I've got mixed feelings about the Pats missing the playoffs. On one hand, I feel sort of obligated to root for them based on their Michigan connections (Yeah, Brady, but mainly because of Zoltan Mesko). On the other hand, I'm kinda tired of them, Belichick is a certifiable douche, and Brady has turned into kind of a whiner. They really are the Yankees of football.
So this leaves me without much rooting interest in the Superbowl. I'm not really a Flacco fan, and Ray Lewis is really too much right now. I mean REALLY, really too much. And as a Lions fan I can't root for the 49ers while Jim Harbaugh is the head coach, right? Can I root for both to lose? Or the stadium to collapse? Pro football is going to be rough until I can fully immerse myself in the fantasy of unrealized expectations that is the NFL Draft. Actually, better to say the hype before the NFL Draft, because I've been pretty disappointed with the Lions' actual drafts for the past... I don't know, 20 years?
There was another game on Sunday that I was more interested in. Let me give you a hint:
Yes, more Drummond-love. The Bynum-to-Drummond alley 'oop was in full effect. Eventually the C's got tired of getting dunked on and applied the Hack-a-Drummond strategy, which is kind of like punting on 3rd down. As a result, Drummond ended up with 16 points and 7 boards in 20 minutes of play. Monroe was steady, Bynum was fantastic (and looks like the best guard on the team), but Drummond remains the most fun to watch.
He gets some amazing rebounds, had a couple of nice blocks, and he had a steal that if Pierce hadn't grabbed his jersey would've been a spectacular dunk (not sure why a "clear path" foul wasn't called, because that's what it was). In a game which most of the team performed well, Drummond got top honors. Oh, and the Pistons won by 15.
Here's a tidbit, courtesy of Vince Goodwill & pistonpowered.com. I don't think it explains why Drummond hasn't cracked the starting lineup yet, but it does provide some insight. If it was still December, maybe I could see Lawrence Frank keeping Drummond on the bench based on uncertainty and practice performance. But, as Tayshaun said, some players aren't practice players. Drummond is putting the work in, but doesn't get production in practice. Ok. Start the "practice stars" for practices and the "game stars" for games. Austin Daye must be a practice STUD or something. That's the only explanation for him.
I've got a couple of quick gripes and then I'm done. First, the isolation is the laziest play in all of basketball. Well, for everyone but the guy with the ball. It's a lot better if it's run in conjunction with some off-ball motion, but a lot of the time the other 4 guys turn into ball-watchers. This is fine if it's iso LeBron or Durant, but... Of all the iso's run in the league, the Tayshaun Prince iso is the dullest and probably least effective. He doesn't pass out of it and he's only got 2 go-to moves. Frank has moved toward the Greg Monroe iso, which is a lot better, but fails when defenses crash inside (because nobody else is a threat). Anyway, the iso is not a play that fits the Pistons personnel.
Second, enough with Rodney Stuckey already. He's not a good 3-pt shooter, he's not a point guard, and a mediocre defender. Knight looks like if he works hard he could become a rich man's Rodney Stuckey. Ugh. And to think we could've gotten Kemba Walker, a rich man's Brandon Knight... Anyway, Stuckey just doesn't fit this team, especially with Knight taking over the role of combo-guard who never becomes a true PG. I think he'll be a solid 6th-man type with another team. Can we deal him with a couple baggage contracts for Jeff Teague?
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