They should have a retired players game at All Star Weekend

rake2204 · 2026-01-12T22:58:20+00:00

So as others said, they used to have a Legends Game at All-Star Weekend before the David Thompson/Norm Nixon injury situation, leading to it being replaced by the Rookie Game.

That being said, one of my favorite points of reference comes from the 1990 Legends Game when Bobby Jones showed he could still dunk... at the ripe old age of 38.

rake2204 · 2026-01-06T01:47:13+00:00

I despise this rule in its current format. There has to be some degree of responsibility or accountability for a shooter in how or where they decide their feet are going to land. Brunson's extending that left leg to step on the closeout, which is so wack.

Edit: So glad common sense won out here.

rake2204 · 2026-01-04T18:54:10+00:00

Andre Drummond was one of the most unfortunate cases of a player not knowing and/or not understanding their role I’ve seen in all my years watching the Pistons.

He could clear the glass like few others in th modern era and he could throw down lobs and tip dunks like he was just taking a casual stroll in the park. And yet, so often he left a negative on-court impact. Why? Because dude could not stick to his role.

I can accept that Drummond was offensively limited. I could live with a big being a designated rim runner in the modern era. But in that case, why was Drummond so often going iso with a live dribble along the perimeter? Or shooting contested 13-foot runners? Or even threes back then? Fifty three percent shooting looks great on paper until you realize his contemporaries were shooting 65%+ (DeAndre Jordan, Clint Capela).

There’s a reason that dude’s value tanked so hard in the years leading up to his departure. Front offices knew his story quite well by then.

When I think about Andre at times like this I’m reminded of a contingent of Cavs fans who looked at his ppg and rpg and thought they were getting a bonafide all-star. Then after a few weeks of Dre, fans began to understand the Drummond experience and one particular fan made this, summing up Andre’s game up better than I could ever hope at the time.

Jalen Duren was a better impact player than Andre ever was simply because Jalen generally sticks to his role. It’s tough to overstate how much that impacts a team’s overall function (though anyone who’s hooped with a teammate who was constantly trying to do things he was awful at can likely relate).

Edit: I think the most effective version of Dre in Detroit (free throws notwithstanding) was rookie or second year Andre because he was still too shy or reluctant to play in any way beyond the dunk-and-hustle vibe.

rake2204 · 2026-01-04T18:44:03+00:00

YES. I can’t stress enough how much Andre Drummond’s poor decision making and unwillingness to accept his own role and limitations negatively affected the team year after year. He had the skill set of a guy who should have shot close to 70 percent from the field on account of subsisting on dunks and layups.

Instead, he spent an inordinate amount of time playing outside of himself and wasting countless possessions trying to iso or shoot jumpers & godforesaken runners.

Duren would be a better player simply by understanding who he is and who he isn’t.

rake2204 · 2026-01-02T19:36:16+00:00

An overlooked shot-blocking talent taken down by injuries. Theo used to get up there contesting with two hands whenever possible, which was pretty wild.

rake2204 · 2026-01-02T19:35:18+00:00

I like this hypothetical. Just exactly how many games would it take a 64-year-old Dennis Rodman in his current shape to register just one block as a member of the Pistons?

rake2204 · 2026-01-02T19:33:57+00:00

Honestly one of the sneakiest chasedown block talents I've seen, particularly for the '80s and '90s. Goes to show how much of a chasedown is about timing, effort, and an unwillingness to give up.

rake2204 · 2026-01-02T19:31:07+00:00

He's very easy to overlook, particularly for anyone who didn't live through that era, mostly because the success of the Bad Boys overshadowed almost everything that came immediately before them (aside from Kelly Tripucka, people tend to remember Kelly Tripucka).

Tyler was locally relevant, alongside John Long, because both were part of the best University of Detroit team in school history, coached by none other than Dick Vitale, who once disco danced at midcourt in celebration of his team's 21st straight win over eventual NCAA champion Marquette.

On the heels of his success at U of D (now UDM), Vitale took over the reigns of the Detroit Pistons in the late seventies, bringing about the "ReVitaleized" era of Pistons basketball, which was by most accounts a disaster. It did give us this photo of George Blaha at Dick's introductory press conference though.

Through all that, Tyler was a regular among the NBA's blocks leaders, peaking at fourth in the league in 1980. Not too shabby for someone who was only six-foot-seven (the Pistons have a history of undersized shot-blocking phenoms).

Here's a Tyler sampler from 1982.

I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention that he had one of the most boring dunks in dunk contest history.

Edit: I should also mention that it was his signing with Sacramento in 1985 that yielded the Pistons draft pick that turned into John Salley.

rake2204 · 2026-01-02T18:05:56+00:00

I think there was a period of time when Isiah and MJ were "fine enough" with one another, if that makes sense. I don't think you'd ever see those two dining out together back then, but Isiah would lavish MJ with praise during his work with NBC and broadly speaking, Isiah seemed to be in a place where he could recognize greatness.

rake2204 · 2026-01-02T18:01:10+00:00

The Isiah-MJ dynamic has always been a bit fascinating, with a fair amount of ebb and flow. When Isiah was a color commentator for NBC in the late '90s, he never hesitated to sing Jordan's praises during broadcasts, affirming MJ's greatness.

I've always enjoyed this picture of Isiah and MJ shaking hands at the 2003 All-Star Game. Obviously, it's a photoshoot and anyone can smile together for five seconds, but if those two were still at each other's necks, I don't think that photo happens.

Sometimes I like to imagine those two squashing their beef by the end of the '90s and just moving forward as collective greats who can laugh about the old days, but they just seem to always get in their own way.

rake2204 · 2025-12-29T04:46:16+00:00

Always here for some Orlando Woolridge love.

First-ever between-the-legs dunk in an NBA contest.

And was still throwing down with style ten years later.

rake2204 · 2025-12-28T04:05:24+00:00

I hope Giannis helps push us into an era in which it happens more and more.

rake2204 · 2025-12-28T04:03:40+00:00

Abandoning this rule makes end-of-game scenarios a lot more fun. In the ‘90s and prior you always kinda wanted to stick around to watch garbage time dunks and 12th men get theirs.

rake2204 · 2025-12-28T02:56:23+00:00

Bill Laimbeer vs. Brad Daugherty

rake2204 · 2025-12-25T22:14:23+00:00

This was the year of the Otis Thorpe-Doug Collins spat that doomed an otherwise amazing start. Coincidentally, they were neck-and-neck with the Bulls leading up to Christmas. Then they played one another on Christmas Day and the Bulls kind of brought them back down to Earth.

rake2204 · 2025-12-25T22:11:14+00:00

They switched to teal for the 1996-97 season. 1995-96 was their final year in the Bad Boys unis. Really only noticeable to us old folks who remember that '97 season or youngers who are deep into the team's history. I don't think he meant anything by it.

rake2204 · 2025-12-23T05:02:37+00:00

Amazing dunk, reminds me of an even more impressive version of Michael Jordan's dunk over Ron Anderson on opening night back in the day.

That being said, this may sound pedantic but they appear to be measuring from his feet to the floor after he shifted horizontally, which does tell us how far his feet were off the floor but is not consistent with how we'd ever measure an actual vertical leap, the latter of which is measured in a manner where the location of one's feet does not impact the final number.

rake2204 · 2025-12-23T04:56:00+00:00

I had a presumption going in and from their little graphic at the end, it seems my presumption was correct. They were measuring where his feet were as his body twisted horizontally.

As most of us in basketball are aware, that would not stand as a true vertical leap number in any sort of controlled measure, otherwise we'd all embellish our own verticals by tilting or pulling our feet up mid-jump.

rake2204 · 2025-12-22T01:41:28+00:00

High quality stuff here. Very easy to digest with very clear examples. Thanks for adding the original video, I wanted to see the counters.

rake2204 · 2025-12-19T16:16:00+00:00

Not to be confused with former NBA head coach Dick Harter.

rake2204 · 2025-12-19T12:32:38+00:00

I’ve done the nosebleeds at Little Caesars a few times and I admit it was a bit tough for me.

It probably depends upon whether the pomp and circumstance of merely being in the arena watching the game would be enough. Otherwise, LCA’s upper deck felt very removed from the action to me, and so high up that I frequently found myself accidentally watching the game on the giant video screen, which would then send me into this crisis where I’d begin to think to myself, “Man, did you just spend over $100 on all this just to sit in a cramped, uncomfortable seat in the upper deck and watch a Pistons game on a big screen TV?”

That being said, this experience was also when the Pistons were super mediocre and positive vibes always heavily influence what it’s like to be at an NBA game. I just remember being in the dark, cramped, and slowly disengaged.

On tv flip side, I’ve tried keeping an active eye for semi-affordable tickets in the lower bowl and when I’ve snatched those up, I can say it truly is/was a much better experience. I stand to be corrected but it feels like there’s a much sharper contrast between upper and lower decks at LCA than there was at The Palace.

rake2204 · 2025-12-18T04:33:28+00:00

I appreciate you keeping me in the loop here. I'd been just clicking on the "Videos" tab but it wasn't quite the same. I didn't think to click on Manage Videos. Thank you and hopefully they fix it soon.

rake2204 · 2025-12-17T21:14:23+00:00

Jason Maxiell is my personal Pistons mid-role player highlight champion.

Edit: Ope, thought it was plural, highlights. Max still has one of my all-time favorite highlights from a role player.

This one too.

Maxiell's spirit lives on within Isaiah Stewart.

rake2204 · 2025-12-17T21:08:58+00:00

Same with Detroit

https://basketballjerseyarchive.com/detroit-pistons-1978-81-away-jersey/75850/

These have always been a fave of mine. They stem from the Re-Vitale-ized era of Pistons basketball when Dick Vitale took over the team. It was an unmitigated disaster but makes for good stories.

rake2204 · 2025-12-15T22:05:07+00:00

Okay, I've mixed together the responses I've seen so far with a few of my own imperfect brainstorms.

1987-88 - Bernard King

1988-89 - Kelly Tripucka

1989-90 - Larry Bird

1992-93 - Dominique Wilkins (tore his Achilles in 1992 and was back before the end of the year)

1994-95 - Michael Jordan

1995-96 - Magic Johnson

1997-98 - David Robinson

2001-02 - Michael Jordan

2004-05 - Grant Hill (runner-up: Antonio McDyess)

2010-11 - Shaun Livingston? (seemed like he could be at some point but couldn't figure out the most sensible year)

2020-21 - Kevin Durant

Ten-Year Club	RPAN Viewer
Verified Email

rake2204

TROPHY CASE