As much as I like the new Diop, he'll never earn his contract.
After a long off season and players trying to get better .
I have come up with three players who have uped thair game .
1st UPS , most inproved . In the preseason hes made a great running mate with TT. Filling up stat sheets better than even Wallace did at this stage of his carrer. Thair games and early stats are about exactly the same. This kid could end up being a long term Wallace . Lets hope management sees this.
http://www.realgm.com/src_playerfile...erald_wallace/
2nd DJ . Has shot the ball far better than my expections, He seems to be able so far to defend on the ball much better . With the ball going through JAX hands, Spreads the floor nicely.
3rd Diop This kid will earn his contract for the first time as a Bobcat . Hes defending the pick much better .Blocking shots . Much quicker and 20 pounds lighter. Brown even wants him to take the open shot.
Your thought about each player early in the preseason.
Last edited by dav7z; 10-19-2010 at 08:03 PM.
Thanks Ammofan!
As much as I like the new Diop, he'll never earn his contract.
For Gana to earn his contract, he'd need at a minimum 6 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks per game while shooting 75% from the FT line and turning the ball over less than 2 times per game.
SOMEONE will pay for THIS!
Bonells thoughts on Diop and the rest of the team . Nothing on UPS . Doesn't any one else think this kid has starter all over him .
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/201...e-learned.html
Thanks Ammofan!
Detroit is going to be one of the worst teams in the league this year. I feel bad for Pistons fans, but at least there is a light at the end of that tunnel with the new ownership around the corner...
Still, for Diop to actually earn his contract he'd have to play at a better level than a MLE type guy. 8/7/2 at the absolute minimum, but that still doesn't make up for the last two years of Mihmism. I like how he's got better. He actually moves with confidence on the offensive end, establishes himself in the post early, takes good shots, also he moves like he actually wants to get to where he's going. He'll get plenty of chances to get back on the right track this year since Nazr will probably need to be rested a lot (he played some good defense too).
And about UPS. This may sound like hating, but just throwing it out there.... did he really get any better? His skillset is exactly the same as it was last season. The only difference being that LB actually puts him on the court and he's a bit stronger. On defense he still makes the same mistakes and god only knows how much an outside shot would do for his game.
His shot is much better from outside than Wallace at the same stage of thair carers. He can hit a midrange jumper on a consistant basis. Him and Wallace has the same rebounding percentage as rookies. Hes better at the early stage of his carer getting open under th basket . Most likely learned from Wallace. . Hes long quick can keep his man out frunt . I don't see his defencive problems at all?? When guarding another three . He is a little week to guard a four but stronger than Wallace at this stage of his carer.
Thanks Ammofan!
Again, just going off of 'most improved'. If someone were to ask how exactly Derrick Brown improved, I'd say he got a little stronger and, naturally, seems more comfortable on the court in his second year. Thats it.
DJ getting his confidence is back... for him thats huge. Diop isn't even Diop anymore. Nazr seems ready to bring it on defense. Henderson's mid-range game looks a bit more polished - still wish I could see more out of him though. Derrick Brown? Same guy essentially.
Most improved? Gana by far.
He went from totally useless to looking like he'll be a competent rotation player...and at a position of dire need. Worth his contract? Considering what LB wants out of his Cs (think Ben Wallace) I can see him being worth it in Larry Brown's mind...which is a little different than judging him by the stats.
I agree a little with Dy on UPS, but the main thing is he's continuing to be aggressive and confident vs. backsliding. It's easy to overlook a guy's drive to stay on progression, but there are MANY who don't. That deserves cudos.
DJ getting his confidence back when he could easily have folded being the main focus of LB's spotlight is also a very positive thing. Improved though? He could always shoot, and in my mind he's not had the competition really to determine how much he's grown defensively (not that I ever considered him bad).
Hope Resurrected: "I think I can bring an attitude to a team as far as, ‘All right, no matter what, we are not losing this game'." - Kemba Walker
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