Category: Detroit Pistons Blog

Here’s Michigan Live reporting on the post-Josh Smith Detroit Pistons, who on Sunday handled the short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers in dramatic fashion:

The most direct beneficiary of the Detroit Pistons’ move to release Josh Smith last week already was playing well before it happened, but with more minutes entrusted to him, Jonas Jerebko has yet to disappoint.

Jerebko has played his most minutes of the season in the two games since Smith was released one week ago today, 28 Friday against Indiana and 27 in Sunday’s 103-80 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“It feels great to just come in there and move the ball, play with energy, play defense, and just share the ball,” Jerebko said. “My teammates trust me to make open shots and it’s just fun playing out there.”

Jerebko’s line against the Cavs was nearly pristine: 10 points, seven rebounds, two assists, one steal, one blocked shot, no fouls or turnovers, 4-of-8 shooting from the field, 2-of-3 shooting on 3-pointers.

Here’s the Washington Post with analysis of the Detroit Pistons decision to waive Josh Smith. Seems to us (InsideHoops) that it will help their chemistry. But, it’s a costly move. Here’s the Post:

With the considerable problems he inherited by taking over a franchise with years of disillusionment and a roster of mismatched talents, Stan Van Gundy is not responsible for most of the hot mess in Detroit. But Van Gundy cannot escape the blame for mishandling the situation with Josh Smith to the point that the versatile but frustrating forward was stunningly waived with more than $27 million remaining on his contract over the next seasons.

The move, which one rival executive described as “reckless,” rids the Pistons of Smith’s errant jumpers – he was on pace to finish last in true shooting percentage among qualified players for the second year in a row – but keeps him on franchise’s books for $5.4 million per season through 2020 under the league’s stretch provision. The Pistons have attempted to justify annually shelling out the equivalent of the full midlevel exception for nothing by championing the $8.1 million in salary cap room that Smith’s removal will provide and how a steadily increasing salary cap will minimize that salary slot when the league’s new television begins in 2016-17.

Here’s Michigan Live reporting on the Detroit Pistons, who lately have mastered the art of losing basketball games and at 3-17 through Saturday have the second worst winning percentage in the league:

The Detroit Pistons have run plumb out of explanations.

They will win again eventually. The nature of the NBA dictates as much.

But they have to get out of their own way first, and after 11 consecutive losses — the most recent a stunning late collapse in a 108-101 overtime loss Saturday to the Philadelphia 76ers — that could prove their biggest challenge.

The Pistons scored seven points on their last 23 possessions. They scored one overtime point, when they had 10 possessions and shot 0 of 11 from the field with a turnover.

They are within three losses of the franchise-record losing streak, 14, and they stand alone with the worst 20-game record in Pistons history, 3-17.

The Detroit Pistons plan to get more creative in their offense. Here’s Michigan Live reporting:

Spoiler alert: The Detroit Pistons will free-wheel it a little bit more offensively the next few games, with fewer play calls from the sidelines, to see if that gets them into sets more briskly.

How it works remains to be seen because Stan Van Gundy already allows his team to run off set principles, not a set play call, after defensive stops, but Pistons forward Kyle Singler hinted Friday that the coach plans to cede some play-calling in favor of increased tempo.

“So the next few games, you’ll see us hopefully not call as many plays, and just coming down the court, unpredictable sets, kind of movement and screens, which I think will help us out,” Singler said. “Just us coming down with us having the idea of just playing the game, just coming down, setting pin-downs, or setting early drags for our point guards, and then just playing out from there, instead of just coming over, looking at the bench, looking for a play call.

“I think it will help our tempo and hopefully free our minds a little bit and just open up our offense.”

The Detroit Pistons are a miserable 3-16 this season. There’s much work to be done, and while roster changes are needed, there are some talented pieces on this squad. Flawed pieces, that don’t fit too well together. Still, the Pistons as they stand now should be better than this. Here’s Michigan Live reporting:

“It starts with our energy,” Jennings said. “We’ve got to start running up and down the court. If we don’t have no energy, we’re not going to be able to get in our sets and run our sets hard.”

Jennings cited three major problems with the Pistons’ offense: Slow tempo, late screeners, and lack of movement away from pick-and-roll action.

“There’s a lot of times when I’m coming off (a screen) and I just have to throw the pass back to Josh and then we’ll just play like a two-man game or something,” Jennings said. “Nobody’s really cutting. I think we need to be a better cutting team.”

The Pistons (3-16) average 91.9 possessions per 48 minutes, sixth-fewest in the league. They have played six of the seven fastest-paced teams in the league, lost all of those games, and will play the other such team Saturday when they host the Philadelphia 76ers (1-17), who play the league’s second-fastest pace, 97.7 possessions per 48 minutes.

The Detroit Pistons are off to a very disappointing 3-12 start this season, and have lost six games in a row. Their leading scorer is their point guard, Brandon Jennings, at 16.0 ppg. He’s followed by Greg Monroe at 14.5 ppg, Josh Smith at 12.9 ppg (on 38% shooting), and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope at 11.3 ppg (on 36% shooting). Here’s Michigan Live reporting:

The positives were everywhere for the Detroit Pistons to see, except where it counts on the scoreboard, and that’s where Stan Van Gundy’s frustration was piqued.

The last several days have been a visible downward skid for the Pistons coach’s outward demeanor.

Brief answers, eyes cast downward, struggling to resolve his teachings with the lack of on-court production, have become Van Gundy’s personal public default mode.

The Pistons lost 104-98 Wednesday to the Los Angeles Clippers and Van Gundy, who was accustomed to high-level success in his previous coaching stops, was at a loss in trying to come to grips with a sixth consecutive loss and ninth in 10 games.

“I’ve not been at this point before,” Van Gundy said. “So yeah, it’s hard.”

Pistons center Andre Drummond dealing with foul issues

The Detroit Pistons are off to a 3-7 start this season, including a 1-5 road record. Their scoring mostly comes from forward Greg Monroe (16.8 ppg on 51.4% shooting) and guard Brandon Jennings (16.2 ppg on 45.1% shooting). Center Andre Drummond gets rebounds (11.2 rpg) and blocks (1.6 bpg), but offensively needs improvement, and he also has to work on fouls. Specifically, not committing them. Here’s Michigan Live reporting:

Josh Smith was the one primarily stuck with the futile task of containing Zach Randolph’s rebounding, but that wasn’t really the problem in the Detroit Pistons’ 95-88 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

Andre Drummond’s continuing foul issues rose up again, and what seemed like an early-season nuisance has turned into a more significant concern as the Pistons’ center was limited to 20 minutes by five fouls.

Drummond had two first-quarter fouls for the ninth time in 10 games, and against the powerhouse Grizzlies front line, his absence threw the rotations askew. Greg Monroe had to shift to center, primarily against Marc Gasol, and Smith was charged with containing Randolph.

Gasol and Randolph combined for 40 points and 30 rebounds — Randolph alone had 13 offensive rebounds — and the Pistons were hard-pressed to stop them with one of the NBA’s premier rebounders foul-addled again.