More praise for Walter Herrmann

by Matt Watson on Oct 3, 2008 4:24 AM EDT

As DBB reader Diablo pointed out, Walter Herrmann "stole the show" during last night's open scrimmage at Oakland University. A. Sherrod Blakely of MLive.com agreed, as did Rasheed Wallace and Michael Curry:

Without question, the star of the scrimmage was Walter Herrmann. The 6-foot-9 forward put on a show shooting the ball, knocking down 3-pointers from all points on the floor.

"Lighting it up," said Rasheed Wallace, referring to Herrmann's shooting. "Herm did good. That's the best I've seen Herm shoot for a practice since he's been here."

Said Pistons head coach Michael Curry: "We talked to Walter today. Guys were laughing because, one of the five points this morning was that, if he's open, shoot the basketball. Because he hadn't shot a lot of open shots. Everybody had confidence in his shot. He can really shoot the basketball, so he was more aggressive today. That's what we need."

Herrmann shot .461 from long distance as a rookie in 2006-07 on a fair number (115) of attempts. His playing time was much more sporadic last year (especially once he arrived in Detroit) but he still managed to shoot .313 on 64 attempts. If you do the math, that makes him a career .401 shooter from three-point land, which certainly merits having a green light.

The role of Tayshaun Prince's backup has been a question mark (will it be Herrmann? Arron Afflalo? Maybe a little Rip Hamilton?), but if Herrmann hits 40% of his threes this year, he'll make this decision easy, especially considering everything else he brings to the table (energetic defense, Dr. J's swooping layups, a keen fashion sense).

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Herrmann did a nice job getting all of his points while being guarded by “The Rook”. (Sharpe)

I wouldn’t read too much into it, but its nice to see the Detroit basketball media giving him some hype.

by Mike on Oct 3, 2008 1:24 PM EDT reply actions

“Herrmann did a nice job getting all of his points while being guarded by "The Rook". (Sharpe)

I wouldn’t read too much into it, but its nice to see the Detroit basketball media giving him some hype."

I also felt the same way, like I mentioned in my write up, Walter Sharpe left guys open and was late getting to spots defensively. But you can’t hate on Herrmann’s performance, he knocked down the open 3s when given the chance. And when he was guarded well, he took the ball straight to the hoop and finished (sometimes with the foul). He was aggressive with Sharpe the same way he was aggressive with Prince last night. He was impressive.

by Diablo on Oct 3, 2008 2:25 PM EDT reply actions

Hey I figure why not. The guy can shoot the ball man. And as we’ve seen he can be a pest on defense. He’s just so spazzy and active that he distracts shooters. Hell, he can’t be any worse than Jarvis Hayes.

by Eric on Oct 3, 2008 3:43 PM EDT reply actions

I think Herrmann should get the nod at the backup three. But he’s going to need consistent time to be effective.

by kevin s. on Oct 3, 2008 4:58 PM EDT reply actions

trade him now please while his value is high! I want my boy Walter Sharpe to get some tick.

by John W. Davis on Oct 4, 2008 12:55 PM EDT reply actions

I’d love to see Walter Herrmann get more minutes this season. His shooting ability is amazing, plus his physical defense and size would be very useful backing up Tayshaun Prince. He could do a lot of things that help this team.

by Dave on Oct 5, 2008 8:56 AM EDT reply actions