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• Ben Gordon is being mentioned in 3-team deal as reported by the Arizona Republic where BG would go to Philly, Amare Stoudemire would land in Pistons’ Blue, and Andre Iguodala and Chris Wilcox would be off to The Grand Canyon State.  Justin Rogers has done the math and we’d have to include more salary, suggesting Kwame Brown.
  
• As the norm with trade rumors the rumored tradee, Gordon, is downplaying the possibility of relocating.
• Ben Wallace envisions Double J as a “beast” on the perimeter.  SLAM recently named Jonas to their all-rookie 2nd team.
• Please, ANYTHING but another Pistons’ players Vs. head coach saga
• Big Ben tired of being branded only a defensive player:
  

  “Everybody in the league can score the basketball,” Wallace said. “That is no secret. When people say guys are not a scorer, that blows my mind. Ain’t nobody in this league that can’t score. Everybody in this league at one time was asked to score.”

• Kwame is willing to do what it takes to help the team but isn’t going to concede Kue’s assessment of defensive short comings on his part:
  

  “I will do what the coach says in order to get better, although that is a first because there is one thing I do bring to the table and that is defense. That’s the first time I heard that. It’s the first time a coach said I don’t play defense. But like I said, I will learn to play the defense he wants me to play.”[...] Brown said he’s one of the top three defensive players in the NBA.

  Easy there Kwame…

• Clipper and MI native Chris Kaman will replace Brandon Roy on the Western Conference All-Star roster

** Something we’re missing? Send along the link or hit up PNb on Twitter.

When NBA news is slow throughout the blogosphere you’ll inevitably see some top 10 lists to pass the time. One that’s always fun is the biggest busts countdown. Usually I’m all for big busts, but that’s more suited for Page 2.

Kwame Brown can’t escape these lists, and he’s usually #1. I just want to petition fans to give Kwame a break.

Yeah, he was the first overall pick in the ‘01 Draft. Pile on Michael Jordan for picking him. How is it Kwame’s fault? He was a 19 year old kid. You can’t blame him for taking up the NBA’s offer to become Kwam Dog Millionaire. He simply played the cards he was dealt.

So things haven’t exactly panned out like you’d hope out of a top pick. He’s not a 20/10 guy and he never will be. With that said, he’s also not garbage.

Early on last season Kwame had some good games and was starting to build some momentum. If not for Michael Curry’s whack small ball and erratic lineups Kwame would have had a pretty good statistical season, relatively speaking. You never heard Kwame complain though.

I can understand the frustrations of Wizards’ fans, or even Lakers’ fans. But, I just can’t see the hate for Kwame. He seems like a decent, soft spoken dude. Ok, I guess by definition he’s still a “bust”. I’ll never refer to him as that though. Not when I see him out there working his tail off trying to help the team win. I will however happily refer to him as a Piston.

mlive:

“Kwame is doing a great job,” Curry said. “He’s getting rebounds, which is good. But he also takes up a lot of space that’s allowing other guys to come in and get rebounds.”

[...]“One thing in this league, you can’t substitute size,” Curry said. “Kwame’s size is big for us. It’s important, especially on the defensive boards.”

As far as Wallace coming off the bench, Curry said “We’ll see. I like Sheed coming off the bench (Tuesday at Cleveland). I think it helps that unit, especially when we’re small with Will (Bynum) and Allen (Iverson).

“When you have those two out there and you’re small in the backcourt, you need someone like Sheed, possibly Max (Jason Maxiell) with his activity out there, with him.”

First thought upon reading this: “Cut it out Curry“.  Kwame has been adequate, but let’s not get silly.

Second thought: “hell, what could it hurt“?  I agree with Rasheed being a good look when paired with some of the second unit combinations.

It’s usually not a good sign to being rationalizing lineup changes with 7 games left before the post season, but does it really matter?  Is there a team we’d beat in a seven game series?  Not with all the dysfunction still present.  The Pistons will back into the playoffs but the season is now a sacrificial lamb.

This will also give us a chance to see how committed Rasheed still is to this franchise with his free agency pending.  Despite his uncanny skillset he’s never wanted to be the man so this should play right into that.

But in my honest opinion this is just the final act in the Rasheed goes to Detroit story.  He’ll field a decent offer from a contender looking bolster their lineup.

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.

Chauncey Billups tweaked his right ankle yesterday during practice (which was previously sprained against the Bucks), but he did practice today and Coach Curry said he’ll play tomorrow versus the Cavaliers.

Kwame Brown, who also was injured in yesterday’s practice, still needs to be evaluated again to determine if he’ll suit up.

Center Kwame Brown (right shoulder strain) sat out of today’s practice and will be re-evaluated Wednesday. If he can play, he’ll be the first big man off the bench, Curry said. -Freep

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.