Official Detroit Pistons thread

[chemiclord]

KCP is just atrocious on the road.

Fixed that for ya.

[ghandi]

So what will even be left of this roster next year?.....Other than Drummond i'm not sure this team even has a starter anymore....Jackson cant shoot, Jennings who knows what he will be like, both SGs suck, no SF at all, Monroe is a goner that we shouldnt pay anyway, and despite being the brightest spot Drummond has a couple of major weaknesses too.

[Cody_Russell]

Rodney Stuckey has been playing great recently for Indy.

If they get Paul George back near 100% (probably not?), they could be a threat in the East. Still over a month until the playoffs start.

[AMP]

I believe the word "defense" was involved....so no.

FYI: http://m.espn.go.com/nba/story?storyId=12474812

The rise of Khris Middleton
Bradford Doolittle [ARCHIVE]

ESPN Insider | March 13, 2015
Khris Middleton and Shane Battier
Getty Images
Like Shane Battier before him, Khris Middleton has become an analytics darling.
Early in the recent MIT Sloan Analytics Conference, a panel moderated by columnist Jackie MacMullan veered into a subject area near and dear to our Insider hearts at ESPN. The general topic was the state of analytics in the NBA, and the living, breathing archetype of an analytical player sat a few seats over from MacMullan: Shane Battier.

A lot of words had been used in discussing why Battier was such a valuable NBA player, belied by his modest box score statistics. He is in his first year of retirement and working as a college basketball analyst for ESPN, so MacMullan turned to the real plus-minus leaderboard for a suggestion on who might be the next Battier.

"I just looked it up," MacMullan said. "I was curious to see who would be leading in real plus-minus. It's the usual suspects for the most part . . . Here's No. 6, and I thought this was worth some conversation. How many people in this room know all about Khris Middleton?"


Well, after covering the Milwaukee Bucks this season, I know all about Middleton. He has since slipped on the RPM leaderboard -- all the way to No. 7. The six players ahead of him are ones who will likely finish Nos. 1 through 6 in the MVP balloting. Middleton won't get MVP votes, but his standing in RPM isn't based entirely on intangibles. He leads the surprising Bucks in wins above replacement (WARP), though his No. 56 ranking by that metric is low for a team leader. In fact, Middleton's RPM rank stands out in stark contrast to his WARP rank among the leaders.

WARP, RPM Leaderboard
PLAYER WARP RANK RPM RANK
Stephen Curry 16.3 1 8.55 1
James Harden 16.2 2 8.51 2
LeBron James 12.3 6 7.43 3
Russell Westbrook 12.5 5 6.60 4
Chris Paul 13.9 4 6.47 5
Anthony Davis 14.7 3 6.30 6
Khris Middleton 4.8 56 6.27 7
Kawhi Leonard 7.1 30 6.15 8
DeMarcus Cousins 9.2 12 5.83 9
Damian Lillard 10.7 8 5.82 10
Just what is going on here? Is Middleton really a wizard with an MVP-like impact on games despite a lack of gaudy counting stats?

Breakout season

RPM is the best tool we have right now for capturing the intangible benefits of players, and its ability to capture defensive performance is a big reason why. It's also important to remember that one-season RPM can be volatile, which is why for projection purposes we use multiyear data. Yet Middleton stands out there as well, standing No. 23 in the league with a plus-3.87 multiyear RPM, just a couple of ticks behind Golden State's Klay Thompson.

Whether using the one-year or the multiyear flavor of RPM, Middleton is enjoying one of the breakout seasons in the league. His lofty RPM number has caught the attention of the Bucks' media relations staff (though they might be aware that I'm often sitting right behind them with my abacus in tow). Middleton's RPM standing has become a daily fixture in the club's game notes. Has Middleton heard of RPM, or his place in that vaunted pecking order?

"Yes," he tells ESPN Insider. "It's cool, but I really don't pay attention to it, to tell you the truth."

Middleton is sprawled out on the chair in front of his stall just inside the door of the Bucks' locker room. He's almost always available to chat before games, a rarity among NBA players. However, his spot has become increasingly popular of late.

What are the intangible parts of his game that might help explain that number?

"I just try to go out there and do my job," Middleton says. "Knock down shots when I'm open. Play team basketball, that's what I try to do when I get out there."

Earlier, I posed the same question to Middleton's coach, Jason Kidd, whose team-first message permeates most answers you get when talking to Bucks players.

"His communication is something that never shows up," Kidd said. "That's something the stats or analytics haven't figured out yet."

"We can argue about that later," I said jokingly.

"That'd be a short argument," Kidd says with his omnipresent, knowing smile. "When you're looking at [Khris] growing as a player, not just his game but his leadership has taken off."

Post-trade rise

While it's hard to say just how much communication and leadership have impacted Middleton's RPM, the measurable part of his game has grown by leaps and bounds over last season. That's when he received his first extended playing time as a pro after being acquired from Detroit as a throw-in in the July 2013 deal that brought Brandon Knight to Milwaukee for Brandon Jennings. Middleton's profile at the time was so low that we didn't even mention him in our trade grades No one did -- there was no reason to. He was just another second-round guy thrown into a trade. No one looks at Middleton as a throw-in any more, though Bucks general manager John Hammond says he never did.

"We had always looked at Khris as a foundation piece along with many of the other young players on our roster, and his play this season has only solidified that thinking for us," Hammond said.

Middleton is using the same rate of possessions as he did a year ago, though that percentage has shot up since Knight was traded to Phoenix at the trade deadline. His true shooting percentage was a league-average .541 last season, but has shot up to .575 this season on the strength of 44.2 percent accuracy from 3-point range. He's also hitting just over 55 percent from the corners, and his ability to spread the floor with that kind of marksmanship has played well in Milwaukee's ball movement-based flow offense.

"I've been playing the same way," Middleton said. "Just space the floor, let those guys penetrate, but get into the paint when they need me to."

Middleton's offensive contribution is overlooked in discussions about his RPM. It's true enough that his plus-4.09 is almost outrageous for a perimeter defender, but he's also plus-2.18 on the offensive end. That makes him one of just five players who are plus-2.0 or better on both ends, joining Kawhi Leonard, Anthony Davis, Paul Millsap and John Wall.

He has developed a classic 2-guard game that marks him as more than a pure 3-and-D specialist. He moves well without the ball, and the Bucks run a lot of sets that try to pop him open off screens, and he's an adept cutter when teams overplay. He's also 6-foot-7 with a 6-10 wingspan and a quick release that helps him get off more shots than a shooting specialist, yet his accuracy has become consistent. Finally, Middleton has developed solid moves in the mid-post, and Milwaukee goes to him there if he's being checked by a smaller defender.

Opponents have taken notice

"One of the nice things I saw tonight was he was getting double-teamed coming off screens, when he didn't even have the ball," Kidd said after Wednesday's win over Orlando. "You cause a problem when you have two guys on one. The numbers are in your favor."

Middleton has compensated for the increased attention with his ability to read coverage and make quick decisions. His assist rate (3.2 percent) is very good for one who plays almost exclusively off the ball, and that number has been going up.

"I'm starting to see it a lot more," Middleton said about the double-teams. "I just have to be ready for it and adjust to it."

Middleton
AP Photo/Matt York
Middleton has made some big shots this season and has become the Bucks' go-to guy.
Really the big intangible Middleton brings is his willingness to fit in. He rarely forces bad shots, and that has remained true since Knight was traded. His usage rate has increased by 4 percent, but his true shooting percentage (.578) since the deal is four points higher than before the deal, and that's despite a poor-shooting game at Indiana on Thursday.

"[The shooting] is a combination," he said. "Just being patient, not forcing anything and moving the ball. Just finding the best shot for the team."

Of course, you can't talk about Middleton without talking about his contribution to Milwaukee's second-ranked defense, the single most-improved unit in the league. His defensive RPM is locked in a three-way battle with Leonard and Tony Allen for the league lead among wings, and the Bucks have been eight points per 100 possessions better on defense with him on the court, according to basketball-reference.com. The scheme installed by Kidd and assistant Sean Sweeney -- an aggressive, perimeter-oriented system that attacks opponents out on the floor -- plays right into the strengths of Middleton, as well as long-armed teammates Giannis Antetokounmpo and Michael Carter-Williams.

"The defensive scheme has definitely helped Khris," Hammond said. "Not only him but our entire roster. Along with that, Khris has worked hard and plays with the energy necessary to be a quality defender."

No, Middleton isn't the seventh-most valuable player in the league, but he's plenty valuable and the Bucks will find out just how much when he hits restricted free agency this summer. Lately when I'm in Milwaukee, the most common question I'm asked is: "How much is Khris going to get?"

Of course, I don't know this for sure, but I'd say Amin Elhassan's estimate of four years, $32 million is a great starting point. That number might be going up, as just 10 players have scored more points than Middleton since the All-Star break, and he has sort of become Milwaukee's go-to scorer down the stretch, though the Bucks actually don't rely on any one player in that regard.

We didn't see this coming when Middleton was taken at No. 39 by Detroit in the 2012 draft. We didn't see it coming when he was one of the other guys in the Brandon-for-Brandon deal. We didn't even see it coming before the season, which Middleton began as a reserve. But sometimes players just get better, which is why work ethic and knowing oneself are intangible traits worth their weight in RPM gold.

"Khris' success started way before the season started," Kidd said. "He was one of the few guys here in September. He worked extremely hard during the summer, and you can see the hard work has paid off."

Poor Kstat.

[ghandi]

Hard to believe the Pistons wouldnt even give him a chance hardly...he was lucky to get a sniff in garbage time here.....Glad Dumars is gone...he often gave away too much in trades, especially his last 3-4 years.....

[BJK]

He gave away Aaron Afflalo for a bag of deflated basketballs.

[nhwbrooklyn]

It's tough to spend most of a decade developing a guy that doesn't have star potential in the NBA. Stuckey is a useful player right now too for example. Knight. Probably Singler... Maybe JJ.

Now getting someone elses scrap and having him turn into a legit star for you.. .that's what the Pistons need again. Hello Billups. Hello maybe Jennings.... maybe... probably not Reggie...

[ghandi]

I wish we would have traded for a known commodity like a Ty Lawson rather than gamble on someones backup.....

[fontes91]

Down 17, the loss was there for the taking.......and they went and fucked it up.

[unknown lions fan]

First Pistons game I've watched this year. Looks like I picked the right night to tune in.

Was a fun game to watch.

[HenryTheDeuce]

Memphis is our bitch...bitchez!

[chemiclord]

"Detroit is our bitch... bitchez!"

Sincerely,

The New York Knicks
The Philadelphia 76ers
The Los Angeles Lakers

[fontes91]

This is the time of year where the Pistons, out of the playoffs, start a winning streak to fuck up their lottery status. Tonight they win in Philly. Book it.

[Dr. Emmett.L.Brown]

Death, Taxes, Meaningless winning streak by the Pistons

[jaadam4]

This is the time of year where the Pistons, out of the playoffs, start a winning streak to fuck up their lottery status. Tonight they win in Philly. Book it.

You know it!