The Pistons have leveled off. I'm actually pretty happy about where they are right now, because it feels sustainable. Possibly even improvable. They have credible wins against Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Miami, and now Houston. They also have some troubling losses against the Lakers, Kings, and Nets. They are back up at .500 through 18 games, and they really feel like a .500 team right now. That said, I can definitely see where they could improve and turn into maybe a middle-of-the-road playoff team, like a 4 or a 5 seed.
Issue Area #1: Reggie Jackson
He goes from being Point God to Pointless Guard, and the Pistons only win with the first one. Reggie needs to look for shooters more, and he needs to do a better job of finding Drummond. I'm fine with him playing hero-ball when his shot is falling, but Reggie needs to learn how to back off and impact the game positively when he isn't shooting well. Right now, his solution to a bad shooting night is to keep shooting.
Issue Area #2: The Stench UnitThis is what I call our bench. They might be the worst bench in the country. Stanley Johnson is coming around, but they're basically a bunch of replacement-level players apart from him. Van Gundy was forced to mix up his substitutions to avoid playing the bench all at the same time. There is basically no backup SG, so he'll keep KCP in the game, or slide Stanley Johnson over to SG and play Marcus Morris with the other bench players. The easy answer is to count on the return of Brandon Jennings, but he won't be 100% right off the bat. And they still need a backup PG.
Issue Area #3: Hack-a-Dre/Double-a-DreDrummond looked for all the world like his FT issues were fixed at the beginning of the year, but since then his FT% has dropped into the sub-.400% range. The Pistons were rolling and had an 18 point lead last night, until Houston went into full Hack-a-Dre with 5 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. SVG subbed in Aron Baynes for Drummond 30 seconds later with the lead still at 18. By the end of the quarter, Houston had trimmed 7 points off the lead. Stan cannot give in to Hack-a-Dre. He should either employ the same strategy and turn the game into a Free-Throw Brick-a-thon, or else let them foul away and play defense.
Let me explain the second thing. Drummond is an evolving post player. Most of the time, the opponent is physically out-matched. He's going to start seeing more double teams as his hook shot falls more frequently. Whenever a perimeter player doubles down & swipes at the ball, Dre turns it over. He needs to learn to sense the pressure and kick it out to the open guy. He doesn't do this right now, and it's one of the reasons why the offense doesn't work really well most of the time (24th out of 30 teams in offensive rating). The Pistons aren't shooting the 3 very well right now, but that should change when Drummond learns when to pass.
All in all, I'm excited by the team. They have their moments when they look legitimately GOOD. My dad & I are going to see the Warriors game when Ben Wallace's number will be retired at halftime. First game I've gone to in a few years. I'm really looking forward to it. Lots to talk about with Michigan, the Tigers, and the Lions, so I'll get to that tomorrow.
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