Fifty To Go and The Big Deal

Time to do some catching up here in the blog - here's the highlights from the last ten games.

Game #23 DETROIT 108, Washington 87

A couple games back we squeaked one out in DC against the Wiz - we put on a better show for the home fans. Jerebko continues to be bad with 5 fouls in 12 minutes but BK and Monroe showed up to combine for 47 and the rookie starters Drummond and English combined for 24. Odom gave us 36 minutes off the bench and went for 9 and 7.

Game #24 DETROIT 102, Utah 82

Back to back wins in the D as we get 27 with 6 boards and 5 dimes from Stuckey off the bench and 22 from Monroe. Jerebko just plain awful with 3 points and I think he needs to go back to the bench but we've won two straight. Is now a good time to tinker with that? It helped that Favors is still out with a broken toe but he wasn't playing much before - now there's a guy I would love to have here. I decided what the hell and called up the Jazz - they want Monroe at least for Favors so scratch that.

Game #25 Detroit 77, ATLANTA 105

What did Santa bring us on Christmas Eve? A beat down! Surprisingly enough we held Smith and Horford to a combined 19 points but got lit up Teague, Harris and Lou Williams. Well that and shooting 38% from the floor. Odom and Maxiell both came out injured. Max not so bad but Odom is going to miss time with a sprained toe which means I guess we give Tayshaun another chance.

Game #26 DETROIT 97, Chicago 115

A huge divisional game for us at home and we get out scored by 15 in the final quarter while watching Taj Gibson go for 26 and 9 off the bench. Monroe was unreal with 26 and 14, 5 steals and 3 blocks but we gave up 66 points in the paint on the way to a 56% shooting night for the Bulls. Odom would have made a difference in this one.

Game #27 DETROIT 108, Oklahoma City 120

Our track record against the stars of the league has not been good and this one was no different. Durant torched us for 47 while Westbrook put in a mere 28 with 17 assists. Same story for us. Monroe beasts with 37 and 16 and we get one good contribution from someone else and that's it. This time its Stuckey with 23 off the bench. Andre Drummond is now on the side of a milk carton with 10 points and 6 boards...in his last three games combined and now a strained ab to boot.

Game #28 Detroit 101, MILWAUKEE 108

This loss takes us to 13-15. Ellis, Jennings and Ilyasova combine for 77 points and we shoot 43% again from the floor. Jerebko finally came alive off the bench for 14 points and in the most unsurprising league news ever Kevin Durant is both player of the week and player of the month. At least we contributed to a win of sorts and the Magic are coming to town so all hope is not lost.

Game #29 DETROIT 113, Orlando 91

We kick off 2013 with a new year's day home win over one of the worst teams in the league but at this point I'll take anything. Afflalo scores 23 for Orlando which I curse my predecessor for but SuperGreg goes for 38 and 15 with nominal contributions from Knight, Stuckey and Jerebko. Prince put in 9 and has at least been passable as a starter the last four.

Game #30 DETROIT 109, Brooklyn 86

Finally a game where we led start to finish and had a balanced attack. Monroe had 19 but Stuckey, Knight, Maggette, English and Jerebko all hit double figures and played great defense holding the Nets to 33% shooting inlcuding 16/44 from Deron, Brook and Crash. OKC has been ringing the phone off the hook trying to get Tayshaun. Might look into that.

Game #31 DETROIT 101, Sacramento 94

Lamar Odom returned to the lineup tonight and played very well with 14 and 8 and 3 blocks off the bench along with Jonas' 14 points and 9 boards off the bench. Monroe and BK played  a good game while Tayshaun just can't get anything going. Cousins went off for 31 and both teams built double digit leads at one point so I feel pretty lucky to come out of that one with a W.

Game #32 Detroit 66, LOS ANGELES (C) 95

You would think if you hold your opponent to 3 of 20 from 3 point range you might be doing a pretty good job but if you match that with 3 of 18 and give them 18 extra free throws you lose by 30. I thought maybe Lamar would step up in a return to LA but he was nowhere to be found. Caron Butler was traded to the Spurs after the game for Stephen Jackson.

Around the league...

As noted the Spurs and Clips pulled off a little swap there while Doug Collins is the only coach in the league who could run a 24-10 team and still have players hate him. Nick Young, Thad Young and Kwame Brown all have complained in the media about playing time recently. I don't want Nick or Kwame but I'd take Thad Young in a heartbeat.

32 games in we hold the final playoff spot in the East by a couple games over Brooklyn. Things started off so promising but at this point I'd rather be in the lottery than get spanked by Miami but don't worry commissioner - you will not have to impose any sanctions on us. We're playing our best guys - they're just not very good.

We Pull The Trigger

I mentioned that OKC had been blowing up our phones trying to send Thabo Sefolosha our way for Tayshaun Prince. I decided to give them a call and see what we could do building around that idea. Obviously I knew I wasn't going to get anything substantial from them - Prince isn't that good and he's got two more years left at 7 million plus. There were two guys however that were not being used much that both had short contracts and potential use for our team : Eric Maynor and Nick Collison. Now those names aren't going to sell any tickets but for us Maynor would give us a competent backup PG to Knight unlike Will Bynum and Collison is a terrific team defender as is Sefolosha - something we desperately need. OKC wasn't going to give up all that for Tayshaun so I threw in Will Bynum to replace Maynor and a 2nd rounder we picked up from Houston in a draft day deal and boom - so long Tayshaun.

The trade put us at 16 guys so my mission was simple - find anyone who we could convince to take Austin Daye. Who would do that? Cleveland will! I convinced the Cavs they could not pass up on a young guy so full of potential and they were willing to hand over a 2nd rounder for the former 1st round pick and just like that the four guys I wanted most to get rid of : Villanueva, Prince, Daye and Bynum were gone and had netted us Lamar Odom, Sefolosha, Maynor and Nick Collison.

I actually like this team now - for now we're going to start Knight/English/Sefolosha/Monroe/Drummond. Drummond has not played well at all recently but he needs the PT to develop and we've got a solid second team of Maynor/Stuckey/Jerebko/Odom/Collison while Maxiell and Maggette are out of the rotation. It does leave Kyle Singler out of the rotation for now too but his time will come and best of all our contract situation looks great. Heading into next year we've only got about 33 million on the books for 11 players which can allow us to spend some money in free agency or use Corey Maggette and Jason Maxiell as 16 million in expiring money for someone signed to a long term contract on a team who wants to rebuild.

Up next we head West to take on Portland, Denver and Utah then home against the Bobcats - maybe we'll finally beat them.

The Odom Era Begins

With our first trade under my belt I was feeling better about the future of the team and excited to see if Lamar could jump start his career here because we're going to give him the minutes and if he can't do it then its likely the end of the road for him unless he wants to be a minimum contract bench warmer - kind of like his role on TV. That alone should be motivation enough to do some work here.

Trying to avoid another
NYC beatdown

Game #19 Detroit 83, NEW YORK 102

We decided the best strategy would be to try and not let Melo score 40 on us so we vowed to double team him all game long in addition to throwing a bunch of zone defense out there. Odom will come off the bench although I expect a lot of minutes for him because Drummond is playing with a bruised sternum so I don't know how much he will play.

We got off to a good start. Kim English threw down two big dunks on offense and defensively Jerebko was keeping Melo in check with some help from the double team. Drummond didn't last long before tiring quickly so with about 7 minutes left in the 1st Lamar Odom made his Pistons debut. Odom played a strong quarter finishing with 4 points and 3 rebounds and Melo got 9, but a quiet 9, and we trailed 29-24.

The second wasn't going much better and we quickly fell behind by 10 on a Kidd triple and two Melo free throws. Jonas was expending so much energy on defense that he had nothing going on offense and Drummond was still hurting on the bench. Even worse Lamar suddenly looked lethargic out there - not scoring, not rebounding, not playing good D and I figured this one had the ability to run off the rails right there. With about 6 minutes to go Lawrence Frank made a bold decision. Drummond agreed to suck it up and go back in but he would sub in for Jonas leaving Odom on the floor to play the 3 and guard Melo. Something clicked right there for Lamar - maybe the fact that he was on the floor already more in this game than in any game for LA this year, maybe the fact that we traded for him and wanted him to succeed or maybe the fact that suddenly he was being trusted with a big challenge - suddenly he was useful to someone. Lamar came alive - he grabbed a couple boards, buried two threes and most importantly held Melo totally scoreless (including a block on him) for the quarter. We reached the half down only one 51-50.

Fired up by the second quarter we came out... and proceeded to give up back to back Raymond Felton triples and then a slew of buckets to Melo and before you knew it this thing was over. Down 15 Frank decided to try anything he could to shake things up and inserted Prince into the game for the first time. On the first trip down Tayshaun launched an awful three - nothing like sitting for 30 minutes of game time and then just launching one up. He was immediately replaced by Maxiell who managed to enter the game and get T'd up for saying something to the ref before we even brought the ball up the floor! You can imagine how things went from there. NY won the quarter 32-16.

The final quarter fared no better - it was a slop fest as both teams sort of just slugged their way to the end. We shot 43% from the field, 53% from the line, had 8 shots blocked and had the ball stolen 11 times on our way to 18 turnovers (14 of which came from Knight, Stuckey, English and Jerebko). You can't be -8 in turnovers and shoot like that on the road to a good team.

On the bright side Odom had a fine debut - 13 and 10 in 35 minutes and Monroe played ok with 17 and 6 to go with 3 steals and 2 blocks but the bottom line is unless we stop these second half swoons where the games just go to hell we're going to be in a very bad spot of being competitive for the final playoff spot and then getting waxed in round one instead of just going to the lottery.

Player of the Game

Carmelo Anthony
27 points
9 rebounds
6 assists
1 steal


Down Goes Kobe
Bad news for Lakers fans as two minutes into their matchup against the Bucks, Kobe drove and got upended landing awkwardly on his hand. Diagnosis...broken hand. Have we finally met an injury that will keep Kobe sidelined? The Lakers were the best team in the West as of the injury so its unlikely losing Bryant for a couple of months will cause them to drop out of the playoff picture.

On the ten year
rebuilding plan

Game #20 Detroit 89, WASHINGTON 85

The Greg Monroe show pulled into the nation's capital as Monroe went off for 33 points in a tight win. In fact Monroe was the only Pistons player to record double digits on the night. I guess you could spin the other 56 points scored as a balanced attack - I prefer to call it a garbage performance by the rest of the squad though. English with 9, BK, Jonas and Stuck with 8 and Lamar with 7 and 6 boards in 25 minutes off the bench.

Wall led the Wiz with 19, Ariza 16 and rookie Beal added 13.
                                      Player of the Game : Greg Monroe

Remeber the opener?

Game #21 DETROIT 114, Indiana 119

A -11 differential in rebounding and 21-9 Indy advantage in second chance points did us in. Well that and Danny Granger 37 points. Yeah that hurt too.

Monroe continues to beast with 26 and 12, Stuckey had 18 off the bench, English with 17. Drummond blocked four shots but watched Roy Hibbert rack up 15 boards and Brandon Knight shoots 2/18. 2 FOR 18! You would think after the first 1 for 9 or so you might hang it up for the night but not good old BK.
Player of the Game : Danny Granger

We can't lose to these
guys again, can we?

Game #22 Detroit 97, CHARLOTTE 106

The Bobcats were on an 11 game losing streak coming into this one so why not be the team that breaks the streak? The Bobcats have 5 wins now on the season - 2 of them against us.

The fact that we never led? That we were down 22 at one point? That Ramon Sessions and Gerald Henderson scored over 50 points combined? Monroe had 22 and 7, Stuckey 20 off the bench and Drummond chipped in a dozen
Player of the Game : Ramon Sessions

Some thoughts...
After the debacle in Charlotte a reporter emails me and wants to know what I think about Tayshaun Prince. Probably not the best time to ask me that question especially since Jonas Jerebko has fallen off the face of the earth. I probably made a poor decision to be critical of Prince and word has it that I basically hurt his feelings and he's lost all confidence now which I guess to me doesn't matter - how much confidence do you need to go through a layup line and sit in a chair for 48 minutes now? Apparently I opened Pandora's Box though because the next day I got a follow up email in my box asking if Prince is on the trade block. You would think these media guys have something better to do like dissect why we can't beat freaking Charlotte but I guess not. I admit he is and I'm sure exactly zero people are shocked by that.

In other news in a battle of Western Conference powers Kevin Durant drops 55 on the Clippers in a 108-100 OKC win. Durant is 3rd in the league in scoring trailing LeBron and Melo by about 1 PPG. Let's take a look at the conference standings.

EASTERN CONFERENCE                                   
1. Miami 20-4                                                          
2. Philly 19-5                                                            
3. New York 19-6
4. Atlanta 16-8
5. Boston 15-10
6. DETROIT 11-11
7. Milwaukee 13-13
8. Chicago 11-13

9. Washington 10-12
10. Brooklyn 9-14
11. Cleveland 9-15
12. Indiana 8-16
13. Toronto 6-18
14. Orlando 5-20
15. Charlotte 5-21

WESTERN CONFERENCE 
1. LA Clippers 16-8
2. LA Lakers 16-8
3. San Antonio 15-8
4. Minnesota 15-9
5. Oklahoma City 16-10
6. Memphis 14-11
7. Houston 13-12
8. Golden State 13-12

9. Denver 12-13
10. Dallas 11-12
11. Portland 12-14
12. Utah 12-14
13. Sacramento 10-16
14. New Orleans 7-14
15. Phoenix 7-18

No surprise that the bottom of the East blows while most of the West is decent. Denver has had Lawson and Faried out with injuries and Dallas lost Kaman for the year with a torn ACL. The Jazz have been without Favors for a couple weeks and the Nets have had Humphries on the shelf for about two weeks with a broken finger and his 17 and 12 are greatly missed obviously.

As for us I think we need some more lineup shakeups. Jerebko scored 18 or more off the bench 5 times in the first 16 games this season. He hasn't done it once while being a starter. He's posted efforts of 16, 12, 4, 8, 11 and 5. He definitely seemed more comfortable in a bench role. English has done well with the starters and Stuckey has scored well off the bench so I think that switch can stay. Maybe with Odom here we move him into the starting five now and let Jonas go back to being a super sub. Whatever the case we need to find our way and fast - either that or we need to play for the lottery. Got to be one of the two.

Roles Reversed and Players Move

Coming off a 15 point win where we didn't play Tayshaun as an experiment (one he was none too fond of) I decided to make the changes official and see where we were. That means Kim English and Jonas Jerebko would move into the starting lineup, Stuckey would become the main backup guard with some help from Maggette who is healthy again (for now) and Prince would get some minutes here and there but pretty much in a timeshare backup role with Kyle Singler getting priority. Neither guy will be happy with the move but to me its a step closer to pulling the trigger on getting them out of town - if we can ever find a buyer that is.

With Maggette on the mend and wanting Singler to stay in the lineup I decided to send fan favorite Slava Kravtsov to the d-league. The NBDL season is underway and Khris Middleton is averaging about 11 a night there. Would be nice for Slava to get some consistent minutes somewhere.

Game #16 DETROIT 110, Portland 97

Nobody can ruin a career
like the Trailblazers can

Score one for the new lineup as we snare a 13 point win at home. Our 17-2 advantage in second chance points this game may have had something to do with it. For once we had a very balanced attack. Monroe was solid with 21 and 12 plus some great D, BK stepped up against a talented rookie in Lillard and scored 22 while handing out 7 dimes. Drummond did his thing for 13 and 11 and the two new starters combined for 22 points, 12 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 concussion that forced Jonas from the game. He'll be out a few days.

Portland was very balanced as well. All five starters scored in double figures and the bench didn't do much of anything. We shot much worse percentage wise than the Blazers but we had twice as many free throws and the extra points off putbacks which more than made up the difference.

Player of the Game

Greg Monroe

21 points

12 rebounds

1 block

3 steals

Monroe v Duncan old school

Game #17 Detroit 98, SAN ANTONIO 127

We hopped a flight for a one game roadie to take on the Spurs. Both teams sat 10-6 headed into the game and both teams with an injury. Jerebko's concussion meant he didn't make the trip with us and Tim Duncan was nursing a bruised triceps but was playing through it.

With Jonas out and not wanting to mess with the new roles I promoted Kyle Singler to the starting lineup giving us BK, Monroe and the 3 rooks to start.

The Spurs came out quick 4-0 but a couple Kim English 3's had us back in the lead. That is until an 8-0 Spurs run led by numerous fast break dunks pushed in to 20-12 San Antonio. Knight had already committed three turnovers and we weren't even 8 minutes in. We traded blows and a Stuckey three ended the quarter 31-23 Spurs.

With Jerebko out we activated Charlie V and decided to give him a shot to start the quarter. 40 seconds later he had two fouls and was back on the bench. Thanks Charlie! Things went downhill from there - within three minutes the fouls were 5 to 0 for the quarter and Frank was steamed. It didn't take long for one more whistle and a T. A few Manu free throws later and it was 40-25. There would be eight Pistons fouls before one called on the Spurs and suddenly DeJuan Blair had a million points (ok 18). The Spurs were 13/16 from the line, we were 0/0. I could sense Frank getting ready to lose it on the sideline. Sure enough on the following possession Monroe got mugged with no call at the rack and Frank lost it. I can't blame him - I had begun warming up in the luxury box in case I decided to go down there and hurl a chair across the floor.

The free throws from that point on evened out but the game was out of reach at that point. The stats were rather irrelevant - its a blowout and the coach got tossed so not much use analyzing this one.

Player of the Game

Manu Ginobili

33 points

5 assists

4 rebounds

2 steals

A Deal Is Made...

The second trade of the year went down. The Spurs sent PG Gary Neal to the Kings for PG Jimmer Fredette and a 2nd round pick. Neal, a 2010-11 All Rookie 1st Team award winner (which I didn't realize until I looked at his in game player card) was not doing much for the Spurs and Jimmer wasn't even in the Kings rotation. With Neal's contract expiring it looks like the Spurs simply decided to get a different backup guard now rather than worry about paying Neal in the FA market.

Doug Collins returns to The Palace

Game #18 DETROIT 98, Philadelphia 112

We welcome Jonas Jerebko back from his concussion and Lawrence Frank back from his ejection as we try and upend the Sixers. Philly is 14-5, third best in the East, and Bynum has been a beast averaging nearly 22 and 11.

We came out much better this game taking a one point lead into the break but yet another 4th quarter swoon doomed us. A 32-23 finish gave the Sixers the W and left me frustrated by our late collapses. Monroe did his usual damage (24 and 11), Stuckey seems to be fitting in nicely with his 6th man role and scored 18 tonight and the other starters were alright although Drummond spent a bunch of time on the bench again with foul trouble thanks to Andrew Bynum and Jrue Holiday pretty much dominated BK. Bynum had 19 and Holiday 22.

Now if you told me only three Sixers would score in double figures and gave me those two I would say we should win that game. Except that the third was Spencer Hawes going off for 29. That's just a terrible effort by Monroe and Maxiell and really inexcusable. 

The upcoming week won't be easy but we really need to string together some wins. We get the Knicks again (who just beat us by 25 at our place) and then at Washington and home against Indy. We've beaten both those teams already so I'm hoping to come out of next week 12-9.

Player of the Game

Spencer Hawes

29 points

10 rebounds

2 assists

Let's Make A Deal 2

The first big trade of the season takes place in somewhat surprising fashion as the Celtics ship a youngster full of promise in Avery Bradley to the Bulls for Nazr Mohammed, Vlad Radmanovic and a 1st round pick. In other words a salary dump and a pick.

Bradley was only playing 8 minutes per game with Jason Terry and Courtney Lee eating up all the minutes and he clearly was not happy. He goes to the Bulls where they have said he'll start and that gives them one hell of a promising backcourt with Rose and Bradley.

In Other News...

Lamar Odom is unhappy - the former relevant basketball player turned TV Kardashian sidekick thinks he deserves more than 7.7 MPG. His NET of -10.2 and EFF of 1.4 and head coach Vinny Del Negro would suggest otherwise and did so to the media. Trouble in paradise...

As the story broke on TMZ (isn't that where all the celeb stories break) it got me to thinking. What happened to the basketball player Lamar Odom? He's only 32 - his skills couldn't have just vanished as quickly as a bowl of Skittles in front of Lamar could they?

Sometimes there are low risk gambles out there. I think Lamar Odom is one of them. He's on a one year deal for 8 million and he and the Clippers are at odds now. They want to get rid of him - will they take something I want to get rid of. I give the Clips a call and tell them Tayshaun would really like to go to LA. He's from there, he's been a champion, he could provide veteran leadership, he and Chauncey are boys...you know, the whole routine. No soap. They don't want his 3 year contract. Where's Elgin Baylor when you need him? Then it hit me. You've got a disgruntled, out of shape PF who seems to have lost his game. I've got a happy-go-lucky, out of shape PF who I don't think ever had much game. It was the perfect solution.

And so, my first deal is made. Detroit sends Charlie Villanueva to the Clippers for Lamar Odom. Straight up. They both make about 8 million this year but Charlie has a player option he'll surely exercise next year while Lamar is on a one year run. Charlie is 5 years younger which meant nothing to me because - well because he's not any good. Even if Lamar is a complete trainwreck the worst case scenario is we send him home to film I Love Khloe and we're 8 million bucks more free next year. But there's an upside - we can give Lamar the chance to resurrect his career. He's versatile - he could play the 3, 4 or 5 for us and this essentially renders Tayshaun useless. I don't know if there is any way possible to get rid of him though but I'm damn sure going to try.

A crucial homestand

I made the phone call to the Hawks and hoped for the best. We started off with the basic premise of Stuckey and Zaza but I wanted a home run. I offered up Stuckey along with Prince and Villanueva in exchange for Pachulia, Devin Harris and Kyle Korver. Talent wise it was a win for ATL and I saw three expiring contracts in a few role players that could at least give us some decent minutes. Unfortunately the Hawks wanted no part of Tayshuan (surprise) and we ended up not making the deal. I guess we're just going to have to wait to see if someone wants Prince and try and build the deal around that.

KAAAAAAAAHN

Game #13 DETROIT 98, Minnesota 122

Well despite not making a deal we had some basketball to play. The T-Wolves came into town 5-6 and had us hoping for a victory but game #13 proved to be quite unlucky as they rolled in and spanked us.

Monroe is still rolling going for 21 and 8 and Stuckey had a nice line with 19 and 9 assists but did so on 8/22 shooting. Prince only had 9 and Knight was scoreless and he's really starting to concern me. It seems that ever since Stuckey started playing the backup PG role he's come on while BK for some reason has stunk. Maybe its the extra time being paired with English and Jerebko on the floor? Those two combined for 23 bench points.

The T-Wolves shot a ridiculous 15/27 from downtown including 7 threes from Chase Budinger off the bench. Love had 30 and 14, Rubio double doubled and Kirilenko dropped 22 on us with a full stat line. Just an all around ugly performance we have to shake off before Melo comes to town in a couple days.

Player of the Game

Kevin Love
30 points
14 rebounds
1 block
1 steal

These guys are good now?

Game #14 DETROIT 84, New York 109

Prior to the game I got another email from Sacramento telling me they would still be happy to unload Jason Thompson on us. If they would take Prince and CV with Stuckey I would think about it but there's just no reason to take on that kind of long term deal.

So the Knicks rolled into town at 12-2 tied with Miami for the best record in the East. We knew we would have our hands full with Melo. Prince can't guard anybody anymore and Melo just destroyed him. 19/28 and 43 points later we found ourselves at the wrong end of another ass whooping. We've given up a total of 353 points in the last 3 games now. Defense be damned. Amare dropped 25 on us and Tyson Chandler hit us up for 19.

We're just a disaster offensively. I think I used the term dumpster fire earlier in the blog...that's being kind at this point. Knight woke up with 17 points but Monroe was held to 14 and Jerebko and English were the only two others in double figures.

The wheels are falling off fast now and its only giving me incentive to really order a big shakeup. How much more of this will I be able to stand?

Player of the Game

Carmelo Anthony
43 points
12 rebounds
2 blocks

A Trade!
This week Chris Wilcox of the Celtics decided he wasn't playing enough and let that be known to the media. When questioned about it Doc Rivers replied that he should be more professional and basically just shut up and play. One day later he was gone - and not only traded but traded to the Bobcats for a future 2nd round draft pick. The moral of the story? Don't complain about PT - you could end up on the Bobcats!

The Bucks stop here

Game #15 DETROIT 109, Milwaukee 94

I decided to perform a little experiment this game - basically what would happen without Tayshaun Prince in the lineup. The game started off well enough with a 35 point opening quarter that saw buckets by the usual crew but also a bucket each for Slava Kravtsov and Austin Daye. Desperate times and all...

The second quarter was slowed down by early foul trouble. Knight picked up a quick third and only managed four minutes in the first half. Monroe also picked up his third so that meant alot of Rodney Stuckey at point and some extra run for Kyle Singler who had a decent half with two points but more importantly five assists, three boards, a steal and a block. 61-44 at the half in favor of us.

Kim English stole the show in the third coming in to score 11 off the bench in the quarter. That along with a couple buckets from Jerebko, Singler and Stuckey (on a ton of shots) allowed us to take a 84-68 lead into the final quarter. Would the fourth be our undoing like usual? It would not be. Greg Monroe came alive with 14 of his 25 in the quarter and Jonas added another 8 to open the game up. The reserves got some extra run in the final two minutes up by twenty although Scott Skiles continued to leave his starters on the floor. Guess he must have had Monta Ellis in his fantasy lineup that week as Ellis was commissioned to shoot at will and ended up with a game high 36 points.

We certainly didn't miss Prince's lack of offense on the night and the defense seemed a little better. Rodney Stuckey was incredibly inefficient though. Not only the 3/9 shooting but five turnovers and numerous times Jennings and Ellis blew right by him with the ball. Drummond played his best game in a while with 7 rebounds and 4 blocks. English played 32 minutes off the bench and Jerebko 36 and they combined for 37 points including some key offense in the second half. Even Austin Daye played alright scoring 6 points in 10 minutes. The takeaway from the game was that it was time to work the phones and find a deal. CV31 might accept being on the inactive roster but that's not going to fly with Tayshaun and Stuckey.

Player of the Game

Greg Monroe
25 points
11 rebounds
1 steal



After The Game...
Turns out word of the Atlanta and Sacramento trade talks got out and I got questioned by the local media on shopping Rodney Stuckey. Perhaps it was the dynamite offensive performance of Kim English in the 3rd quarter or maybe the layup line drill going through my head of Stuckey defensive possessions but I completely abandoned my usual GM-speak and confirmed the rumor. Stuckey was questioned as well and said he was fine with it and that its a business so I guess everything is ok - well at least until I take away his minutes coming up.

Two to measure

I had decided to give the team two more games before I considered a significant shakeup. Who knows what I could get out of Atlanta but its pretty clear they would like Stuckey to replace Joe Johnson there but before we can get to them it was time to welcome last year's rookie of the year, Kyrie Irving, and the rest of the Cavs (it turns out the team name was always Cavaliers and not LeBrons as once thought).

Game #11 DETROIT 107, Cleveland 86

Another case of Michigan
beating up on Ohio

I was excited to get Kyle Singler on the floor tonight - as mentioned early on I think he's a valuable piece of the puzzle going forward and with Maggette going down it was a chance to see what he could do. Turns out he did pretty much what I thought he would do. 14 minutes, 3 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 0 turnovers. But Singler wasn't the only future star that was on display tonight.

Apparently the talk of Drummond belonging in a bench role may have inspired the youngster. He still only managed 24 minutes because of foul trouble but what an inspired 24 minutes! 11 points, 7 rebounds, 5 blocks and 4 steals to earn his first ever player of the game honors. We need to work with him about cutting down the fouls and staying on the floor but the energy out of him was phenomenal tonight.

Drummond wasn't the leading scorer of the night though - that honor belonged to another one of our core young players...Kim English. Yup, English was 3/3 from long range on his way to 19 points off the bench (and oddly enough zero other stats) but it was good enough to outscore everyone else on the floor tonight. The bench has really come alive - we got 14 out of Jerebko and even 9 out of Max. Monroe finished with a respectable 17 but only 8 for Stuckey. If English is the real deal then there is certainly less reason to think about paying Rodney 8.5 million next year.

Irving led the Cavs with 18 while #4 overall pick Dion Waiters added a grand total of 2 points. Varejao had a typical Andy V game - 14 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks...that guy belongs on a contender.

Player of the Game

Andre Drummond
11 points
7 rebounds
5 blocks
4 steals


Making Headlines
Apparently an 8-3 start hasn't given the city enough to talk about - one of the local beat writers decided to shoot me an email in regards to a rumor he had heard. What dirt could he have on me yet? I just took over this gig. Turns out he heard that Charlie Villanueva was being shopped around and wanted my confirmation. Many amusing quips ran through my head but I decided to play along with the green beat writer and confirmed what everyone else already knows that yes, I would trade Charlie. I would also give Charlie away or even auction off his services for a local rec team if they wanted him. Apparently my reply sat well with CV31 though - I kind of think he would like to be traded to a city that doesn't know much about basketball and wouldn't realize that even the Dominican Republic team didn't want him.


Game #12 Detroit 88, BOSTON 122

They're still bitter
about Chauncey

Lots of questions going into this game. Was our first win against them a fluke? Can English prove he can play a big role and allow me to move Stuckey? Will Darko see the floor this time???

We came out firing - taking a 28-23 lead after one but the wheels quickly fell off from there. Apparently the C's decided this time to try and coax Rodney Stuckey into shooting as much as possible in an attempt to disrupt our offense and it worked. Stuckey fired up 20 shots - 3 more than Monroe and 5 more than the other 3 starters combined. Stuckey led all scorers with 24 points but completely took everyone else out of their rhythm.

The whole game was a train wreck. Paul Pierce scored at will on Prince leading all scorers with 25. Monroe countered with 22 points but that was it scoring wise for us. KG and Terry had 19 a piece and Rondo did his thing with 13 and 9 assists. Worst of all...Darko played. He played 5 statless minutes but still - when Doc put him in the game you knew it was closed out.

Player of the Game

Paul Pierce
25 points
3 assists
6 rebounds
3 blocks
1 steal

A Verdict?
12 games in and we are 8-4 with all four losses being road losses and two of them being to Boston and LA so I can't complain there. My biggest question lies with the Tayshaun/Stuckey situation. Did I make the situation worse than it is by giving Jerebko and English more minutes? Am I looking at them as the problems with the old team and unfairly scapegoating them? They do have the 3rd and 4th highest NET on the team and Rodney is second in EFF and 3rd on the team in PER. Is it worth it to trade those guys in what amounts to basically an attempt to dump salary above all else and jeopardize making the playoffs this year? If we make the playoffs are we good enough to beat anyone? At the very least I owned Atlanta a return phone call...would I know what to say when they answered?

Tinkering with the rotation

Going to move a little bit faster through some parts of the season. Prior to this set of games I decided a change was necessary in the lineups. I removed Will Bynum's minutes completely and split them up between English and Maggette, turned Prince into a starter in name only and decided that English and Jerebko would be closers while Stuckey and Prince watched from the pine. How did it work out?

Darko returns to The Palace

 Game #6 DETROIT 103, Boston 90

A 13 point win at home to move to 5-1 on the year over a tough Celtics team. BK did a great job shutting down Rondo, English/Jerebko combined for 27 off the bench and Monroe goes for 28 and 19 with 2 blocks. Drummond stinks it up with 2 points and 4 rebounds and a game full of trash talk from KG - clearly he got in his head but the kid will be fine and we'll gladly take the W.
Player of the Game : Greg Monroe

Missing the days of C-Webb

Game #7 Detroit 116, SACRAMENTO 98

We're starting a grueling road trip out West here but its off to a good start. The Kings aren't that great of a team and we take an easy one thanks to a 40 point 3rd quarter. Drummond remains in funk with only 3 rebounds but he did manage 4 blocks. He needs to realize he's not going to score if he doesn't rebound because he's not much of an offensive option on his own. Knight and Stuckey combine for 45, Monroe goes for 34 and 10 and Prince scores only 2 to Jerebko's 13 as that time share is in full effect now. Key stat in this one -we shot 10/20 from downtown to Sacramento's 3/16.
Player of the Game : Greg Monroe

First the World Series, now this

Game #8 Detroit 94, GOLDEN STATE 115

I had hoped we could snag a win here because it was the first of back to back games on this roadie with the Lakers on tap tomorrow but it was not to be. Monroe gave us 25 and 9 but 5 turnovers, English and Jerebko combined for 24 off the bench and Stuckey had 14. I'm starting to wonder how much longer we can justify giving Prince 24 or so minutes for only 6 points. Drummond fouls out in 26 minutes and BK shoots a rough 3/11. Lee goes for 24 with 17 boards and 4 steals, Steph Curry 21 and Bogut 20.
                                                 Player of the Game : David Lee

Kobes and Nashes and Howards, Oh My!

Game #9 Detroit 89, LOS ANGELES (L) 101

I kind of knew coming off a game the night before that this was going to be ugly and it was. Drummond fouls out in 23 minutes against D12, Howard and Gasol hold Monroe to 19 and only 5 boards while combining for 36 points and 23 rebounds of their own and Kobe lights us up for 29. Stuckey and English never had a chance.
Player of the Game : Kobe Bryant

Did someone say Nash?

Game #10 Detroit 101, PHOENIX 90

We finish off the road trip at the 3-7 Suns and come out with a W. To go 2-2 on this West Coast swing is alright. We go as The Moose goes and Monroe torched the Suns for 34 and 10 with 4 steals. A nice effort by Maxiell off the bench for a double-double. However it looks like the season is catching up with the other kids. Drummond plays only 14 minutes because of foul trouble, BK with 6, Jerebko with 5, English with 6, and Maggette sprains his wrist. Dudley leads PHX with 23.
Player of the Game : Greg Monroe

Team Recap
Rodney Stuckey's increased production as of late has gotten us a couple phone calls. The Kings call and offer Jason Thompson and Aaron Brooks for Stuckey and a 2nd. I like both players and with Drummond's struggles I could definitely get behind a Thompson/Monroe front court but JT has four more years to go on his deal after this one so that's a no go. Atlanta wants to do a deal with Zaza Pachulia for Stuckey - part of me says that's not enough for Stuckey but he is in a contract year and would at least be serviceable. I tell them I will get back with them.

Standings wise we lead the Bulls by a game and a half and trail both the Heat and Knicks for best record in the conference. Out West the Lakers are 8-1 with the Clippers and Thunder right behind them.

Maggette sprained his wrist against the Suns - he says he is ok to play but he's just a role player when he's 100% so we're going to hold Singler up from his D-league assignment and let him play until Maggette is healthy. I'm also wondering if Drummond should go to the bench. Teams have realized they can attack him and while he's going to block some shots he's also picking up a ton of fouls. It sort of makes the Hawks offer a bit more interesting because we can keep Monroe at PF and let Zaza and Drummond split up the C minutes. I think we'll see where we stand after the next two - we host Cleveland and go to Boston in a back to back set. Hopefully we can at least get a split there.

A recap and a running blog...

Game #4 - Detroit 104, TORONTO 91

Not as scary as the logo suggests

After the letdown in Charlotte we hopped a plane and headed for Canada to take on the Raptors. Thankfully despite having a solid PG in Kyle Lowry and a promising rookie center in Valanciunas they're not a deep or imposing team.

Our coaching staff felt the mismatch to try and exploit this game was our rising star Greg Monroe against Andrea Bargnani. Bargs is a fine offensive player but he's soft on D and doesn't hit the boards well. Really outside of Valanciunas there was no inside force to fear and even he's just a rookie. My hat is off to Lawrence Frank for a fine gameplan as we were able to score 64 points in the paint and had an 18-4 advantage in second chance points.

Of course the star of the show was Greg Monroe. Monroe played 41 minutes, scored 39 points on 17/28 shooting with 15 boards and 3 steals. While Monroe did the heavy lifting he was not alone in the efforts. Knight controlled the offensive pace with 10 assists, Drummond had 10 boards and 3 blocks and low and behold Rodney Stuckey showed up for a game and scored 20 points and played some good defense for a change holding DeMar DeRozan to 3/11 shooting and 6 points.

For the Raps, Kyle Lowry lead the way missing a triple double by a single rebound and finishing with 20 poitns, 12 assists and 9 boards while Bargnani contributed 21 points (but only 5 rebounds) and Valanciunas went for 16 and 8.

Up next comes a big test going into Brooklyn and their new arena. The new look Nets are 3-0 and while we are 3-1 two of those wins have been Washington and Toronto so not exactly world beaters.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Greg Monroe
39 points
15 rebounds
3 steals




Game #5 - Detroit 118, BROOKLYN 111

In the house that Jay Z built

For this game I decided to try a running blog of the game to see how it felt. Feel free to leave feedback on whether you like this format or not.

1Q - 10m : Drummond strips Humphries and then finishes the jam on the break. Next possession offensive rebound and a putback. Man I love this kid.

1Q - 7m : 5 minutes in and the two-fifths of the starting lineup I don't like is back at it. Stuckey bricks a three and turns it over on the following possession while on the other end Tayshaun Prince has opened a drive-thru for Gerald Wallace. An uneasy 14-6 lead for us at this point.

1Q - 6m : Brook Lopez started on the bench with a nagging injury so Humpries has been at center. Drummond swatted one of his attempts but he's also beaten Drummond off the dribble twice now and has 8 points. Time to switch Monroe to C and bring in Jonas.

1Q - 4:30m : Jerebko has an off board and putback and then drive for a dunk in 90 seconds. Love the hustle. Stuckey apparently reads the blog mid quarter and suddenly has 8 points and 4 boards and has held Joe Johnson scoreless and Tayshaun got beat off the bounce yet again so he's going to the pine for now.

1Q - 3m : A bad Stuckey pass leads to a Brooklyn fast break but on the other end Monroe posterizes Gerald Wallace who came to help when he took Hump off the dribble. Monroe with 10 already and a 26-14 Detroit lead.

EO1Q : A sloppy end gives us a 33-22 lead. Brooklyn starters play the entire first and D-Will is 0/6. Jonas has 6 off the bench but Bynum, English and Max have combined for nothing.

2Q - 9m : We've opened a 15 point lead and Avery Johnson couldn't wait to put Johnson, Blatche and Humphries back in. I guess Lopez must be worse off that I assumed. BK hasn't scored for us but has kept D-Will to 0/8 shooting so I won't complain.

2Q - 8m : Monroe with a sweet finish over Blatche and D-Will. Monroe has 18 and Blatche clearly can't stop him.

2Q - 5m : The Nets have gone zone only to see Drummond, Monroe and Knight bury shots on three straight possessions. We lead 52-28 on 61% shooting - BKL shooting 34%

2Q - 4:30m : Humphries scores on Drummond, Drummond bricks an ill-advised jumper against the zone and then Hump does it again on the other end. He has 16 and timeout Pistons so Lawrence can give Andre an earful.

2Q - 3m : Humphries now has 18 and we're going to run a double at him for a bit and see if that slows him up. Who would have thought his best night scoring in his life would not involve Kim Kardashian?

2Q - 1:40m : Two Blatche free throws and we're down to a 13 point lead. BK picked up his 3rd foul and it would be nice if Stuckey, Maggette and Prince could pick up some offense to close out the half.

2Q - :30s : Drummond in to make sure Monroe doesn't pick up a 3rd foul and he shoots a three. Not an "oh the shot clock is at two and I better fire" three - just a "I forgot I'm a 6-11 center with a questionable at best jumper from short range" three. W.T.F. He makes up for it on D with a steal and a jam on the lob on the break. Rookies....

Half - we lead 58-48 but this one should have been over already. Very much like the Charlotte game and it makes me nervous they are this close with Williams playing like crap. Tayshaun has 0 points - I'd like to bring Jerebko out to start the 2nd half but then we would have zero bench scoring.

3Q - 9:40m : Stuckey with his 5th TO, Drummond gets blocked by Brook Lopez who I guess Johnson decided should be on the floor, Lopez hits two Js and Gerald Wallace buries one in Prince's face. 7-0 Brooklyn run and a timeout.

3Q - 6m : Knight with a steal and two buckets and Jerebko off the bench for 6 quick points to get to 18 for the night. Monroe with his first bucket of the half and we're up 70-59. As hard as it is to say but I see no reason why Prince should be starting over Jerebko at this point.

3Q - 5:30m : On cue JJ buries a 3 - 21 points on 9/11 shooting. LOVE that guy.

3Q - 3m : Will Bynum comes in, promptly misses a 3 and is sent right back to the bench. We don't need missed threes by bench players up 11. We need the clock to tick away and the lead to remain about that until the starters come back. This also means Stuckey and his 5 TOs are running the point now.

3Q - :43s : Monroe picks up his 3rd foul and with a 13 point lead Frank inserts Slava Kravtsov for his first regular season action. Seconds later Brook Lopez blows by him for a dunk. Welcome to the NBA Slava! 3rd ends with a 86-77 lead.

4Q - 11:40m : Slava opens the 4th quarter by hammering Kris Humphries and possibly muttering "I must break you" under his breath. Stuckey, Maggette, Prince, Maxiell and Slava on the floor to open quarter. Frank hoping BK, Jonas and Monroe will carry them to the finish and Prince realizes he's quickly been relegated to "the guy that starts and its ok if he blows because we'd rather have someone better come off the bench" status.

4Q - 10:30m : A Mirza Teletovic three cuts it to 5 and brings a timeout and new 5 for the Pistons on the floor. 88-83 Detroit. English with a huge triple out of the timeout.

4Q - 9m : Monroe travels, G-Wallace fills one up and then rejects a Jerebko shot. Nets within 4 now and once again we look like we forget how to play in the 4th.

4Q - 8m : Monroe called for another travel. Frank complains. Blatche called for a travel on next possession. The NBA...where Andre Blatche's best use is for makeup calls. It's FANtastic!

4Q - 6m : Gerald Wallace drills a triple to give him 20. Jerebko answers with a bucket giving him 23. Monroe leads all with 29 and Drummond picks up foul number 5 with 6:13 to go. Lopez hits two free throws and its 100-98 Detroit.

4Q - 5m : Deron Williams hits two free throws giving Brooklyn a 102-100 lead. Williams is 1/10 on the night and we've blown a 20+ point lead now. Good times.

4Q - 3m : Monroe's dunk gives him 32 on the night and tie game.

4Q - 1:30m : Joe Johnson hits two free throws but Andre Drummond hits a prayer with the shot clock at one to tie the game. A Monroe block leads to a Kim English throwdown to give us a 2 point lead.

4Q - 1m : English with a dagger putting us up four. Drummond with a steal and Jerebko finishes with a dunk. 113-107 time out Brooklyn.

Final : Deron bricks a few more, Knight hits a couple FTs, meaningless baskets are traded and its a 118-111 road win. Deron had 17 assists but shot 2/13 for 11 points. Great D by BK tonight and he did the job offensively too with 15 and 8. Jonas finishes with 25, Drummond with 19 and Kim English closes out the game with some huge buckets on his way to 9 points. And not surprisingly Greg Monroe is player of the game with 32/13 with a side of 2 steals and a block. The Moose is a beast!


PLAYER OF THE GAME

Greg Monroe
32 points
13 rebounds
2 steals



SEASON THOUGHTS

We now sit at 4-1 on the season and I think that despite it only being 5 games in we might have a legitimate shot at the playoffs. We have Boston next which will give us our first taste of the better teams in the league so I think that will be a good measuring stick. This team is definitely not without flaws though. Jerebko has easily outplayed Prince and I was not surprised in the least that with Stuckey and Prince on the floor the game slipped away but with English and Jerebko we regained the lead and finished off Brooklyn. I don't know that those guys should start but I think they need to be closing the game out and playing key minutes while I look for a trade for Prince and Stuckey.

One thing I am concerned about is our depth at guard. Will Bynum is just terrible and is pretty much in the realm of Daye and Villanueva as guys I don't want to see on the floor anymore. Problem is he is all we have as a backup PG. Rumor has it though that Jason Kidd isn't too happy in New York. Its crazy that he has a a contract that will last through his 41st birthday but its only $3 million a year. We couldn't give him any more PG time here than New York does but I certainly wouldn't mind him playing 10-15 minutes at the two spot if we decided to go with English. I may make a phone call to the Knicks front office and see what's up.