SOUR NOTE: You Got What You Wanted
by The Low
Well, well, well….Welcome to the new year Pistons fans! After a shortened playoff run, a longer summer break, training camp, and two weeks of the new season, your beloved Pistons are…
3-5.
…Crap…
A) That’s what you’re saying
and
B) That’s what you’re seeing.
“The Pistons will be fine” – Terry Porter outside of Cox Pavilion during 2006 VSL
“They will be better without Ben Wallace…” – Play-by-play announcer during game vs. Golden State in which the Warriors won by 32 points (their first against Det in 3 years).
70 – 28 = the Points in the Paint total obviously favoring the Milwaukee Bucks in the Pistons home and season opener.
Pistons fans across the world swore the team would be so much better with Ben Wallace leaving for the hated Chicago Bulls who, if you believe the Detroit News, ruined the team, pouted constantly, made coaches lives miserable, became a locker room cancer, and then “bolted for the money”.
Ben Wallace was supposed to be the one thing that Detroit needed to rid themselves of in order for them to be fully “unleashed” in Flip Saunders vaunted “offensive” playbook.
The Pistons needed to voluntarily throw 30 Million Dollars at Nazr Mohammed and bring in very streaky and very hyped Flip Murray. Yet, all the gelling and tired leg excuses aside, these guys are nothing above average on their best nights. No matter who the Pistons got to replace Ben Wallace it wasn’t going to be enough. It was quite obvious to me that Ben Wallace’s influence was major no matter how much certain media heads wish to downplay it.
There are so many reasons this team is struggling that there is no way I can cover them all at once without you wishing someone had unplugged my keyboard.
With that having been said, the Pistons rebounding is non-existent. I don’t know how someone could make the argument that this team will be able to compete for a title without solid rebounding. Teams know if they simply attack the glass, they will either beat the Pistons to the rebound or simply convince them to stop trying. To go along with this, teams attack the rim on this group relentlessly. No challenging shots at the rim, no cutting off penetration, and bowls and bowls of FREE CHILI.
This is supposed to be Flip’s great year. The year he gets to put his “stamp” on this team and run his plays the way he sees fit. However, to start this season, this team looks much worse that last season; a season in which, by Flip’s own admission, he didn’t fully take charge of. Well, well…maybe there’s something there. Maybe it’s a clue that this team was more successful the less Saunders implemented of his own game plan. Perhaps it was the last remnants of the most hated man in Detroit sports history, Larry Brown, that still had this team surviving on fumes alone.
Whatever the reason, one thing is clear. Flip Saunders is not the coach that will return the Pistons to the promise land. Brown called his players out in the media after telling them repeatedly in practice and in games what he wanted done. Flip appears to blame every loss on his guys as if they had not gone to two NBA Finals prior to his arrival. I’m surprised that no one seems to be ready to set Flip’s house on fire for calling out guys in the media, while Brown was consistently roasted for not respecting his players and “keeping it in house”. Flip never appears to make any of the adjustments in games or chew in guys’ ears the very changes he claims need to be made after every loss. It’s amazing how the Pistons players have suddenly become the most average players in the NBA after having won a championship just 2 years prior. It’s most certainly mind-blowing that in the seasons since that championship, the one glaring change having been the firing of one Hall of Fame coach and the hiring of one Hall of Shame coach (per his inability to excel past the 1st round), this one thing is remarkably ignored as a possible reason for any of the team’s current struggles.
How do you go to the Finals two years in a row and have players that are no longer any good? The only thing that changed during that time period was the coach, yet the coach escapes any responsibility for the shortcomings of his “playbook”. I find it hard to believe that now the coach is no longer charged with motivating and/or directing his players. They are now responsible for running the team themselves while the coach has no responsibility. Apparently, any John Doe can coach an NBA Champion and the players will make it all happen on their own.
Not in my book.
So, congrats fans…
You have your more “exciting” team.
You have your young players that can “make some noise.”
You have your “more versatile” offensive playbook.
You have your Zone defense.
You have your “New NBA.”
You have your “team built on defense trying to outscore people.”
You have your jump shot based offense with only two efficient jump shooters on the entire roster.
You have your team with no locker-room “cancer.”
You have your salary cap under control.
You have your sub .500 team to start the season…
Enjoy!
Matt W. wrote:
Those problems surfaced with Ben — in fact, it sounds like you’re describing the Pistons in last year’s playoffs. I’m not saying it’s not something we need to address, just that it’s not news…
And saying these Pistons are average on their best night implies we’ve seen their best night, which I don’t think is true. 64 wins spoiled us. We didn’t exactly storm out of the gate during Larry’s two years in town.
Posted on 16-Nov-06 at 6:24 pm | Permalink
PistonsForum.com wrote:
Sour Note : You Got What You Wanted…
Posted on 17-Nov-06 at 12:01 am | Permalink
The Low wrote:
Matt–
I guess that comment required a bit of background. I was very unhappy with the defensive schemes last year that, in my opinion, put us in a position to not rebound well and essentially forced Ben to have to rebound 1 on 3 or 1 on 4 many possessions.
So, you are right in that those problems surfaced last season, but they were due in large part to the way the Pistons were instructed to defend which was considerably different from the defensive scheme that Larry Brown employed.
Posted on 17-Nov-06 at 12:35 am | Permalink
MotownPride wrote:
On the money. Although this team is definitely not a lottery team, I think it is safe to say that any semblence of that championship team from 2004 has left the building. I’ve never been sold on Flip’s approach to basketball and I think what you will see throughout the season is that there is a huge gap between Detroit and the elite teams this year. We’ve lost our competitive advantage and are trying to win games in a style that does not befit our personell. Bad coaching. If you didn’t know what made Flip a playoff failure, I think you know now. Nice work, Low.
Posted on 17-Nov-06 at 10:34 am | Permalink
dba wrote:
Oh DLow, DLow. Always good to read you first thing in the morning and get my day off from the depths of despair. You’re reminding me though of a defense attorney who argues two plausible but contradictory views of the crime. “My client didn’t kill this person, but if he did, it was because of extreme emotional distress”.
So come on, pick a foot and stand on it. Ben or Flip? Together they won 64 games, tore the whole league a new one, and suffered perhaps the biggest collapse in playoff history. Flip without Ben? Three and five, and apparently clueless as you describe about rebounding and defense. Regardless though, you’re right – something smells. I’m just not sure that eight games in it’s all so clear where the biggest stink lies.
Posted on 17-Nov-06 at 11:08 am | Permalink
webz wrote:
I agree that Flip has not been good for this team. I don’t agree that keeping Ben was the answer to all our problems.
He hasn’t exactly had a stellar start in Chicago. If we had kept him at that hefty price tag I think in 2 years time (or less) we would be looking a lot like Philly is now with C-Webb - a former star with an untradeable contract and diminished skills, sitting out 4th quarters…
Ben will always be a Piston to me and I love him for what he did for Detroit, but sometimes situations don’t work out.
Posted on 17-Nov-06 at 4:24 pm | Permalink
The Low wrote:
Ah dba my friend, you are always there ready to debunk my latest theory. Let me see if I can make my stance as clear as possible.
All things being equal, Ben Wallace is the “multiplier” if you will.
So, it’s a bit of both.
For example:
Under Larry Brown:
With #3: Championship Basketball
Without #3: Pretty darn good basketball
Under Flip Saunders:
With #3: Good Basketball (not quite LB good)
Without #3: Mediocre/Avg Basketball
So, Flip IS the major portion of the problem because we are stuck with sub-par coaching. However, there is still a major difference when you factor in #3. As much as I can’t stand Flip, I would much rather have to deal with him as coach with #3 in the lineup than without.
Posted on 17-Nov-06 at 7:02 pm | Permalink
Matt G wrote:
Give it time. Yes the pistons have been crap through the first 8 games but just give them time. If in mid-December they are still sub .500, then I’m going to worry.
I don’t like Flip Murray
Posted on 19-Nov-06 at 1:27 am | Permalink
swarm wrote:
Low,
it’s too early to consider this season over. With that said I’m still convinced that Flip is a flake and that he will not be able to lead this group of battle tested warriors to the promised land. Why do I think this? Besides the reasons you so eloquently stated above Flip doesn’t seem to understand the foundation of strategy.
Exploitation of the other teams weaknesses! Every team has them and until Flip finds a way to do this instead of relying solely on an imaginative but until now unproven playbook he will never be a great coach.
Our only hope is that these early season troubles will force him to adapt (or die).
Posted on 21-Nov-06 at 8:52 pm | Permalink