Daye emerges from the doghouse to make a difference

**Deleterious** · 01-03-2013, 12:12 PM

Pistons swingman Austin Daye emerges from the doghouse to make a difference | The Detroit News | detroitnews.com

Auburn Hills -- He stood in the corner, waiting on the swing pass to find him, but when Tayshaun Prince's line of sight was clogged by DeMarcus Cousins, Austin Daye made his 210-pound frame more visible to the similarly-built forward, darting to the right wing for a three that turned out the lights Tuesday night.

The 3-pointer, punctuated by Daye crouching down and flashing three fingers on his way to the bench, not only signified the Pistons' third straight win but was the ultimate signal of the oft-confused and sometimes misused fourth-year forward's return to the land of the living — a place he wasn't sure would happen here, in Detroit, in crunch time, in a meaningful, momentum-building game.

"Shoot it. That's how it is, when I get the ball with time left on the clock, I'm trying to get off a good shot," Daye said. "Tayshaun found me in a good spot and I let it go. I knew it was pretty much in when it left my hands."

More at the link

Mmmmmm Fluff.

**DTroppens** · 01-03-2013, 01:26 PM

The guy couldn't make a shot last year. I remember looking it up, thinking he was having a bad season and then found out he was actually shooting around 33 percent for the season and below 25 percent from behind the arc. I couldn't believe it was that low.

He can't miss right now.

But that's still pretty much his game. If he can't make the perimeter shot, his value to any team becomes pretty low. Has he gained any muscle at all since becoming a Piston?

**TigersSlappy** · 01-03-2013, 02:07 PM

Originally Posted by DTroppens

The guy couldn't make a shot last year. I remember looking it up, thinking he was having a bad season and then found out he was actually shooting around 33 percent for the season and below 25 percent from behind the arc. I couldn't believe it was that low.

He can't miss right now.

But that's still pretty much his game. If he can't make the perimeter shot, his value to any team becomes pretty low. Has he gained any muscle at all since becoming a Piston?

I don't know how much physical muscle he's put on, but I do sense that mentally he's playing tougher than when he arrived.

**Euphdude** · 01-03-2013, 02:26 PM

We can't get rid of Daye soon enough. He was a bad pick from day one -- Dumars thought he could be Tayshawn Prince 2.0.

**Casimir** · 01-03-2013, 02:33 PM

It was a nice shot, good for him. But stop winning games and screwing up the draft positioning.

**DTroppens** · 01-03-2013, 02:34 PM

Originally Posted by TigersSlappy

I don't know how much physical muscle he's put on, but I do sense that mentally he's playing tougher than when he arrived.

I chalk it up to one winning shot and a hot streak. He's got a long way to go before I take him back off the scrapheap.

**Deleterious** · 01-03-2013, 02:38 PM

Keep pumping up that trade value.

**DaBishop** · 01-03-2013, 02:43 PM

I'll be the lone voice of optimism (even though I don't feel this way really)....every player who struggles and eventually finds his way has people doubting until he keeps it up. Kid came out of college with a pretty stroke, if he found it, this is what it will look like so keep playing him as long as he's got it, and who knows...maybe this is the start of a top 15 pick living up to expectations.

**DaBishop** · 01-03-2013, 02:57 PM

what's sad is, looking at his game logs, this is basically the best 4 game stretch he's had in his career

**DTroppens** · 01-03-2013, 03:41 PM

Originally Posted by DaBishop

I'll be the lone voice of optimism (even though I don't feel this way really)....every player who struggles and eventually finds his way has people doubting until he keeps it up. Kid came out of college with a pretty stroke, if he found it, this is what it will look like so keep playing him as long as he's got it, and who knows...maybe this is the start of a top 15 pick living up to expectations.

It really doesn't hurt the Pistons to play him and see if "something clicked." I'd agree with that. That said, it's going to take more than a 10-day contract worth of games to make me change my opinion on him. He's established that long term opinion through the long term. I'll give kudos to anyone on a game-to-game basis. That's just being honest and fair. And, it's being a fan.

But if I had to put a GM hat on or something like that, my view is that he's still got a long way to go before he proves that he has any great value. If I saw him adding dimensions to his game (and it does seem like he's making more effective and efficient decisions than in the past a little bit), like rebounding or added muscle to defend, then I'd be a bit more encouraged.

He's a perimeter shooter. He should do that. He better do that. If he doesn't then he has zero role. It would be nice to see him want to enhance what he can do so that he's not another 6-11 guy that can do nothing more than take treys. Man, the Pistons seem to stockpile those kind of guys.

**DaBishop** · 01-03-2013, 04:06 PM

stockpiling them wouldn't be so bad if they could do their job with anything resembling consistency

**Euphdude** · 01-03-2013, 04:07 PM

What I worry about is Dumars re-signing Daye to a long term contract because of a half-season of decent bench performance. Unless Daye is absolutely lights out the rest of the season and will re-sign on the cheap, I'd prefer to use that money on a long-term proven player.

**Betrayer** · 01-03-2013, 05:21 PM

Originally Posted by Euphdude

What I worry about is Dumars re-signing Daye...

This is where I'm at. Dumars has a history of re-signing players he shouldn't. In fact, we have a few on the roster right now.

**DaBishop** · 01-03-2013, 10:00 PM

Originally Posted by Euphdude

What I worry about is Dumars re-signing Daye to a long term contract because of a half-season of decent bench performance. Unless Daye is absolutely lights out the rest of the season and will re-sign on the cheap, I'd prefer to use that money on a long-term proven player.

this is a rough statement to make...so Daye needs to shoot 40+% from behind the arc, and play great all around, and on top of that take a cheap contract or we should just let a young player like him go? I don't know if that makes sense.