Jennings Goes Nuts

The Pistons went stat-happy last night. They lit up Orlando in the first half, 65-48, then nearly gave it away in the 2nd half when their lead slimmed to 2 points in the 4th quarter. SVG switched up the personnel and they jumped out ahead again, winning 128-118. You can't be thrilled by how the defense fell apart in the 2nd half, but the offense was lights out most of the game. Greg Monroe did most of his damage in the 1st half and finished with 24 pts, 10 rebs & 4 assists. Drummond was better with 26 pts, 17 rebs, 4 steals and 3 blocks, but the night belonged to Brandon Jennings.

Jennings was in another world, ripping off 24 pts, 21 assists and only 2 turnovers. He played ok defense, and was the motor running this team. This is the guy Dumars wanted when he traded Brandon Knight and Khris Middleton to Milwaukee for Jennings, only he made the mistake of hiring the wrong coach and bringing in the wrong free agents. In the 15 games since Stan Van Gundy excised the biggest mistake Dumars made (lately), Jennings has been on a roll.

• Shooting .440 FG%, .404 3P%, .828 FT%
• Averaging 20 points per game
• 7.2 assists
• 1.9 turnovers
• ...and playing decent defense

If he can keep that up, those are 1st or 2nd team All NBA numbers. He won't make the All Star game, but he may end the year with All Star deserving numbers. Keep an eye on this.

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The Red Wings have an AWESOME development system. But we knew this.

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Here's an update, excerpt stolen from Bill Simmons' NBA Trade Value Column, under "Toughest Omissions":

Brandon Jennings: His 2014-15 splits will be studied by social scientists 350 years from now … 

With Josh Smith (25 games): 12.6 ppg, 6.4 apg, 37-33-85%
Without Josh Smith (15 games): 20.0 ppg, 7.2 apg, 44-40-83% 

(By the way: Pistons fans keep asking me how to handle Smith’s dramatic return to Detroit on January 31. I agree with my Grantland Basketball Hour cohost Jalen Rose — a five-minute standing ovation for Josh would deliver the message in the snarkiest way possible. Especially if fans were strewn about the arena dressed as ghosts in Josh Smith/Pistons jerseys and calling themselves “The Ghosts of Brickmas Past.”)

First, I've been saying this about Jennings for the past 2 weeks, maybe longer. Cutting Josh Smith set him free. Second, although I think Pistons fans will most likely boo Josh Smith (why?), I think a 5-minute standing O would be funnier and way more appropriate. For the record, Brandon Knight made the list BARELY at #60, but he did eke out Jennings. Probably due to age difference & contract. Here are the other Pistons on the list:

59. Greg MonroeFor an earlier draft of this piece, I wrote that “if Greg Monroe was a junk food item, he’d be Pop Chips’ sweet potato flavor.” In other words, he made you spend an inordinate amount of time wondering why his flavor doesn’t work. Who doesn’t love sweet potatoes? Who doesn’t love lefty big men who post up AND pass from the high elbow? But then the Josh Smith trade happened and Monroe not-so-magically started ripping off 20-13s after the Pistons finished their basketball chemo treatments. And now he’s absolutely a market max guy. Josh Smith is like Haley Joel Osment in Pay It Forward.

...And that's it.  I expect Drummond may show up somewhere in there, but he is absent through part 1. Drummond is having a down year for him, but he's only 21 and is on his rookie deal. More to come later.