hack]

Irving also can be the leader of that team. It's his team. Knight can't do that yet, in addition to not being a natural at lots of important stuff. The summer off hurt him a lot more than it would a player like Irving.

[Billl]

Irving is a natural pg. Knight isn't. That doesn't mean knight is going to be a washout, but he has a lot to learn to develop into a decent pg. Right now, all you have to do to knight is play up on him and he becomes a turnover machine.

[Mel Kiper Jr]

Billl is right. Knight wasn't really a PG in the traditional sense in college. He was more of a Guard that could score that brought the ball up the court.

THAT is what is evident in the NBA. Yeah, maybe with more practice time that develops, but it takes a long time to develop anyways and maybe it never does? Look at how long it took a guy like Billups to become an actual NBA PG...

May 6, 2011
Report by Derek Bodner, Video Breakdown by Sebastian Pruiti

Brandon Knight capped off his up and down freshman season with a pair of game winners and a 30 point explosion during Kentucky's run to the Final Four, despite shooting just under 33% from the field in the tournament while committing nearly 3.4 turnovers per game, showing the quandary he places NBA decision makers in.

Those numbers may hide some of the progress Knight was making as the year went on. Knight averaged an astounding 4.7 turnovers per game over his first seven games, struggling both with his ball handling and decision making as he was playing a largely isolation game trying to make the major transition from high school to college. Knight played for a small, academic oriented high school in Florida where he was asked to play a be-all, end-all role in every moment on the court, and adjusting to the rigors of a new system on a team playing an incredibly challenging schedule almost immediately was a major learning experience for the young point guard.

As the year went on Calipari put Knight in more and more in pick and roll and dribble hand off situations, allowing the guard to take advantage of the attention he receives in these situations and generate offense for his teammates, while limiting some of the turnover problems and over dribbling that plagued Knight earlier in the season. Well known as a very intelligent player and person both on and off the court, Knight's basketball IQ improved visibly from game to game and week to week, culminating in his very impressive SEC and NCAA Tournament performances in March.

From DraftExpress.com http://www.draftexpress.com#ixzz1l9WMk4W2
http://www.draftexpress.com

[rpmfla]

Some current Pistons have excuses for their play. With Knight it is his youth, the lack of any pre-season games or workouts, and him coming to a team in disarray. He has shown glimpses of potential that make him one of the optimistic elements in this generally dysfunctional season.

[hack]

He brought the ball up the court. Of that, there is no doubt.

I didn't know that he came from a small-time program in Fla. Interesting.

[Mel Kiper Jr]

He has a ton of potential. He just has to learn to become a PG. Over time, that should happen.

CV and Daye are the biggest disappointments. CV can't even get on the court because his defense is that bad. Unexcusable for someone with his size and length.

Daye still has some hope I suppose although he seems to do better as a starter than coming off the bench.

[hack]

If they are REALLY tanking, wouldn't CV be playing? Wouldn't you think he'd put up numbers enough that we could con someone into taking him therefore leaving the amnesty decision to be an obvious one come the offseason?

[Kstat]

No. Generally, tanking teams do so by playing the youngest team possible. That way they at least get some player development.

CV and bynum more than likely are being kept off the team right now, until maybe 1-2 weeks before the trade deadline for showcase purposes.

[ghandi]

The whole culture now kinda reminds me of the Lions a couple of years ago when they almost expected to lose every game.....The Pistons look alot like the Clippers of old where they would add top 10 picks and not get any better....I have no doubt that Knight will get better, but will he and Monroe (and next years top pick) form a decent enough nucleus to even get the Pistons back to even a playoff caliber team??

[Whiteman]

I think Knight is the 3rd best rookie this year so far after Irivng and Rubio. Seems like every other rookie is struggling right now, derrik williams, kemba has been hit or miss, bismack as well. Kanter is barley plays etc.

[hack]

Originally Posted by Kstat

No. Generally, tanking teams do so by playing the youngest team possible. That way they at least get some player development.

CV and bynum more than likely are being kept off the team right now, until maybe 1-2 weeks before the trade deadline for showcase purposes.

Tanking means losing, which you do by, yes, letting youngsters play through their mistakes, but also by losing. Tanking means losing. Which CV could help us do. So STFU if you're going to take that approach.

[Kstat]

We're worse than we were last year.

CV actually catches fire once in a blue moon and wins games for us. He's also pretty lazy which you don't want rubbing off.

The Raptors did something similar with Vince Carter back in 2004.

[The King]

The main problem is we have a lack of talent. Our guys just are not good enough to constantly make plays on both ends of the floor. We have awful post defenders and no shotblocker. It isn't surprising our defense sucks.

[Mel Kiper Jr]

Originally Posted by Kstat

No. Generally, tanking teams do so by playing the youngest team possible. That way they at least get some player development.

Yeah...like starting Ben Wallace and Tayshaun Prince...

And not playing Macklin more minutes...And having Daye get limited minutes much of the season...

[Mel Kiper Jr]

Originally Posted by Kstat

We're worse than we were last year.

CV actually catches fire once in a blue moon and wins games for us. He's also pretty lazy which you don't want rubbing off.

So it's ok to create an alleged culture of 'tanking' or losing on purpose. But, by no means can we put a lazy defender out there to destroy the quality culture that we are trying to build?

"Guys...we want you to lose this game and be demoralized this season...but do it the right way by playing defense and hustling."