Great Start!

[Aussie Dunker]

Worked from home today so I could watch the game:

We beat last years top seed in the East comfortably away from home, very positive start to the season, a few things I took away from the game...

1 - Drummond looks hungry! And we are clearly going to him more in the paint. He appears to be getting more comfortable with his little spin right hook (it will never be a clean shot but could become a go to move for him).

2 - KCP looks like he is going to be a very smart basketball player, high IQ kind of guy. Just knows where to be and is more selective on his shot, making each one count.

3 - No sign of Tolliver / Bullock / Dinwiddie in our rotation to start the season,

4 - Reggie played well, but still takes bad shots at the end of the shot clock and gets into trouble when the D pressure him bringing up the ball.

5 - Morris looks like he is going to be our go to guy when we need a bucket, has a pretty smooth mid range game and loves the iso (and was pretty effective with it today)

6 - Atlanta clearly missed Carrol out there today, they just seemed out of sync and very weak on the wings

7 - Schroder is gong to be an absolute stud in this league in the near future

[TheSilentKiller]

I think this is the year that Drummond really cements himself as one of the leagues best bigs (has been on the fringe the last two seasons imo).

[Aussie Dunker]

Yep he has to ^^ in order for us to keep moving forward as a franchise he needs to become one of the monsters of the league - 17 ppg, 15 rpg and 2 bpg should not be out of the question

[embersyc]

I can't believe we got Morris and Bullock for basically nothing.

Marcus Morris about to have a breakout season.

[dd24]

Bullock is going to be playing quite a bit more.

[QUOTE]Keith Langlois: Meeks has a Jones fracture of his foot .. Bullock going to get more chances now. No timetable on recovery yet

[Nastradamus]

Bullock looks like a good fit and Meeks was looking awful, so no worries there.
That said, I doubt Bullocks is a legit option in our full time rotation. .I think we'll see a trade for a bench scorer at some point.

Either way, very enthused about the start. I think we are going to surprise and end up a 5th-7th seed.

[dd24]

Bench scorer would be Brandon Jennings.....

[Aussie Dunker]

I think SVG likes Bullocks size (6'7) and his rangey / pesky defense just as much as his deep shooting - I think he can be a rotation guy to spell KCP

I am surprised we haven't seen more Tolliver - I guess that could be due to Ersan and Morris both playing pretty efficient Bball over the first two games.

[dd24]

I think SVG likes Bullocks size (6'7) and his rangey / pesky defense just as much as his deep shooting - I think he can be a rotation guy to spell KCP

I am surprised we haven't seen more Tolliver - I guess that could be due to Ersan and Morris both playing pretty efficient Bball over the first two games.
Thus far I'm more about giving Bullock the minutes anyhow. He has the most upside and I like his size and versatility better too. I agree with the last part. Morris has played well so far.

[dd24]

Meeks is out for 4 months

[QUOTE] Jeff Zillgitt: Pistons G Jodie Meeks will miss 3-4 months after surgery on Thursday to repair a non-displaced fracture of fifth metatarsal in right foot.

[Aussie Dunker]

Bullock was close to our best player in pre-season, he was a 1st round draft pick just a couple of years ago - just got drafted into a deep team.

Good length / Good defense / Good from deep / knows his role

I have faith these attributes will translate into being a solid cog off the bench for SVG's system

[dd24]

He was in KCP's draft class and we all know it takes a few years for shooting guards to develop typically. Heck even look at McCollum in Portland. He's finally tearing it up a bit too. There's a lot of upside with Bullock for sure.

Even overall in the NBA there's just so much young talent that has been fun to watch. The last few drafts have ended up being incredibly deep, good drafts. This years rookie class has looked really impressive so far. Heat fans are as thrilled with Winslow as we are with Johnson. Knicks fans are loving Porzingas. Denver has a big time PG in Mudiay. Okafur looks like the beast everyone thought he would be. Anthony Towns looks like he'll be very good too. The Bulls might have to make a trade Portis has looked so good.

[Aussie Dunker]

3-0 including wins over last years 1st and 3rd seeds in the East,

Dre is actually looking like a franchise player, averaging 19/16 with 2 blocks - he has had such an impact on these first 3 games,

And it looks like SVG has got the mix of player types right, as the machine is clicking well.

Reggie looks comfortable, KCP looks like a leader and Morris looks like some sort of a go to player,

let's keep this up - Pacers next

[PistonsFan#21]

How is the rotation going to look like when Jennings comes back? Is he gonna come off the bench as a backup for Reggie?

[dd24]

Jennings will be the back up to Reggie.

Dre has been incredible so far. This is what we've wanted from him for a while. I'm shocked at what Morris has been doing. Maybe getting away from his twin brother has been a good thing for him. He was kind of in his shadow. Definitely needed more Stanley Johnson. Imagine if KCP was hitting. It would have been a blowout.

[Aussie Dunker]

KCP does so much more than what the box score displays. His intangibles are amazing... He looks very mature and composed out there, stepping up to be a leader of this team.

[Aussie Dunker]

Blakes offense yesterday looked very weak - great passer but his shot looks to have regressed, opposition pay him no respect as they know he can not score. I would be tempted to give Dinwiddie some more time,

[Detroit]

Blakes offense yesterday looked very weak - great passer but his shot looks to have regressed, opposition pay him no respect as they know he can not score. I would be tempted to give Dinwiddie some more time,

Thats what I was thinking. ALL of his shots were short yesterday. Dinwiddie needs to be given a chance.

[dd24]

I didn't like that Blake trade from the beginning. Like I've said before I saw a ton of him on the Lakers and wasn't impressed. His career is pretty much over. I'm not sure Dinwiddie is the answer there either though. He's played really poor so far this year. I've seen zero growth out of him. He may be a 2nd round bust.

KCP on the other hand has taken some steps forward. If that guy keeps getting better the Pistons have a very good future with their young players.

[Aussie Dunker]

It's hard to be a 2nd round bust, I think it is far too early to make that call considering he has not even been helthy for 12 months year in his NBA career. I think he is a player that will develop nicely into a backup PG in the years to come - clearly a bit "raw" at the moment and probably not at a level you would want a backup PG on a playoff caliber squad, but game time for him will be super valuable for him developing into somewhat of a role playing backup PG for the years to come - by all accounts he is a great team man, a hard worker and very close friends with Dre

I can never see KCP being "the man" or even a go to type player - but I think he along with Dre can be the heart and soul of this team - I can't stress enough how elite his defense has been this year... Outside of Tony Allen, KCP could be the best SG defender in the league this year....

[Nastradamus]

Bench scorer would be Brandon Jennings.....

He's nice but can't count on him after an achilles

[Nastradamus]

Teams we've beaten are 8-0 vs rest of the league

[ZMonkey11]

We all know what Blake came here to do. Be a veteran presence that can give us solid minutes. That is exactly what he's doing. Minimizing mistakes and putting people in good position when he is out there.

I am 2x more confident with Blake on the floor than Dinwiddie. TBH, once Jennings comes back, I wouldn't be surprised if they send Dinwiddie back to the D-League. He needs PT as THE ball handler.

As much as you might hate it, we needed the Blake signing.

[Aussie Dunker]

The Blake signing at the end of the day didn't really hurt anyone - if anything will be a great locker room presence and provide a great example of how to be a professional. I say even Reggie and Brandon would benefit from having a veteran presence like him around - he is pretty highly respected around the league I think...

We need Dinwiddie to step up to the challenge and outplay Blake for the backup PG role (or backup to the backup when Jennings returns)

[Aussie Dunker]

Great win against the Suns yesterday - it is so good to see us beat the middle of the road teams -

I really like the Suns and their brand of basketball,

Even though Blake nailed a couple of shots, he passed up SOOOO many easy layups to kick it out, it is like he is scared to lay the ball in, very frustrating

Tolliver a very underrated Defender

Ersan has such bad hands, always fumbles -

I hate the floater shot in general, but Reggie looks to be one of the better guards in the league with that shot, looks very natural to him

Bledsoe + Knight are a very athletic and ball pressuring back court, works well for them

Chandler is still one of the best defensive C's in the league, still has insanely quick feet