***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

[pietasterp]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

I think we're missing Chauncey in the 4th, that seems to be where we tail off. Overall though he might only get 15-20 mpg, most of which come late, with the early minutes basically just to get a sweat.

Definitely; our late game surge is missing. We don't need Chauncey for 38 minutes a game, but as you mentioned, the right 15-20 minutes would be huge for us. I'm just concerned he won't ever be 100% again (for any appreciable length of time)...

It's a little disheartening to be 4-7, but with the new roster and somewhat rough early schedule, it could be worse.

Agree; it could be worse, but I agree that it just seems depressing we aren't better record-wise right now. They aren't far off, but for whatever reason, the first 10-15 games in an NBA season tend to be a pretty good barometer of where the team is headed for the rest of the season (seemingly moreso than other sports w/ longer seasons), and the early indicators aren't overly encouraging...

Gotta do something about Smith & Jennings going bombs away, so frustrating! Although, for the most part I don't think Jennings has been as bad as some make it sound, once he and Drummond get that PnR synergy going look out!

Yeah, Josh Smith especially...hasn't changed even a bit. A guy like Larry Brown could probably brow-beat him into submission (or ship his a@# outta town), but Cheeks I feel is too much of a players' coach. I know he benched Smith and whatever already, but he might need more than that to keep him from being a homeless-man's Rasheed (near the end of his career).

I still don't like Jennings, but hopefully he starts turning into more of a true PG sooner rather than later.

Drummond is already a monster lol, but it's definitely concerning having to leave him off the floor because of FT shooting, he's been able to avoid the line pretty well though.

Yep, huge problem in his game. Luckily, he still isn't viewed as enough of a threat by opposing teams to warrant gameplanning around him (i.e. hack-a-Shaq), but sooner or later, he's going to be targeted. I still for the life of me can never understand why guys can't improve their FT shooting to at least 60-70%, if that's what you do for a living, but Drummond certainly isn't the only one...

[rdnk]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

6-8 is pretty bad, but in the East, it's acceptable. At least the team has upside.

[pietasterp]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

6-8 is pretty bad, but in the East, it's acceptable. At least the team has upside.

That loss to the Lakers was absolutely putrid, though...up by 8 with 4 minutes left and losing to a roster full of guys I've never even heard of...just terrible. And the Bulls pulling away from us so badly in the 4th was also concerning. This team has no second-half ability, which I don't know if it's because of a lack of depth, a lack of halftime adjustments by the coach, or just a regression to the mean from a small sample size? Whatever it is, they better figure this out.

My biggest problem with the team right now is that they play no defense. I mean, they have to reign in the chuckers on the team like Jennings and Smith, but generally speaking, they score enough to win on most nights. They just can't stop anybody from getting any shot they want. Lack of defense drives me insane, because generally speaking, it's not talent-dependent. It's pretty much all effort-dependent; I mean, if you don't have any skill guys on your roster that can create or hit shots, there's not much you can do about that...but anyone, with a modicum of athletic ability and a will, can play good defense. It's just effort for the most part. I'm not saying the defense should be elite, because that does require more ingredients, but at least average to slightly-above (in the NBA that shouldn't be hard...). It tells me the coaching staff, as currently constructed, isn't up to the challenge. The team will eventually do as coached; I mean, no one in the NBA wants to play defense (especially now that Ben Wallace is retired), but you have to force them to do it. Mo Cheeks is either uninterested or incapable of getting the guys to commit. Which is a shame, because there's a lot to like on the roster.

Andre Drummond is an All-Star, by the way...scary good much sooner than I ever imagined. If he can just work on his darn FT shooting....there's no excuse for someone who plays basketball professionally to ever be worse than a 50-60% FT shooter, no matter what. It's just a matter of practice. What else does he have to do????

[pietasterp]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

Obviously, this team has the chops to beat good teams...already beat Miami and Indy, should definitely have beaten Portland...but then we lose a lot of stinkers as well. We need some consistency, which given our roster, is unlikely to be forthcoming. And I still don't like Cheeks as a coach (as a person I hear he's great).

[l3ulvl]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

Seeing Smith work the paint the last three games has been beautiful, he can be such an effective player when he stays focused... and I have zero confidence he'll stay that way.

[pietasterp]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

Seeing Smith work the paint the last three games has been beautiful, he can be such an effective player when he stays focused... and I have zero confidence he'll stay that way.

I know...I always felt the same way about Rasheed, but you know it was only a matter of time before he drifted back out to the 3-point line and hoisted up bad-3 after bad-3...except at least 'Sheed made them just barely often enough that you wouldn't want to throw a coffee mug through your TV, unlike Josh Smith.

What's worse is how good defensively Smith can be when he feels like it. The problem is he never seems to feel like it. I can't help but wonder if that's just coaching to some extent. I feel like Larry Brown or Rick Carlisle would never let him get away with his lazy-a** game on a nightly basis...

[redsrule]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

Rasheed was one of the key members of that team that won us our last title. I can't say I think Smith can be a main player of a team that wins one honestly. This team has first round exit written all over it.

[l3ulvl]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

Rasheed was one of the key members of that team that won us our last title. I can't say I think Smith can be a main player of a team that wins one honestly. This team has first round exit written all over it.

Yeah unless we somehow get as high as the 4th seed we're likely one and done. It's encouraging how well we've played against the big boys lately though. Another strange thing to consider is we've been better on the road than at home, so maybe the 4 seed wouldn't be that great lol. So far, 6-10 at home, 8-6 on the road. Seems like such an odd stat. If we can avoid the 7 or 8 seed, maybe we actually do have a chance to advance

[redsrule]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

I hope I'm wrong. I'd love nothing better than for the Pistons to surprise and make a playoff run. In the east this year it is definitely possible to at least get past the first round the way it is right now, as long as they avoid Indiana/Miami.

[Gibbz]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

Y'all had to do that man Tony Mitchell wrong.

[pietasterp]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

So, I guess we're seeing the real Pistons now. For the better part of the last decade up until right about now, I would say I've given Joe Dumars the benefit of the doubt, given that we won a title, went to 2 finals, and played in 6 straight Eastern Conference Championships. But at some point, the honeymoon is over, and I think that point is now. Dumars is now on his 4th coach since Larry Brown, has had numerous roster overhauls, multiple first round draft picks, and things are going nowhere fast. I love the guy and he'll always be one of the all time great Pistons, but it's time for a change in Auburn Hills. It can no longer be denied that he's not making the right moves, from a player personnel or coaching standpoint, to effect meaningful change and put the franchise back on a championship arc. It's been great, but time to play tennis in Florida full-time, Joe...

Meanwhile, back in this crappy season...even in a horrible East we may not be able to back our way into the playoffs. Which frankly wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, but this is rapidly turning into yet another in a long line of pointless seasons....

[redsrule]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

Whole front office needs to go. Coaching staff probably needs to go, but it's only been one year (not that it matters). We are set for years more of mediocrity with those awful contracts to Jennings and Smith, terrible trades (like giving our first pick away to Charlotte for cap space that we wasted). It is not an easy fix though.

[pietasterp]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

Yeah, at this point, the organization is in such a state of disarray and turmoil, it's beyond bringing in a guy or two to do a quick turn-around job. This is on-par, if not worse, than where we were after the Bad Boys era passed, where we wandered the NBA wilderness for close to 15 years before becoming relevant again. At this point, it's a 5-to-10 year turnaround job, minimum. And that's assuming a complete "fire everyone" house cleaning, from top to bottom, which likely won't happen. Honestly, it's pointless paying attention to this team for the next few years; wake me up when we have serious management running the franchise.

[pietasterp]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

In case you didn't already know this:

http://www.detroitbadboys.com/2014/1/22/5332130/josh-smith-might-be-worse-3-point-shooter-ever

The numbers don't lie: Josh Smith is the worst chucker ever....

[Yeah...THAT Guy]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

In case you didn't already know this:

http://www.detroitbadboys.com/2014/1/22/5332130/josh-smith-might-be-worse-3-point-shooter-ever

The numbers don't lie: Josh Smith is the worst chucker ever....

To be fair to Josh Smith, I'd argue that he probably isn't even the worst chucker on his team. That would be Jennings.

Career TS's: 49.6% to 51.3%
Career eFG: 45.2% to 47.7%
This year TS: 47.8% to 46.3%
This year eFG: 42.9% to 44.1%

Jennings is worse in 3 of the 4 and they both shoot about the same amount (with Jennings having a higher career FGA per 36, but Smith being slightly higher this year).