Official Detroit Pistons thread

[froot loops]

They might be stuck with Reggie

[jaadam4]

[Futureshock]

Except Philly is not exactly a small market.

I dont know if they are screwed. AD and Blake are two guys you can build around. There are two big time problems: shooting and Reggie Jackson is clearly not a good fit as a point in this system. I am interested to see if one of Kennard/Brown can show enough to be a nominal point for the Pistons.

Drummond has the mentality of a child and the heart of Chicken Little. If this team depends on him being anything more the a fourth wheel they're screwed. He doesn't even play hard most nights.

[Futureshock]

And it's obvious R Jackson is here to collect a check. Too bad Dumars signed Drummond and Jackson to that huge extension

[jaadam4]

That was Stan

[Futureshock]

Exactly

[froot loops]

Great game tonight, Pistons back at .500, the trades and Ellington pickup has changed the chemistry.

Drummond has been very good since the concussion.

The lightbulb has started to go on for Kennard.

[chemiclord]

Until they go on an 8 game skid and everything is a mess again.

[froot loops]

That's a definite possibility, but as of right now they are playing well during this stretch. The schedule has been fairly weak and they have been the beneficiaries of "load management".

[froot loops]

[chemiclord]

That's the core of it, I suppose. The Pistons have been a mercurial team for many years at this point. They're good enough to beat damn near anyone. Problem is they're also bad enough to lose to anyone.

[froot loops]

This edition might be better since the deadline. With Kennard thriving and the addition of Maker and Ellington it has filled some holes. Drummond and Griffin are beasts right now.

[*JD*]

This edition might be better since the deadline. With Kennard thriving and the addition of Maker and Ellington it has filled some holes. Drummond and Griffin are beasts right now.

There's more to it than that, I think. Reggie's been great too and they have Ish back. On the season, the Pistons are 25-13 when both Reggie and Ish play. Having to play the Ghost of Jose' Calderon while Ish was out was a big reason why the Pistons went 8-18 in that stretch.

Ellington hasn't shot as well as Bullock did but he has that potential. 36% from 3, as it is right now, isn't too bad. He's been close enough to make that exchange a wash, and if you add in Svi, the trade could turn out to be a clear win.

Maker hasn't been very good offensively since getting here but he has made having to play Zaza less of a necessity and his length has helped. He works hard and disrupts shots much more than Pachulia, though he subs for Blake as much as he does for Andre. I wish we still had a Stanley-like defender to help stop wings but that trade has been fine, overall, and could get better if Thon puts on some more muscle in the offseason.

Plus, looking back at the trades, maybe Luke doesn't thrive as much as he has since those deals went down? His minutes average went up just over 3 per game from January to February and another 3+ in March so far. I don't know if minutes begat good play or good play begat minutes but he's solidly in the rotation now.

Depending on the match-up, this is a team that could win a playoff series. Indiana is holding on (for now) to the 3-seed and I like that match-up for us. Without Oladipo, they don't really have a go-to guy down the stretch. Philly is only a game back, though. I like that match-up a lot less, although Embiid hasn't played in a couple of weeks. If he's legitimately hurt, that makes a big difference. Boston is in that chase for the 3-seed. That would be a tough one. They haven't looked very good but I think they'd get their shit together in a 7-game series. Hopefully, they stay in that 4/5 spot.

What's great is that the Pistons are fun to watch again. Winning 11 of 13 is their best stretch in quite a while. Even when they started the season 13-7, the weren't blowing teams out. They've had a few cakewalks during this run.

It will be interesting to see if they can win a couple of big road games next week. At Brooklyn and at Miami. Brooklyn is battling for that 6-seed and Miami is fighting to make the playoffs. After Sunday's home game vs. the Bulls, the schedule does get a lot tougher. They play @Golden State, @Portland, @Denver, @OKC, Portland again, Indy twice, and Toronto. I wouldn't be thrilled but I suppose I'd be somewhat okay with them going 9-9 down the stretch. 42-40 seemed like a pipe-dream 5 weeks ago.

[froot loops]

Yeah I always neglect to mention Jackson, he is hitting his shots. I think losing Johnson was good, he was a problem offensively with that they have to do with Drummond and Griffin. Whatever defense he provided wasn't enough

[jaadam4]

TANK!!