WDFN (via DBB):

Michael Curry tells WDFN’s Stoney and Wojo that Kwame Brown will start tonight to play alongside Rasheed Wallace.  Curry says he is trying to figure out the best way to get his bigs going and recognizes that Kwame and Maxiell have not played well together.

Not that big a move in my opinion.  The obvious difference is there’s more size in the starting line up with Kwame and more athleticism with Amir off the bench.

Making this move highlights how much the team misses McDyess’ contributions however.

Remember this?  Here’s more Amir Johnson webcam clowning.  I assume the other dude is one of Amir’s boys who apparently loves singing along to slow jams.

Amir and dude get the duet going with Amir hitting the high notes.

At around 1:46 Amir dances into the frame. Where’s the furniture in that piece?

As BDD posted this morning, it’s not going to take training camp to determine that Antonio McDyess won’t be the starting power forward for the Pistons this season.  Dice will help anchor the second unit which he’s made no secret is where he’s more comfortable and productive.

Among the other subjects he touched on, he confirmed what we’ve been suggesting for the past month – that Antonio McDyess will go back to the bench to give more scoring punch to the second unit and better utilize McDyess’ talents. - via: True Blue Pistons

Even though I believe Antonio was the best option for the starting PF slot it was pretty much by default.  I’m also big on “comfort zones” and if Dice believes he’s a better utilized as a 6th man then that’s what he should be.

It’ll be addition by subtraction.  Dice is a greater addition to the second unit then he is a loss to the starting five.  Antonio and Stuck will make a very formidable second wave tandem.

So who will be starting at the four?  Well, if you checked out the Detroit News this morning Chris McCosky is saying the Amir Johnson era is getting a push:

He (Curry) hopes to use a five-man frontcourt rotation. Amir Johnson, it appears, is going to get every opportunity to win the starting spot alongside Wallace. McDyess will be the first big man off the bench, with Brown and Jason Maxiell getting regular minutes — Brown getting more minutes against bigger teams and Maxiell against smaller, more athletic teams.

Like Matt over at DBB I’m figuring if it’s not Dice, It’s Maxiell.  Nope.  Looks like Amir is going to be baptized.  So it makes even more sense when Curry says for the team’s sake Sheed needs to be in shape and on the blocks.  If he’s going to roam it’s going to leave Amir exposed down low.



That’s a pretty intriguing second unit of Stuckey & Afflalo in the backcourt, Maxy and Dice up front and Kwame in the middle.  Not bad.

AUBURN HILLS — The Pistons open training camp in 13 days, and for the first time in several years, the camp will feature an honest-to-goodness battle for one of the five starting positions.

First-year coach Michael Curry will give Amir Johnson, Jason Maxiell and Kwame Brown a legitimate and fair shot at unseating veteran Antonio McDyess as the starting power forward-center opposite Rasheed Wallace.

“We are looking at how we can inject our young guys into the rotation more, giving them a solid role and still get the most out of our veteran guys and be as efficient as possible,” Curry said. “One of the things we are looking at is having ‘Dyess go back to his role of coming off the bench.”

To be clear, Curry is in no way suggesting McDyess doesn’t deserve to maintain his starting spot. Quite the opposite.

“Whoever wins that starting spot won’t necessarily be the best player,” Curry said. “I think it’s hands-down that McDyess is our second-best post player behind Rasheed. But who we end up starting will be the player who gives us the best balance.”
(via: Detroit News)

I’m kind of torn with this one.  Although I’ve campaigned for Maxiell to start I’m beginning to wonder if that’s the right move.  It would depend on what kind of mood Rasheed was in in any particular game.  If Sheed wants to roam then we’ll lack post presence.  Maxy has developed a nice touch around the rim, but I just don’t see him being a post up threat.  I think he’s perfect coming off the bench with his hustle and energy.  He brings that “no letting up” mentality which we need.

I’d love to see Amir starting but where we left off last year would lead one to believe he’s still not ready.  Although, it does sound like he’ll have an equal chance to show what he’s got when camp opens.

Until further notice Kwame Brown is still Kwame Brown and I don’t think (aside from size) there’s too many of us in Pistons Nation pining for Kwam to be bumped up to the front line.

That leaves Dice as the #1 option still.  He’s older and he’s made no bones about his comfort zone being more in a 6th man capacity, but he still seems like the best option.  He will just have to work on getting into his rythm from the outset and not waiting to see how the game is shaping up.

There’s also the option of PF by commitee?

If nothing else it’s exciting to have abit of uncertainty in the starting five for the first time since about the late 1700’s.

The question was posed in the message forum about who’s going to have the better NBA career when it’s all said and done, Jason Maxiell or Amir Johnson?

It’s fun to debate, but the greater treat is envisioning them in the same front court as a two-headed monster holding down the Palace for years to come. Plus, if Cheikh bulks up and develops…yeah, it could be pretty special. If/when that does happen it’ll also be another feather in Joe’s cap, grabbing his future’s front court in the same draft! (The same might be said about his future backcourt but that can be another Joe D. praising post. Darko who?)

For the sake of debate this is how I see it. If you had to give the nod to either player it’d have to be J-Max. He’s got a more well rounded game as we speak. He’s been the more fast tracked of the two due to him being the more ready of the two.

Maxy, or the OH-BEAST as I call him (pas it on), has really been impressing us lately with his shooting touch. We love it when he attempts to rip the rim off the backboard on his dunks but for him to be able to step back and nail the 15 footer has to give you warm fuzzies about the future of the front court.

Sure Max is undersized at 6′7″, but so was Charles Barkley who listed at 6′6″. I’d say things worked out pretty well for Sir Charles. I bring up Barkley because he and Max came into the league with similar type games. Both very explosive around the rim and great rebounders. They both neutralized their lack of height with timing, length, and scary leaping ability.

Barkley added a nice jump shot over the years to his arsenal and was able to parlay that into a league MVP in 1993. I’m not going so far as to say that Maxiell hitting from inside the arc consistently equals league MVP, but it’ll damn sure make him and the team more dynamic harder to stop.

As for Amir. Continue Reading »

Via Detroit News:

Amir Johnson was the big winner in the team’s spirited postpractice half-court shootout. The contest started with Rodney Stuckey , Arron Afflalo and Johnson hitting consecutive half-court bombs. Jason Maxiell , the only player to shoot a jump shot from that distance, made one. Tayshaun Prince , Antonio McDyess and Hamilton each made one. Walter Herrmann made two. Johnson was the last man standing.

Classic.  Honestly, I think Amir would be my long shot in a half-court shooting contest.  It’s good to hear stuff like this because you know the team is loose and having fun.

mLive’s A. Sherrod Blakely:

The setbacks just keep on coming for Amir Johnson. The $11M man will probably sit out the season opener at Miami due to a sore Achilles tendon. It doesn’t appear to be too serious, but serious enough to where you don’t want to risk him making it worse.

It’s obvious the Pistons aren’t taking any chances with their investment. It’s just tough for us fans because we want to see this guy play. How can you not get excited about a young guy who’s athletic and 6′11?

Detroit Free Press - Schools pull out the stops and pull in the stars for count day

Detroit Piston’s basketball star Amir Johnson pulled his new Bentley into Detroit Osborn High School’s parking lot and unfolded his 6-foot, 11-inch frame from the seat.

Johnson, less than two years out of high school himself, was at Osborn to hand out two Gateway laptops the Pistons were donating as raffle prizes to two lucky students who showed up for count day.

It’s nice to see the big man lending a hand to a failing school system. But, it’s a sad state of affairs when you need an athlete to get as many kids as possible to show up for count day so you can max out your state funding. It’s the parents job to get their kids in school.