Drummond Working On Defense

[dd24]

At least he's working on something this off season.
http://www.freep.com/videos/sports/nba/pistons/2016/06/09/85643702/

[ZMonkey11]

I'd rather him work on free throws all summer. One focus. So he can stay in the game.

[Aussie Dunker]

Imagine if Dre could shoot... 65% from the stripe, he would average 20 ppg 15 rpg,

[dd24]

I could get the guy to shoot 65% from the line for sure.

[Nastradamus]

Improving FTs is harder than it seems. Glad to see him working on his D. More likely he becomes a stud there than FT line.

[ZMonkey11]

Improving FTs is harder than it seems. Glad to see him working on his D. More likely he becomes a stud there than FT line.

When your best player can't stay in the last 6 minutes of a game, his defense doesn't matter. He literally disappears.

Let's start working on what's really hard. Free throws.

[ZMonkey11]

Which brings me to another point I want ya'lls opinion on.

Can we be successful with Andre Drummond as our best player?

Over the last year, it dawned on me. If he is our leader, we aren't going anywhere. We can't have a center that shoots barely .500 from the field and under .400 from the FT line. That's ridiculous.

His rebounds are inflated and this is what is bringing his field goal percentage down. Playing volleyball with yourself and pumping up your rebounds doesn't make you a great player. It just makes the stat sheet look nice.

Is he a huge dominant force? Yes. But is he overrated, I think so. He needs to put in some MAJOR work.

"But, he's so young." Yes. And his offensive game has become a little bit better. He kind of has a hook shot now. But besides his kind of hook shot, dude doesn't have an offensive game. Flashes of one? Yes. But an actual game, no. I am seeing Dwight Howard without the defensive skills in front of me.

I might just be pissed that we have gone nowhere since 2007, but I also feel like I really am seeing Dwight Howard, without the attitude, reappear in a Pistons uniform.

[dd24]

It kind of goes back to my other post where I said Indiana's best player is better than our best player and they put a collection of good players around him. This is a mediocre Pistons team. It's what all of you have been rooting for forever now and the thing that I've been saying for years that I feared the most. We got all of those late lottery picks and it gave us a collection of decent players. Now we get to be stuck in mediocrity. Our only hope is that some young player develops into a star somehow. Maybe Stanley Johnson can take his game up a few notches. Maybe Harris can develop into an all-star. Outside of that we're pretty much stuck with fighting for a 5-8 seed every season. It's what everyone wanted though.

[Aussie Dunker]

You guys are so negative ^^

We have been trending upwards at a fast rate ever since SVG got his hands on the project team.

Our young players are still ultra young!

Our longest serving "veteran" is KCP,

Literally not one of our core pieces have hit their prime / peak.

Dre gives this team shape, and as soon as he was drafted, that is when our rebuild commenced. It is still early days and yall need some patience.

Dre / Harris / Morris / KCP / Stanley / Reggie

No one knows what the ceiling is on any of those young core pieces. So it is just too hard to tell what this team can be - we learn a little more each season. Another off-season and season under SVG and we might be better suited to answer these questions...

[ZMonkey11]

You guys are so negative ^^

We have been trending upwards at a fast rate ever since SVG got his hands on the project team.

Our young players are still ultra young!

Our longest serving "veteran" is KCP,

Literally not one of our core pieces have hit their prime / peak.

Dre gives this team shape, and as soon as he was drafted, that is when our rebuild commenced. It is still early days and yall need some patience.

Dre / Harris / Morris / KCP / Stanley / Reggie

No one knows what the ceiling is on any of those young core pieces. So it is just too hard to tell what this team can be - we learn a little more each season. Another off-season and season under SVG and we might be better suited to answer these questions...

See. That's what I needed. A swift kick in the butt.

[Nastradamus]

It kind of goes back to my other post where I said Indiana's best player is better than our best player and they put a collection of good players around him. This is a mediocre Pistons team. It's what all of you have been rooting for forever now and the thing that I've been saying for years that I feared the most. We got all of those late lottery picks and it gave us a collection of decent players. Now we get to be stuck in mediocrity. Our only hope is that some young player develops into a star somehow. Maybe Stanley Johnson can take his game up a few notches. Maybe Harris can develop into an all-star. Outside of that we're pretty much stuck with fighting for a 5-8 seed every season. It's what everyone wanted though.

I think we have one of the 3-4 best rosters in the East. Cleveland is the only sure thing. Boston and Toronto are probably the next 2 in the conversation. I'd take us at all 3 frontcourt spots over Toronto and our bench is now catching up.

[dd24]

Cleveland by far has the best roster. Toronto and Boston are clearly better. Because of Dre do we have a better front line than some teams? Of course. I don't think Dre is the guy that gets us over the hump yet. He will really need to show a huge increase in his offensive game (especially FT's). I don't think Chicago is better than us, but their two best players are better than our one best player. Cleveland has two players (and some would argue 3) better than our best. Indiana's best is better than our best. That's just our division. So I don't count those teams out. We're definitely much deeper this year. That will help a lot. I also think that back court is very crucial in today's NBA. Maybe even more so than having bigs. And ours are just ok right now. Reggie will need to continue to get much better. I expect more consistency out of KCP. If we don't get all that I don't see how we're a top 4 seed in the East.

[Nastradamus]

No way in hell I'd trade rosters with Toronto. Maybe Boston if it included the future picks they own

[Nastradamus]

Also we finally have a squad that looks exactly how SVG wants his team to look. He has shown a propensity IMO to get a team to play above what it should be on paper when they fit his system.

While its not the perfect measuring stick, all 5 of our starters likely get the max on the open market(Morris the most questionable, but Demmarre Carroll did and that's probably his best comp)

[dd24]

Toronto has a far better back court than we do. No doubt about that. Lowry & Derozen > Jackson & KCP. They'll be better than us for the near future. Plus, you gotta figure the division they play in is much easier and that helps them too. Either way, Toronto and Detroit both are not contenders.

[Aussie Dunker]

Well, no one is a contender outside of GSW and Cavs, let's be honest -

Really what is the point in having a "borderline contender" for the next 2-3 years whilst these "super teams" are in place.

We are better building momentum and booming into contention in 2-3 years time when all of our young pieces are entering their mid 20's / prime.

In my opinion we just really need to focus on building a culture here that players want to be a part of, and want to forge something together, rather than skip out to free agency. Easier said than done but I have ultimate faith in SVG, and I get a feel that Dre / KCP / Stanley are all locked in as true blue collar Piston players.

We shall see...

[dd24]

San Antonio has the best front line in the league. LMA, Gasol, Leonard. I consider them contenders. They have the only chance of beating Golden State. One thing people haven't talked about is David West actually went to GS too. That really helped their front line.

[Aussie Dunker]

David West would be one of the absolute best players to be a 0 minute per game player.

What I mean, is that he would be one of the very best locker room leaders, motivators, mentors and overall positive influence on a team without having to step foot on the court.

Anything he gives on the court is a bonus, and he is still ultra handy as a backup big man.

It will be easy for this GSW team to become "bored" or "content" with how good they will likely be, but West will be able to keep them hungry and in check,

Great under rated signing

And also agree with comment about Spurs,

[dd24]

I actually think West will get more minutes with the GSW. They're going to go up big, rest their stars more this season, and let the bench guys finish up things.