Category: Detroit Pistons Blog

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Pistons guard Ish Smith injured

Pistons guard Ish Smith injured

An MRI has revealed that Detroit Pistons guard Ish Smith has suffered a right adductor muscle tear. The injury occurred in the second quarter of the Pistons game at Milwaukee on December 5. Smith will be out and reassessed in two weeks.

Now in his 9th NBA season, Smith in 2018-19 is averaging 9.2 points, 1.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 22 games.

According to the Detroit News, “it’s the third injury to the Pistons’ backcourt, along with Reggie Bullock (left ankle sprain) and Luke Kennard (right shoulder sprain). Kennard has returned and played in the last two games but has been ineffective as he’s tried to gain his game speed and timing back.”

Pistons winning, Blake Griffin leading

The Detroit Pistons are on a 5-game winning streak, and their 13-7 record this season is 4th best in the Eastern conference through Saturday’s games. The season is still young, but there is reason for optimism in Detroit. Here’s the Detroit News with more on the team and especially Blake Griffin, who has stepped up:

Detroit sports fans have seen this movie before: The Pistons get off to a hot start and look like a playoff team for the first part of the season, only to wither and miss the postseason. It’s been the narrative for the past few years — most recently last season, when they opened with a 14-6 record and became a national storyline, only to fizzle and miss the playoffs for the second straight year.

With a five-game win streak, including Saturday’s 111-102 victory over the Golden State Warriors, the Pistons have an opportunity to change the story. There’s plenty of room for growth, as seen by the array of blue and gold jerseys rooting for the two-time defending-champion Warriors at Little Caesars Arena…

The biggest reason to believe this time is the play of Blake Griffin, who’s putting up All-Star numbers: 24.9 points, 9.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists, while hitting 36 percent on 3-pointers. After getting acclimated to the team in the second half of last season, Griffin has assumed the mantle of lead dog on the sled — and the Pistons are ready to follow his example.

Griffin is taking the reins at the ends of games, forcing other teams to double-team him, which opens lanes and shots for others. What’s making it work is that his teammates trust Griffin’s decision-making.

Full article

Blake Griffin says he is happy on Pistons

The 9-7 Detroit Pistons are the East’s 5th seed through Friday’s games. Power forward Blake Griffin is leading the team in scoring at 25.3 points per game, and he’s second in rebounds at 10.4 per game, but surprisingly he’s leading the squad in assists, dishing 4.8 per contest. While that’s a very low assist average to lead an entire NBA team, it’s still impressive on Griffin’s part. For more on him, mostly on his transition from the Clippers to Pistons, here’s the LA Times:

Yes, he chose to sign a five-year contract worth more than $170 million to remain in Los Angeles with the Clippers. Yes, the Clippers balked less than eight months into the deal and sent him to the Pistons. Yes, there are things Griffin misses in Los Angeles. He wishes he was closer to his children on a full-time basis. He misses some Clippers fans and people in the organization.

But being in Detroit instead of playing for the Clippers, Griffin is fine with it.

“Yeah, I’m glad it happened,” Griffin told the Los Angeles Times. “I’m not saying I don’t miss certain people. There were some awesome fans that I got to know and I felt like I was very close with them. And there are some people you miss over there, but it was just time for a fresh start.

“I’m glad to be here.”

Griffin, who turns 30 in March, is really happy — it’s something everyone says when you ask about him. Detroit and the surrounding suburbs are more like his native Oklahoma than Los Angeles, so he’s more comfortable. Teammates say he’s thriving in a role of being the lead voice in the locker room. Staffers say he’s been terrific to deal with. Others love that he seems to know everyone in the organization by name. The mood swings that at times in Los Angeles could be volatile haven’t been an issue.

The Pistons seem good, but definitely not great, and will need more consistent play from guys other than Griffin and Andre Drummond if they want to raise their status as an actual East contender. Griffin, this season, is doing his part.

Blake Griffin doing big things for Pistons this season

The Pistons are an impressive 4-1 to start this new season. That’s too small a sample size to go too overboard with expectation, but it’s still an excellent sign that the team can do some decent things in 2018-19. Leading the team in scoring, in a big way, is power forward Blake Griffin, who is putting up 28.4 points, 10.0 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game, on 50.5% shooting. Griffin has also been amazing from three-point range this season, taking 5.4 three-point attempts per game so far and hitting 55.6% of them. Here’s the Detroit Free Press with more:

He put up a clunker in Saturday’s 109-89 loss to the Boston Celtics. But other than that, he has played as well as any player in the league. Griffin scored 50 last Tuesday in an overtime win against the Philadelphia Sixers and followed it up two nights later with 26 points and 10 rebounds in the win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Quite simply, Griffin has been a superstar in the first two weeks of the season, something this team hasn’t had in at least a decade and maybe longer.

That brings me back to one of the most basic truths in sports: Fans love superstars. They buy their jerseys. They try to get them on their fantasy teams. They watch them when they’re on the floor. When Griffin is on the floor, people watch.

Defining a superstar is tricky. For some people, it’s like determining whether or not someone is a Hall of Famer. The simple answer is — if you have to ask, then they’re not a Hall of Famer. Is the same true of NBA superstars? If you have to ask, then they’re not a superstar. By my book, Griffin was a superstar, lost his superstar status due to injury and playoff losses, and is now angling to achieve that status again. If he’s able to do that, if he’s able to stay healthy and be a dominant force on a winning team, then he’ll be a magnet for the fans.

— Full Article

Role change for Pistons guard Reggie Jackson

The Pistons are off to a nice start this NBA season, and deserve some attention. Blake Griffin is leading the team in scoring with 28.4 ppg, followed by Andre Drummond at 18.4 ppg and then Reggie Jackson at 16.8 ppg. Here’s the Detroit News with a look at Jackson and how his role has changed:

Role change for Pistons guard Reggie Jackson

Reggie Jackson stood in the corner, hands on his sides, watching as Blake Griffin dribbled and initiated the offense. Jackson waiting to see how Griffin would break down the defense, as the safety valve in case his defender cheated toward the paint to help on Griffin’s drive.

The defender dipped in just enough to create space for Griffin to find Jackson for a corner 3-pointer.

Swish.

It’s a new era for Jackson — and the rest of the Pistons, in the first year of Dwane Casey’s offense. No longer is the offense predicated on high-pick-and-roll plays with Jackson handling the ball and Griffin or Andre Drummond running to the rim, giving Jackson a choice.

The numbers are showing that the Pistons are benefiting from the switch, with Jackson operating more from the outside. More than half (55 percent) of his field-goal attempts are 3-pointers and he’s shooting 36.1 percent from beyond the arc, which would be a career high.

— Full Article

Pistons give Zach Lofton a two-way contract, and waive Reggie Hearn

Pistons give Zach Lofton a two-way contract, and waive Reggie Hearn

The Detroit Pistons have exercised their two-way player conversion option on guard Zach Lofton.

Also, guard Reggie Hearn has been waived by the team.

Lofton, 6-4, 180, appeared in four games with the Pistons this preseason and averaged 5.5 points (.471 FG, .400 3FG), 2.0 rebounds and 0.5 assists in 8.9 minutes per game. A member of the Pistons’ team at the 2018 MGM Resorts NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, NV, Lofton played last season at New Mexico State where he averaged 20.1 points and 5.0 rebounds per game and was named the Southwestern Athletic Conference Player of the Year.

Hearn, 6-5, 210, played in one game this preseason, recording three points at San Antonio on October 5. He was signed to a two-way contract on January 15, 2018 and appeared in three games with the Pistons where he averaged 1.0 points in 2.3 minutes per game.

Pistons waive center Johnny Hamilton

Pistons waive center Johnny Hamilton

The Detroit Pistons have waived center Johnny Hamilton.

Hamilton, 7-0, 230, appeared in one game this preseason with Detroit and recorded six points, three rebounds and one block at San Antonio on October 5.

Preseason for the league ended Friday. Teams must trim down their rosters in the next few days. The regular season for the league begins Tuesday, October 16.

Pistons waive Chris McCullough

The Detroit Pistons waived forward Chris McCullough today.

McCullough, 6-11, 200, was signed to the training camp roster on September 25 and did not see action in any of the Pistons’ two preseason games.

McCullough has played in 59 career NBA games with the Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards. He was drafted 29th overall in the 2015 NBA Draft by the Brooklyn Nets from Syracuse University.

Arena in Detroit no longer accepts paper tickets

Paper tickets are apparently now as worthless as the paper they’re printed on, at least for Detroit pro basketball and hockey games, according to the Detroit Free Press, as quoted below:

If you’re going to a Detroit Red Wings or Detroit Pistons game at Little Caesars Arena, whoever has your tickets better not forget their phone.

That’s because the LCA, which opened a season ago, will no longer accept paper tickets for Wings or Pistons games.

This announcement came during the summer and may have flown under the radar, but now as the NHL and NBA have returned, you need to know that Ticketmaster’s mobile ticketing technology will be used at the doors of the new arena.

Regardless of how any of us feel about this move, it’s the wave of the future and is bound to happen sooner or later at other arenas in the coming years. Ideally, some sort of safeguard comes to exist in case somebody does forget their phone, or if their phone battery dies, etc, though.