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Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork. Authentic Bob Cousy Jersey .com) - Addition by subtraction is a time- honored theory in team improvement. A team gets rid of someone who is either, hurting the team with his attitude, or is standing in the way of someone else, normally younger, and said team thrives. That appears to be the case with the Detroit Pistons. They have gone 7-0 since the shocking release of Josh Smith, a player who has infuriated coaches in the past, but also a player with about $25 million left on his contract. To take such a drastic step as to waive Smith showed how little the Pistons wanted him. Hes mercurial. Truthfully, very little is said about him negatively in terms of being a teammate, or a pain in the posterior. Smiths rap is bad because of his propensity to take too many 3-pointers. Hes a power forward who has played out of position, out of necessity, for both the Pistons and Atlanta Hawks. Smith is an elite athlete and has buckets of talent, but its never truly materialized. And lets be clear, seven consecutive wins since cutting Smith is a reflection on Smith. If the Pistons had won say four games in a row after cutting him, thats not necessarily a true representation of Smith. We could attribute that to the newness of the situation. But, seven? Thats two weeks of perfection. There has to be a reason. How this has all happened, I really dont know, Stan Van Gundy told ESPN.com Van Gundy is not only the coach of the Pistons, but also the president of basketball operations. It was his call to send Smith packing, although, in Tim McMahons piece on ESPN. com, the author clearly states Van Gundy had no problem with Smith off the court, nor his work ethic. What we anticipated was giving different guys opportunities, our young guys. Joshs a 10-year vet in a tough situation at 5-23, and I wanted to give other people opportunities, which was probably going to cut his minutes and take the ball out of his hands some, Van Gundy told ESPN.com. I didnt really think it was fair in that regard. It was easier to do it this way, plus in the future we also get a cap-space benefit, so it helps us for the future. Lets put aside Smith, the personality, for a moment. On the court, this monstrous trio of Smith, Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe was an interesting idea that never worked. Smith and Monroe were both power forwards and Smith had to play small forward. It turned out to be a horrible fit, like me and anything with horizontal stripes. So, the easiest explanation is that re-inserting Monroe into the starting lineup, alongside Kyle Singler at the three spot, is a more natural fit all the way along. You cant emphasize the importance of everyone playing their natural positions. With Singler out there and Monroe on the block and playing like a legitimate force on the interior (15.4 ppg), its opened the floor for the Pistons. They are shooting 40.7 percent from 3-point range during their winning streak. Jodie Meeks return has helped, but his playing time has increased since Smith left. Another factor in stretching the floor has been Jonas Jerebko. Hes averaged 20-plus minutes a game since Smiths departure and is scoring a shade under 6.5 ppg. He is, however, 6-for-12 from beyond the arc. The other revelation has been Brandon Jennings. Hes averaging 19.2 ppg during the win streak, which is a tremendous output. As for Smiths personality, or mere presence, hampering the team, the proof is somewhat in the math. They are 7-0 and their average margin of victory has been 15 points. The wins have come on the road against the Cleveland Cavaliers, who still had LeBron James, albeit a hobbled one, in the lineup. They beat San Antonio on a last-second basket and Dallas in back-to-back nights on the road. Thats extremely impressive. No one on the Pistons is saying anything about Smith, the person, or the teammate. But, it would be naive to ignore the on-court product without him. The Pistons sure seem crisper. Well, weve gotten better on both ends of the floor, Van Gundy said after the win over the Mavericks on Wednesday. The ball is going in the basket that helps quite a bit when the ball goes in. It not only helps obviously for the reason that the ball goes in and you score a point, but I think it gets your energy up when things are going well. Weve also defended a lot better. Also our group, I dont know why, but started Dec. 22 we had three days of practice and from then on its just been different. Guys have worked harder, theyve been more attentive. A lot more together and again we dont have guys that are getting concerned about whos in the game or their playing time, or their shots, or anything else. They just want to win games. Thats not a shot at Smith. Van Gundy was commenting on the fact that, in those two wins in San Antonio and Dallas, different players were in the fourth-quarter lineup. You have guys, four guys that were in the game in a great win last night sitting on the bench on the sideline tonight and loving every minute of it, Van Gundy said. You know Greg Monroe didnt get in the game last night in the fourth quarter. Tonight Andre (Drummond) doesnt get in, in the fourth quarter there at the end of the game. Brandon doesnt get back in, KCP doesnt get back in and guys are into the game. Morale is clearly high and confidence means everything. This group is extraordinarily positive and the scenes from the sidelines as Jerebko, Monroe, Caron Butler, Meeks and D.J. Augustin played the entire fourth quarter, and out-scored the Mavs by seven, tell a tale. Theres a spring in the step of the Pistons right now. Its not a coincidence its happened with Smith in a Houston Rockets uniform. It wasnt a good fit. Now, Monroe and Drummond form the interior nucleus. Good 3-point shooters are taking 3-point shots. Its all fitting. Remember this, the Pistons are just 2 1/2 games out of the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. The playoffs are more than in reach, so while Smith may have been a decent guy, his good-bye has the Pistons firing. RANDOM THOUGHTS - At its surface, two first-round picks for Timofey Mozgov seems like a lot. But, both picks werent originally Clevelands so maybe the Cavs feel like its house money. They desperately need a center. Mozgov may not be an athletic, ideal fit, but hes better than nothing. Thats what you want from someone who goes for two first-rounders - hes better than nothing. - The East backcourt situation is tough for the All-Star game. John Wall and Dwyane Wade are going to start, which is not terrible. Kyle Lowry and Jimmy Butler are going. Two guards get selected as reserves, three frontcourt players, then two additional players at any position. Jeff Teague of the Atlanta Hawks and Kemba Walker of the Charlotte Hornets both deserve consideration and the backup frontcourt situation is ... shaky, so maybe one of the two has a chance. - Its no surprise the Memphis Grizzlies want Luol Deng or Jeff Green. Deng probably isnt available, but Green is incredibly available. He has a player option for $9.4 million, which Id imagine hell pick up for next season. What does Boston want? Do they make someone take Gerald Wallace and his $10 million contract for next season? - With the Baseball Hall of Fame on peoples minds, the only interesting first-ballot candidate worth discussing this year is Dikembe Mutombo. Four Defensive Player of the Year awards, eight All-Stars, three times on the All- NBA team makes him a pretty strong choice. Hes curried enough good favor in his lifetime that voters probably put him in this year. No beef from me. - Movie moment - Back to the Future is on peoples minds since 2015 was a year in the trilogy and we clearly arent flying to work via jet pack. But, what always cracked me up, and I love the original and hate the sequels, was how Marty had time to sing another song at the dance. To say his plan was predicated on timing was an understatement. His only chance at traveling TO THE FUTURE, mind you, was based on the exact timing of a lightning strike to a clock tower. Maybe he passes on the encore at the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance to make sure everything is exactly where it needs to be for his intricate return home 30 years in the future. - TV moment - I will miss Parenthood. Its a really great show. I hope they dont kill Zeek. Authentic Larry Bird Jersey .28 mph. Logano will start on the front row next to Penske Ford teammate Brad Keselowski, who came in second Friday at 193.099. The Penske drivers swept the top two spots for the second straight race, reversing their qualifying finish in Phoenix a week ago. Authentic Red Auerbach Jersey .Mack, a reserve guard who came in averaging 3.8 points, made all six of his 3-pointers as the Hawks went 16 for 28 from behind the arc.Trailing 50-38 midway through the second quarter, Atlanta outscored Cleveland 89-48 the rest of the way and sent the Cavaliers to their largest loss of the season. http://www.cheapcelticsjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=authentic-kevin-mchale-jersey . He made that dream a reality Wednesday night. Olt, who grew up in Branford, Connecticut, attended UConn and made a nearly 2 1-2 hour trek to Boston a handful of times to watch the Red Sox, belted a two-run homer, one of four hit by Cubs in a 16-9 rout that completed a three-game interleague series sweep.SAN FRANCISCO -- Gregor Blanco supplied the speed. Hunter Pence, Michael Morse and Brandon Crawford provided the pop. And on a warm, windless afternoon along the bay, AT&T Park played awfully small for the Giants. Pence, Morse and Crawford homered as Blanco accomplished a rare feat on the bases, powering San Francisco past the Atlanta Braves 10-4 on Wednesday. "Its always fun to score a lot of runs," Crawford said. Blanco became the fourth player for San Francisco to steal three bases and score three runs in a game. Bobby Bonds, Kevin Mitchell and Darren Lewis are the others. "He wreaked havoc," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. Blanco, best known for his defence during the 2012 World Series, had struggled most of the season. But with centre fielder Angel Pagan given a day off to rest his sore right knee, Blanco got back to doing what he does best: getting on base and being aggressive. "Thats the kind of player I am. Thats how I can be every single day," said Blanco, who singled and walked twice from the leadoff spot. "I just was out of my game a little bit and I just reminded myself, This is who you are. This is the kind of player you should be." The scoring surge gave Madison Bumgarner (5-3) more than enough room for error. Bumgarner allowed four runs and five hits in five innings, striking out five and walking one. Three relievers kept the Braves scoreless over the final four innings as the Giants continued to dominate the matchup of NL division leaders. San Francisco finished 5-1 against Atlanta this season. "The offence picked me up today big time," Bumgarner said. Julio Teheran (2-3) lasted only 3 1-3 innings for the Braves. He gave up five runs -- four earned -- and seven hits in his second loss to the Giants this season. "I had a hard time with my grip here and in Los Angeles," Teheran said. "I was trying to find a way to get through it. Its not an excuse. Its this type of weather. I had a hard time." The Giants totalled 15 hits and six walks in an all-around display of offence. Pence finished with four hits and three RBIs, Crawford collected threee hits and three RBIs, and Morse tied the injured Brandon Belt for the team lead with nine home runs. Authentic Kyrie Irving Jersey. Freddie Freeman and Chris Johnson hit RBI doubles to give the Braves a 2-0 lead in the first. The Giants responded in the bottom half, scoring three runs, sending nine batters to the plate and forcing Teheran to throw 41 pitches. Blanco extended San Franciscos lead to 4-2 when he walked leading off the second, stole second and third and scored after catcher Evan Gattis sailed his throw to third into left field. The Braves had three extra-base hits in a two-run fourth capped by Andrelton Simmons tying two-out triple just past the glove of a diving Blanco in right-centre. In the fifth, the Braves landed on the wrong side of the transfer rule, which has come under increased scrutiny this season with baseballs expanded replay. Second base umpire Ron Kulpa called out Tyler Pastornicky on a forceout, though Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez argued that Brandon Hicks never closed his glove before dropping the ball as he tried to throw to first for a double play. "If I had to do it over, I could have asked that (the umpires) get together and ask for help. Maybe someone saw it differently," Gonzalez said. Blanco added to his big day in the fifth with an RBI single off Alex Wood, then stole second and scored on Pences two-out single. Morse stretched San Franciscos lead to 8-4, and Crawford added a two-run homer with the 66th "splash hit" in Giants history into McCovey Cove in the eighth. "I dont think there were any cheap homers," Pence said. NOTES: Giants 3B Pablo Sandoval left the game in the sixth with a sore left big toe. He is expected to be in the lineup Thursday, Bochy said. ... Braves CF B.J. Upton was ejected in the sixth after arguing with home plate umpire Lance Barrett following his third strikeout. ... Braves RF Jason Heyward had the day off. ... RHP Matt Cain (0-3, 4.25 ERA) starts for the Giants on Thursday in the opener of a four-game series against the Marlins. ... 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