DETROIT PISTONS
Advanced Stats:
PACE: #28 91.7
OFFENSE: #15 104.6
DEFENSE: #29 109.9
The best word to describe the Pistons season last year is circus. From
players on strike to low effort performances, the Pistons season was so bad
that coach John Kuester won’t be coaching a NBA team in the near future for
sure. Even though Detroit has been a powerhouse team in the past decade, they
have combined a total of 107 losses over the past two seasons!
Since he traded for Rasheed Wallace, a trade that gave the Pistons a NBA title, GM Joe Dumars have been committing errors after errors and it was even surprising to me that the new owners of the team gave him a vote of confidence for the new season. Last season, the Pistons had a completely inadequate roster to begin with. They were depending too much on the frontcourt on the 36 years old forward Ben Wallace and they had so many backcourt players that with just one ball on the court that the disastrous outcome was never in doubt since the first day of the season. Having Hamilton, Tracy McGrady and Gordon on the roster fighting for the same position was an error and the Rip soap was a distraction the whole season.
Since he traded for Rasheed Wallace, a trade that gave the Pistons a NBA title, GM Joe Dumars have been committing errors after errors and it was even surprising to me that the new owners of the team gave him a vote of confidence for the new season. Last season, the Pistons had a completely inadequate roster to begin with. They were depending too much on the frontcourt on the 36 years old forward Ben Wallace and they had so many backcourt players that with just one ball on the court that the disastrous outcome was never in doubt since the first day of the season. Having Hamilton, Tracy McGrady and Gordon on the roster fighting for the same position was an error and the Rip soap was a distraction the whole season.
Offensively, the Pistons were an average team that played on a
really slow pace. It would have been a complete miracle to expect the Pistons
to be a top offensive team because they lacked a real interior threat, so the
biggest reasons for the Pistons disarray was obviously related with their
defense. It was just too easy to score against them last season! They were dead
last on the league in eFG% allowed with 52.64%! They also ranked 23rd
in defensive rebounding percentage and 18th in opponent free throw
rate! The fact that they ended up being the 16th team in terms of
points per game allowed with 100.6 ppg is easily explained by the fact that the
Pistons played the whole season in an ultra slow tempo, so there were fewer
opportunities for their opponents to score against them.
Despite all the struggles and feuds with the former coach, somehow
Rodney Stuckey managed to improve his numbers when compared to the previous
season. He improved his eFG% from 41.3% to 45.5% and he even enjoyed a career
high mark of 5.2 assists per game, all of this in fewer 3 minutes per game! Now
behind the new coach Lawrence Frank, Stuckey will hopefully enjoy more
stability and be more effective. The doubt about him being a PG or a SG still
remains and I believe the Pistons share my doubts, considering they drafted PG Brandon
Knight, with the 8th pick. Ideally, Knight has the potential to be a
player like Billups, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Frank mixes it up and play
both Stuckey and Knight at the same time. Now that Hamilton and McGrady are
gone, finally Ben Gordon will have some continued minutes on the floor. Gordon
will enter his 3rd season in Detroit and for a guy that is earning
almost $12million per season while playing only 26/27 minutes per game shows
the incompetence of Dumars as the Pistons GM in the last few years…
But less can be more and the Pistons have now a more organized
backcourt when the assignments should be clear. However, the potential problems
reside on the frontcourt. The Pistons decided to keep Prince and offered him an
extension. After an injury-riddled season in 09-10, Prince showed his natural
durability last season by playing 78 games. His stats are still solid across
the board, but his body language has been poor and he hasn’t been the same “Prince”
for a long time now. Nevertheless, giving him to a four-year, $27million
contact was a good decision for the organization. After being a pleasant
surprise in 09-10, Jonas Jerebko missed the entire season last year, but
apparently he’s ready to go this season. He is a versatile player who can do
what a young Prince did for the Pistons: guard multiple positions, be a good
defensive player, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he plays large at the power
forward position because Ben Wallace will really need some help. Austin Daye
and Charlie Villanueva are other candidates to help Big Ben, but like Jerebko,
we are talking about lightweight players for this position.
The only good thing for the Pistons frontcourt on last year’s
pathetic season was Greg Monroe. In fact, Monroe is now the face of the
franchise after his great rookie season. Monroe started the season slow, but
when he received big minutes and a spot in the starting lineup, he excelled
with 12.0 ppg while shooting 59.1% FG! He also grabbed 9.1 rebounds per game, while
logging for only 32.7 mpg. With more touches in the ball, Monroe is a potential
15-10 guy this season without any doubt.
Lawrance Frank comes to Detroit with a defensive reputation and he
really needs to do some magic on the team. I don’t expect the Pistons to be as
terrible as in the past two seasons, but with an inexperienced roster and with
so few days to work before the season starts, Frank’s task is really huge. I’ll
be surprised if the Pistons reach the playoffs with a lower seed because there are
more talented Eastern teams to take those spots. However, a potential high pick
in next year’s draft being used on a frontcourt player will change the Pistons
organization for the future.
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