Pistons Hire Kuester as their Head Coach!?

The Detroit Pistons: Where Mediocrity Happens

The Detroit Pistons just hired John Kuester as their head coach. Kuester is the same guy who led George Washington University to a 1-27 record, one of the worst ever in NCAA history.

One has to wonder what the Detroit Pistons are doing, they have had their share of dubious moves in the past. Like firing Flip Saunders and replacing him Curry, or trading Chauncey Billups to the Denver Nuggets for Allen Iverson. Detroit had made it to the conference finals the past 5 years but this past season failed to record a playoff victory in their first round matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Ben Gordon signing for $55 million is also a questionable move. Gordon is bit redundant on a roster that already has Richard Hamilton. Sure Gordon is a few years younger than Hamilton, but he's also smaller and less of a defender. Also factor in that the Pistons had given Hamilton an extension last season. The Charlie Villanueva deal could work out in their favor, he had a solid year for the Bucks, although at this point in career he doesn't play much defense.

The Pistons figure to be nothing more than a mediocre team. In fact, they could be on the outside looking in when the playoffs roll around.

Hedo Turkoglu: from Orlando to Portland to Toronto: Part 2

Hedo attempts to play solid defense

2. Portland Trailblazers

Yes, Portland almost signed Turkoglu because they believed that he could lead the Blazers deeper into the playoffs. The Blazers lost a 5 game series to the Houston Rockets; although the Blazers may be better than the Rockets by the fault with Yao Ming potentially being injured for the nextseason and Ron Artest leaving for the Lakers.

I still don't know whether sigining Turkoglu would have lead for a legitamate chance for a ring. After all, Portland already has incredible depth in the small forward position with guys like Rudy Fernandez, Travis Outlaw, Nicolas Batum, and Martell Webster who are all several years younger than Turkoglu.

You may remember Rudy Fernandez playing ion Spain's Basketball team and posterizing Dwight Howard. Fernandez is also an exceptional 3 point shooter. If the Turkoglu deal was to be consumated, reports were that he was "unhappy" and could have pushed for a trade out of Portland. Such a trade probably would have had Portland not receiving fair value to Fernandez who the Trail Blazers value quite highly.

Rudy Fernandez: the Spaniard Who can Dunk

Still, Portland already has a lot of young talent with players like Roy, Aldridge, Oden, Fernandez, Batum, Bayless, Outlaw, and Webster. It may have been wise for them to have a quality veteran on the team like Turkoglu. A deep run in the playoffs for these young guys would be indispensiable for them moving forward.

3. The Toronto Raptors

Chris Bosh's respone to Turkoglu signing via twitter

@chrisbosh: IF IT'S TRUE..Let's get it cracking H Turk!!

Brian Colangelo also overpaid to get 30+ year old international player in Steve Nash when he was the GM of the Suns. They already have a franchise caliber big man in Chris Bosh and a reliable point guard in Jose Calderon. They drafted DeMar DeRoazan out of USC, who instrumental in the Trojans sucess of winning the Pac 10 tournament and been compared to a much rawer version of Vince Carter,. And let's not forget about Andrea Bargnani, the number 1 pick of the 2006 NBA draft, who is playing in a contract year. It looks like Toronto have the pieces to be competitive for a playoff spot.

It is possible that Chris Bosh bolts to another team and the Raptors would be stuck rebuilding around a 30+ year old swingman. Toronto best case scenario is probably the 2nd round of the playoffs since the Eastern Conference is top heavy with the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Orlando Magic.

Hedo Turkoglu: from Orlando to Portland to Toronto: Part 1

Turkoglu Laying Out Kobe

After giving a verbal commitment to the Portland Trail Blazers, Hedo Turkoglu changed his mind to sign with the Toronto Raptors . Turkoglu is scheduled to make $53 million over 4 years, and only $3 more million over the life of his deal in Toronto; and it's questionable whether Turkoglu will acutually receive more money since tax rates may be higher in Canada.

Turkoglu, a native of Turkey, is believed to have signed with like Toronto because it has a diverse internation community, including a Turkish contingent. Signing with the Raptors also allows him to stay in the Eastern Conference, where he's more familiar with his opponents especially since he's spent the past 5 years in Orlando.

Let's see how this signing determines the following teams that Turkoglu has affected;

Too bad Orlando doesn't have an anti-aging machine to get this Vince Carter

1. Orlando Magic

Turkoglu was key in Orlando's run to the finals especially in running the team's offense with Jameer Nelson injured for most of the postseason. Yes the Magic did acquire perennial all star Vince Carter who overall is a better player than Turkoglu. However, it remains to be seen if Carter can be an equal facilitator and have similar chemistry like Turkoglu had with his teammates.

Even if Carter is an adequate replacement for Turkoglu, there is a chance that they will not be as deep as they were last season since they had to give up pieces to get Carter. They traded Courtney Lee, Rafer Alston, and Tony Battie for Carter and Ryan Anderson. The Magic may also risk losing Marcin Gortat, a quality big man who was offered more than $30 million over five years. So in recap, the Magic have acquired Carter and Ryan Anderson but will lose 3 starters from the team that made their run to the Finals in Turkoglu, Lee, and Alston and could lose up to 2 quality backup bigs in Gortat and Battie.

Orlando's sucess this year will hinge upon

1. How Vince Carter will mesh with his teammates.

2. If Jameer Nelson can recover from shoulder surgery; Nelson made the all star team prior to his injury

3. Role players develop like Pietrus and Anderson into bigger roles

4. If Dwight Howard develops his inside game; remember he's only 23

5. Whether Orlando can acquire a solid piece in free agency like Rasheed Wallace or Shawn Marion

6. Whether Orlando can resign Gortat.

Zach Morris Interview

Zach Morris talks about his new tv series and a possible reunion with the class from Saved by the Bell

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

Kobe's Angry Face

Or is it his constipated face...

LeBron Sitting at Home (More Puppets)

Reddick vs Morrison in the NBA Finals

NBA Finals brings Back Marquee College Players- Sort of

In 2006, JJ Reddick and Adam Morrison were the two leading scorers in the nation.  Now, the two players will each have opportunity to get a ring but in much smaller roles.  Reddick's playing has diminished as Courtney Lee has returned from a broken nose.  Michael Pietrus has also essentialy relegated Reddick to the bench with his superb bench play; he alone outscored Cleveland's bench in the Eastern Conference finals.  

At least Reddick has played in 12 games and has started in 8 of those games.  Morrison, a number 3 pick, is not even on the LA Lakers active roster.  Shannon Brown, what was thought to be a throw in in the Radmonovic for Morrison deal with the Bobcats has been a pleasant surprise to the LA Lakers and has really helped their depth in the point guard position.  Brown's dunk over the Chris "Birdman" Anderson catapulted a comeback  

Morrison's biggest mark on the team has been in practive but not in a positive way.  Morrison fought with fellow teammated Sasha Vujajic in practice as described in the story below.

Vujacic and Morrison were guarding each other in the Lakers’ 4-on-4 halfcourt practice, and Morrison loudly and angrily told Vujacic that he was sick of Vujacic’s grabs and elbows. Vujacic argued that Morrison was the one who initiated the problem by wrongly using his knee. The two argued for several minutes despite teammates and coaches trying to intervene, and when play resumed the two continued to go at each other with Morrison grabbing Vujacic’s jersey and the arguments sparking anew several times later.

* * *

Sitting on the baseline, Kobe Bryant was smiling. “I wasn’t even going to move,” he said later. “A lot of meowing going on out there. The claws coming out.”

http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=4244

Morrison had a reputation for being soft even when he came into the NBA.  He famously started to cry when his team was eliminated in 2006 NCAA tournament.  Here is how NBA Live chose to market him when Morrison was a rookie.

'And when I get to the NBA, more people will cry'

It will be interesting to see which former college super star can luck out and piggy-back on his team success and get that NBA ring.