Chris Childs
01-13-2007, 04:59 PM
PISTONS CORNER
Webber nearly a done deal
Sources say Pistons plan more moves
January 13, 2007
BY KRISTA JAHNKE
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
ATLANTA -- Chris Webber can't officially become a Piston until after the three-day weekend, but a team source said Friday afternoon a deal was nearly done to bring the Detroit native home.
ESPN.com was reporting Friday night that Webber would not make a decision about his new team before today, but it still seems likely that by next week, the Pistons will start the former Michigan and Birmingham Detroit Country Day star alongside Rasheed Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, Richard Hamilton and Chauncey Billups.
Coach Flip Saunders said he couldn't comment on any specifics regarding Webber's decision, but said any team would hope he brings 20 points and 10 rebounds -- "what he did last year."
The Philadelphia 76ers waived Webber, a 33-year-old former All-Star, on Thursday. He must clear waivers before he can sign with a new team, a two-business-day waiting period that ends Tuesday because of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday Monday.
Several signs Friday pointed to Webber's arrival in Detroit. Saunders moved Wallace back into his usual starting spot for Friday night's game in Atlanta, and moved Nazr Mohammed to the bench.
Center Dale Davis started in Mohammed's place Friday and likely will do the same tonight against Boston. He also had his agent, Chubby Wells, on hand in Philips Arena on Friday and was trying to ignore various trade rumors that have him on the way out of Detroit.
"You hear the rumors, you just can't worry about it," Davis said. "You have to let things happen as they may."
Pistons sources have indicated that signing Webber will not be the final move before February's trade deadline, and Davis said Wells has spoken with president Joe Dumars. Davis has an expiring contract, always coveted by teams.
"It's not about wanting to be anywhere else," Davis said. "I just want to know the direction, if they're happy with me. ... From that standpoint, it wasn't in the intentions of going anywhere, but at this time, you hear a little bit of everything."
As for Mohammed, Saunders said he thought he might be more productive off the bench.
"He is what he is," Saunders said. " ... We're tinkering with maybe seeing if he's a guy who can go to that second unit and bring him off the bench, because with some of our main guys out, he'd get more touches and be more effective."
Saunders has rarely played Mohammed with the reserves this season; Mohammed has typically been a first- and third-quarter player, and the first man subbed out as well.
He sounded frustrated when asked about his role Friday morning.
"I don't want to talk about it anymore," Mohammed said. "It hasn't helped me talking about it before, and it's not going to help now. Coach knows how I feel about it. Everybody does; it's not like it's a secret."
The Pistons offered Mohammed a five-season deal in the summer to fill in as a starter in Ben Wallace's absence. But Mohammed has not had the offensive impact the Pistons predicted.
Part of that is because of his limited minutes, a sore subject for Mohammed all season.
"I'm just going to try to go out there, play hard and be positive and do whatever I can within the minutes I'm given," Mohammed said. "I think, for the most part, with playing the type of minutes I've been given, I'm doing a decent job. ... I can definitely make improvements. ... I'm playing 18-19 minutes and I'm surprised I'm even able to score seven or eight points. It's tough ... but so what?"
Saunders' two-game experiment using Wallace as a sixth man ended Friday.
"He is a starter; he's not a sixth man," Saunders said. "More than anything else, we did it the one night and didn't have practice the next, and (Jason Maxiell) had played well, so I think it was as much as anything else a reward for what Maxey had done the night before. But 'Sheed's a starter, he's not a guy to come off the bench."
SETBACK: Billups seems unlikely to return from his calf injury for tonight's game against the Boston Celtics.
"I was feeling better, and then Thursday, I worked out on it really hard," he said. "It started hurting me again."
Billups said a different part of his calf hurt at the end of the workout, and he took that as a good sign. He wanted to try working out on it again before Friday's game and today's game. But his hotel staff forgot to give him a wake-up call and he overslept, so he didn't get a chance to test it at Friday's shootaround.
"It's horrible," Billups said about missing tonight's game. "I hate it." ...
Tigers closer Todd Jones was hanging out in the Pistons' locker room before Friday's game.
Detroit has just been diagnosed with CANCER!!!
Webber nearly a done deal
Sources say Pistons plan more moves
January 13, 2007
BY KRISTA JAHNKE
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
ATLANTA -- Chris Webber can't officially become a Piston until after the three-day weekend, but a team source said Friday afternoon a deal was nearly done to bring the Detroit native home.
ESPN.com was reporting Friday night that Webber would not make a decision about his new team before today, but it still seems likely that by next week, the Pistons will start the former Michigan and Birmingham Detroit Country Day star alongside Rasheed Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, Richard Hamilton and Chauncey Billups.
Coach Flip Saunders said he couldn't comment on any specifics regarding Webber's decision, but said any team would hope he brings 20 points and 10 rebounds -- "what he did last year."
The Philadelphia 76ers waived Webber, a 33-year-old former All-Star, on Thursday. He must clear waivers before he can sign with a new team, a two-business-day waiting period that ends Tuesday because of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday Monday.
Several signs Friday pointed to Webber's arrival in Detroit. Saunders moved Wallace back into his usual starting spot for Friday night's game in Atlanta, and moved Nazr Mohammed to the bench.
Center Dale Davis started in Mohammed's place Friday and likely will do the same tonight against Boston. He also had his agent, Chubby Wells, on hand in Philips Arena on Friday and was trying to ignore various trade rumors that have him on the way out of Detroit.
"You hear the rumors, you just can't worry about it," Davis said. "You have to let things happen as they may."
Pistons sources have indicated that signing Webber will not be the final move before February's trade deadline, and Davis said Wells has spoken with president Joe Dumars. Davis has an expiring contract, always coveted by teams.
"It's not about wanting to be anywhere else," Davis said. "I just want to know the direction, if they're happy with me. ... From that standpoint, it wasn't in the intentions of going anywhere, but at this time, you hear a little bit of everything."
As for Mohammed, Saunders said he thought he might be more productive off the bench.
"He is what he is," Saunders said. " ... We're tinkering with maybe seeing if he's a guy who can go to that second unit and bring him off the bench, because with some of our main guys out, he'd get more touches and be more effective."
Saunders has rarely played Mohammed with the reserves this season; Mohammed has typically been a first- and third-quarter player, and the first man subbed out as well.
He sounded frustrated when asked about his role Friday morning.
"I don't want to talk about it anymore," Mohammed said. "It hasn't helped me talking about it before, and it's not going to help now. Coach knows how I feel about it. Everybody does; it's not like it's a secret."
The Pistons offered Mohammed a five-season deal in the summer to fill in as a starter in Ben Wallace's absence. But Mohammed has not had the offensive impact the Pistons predicted.
Part of that is because of his limited minutes, a sore subject for Mohammed all season.
"I'm just going to try to go out there, play hard and be positive and do whatever I can within the minutes I'm given," Mohammed said. "I think, for the most part, with playing the type of minutes I've been given, I'm doing a decent job. ... I can definitely make improvements. ... I'm playing 18-19 minutes and I'm surprised I'm even able to score seven or eight points. It's tough ... but so what?"
Saunders' two-game experiment using Wallace as a sixth man ended Friday.
"He is a starter; he's not a sixth man," Saunders said. "More than anything else, we did it the one night and didn't have practice the next, and (Jason Maxiell) had played well, so I think it was as much as anything else a reward for what Maxey had done the night before. But 'Sheed's a starter, he's not a guy to come off the bench."
SETBACK: Billups seems unlikely to return from his calf injury for tonight's game against the Boston Celtics.
"I was feeling better, and then Thursday, I worked out on it really hard," he said. "It started hurting me again."
Billups said a different part of his calf hurt at the end of the workout, and he took that as a good sign. He wanted to try working out on it again before Friday's game and today's game. But his hotel staff forgot to give him a wake-up call and he overslept, so he didn't get a chance to test it at Friday's shootaround.
"It's horrible," Billups said about missing tonight's game. "I hate it." ...
Tigers closer Todd Jones was hanging out in the Pistons' locker room before Friday's game.
Detroit has just been diagnosed with CANCER!!!