Right now the pistons are not exactaly where they want to be, record wise, but considering the injuries to their star players I believe that this is exactly where they should be. If they had the scoring of rip hamilton in a few games down the stretch the Pistons might be looking at a few more wins under their belt. Never the less the Pistons have pleased and probably suprised a lot of team with the ability of their guards to penetrate into the middle and get a pair of free throws. My only concern right now is, what happens to with the Ben Gordon and Rip Hamilton situation. Both are putting up stellar numbers, before Rip was injured. When Hamilton returns I will be interested to see how John Kuester distributes the minutes across the board. Both Hamilton and Gordon have proven that they are NBA starters but unfortunately one of them is going to have to take the bench along with Will Bynum.
I would not be surprised if Kuester plays a mostly 3 guard set up with Prince/Jerebko/Daye/Villanueva at the 4 position and Wallace/Brown/Wilcox/Villanueva at the 5. This seems the most beneficial to scoring and defense.
What to watch out for
The Pistons will not match up well against any team with a large dominant big man, i.e. Dwight Howard, Kevin Garnett, Chris Bosh. And if that team shoots for a high percentage of 3 pointers then they are in trouble. They do not match up very well because they don't have a dominant big man down low. Ben Wallace is a good defender but he is actually undersized compared to the other big men of the NBA. What the Pistons will end up doing is bringing a second man to double team from the weak side of the ball, then once the ball is kicked out they will hopefully be able to rotate fast enough to eliminate the 3 point opportunity.
Individual Player Breakdown
Rodney Stuckey: He is a very talented player, but still learning to be a true point guard and dish the ball to open team mates. Untill last night he has seems to always play more of a shooting guard role. Last night against the Bobcats he played the best point guard I have ever seen him play.
Ben Gordon: Stellar. He can drive the ball, get fouls and make the layups. He can also create his own shot any time. He shoots from a high percentage coming off of a screen taking a mid range jump shot.
Jonas Jerebko: Jonas has been the most impressive rookie this year for the Pistons. He hustles down the court and for loose balls. He is often faced with the challenge of guarding tough opponents and he actually does a pretty good job.
Charlie Villanueva: I wasn't quite sure how effective he was going to be at the begining of the season. He is a defensive presence while of the offensive end has almost unlimited potential. When he gets in the zone, he can shoot from pretty much any place on the court. With confidence too.
Ben Wallace: Enough cannot be said to how much impact he has on this team. He is a defensive leader and always has enough energy to grab an offensive board on the other end. This man is a monster on the boards. If he keeps up the intensity and energy that he brings to the team, I believe that he has a very good chance at winning another defensive player of the year award.
Will Bynum: He is the quickest man off the dribble in the NBA and has an explosive quickness not only on the offensive end. Every point guard in the NBA should be worried of a steal when he is guarding you. He is the truest sense of point guard on the team with a close second to Stuckey. I believe Will will end up winning the 6th man of the year award at the end of the season.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Starting Line Up?
This off season Joe Dumars acquired a few weird pieces to their puzzle that is the Detroit Pistons. But I think the real question to their off season is, who is going to start for them? This is who I foresee making the starting lineup come game 1 of the 2009-2010 NBA season.
PG-Rodney Stuckey(But will have to share minutes with the very impressive Will Bynum, I wouldn't be suprised if they switch roles on and off during the season)
SG-Richard 'Rip' Hamilton( he will start but share lots of minutes with Ben Gordon at either the SG or SF position)
SF-Tayshaun Prince(Will most likely be the odd man out when the John Kuester decides to go small, meaning PG-Stuckey, and Gordon or Bynum will share the shooting guard position and the small forward position. Also expect Austin Daye have a Tayshaun Prince like effect from this position as well.)
PF-Charlie Villanueva-(Will likely get the most minutes at this position, sharing it with most likely Chris Wilcox and a crowd favorite Jason Maxiell)
C-Kwame Brown-(or possibly I see Big Ben Wallace returning to the starting position if he can bring a defensive mentality to the team.)
Other Notes: Austin Daye is way to small to be playing anything but small forward. He is 2 inches taller than Prince and weighs 15 lbs less. He is going to have trouble guarding the larger small forwards but quick enough to guard the bigger shooting guards. And extra height always helps. I would look for him to play a big role in help side defense.
Ben Gordon is not the natural Point man, but I have always believed he is capable of doing so when needs. He has excellent vision. I would like to see John Kuester put him in on the point down the stretch in 4th quarter games and take charge.
Will Bynum is possibly the most underrated guard in the league. He will be HUGE off the bench for the Pistons. The combination of Maxiell and him coming off the bench could provide a remarkable spark.
Final Notes: There were points in games last year where Michael Curry realized that just none of his starters could score. By having Bynum and Gordon I think that these moments will provide relief to a team that no one is giving even the slightest chance of being successful. I personally believe that this is the Joe Dumars work almost at his best yet again. I like the looks that the pistons can give the opposing teams and I believe they will surprise a lot of people this upcoming season.
PG-Rodney Stuckey(But will have to share minutes with the very impressive Will Bynum, I wouldn't be suprised if they switch roles on and off during the season)
SG-Richard 'Rip' Hamilton( he will start but share lots of minutes with Ben Gordon at either the SG or SF position)
SF-Tayshaun Prince(Will most likely be the odd man out when the John Kuester decides to go small, meaning PG-Stuckey, and Gordon or Bynum will share the shooting guard position and the small forward position. Also expect Austin Daye have a Tayshaun Prince like effect from this position as well.)
PF-Charlie Villanueva-(Will likely get the most minutes at this position, sharing it with most likely Chris Wilcox and a crowd favorite Jason Maxiell)
C-Kwame Brown-(or possibly I see Big Ben Wallace returning to the starting position if he can bring a defensive mentality to the team.)
Other Notes: Austin Daye is way to small to be playing anything but small forward. He is 2 inches taller than Prince and weighs 15 lbs less. He is going to have trouble guarding the larger small forwards but quick enough to guard the bigger shooting guards. And extra height always helps. I would look for him to play a big role in help side defense.
Ben Gordon is not the natural Point man, but I have always believed he is capable of doing so when needs. He has excellent vision. I would like to see John Kuester put him in on the point down the stretch in 4th quarter games and take charge.
Will Bynum is possibly the most underrated guard in the league. He will be HUGE off the bench for the Pistons. The combination of Maxiell and him coming off the bench could provide a remarkable spark.
Final Notes: There were points in games last year where Michael Curry realized that just none of his starters could score. By having Bynum and Gordon I think that these moments will provide relief to a team that no one is giving even the slightest chance of being successful. I personally believe that this is the Joe Dumars work almost at his best yet again. I like the looks that the pistons can give the opposing teams and I believe they will surprise a lot of people this upcoming season.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Pistons Off-Season Moves
This off season the Detroit Pistons have made the most of what was available to them. In free agency they picked up two very solid players in Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva. Personally I believe that Ben Gordon is the most underrated guard in the league. And while I haven't seen much of Villanueva I know that he is a low post threat and can score down low. This itself will help the Pistons greatly. Even when the pistons won the championship back in 2005 they did not have a sever low post threat in any player, which is very very unorthodox.
These two players will have a great impact on the team this upcoming season. But since the signing of Guard Ben Gordon, all the fans have been asking "ok now we have 2 shooting guards, who is going to be playing the point?". I would not be suprised at all if the new Head coach John Kuester, former Cleveland assistant coach, asks Gordon to play the point in this upcoming season. Last season we got a feel for what Stuckey was like play General of the offense. It was fairly clear to me that he is not ready to be a starting point guard in the NBA quite yet. His time will come though.
These two players will have a great impact on the team this upcoming season. But since the signing of Guard Ben Gordon, all the fans have been asking "ok now we have 2 shooting guards, who is going to be playing the point?". I would not be suprised at all if the new Head coach John Kuester, former Cleveland assistant coach, asks Gordon to play the point in this upcoming season. Last season we got a feel for what Stuckey was like play General of the offense. It was fairly clear to me that he is not ready to be a starting point guard in the NBA quite yet. His time will come though.
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