Take THAT, Blaha!
1 Like
To me, Killianās ceiling is Ricky Rubio. Is it enough for him to start at PG over Cade? Most likely not. I rather have the Pistons play Cade as the lead guard to use his size, passing, vision, shooting and playmaking potential to unlock the rest of the lineup. Hayes projects more of a complimentary piece who can run the 2nd unit. I think a lot of people (cough KOC cough were overstating his potential pre-draft IMO.
Seems a waste to not even try to see if your lottery pick can play with your other lottery pick. Or at least build his value enough to trade him for a piece that might fit better.
3 Likes
My annual Pistons Over/Under Contest is available to enter here: Pistons Over/Under Contest
We had a fun panel discussion podcast last night, as I revealed the categories and got various opinions from some popular people on āPistons Twitter.ā
This year, the winner will get 2 seats to a Pistons game next year (not likely to be great seats, as it comes out of my pocket) and a $50 gift certificate to 24th Cheesecakerie. It costs nothing to enter. You just have to create an account for the Pistons Forum Website and enter your picks in the thread.
If you do enter, and are on Twitter, please include your handle, so I can follow you there and let you know how youāre doing as the season goes on and Over/Unders get determined.
Thoughts on Preseason/First Game:
Olynyk is a huge upgrade over Plumlee.
Saddiq Bey looks like heās added some playmaking and iso scoring.
Stewart is a really good defender.
Frank Jackson might be the ideal pairing for Cade in the starting lineup, complementary skills and keeps Cade from having to defend PGs.
They should try a Cade, Bey, Grant, Olynyk, Stewart lineup for some minutes as thatās their best five.
Yeah if they had anything in the way of shot creation they win this game. I thought defense was very good, and effort was good - but no easy shots all game. If your offense is based around Jerami Grant and Saddiq Bey playing one on one, wellā¦.
And man, they canāt survive Killian playing like he did tonight. Even with Cade I think this team is going to have a hard time scoring, they canāt have a guy just not participate offensively.
21% from three isnāt going to win you any games in the NBA
Hayes aināt it. He was vastly overrated pre-draft but I didnāt see him not being able to shoot in this level. His FT% has been good, but he had one good year of shooting which is his last year at Europe. Is it a mirage? So far, itās looking like it. He has average at best athleticism, canāt go right, isnāt a creative ballhandler and now he canāt shoot. His redeeming quality is defense and vision. The overall package isnāt an useful rotational NBA player at this point.
Just put Cade in as a lead guard and have Hayes come off the bench as a PG. No point of moving Cade off the ball when him being a PG is why he was drafted #1 overall. If Cade isnāt the lead guard then itās a stupid decision by Casey.
3 Likes
I did have a fun time watching Ayoās 8 minutes of wild disruption.
I genuinely canāt believe I wrote a page long thesis about why Cade should be a primary ball handler and that Killian should start from the bench for his own development. Nevermind the fact that I got abused for saying it, Killianās playing himself out of the starting five way too quickly for us to even have that debate. Heās been awful since Summer League.
1 Like
I think the length of your post is what led to the reaction. As well as calling him Kylian which seemed like just being purposefully and bizarrely disrespectful but is apparently Mbappeās first name in a veiled reference to the French soccer player. But I honestly assumed Mbappe was Mbappeās first name so I had no idea what you meant and I doubt many people here knew what you were referencing either.
KOC is gonna want his 2020 draft board erased from the internet on a couple years I think
2 Likes
I wasnāt making any purposeful reference to Mbappe, I was just so used to reading Mbappeās first name that I assumed thatās how you spell Hayesā lol
1 Like
Still not too discouraged by Hayes. He was always a long term project. I do think he would probably benefit from coming off the bench, but the Pistons second unit is solid, so I can see Casey not wanting to disrupt that. If at the end of the season, he still canāt put together a solid stretch of games, then Iāll be out on him. But when we drafted him, we knew it was kind of a boom or bust situation.
If he doesnāt work out, I donāt think the Pistons will be drafting a Frenchman for a long time.
2 Likes
The surest way to derail an offense is to play an incompetent PG, and career to date, thatās what Hayes has demonstrated himself to be. I think he badly needs a G-League stint, or to play at a competition level where heās able to work on his deficiencies instead of getting routinely steam-rolled (I honestly donāt know if the G-League is low enough a level for him to do this).
You cannot play him off ball, because he possesses none of the skills an off-ball player needs. But, as mentioned above, do the Pistons want to take the ball out of Cunninghamās hands to play Hayes? Do they want to sacrifice a season of development of Cunningham, Bey, and Stewart because they are playing with a PG who canāt participate offensively?
I donāt think so?
4 Likes
Iād be down for a G-League stint but my guess is they think it would be too embarrassing
1 Like
That wonāt fix him.
Very disappointing player so far. Thought he had more game. Right now this is a big miss.
1 Like
Not sure if itās more embarrassing than repeats of last night, where he was just incapable of participating offensively against a pretty bad defense (and an at-best mediocre defensive player in Lavine).
1 Like
Cunningham is going to play on and off ball throughout his career. Heās a good shooter, so itās ok if he is off ball at times. And the Pistons arenāt going to be good and I donāt think them being bad is going to hurt Cunninghamās development. Didnāt at Oklahoma St IMO, even though his teammates couldnāt hit the broad side of a barn.
Iād be fine with G League. Heās played 27 games in his career. He just turned 20. I knew heād be a project and wouldnāt be good for a few seasons. I think getting hurt last year did set him back a bit. But his effort is still there and from everything I can tell, his work ethic isnāt bad.
I think playing in the G-League would be good for his confidence, and the Pistons should be embarrassed if they are indeed embarrassed about putting in the G-League. At this point, anointing him the 1a to Cadeās 1b in ball handling duties, playing up his practice sessions and saying heās the best player in practice, giving him an automatic starting spot over actual NBA players like CoJo, Frank, etc, is not doing him any favors.
I interpreted it as the Pistons being worried that Hayes would be shook by a stint in the G League. If the Pistons themselves are too embarrassed to do the right thing to develop a player, then thatās just sad.