Official Detroit Pistons thread

[Tom]

It was good to see the Pistons start the long west coast trip with a win. I was surprised SVG allowed Drummond to stay on the court in the closing minutes of the third to pick up that 4th foul. Either way, it was good to see the rest of the team step up and allow SVG to keep him on the bench for so long after that.

Free throw shooting is a problem. My friend said Drummond had been doing better but tonight he had a rough go (as did the team).

Tolliver was big for them down the stretch. I thought Stanley played pretty well too but he can pick up fouls quickly. Even Banes and Blake had a couple of decent offensive possessions.

[*JD*]

Both Tolliver and Stanley were very solid on D after Andre left with his 4th foul. I'll take the W, even if it was an ugly game. This team is growing but you can tell not everybody is on the same page yet.

[froot loops]

Good win, nice way to start on a ridiculous 6 game road trip.

[chemiclord]

In one regard, while Monroe's minutes and presence were useful, it certainly seems that Drummond's post presence has really taken off now that he has the paint largely to himself. Dude is just devouring anything off the glass right now.

[froot loops]

Yep, the one thing they have to worry about is keeping him healthy and out of foul trouble.

[ghandi]

Pistons just need to go 1-22 to match last years start...Good riddance Josh Smith and Greg Monroe

[Cody_Russell]

Holy shit, Pistons were down 12 when I last checked in the 3rd Quarter.
They won by 17?!

Amazing. 5-1 now.

[froot loops]

Yeah it was crazy. They blew out the Blazers in the last 3 minutes. Drummond had 29 and 27. Reggie had 40.

[Tom]

At one point the Blazers led by 18. The Pistons out scored them 41-11 in the 4th quarter. Drummond and Jackson dominated the closing minutes. That was amazing.

[fontes91]

I thought a 2-4 west coast trip would be enough. Great start.

[nhwbrooklyn]

Wow. That 4th quarter. And really the whole game as Portland was shooting lights out and the Pistons just hung around as needed.

Maybe 48 wins was a low projection? Knock on wood.

[nhwbrooklyn]

Holy shit, Pistons were down 12 when I last checked in the 3rd Quarter.
They won by 17?!

Amazing. 5-1 now.

Somebody tweeted it was one of the most lopsided quarters of NBA basketball ever.

"I?ve coached a long time and have never been part of a 4th quarter like that." - SVG

I hope this last game has long term meaning and isn't just an anomaly.

[Cody_Russell]

I'll be wrong with my prediction with the way it's going.
As I thought before the season started, the East has much more depth this season just based on players retuning from injuries and young cores developing.

[chemiclord]

Pistons just need to go 1-22 to match last years start...Good riddance Josh Smith and Greg Monroe

Ya know, I understand you're not directly saying this, but really... it's not that Smith and Monroe were bad players, they were good players used horribly.

Smith is a very good disruptor and penetrator. He's great attacking the rim from the 4 spot. While he can theoretically play the 3, he's been awful at it, and it was the role the Pistons tried to wedge him into while he was here. There were plenty of people who saw the disaster coming at the time he was signed.

Monroe is also a 4, but more of a floater, if you will. He's a good compliment for a more rangy 5. He's a decent defender, decent scorer, but his lack of range complimented Drummond very poorly.

Drummond is the closest thing to a true center I've seen on the Pistons in a long time. His best compliment is a 4 with range that can spread a defense out and give him the paint exclusively. Because the less crowded the paint is, the more Drummond dominates. He's winning something along the lines of 70% of his rebound attempts, which is obscene, and opponents are now having to pick their poison. Do they try and crash the board (and probably lose that battle anyway), giving the Pistons a mismatch on the perimeter... or do they concede the paint and hope that their shooters just don't miss?

[froot loops]

I think I might be wrong on Drummond for this year, I thought Brooklyn's projection was way too optimistic. He was basing it on Drummond's improvement, I didn't think he would be that improved offensively. So far he hasn't been that much better offensively skill wise, but if you get 10 offensive boards a game it doesn't matter. He might be the ultimate garbage man right now.

The big thing caution is there is no depth, the bench is thin, they can't afford an injury. But right now the setup looks good.