The Detroit News (Chris McCosky) reports: Calling him a “welcome addition,” coach Michael Curry made official Saturday what he’s long been hinting at — Amir Johnson, as of now, is the Pistons’ starting power forward. “Amir does things without having to have the ball,” Curry said. “He’s able to pick up baskets through his activity, by running the floor and playing off the other four guys. He does all the intangible things, and through that he’s able to create offensive opportunities for himself.” How long Johnson holds onto the spot is completely up to him.
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Michael Curry bleeds Pistons colors
The Detroit Free Press (Drew Sharp) reports: The Pistons always have been Michael Curry’s second family. It’s basically why he replaced Flip Saunders as head coach. It bothered owner Bill Davidson that Saunders didn’t move his family to Detroit when he succeeded Larry Brown three years ago. Davidson made a point of reminding everybody that Curry doesn’t just work in the area. He lives here. He’s part of the community. He travels with Michigan State’s football team as often as possible to follow his son Deon, a senior wide receiver. That heightened sense of family might not translate into more playoff victories, but it definitely has helped Curry persevere.
Flip Saunders had lost Pistons veteran respect
The Detroit News reports: Rasheed Wallace said that he didn’t really have a disconnect with former coach Flip Saunders, though it was clear that Saunders had lost the respect of the older players. “It was just with us as vets and he really didn’t want to listen to us,” Wallace said. “That’s what really hurt him.” Speaking on radio station WDFN, Wallace used this analogy: “If you mess up a guy’s desk and throw coffee on it every day and he doesn’t do anything to stop you, are you going to respect him?” Wallace, though, didn’t blame Saunders for the team’s failures against the Celtics. “Basically, it was just not our time,” he said. “That’s just the way the ball bounces sometimes. I think we were all positive and thought that we would beat Boston. But we can’t cry over spilled milk now. We just have to go out and prove to all the naysayers that are saying we’re too old and our window is closed and all this and that — we have to prove them wrong.”
Rasheed Wallace now jersey no.30
Michigan Live (A. Sherrod Blakely) reports: Rasheed Wallace is back to wearing jersey No. 30. He gave no particular reason for the change, other than to say that he always planned to return back to wearing the number at some point. A couple of media folks pointed out how Wallace looked to be in great shape. Flashback to the last couple of training camps, and you’ll see that Wallace usually comes to camp in pretty good shape. But maintaining it throughout the course of a season, now that’s another story.
InsideHoops.com editor says: Both teams played hard.
Pistons give Alex Acker a guaranteed contract
Michigan Live (A. Sherrod Blakely) reports: The announced signing of Alex Acker was interesting. The fact that Detroit signed the 6-foot-5 combo guard isn’t all that unexpected. This guy has been on the cusp of sticking with the team for years. But it is a bit surprising that they guaranteed his contract for the season considering most of his time will likely be spent on the inactive list. Usually teams keep that 15th spot open in case a talented player is unexpectedly waived, or as a cushion to absorb an extra body in a possible trade.
A look at Rodney Stuckey
The Detroit Free Press (Vince Ellis) reports: Detroit Pistons guard Rodney Stuckey missed the first 25 games of his rookie season after suffering a broken left hand in the final exhibition game, but averaged 7.6 points and 2.8 assists during the regular season. He really flashed his potential as a big 6-foot-5 guard in the playoffs. In Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Orlando Magic, he replaced an injured Chauncey Billups and led a Pistons’ surge with 19 points, although the team dropped the game. He followed with three double-figure scoring efforts out of six games in the Eastern Conference finals against the eventual NBA champion Boston Celtics. He upped his scoring average to 8.2 points per game during the playoffs. His play impressed so much that he was picked to scrimmage against the Olympic team in Las Vegas just before the team departed for its date with a gold medal in Beijing.
Quick East thoughts
The season is approaching, folks. Training camps open in around one week (I’m in Prague right now, haven’t looked at a calendar in a while. Tuesday I’m off to hang out in Berlin for a week, then about 8 days in Amsterdam. I’ll be back in New York City right around the start of preseason.)
In the east, the Celtics remain the best of the conference, though I wonder if Ray Allen will drop off a bit this season. They also need to improve their bench.
The Pistons bring back last year’s team, with Rasheed Wallace and Chauncey Billups a year older.
The Magic still need to improve their backcourt.
The Cavaliers add scoring punch with the addition of point guard Mo Williams, but it’s still the LeBron James show with a supporting cast that will have to work very hard to carry their weight.
The Wizards must once again play without Gilbert Arenas for a while, though even with him they’re a lower-level playoff team.
The Raptors have to hope Jermaine O’Neal regains former All-Star form; it’ll be tough.
The 76ers added a star by signing power forward Elton Brand, and that should definitely raise them in conference standings.
The Hawks aren’t locks to return to the playoffs, but it’s good they kept Josh Smith.
The Bucks improved on paper, adding a pass-first point guard in Luke Ridnour, but more importantly, a legit good forward in SF Richard Jefferson.
The Knicks have the same talented yet flawed roster, but a new coach. Can Mike D’Antoni work miracles?
The Nets are rebuilding and aside from Vince Carter and young Devin Harris, everyone on the team who matters is young and in development.
The Bulls have the same team as the last few seasons, though Ben Gordon remains unsigned. Will they play like the good Bulls from two years ago, or the disappointing ones from last season? Flip a coin, because they’re capable of going either way.
The Bobcats have nice swingmen in Jason Richardson and Gerald Wallace, plus Emeka Okafor, but everyone else is young and in development.
The Heat could make a leap in the standings now that Dwyane Wade is healthy, plus Shawn Marion needs a new contract, and Michael Beasley doesn’t like losing. The supporting cast is still extremely weak, though.
The Pacers always do a bit better than expected. The bad news is, almost nothing is ever expected. Danny Granger, Mike Dunleavey and TJ Ford are very nice players, though. They may surprise a little, but not a lot.
I’ll share quick West thoughts tomorrow. Right now I’m off to hike up to the Prague castle. I’ll be right here in about an hour.
–Jeff
Dumars defends lack of Pistons roster moves
The Detroit News (Chris McCosky) reports: Pistons president Joe Dumars, speaking to a media assemblage in Lansing Wednesday, made it abundantly clear that he won’t apologize, rationalize or make excuses for not pulling off any blockbuster deal or radically altering his roster this summer. “I said we would look to make changes but we wouldn’t do a bad deal,” he said. “The deals that were presented were not good deals for us. You don’t make deals so you can walk in here on a day like today and say, ‘Hey, we made a deal.’ You want to resist that, and I did and I make no qualms about it.” … “There’s nothing to patch up,” Dumars said. “I’m the one who was upset, so who do I need to patch things up with? It’s been good. Guys understand that six straight years of making the conference finals and going to the NBA Finals only twice isn’t enough and I am not going to rest on that. What you do is keep pushing, keep moving forward.”
InsideHoops.com editor says: The Pistons were successful last season. They won 59 regular season games, second only to the Celtics. And they did well in the playoffs, losing to those same eventual-champion Celtics. True, Rasheed Wallace is getting old, as is Chauncey Billups, but it’s not like a breakup was actually necessary. Detroit can still ride the current core for another season, but ideally they find another Rodney Stuckey, in the form of a forward or center. That would help. Anyway, if they keep the current roster I think they’ll still win 50+ games this season and finish second or third, fourth at the worst, in the Eastern conference.
Pistons likely to open with 14 players
True Blue Pistons (official team blog by Keith Langlois) reports: It’s appearing more and more likely that the Pistons will open training camp with 14 players under contract, one under the league maximum. That’s Joe Dumars’ preferred mode, giving him roster flexibility as the season unfolds in the event of injury or opportunity to add a veteran free agent – maybe one who gets bought out, a la Chris Webber two seasons ago, or someone who comes out of retirement late in the season for a playoff run – to fill a niche role.
Fan Poll Results: 8 East playoff teams
InsideHoops.com ran a poll for the last week asking fans to pick the eight Eastern conference teams they feel will make the playoffs in 2008-09.
The voting for the first four teams was pretty close, with the Celtics (592 votes), Cavaliers (588), Pistons (582) and Magic (578) taking the home-court seeds.
The Raptors (504) came in 5th, though from our experience Toronto fans, being very enthusiastic, tend to bump their team up slightly higher than tends to be expected. Though, if new Raptor Jermaine O’Neal can stay healthy and play anything like his old former All-Star self, this is a very reasonable prediction.
One vote later, coming in 6th, was the 76ers (503), who played better than expected last season and now add star power forward Elton Brand, who is returning from injury, to their mix.
The Wizards (459) came in 7th. They welcome a healthy Gilbert Arenas back.
And now, a dropoff.
Fans feel that last year’s #8 seed, the Hawks, won’t do as well in 2008-09. Rather than pick them to return to the playoffs, fans went with the Heat (294 votes). This is reasonable. Miami welcomes a healthy Dwayne Wade back, alongside Shawn Marion, who needs a contract, and superkid rookie Michael Beasley. The supporting cast is still weak, but slightly improved from last year.
The Bulls (195) finished 9th, just outside the playoff seedings. The Hawks (180) were 10th.
Here are the complete final results:
1) Celtics 592 votes
2) Cavs 588 votes
3) Pistons 582 votes
4) Magic 578 votes
5) Raptors 504 votes
6) Sixers 503 votes
7) Wizards 459 votes
8) Heat 294 votes
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9) Bulls 195 votes
10) Hawks 180 votes
11) Bucks 83 votes
12) Nets 68 votes
13) Knicks 53 votes
14) Pacers 53 votes
15) Bobcats 43 votes