Returning Pistons Rusty Against Raptors
by Packey on Dec 28, 2009 8:00 AM EST
in Detroit Pistons Recaps
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Since veteran DBB'ers are probably still easing into the change, I'll follow the traditional DBB recap format, with a dosage of the old MTSM bullet points after the jump.
What Happened
The Pistons lost their seventh straight game despite the return of Tayshaun Prince, Richard Hamilton, and Ben Gordon. They were clearly rusty in the first half, but prevented a repeat of Wednesday night thanks to a strong second half.
The Good
Win or lose, it feels very good to have the aforementioned three back in the lineup. As for the game itself, the Pistons battled back from a 19-point deficit in the second half and pulled to as close as one. Being on the road and having the bad taste of Wednesday's franchise low scoring game still lingering, it was very encouraging to see them not give up and get back into it.
The Bad
Aside from the entire first half, BG and Rip had the most trouble dusting of the cobwebs -- they shot a combined 10-35 (29%).
The MVP
Even though it's debatable whether he's capable of being a starting PF, Jonas Jerebko had 14 points on 6-10 shooting, hustled down seven rebounds, and hit big baskets (dunks & threes) to help chip away at the 19-point deficit.
The Terry Mills Unsung Hero
Tayshaun Prince definitely seemed to be the least involved of the three returning players, but he was sneakily the most effective. He was 4-8 shooting (nine points) and had three rebounds. He also hit big shots during the Pistons comeback attempt that fell short. He was a team best +6, as well.
The Takeaway
The Pistons are finally healthy and, despite the poor shooting from Hamilton and Gordon, they outscored a hot Raptors squad by 12 in the second half. I'd like to think the Pistons are on the up and up.
- On a day when the Pistons struggled mightily in the first half, and five Pistons were in double-figures, Stuckey managed to have a pretty good game. He had 14 points on 6-14 shooting, grabbed eight rebounds, and assisted five. His assist numbers will benefit from the return of Rip, BG, and Tay -- especially Rip running around those back screens for open looks. There are still too many instances of Stuckey driving wildly through the lane and throwing up prayers.
- Here's one that turned out alright:
- Ben Wallace was a rebound away from a double-double. Surprisingly, he was the hot hand late in the game keeping the Pistons in it. The go-to play? Rip driving, drawing defenders, and trusting to dish it to an open Ben Wallace.
- Austin Daye's minutes were affected most from the return of Rip, BG, and Tay. He was averaging 20+ minutes over the past five games, but saw just three SECONDS on Sunday. Kwame Brown (DNP) and Jason Maxiell (four minutes) also saw significantly less time.
- The Pistons' roster was apparently not at full strength on Sunday. DaJuan Summers did not play due to a strained left knee (or at least that's how it was listed in the box score).
- Also, maybe Charlie Villanueva should sit the next few out to rest his shins? It's now been four games in a row he hasn't reached double-digits in scoring and hasn't made more than two field goals. His shooting percentage has been bad in five straight. He's a far bigger liability than a help right now.
- Box score
- Highlights:
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I'd hate to lose the bullet points...
and I feel sorry for Coach Q…these injuries are really starting to get annoying. it’s pretty much absurd at this point how many this team are playing through.
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The next couple of games
Will be key. We’ll see if a full-strength Pistons squad is better than the mediocre, sub -.500 teams Detroit will be battling with for the final playoff spots. It says here the Pistons are, but on the off chance they aren’t, this could be a really long, disappointing season.
If Detroit is better than the current #6-10 teams in the East, it’s still pretty clear that they aren’t better than the top 3-4. Which gets us back to the question we’ve had since we acquired Gordon and CV — what is the NEXT step that somehow parlays our obvious overabundance of good guards and our surprising strength at SF into a quality big who can score in the post?
Jerebko the MVP?
He had a great second half, but was awful in the first half, and was (IMO) one of the main reasons we fell into a hole. He couldn’t stop Bosh without fouling, and he had a pair of especially boneheaded fouls in the 2nd quarter which put us into the penalty with 4-5 minutes left before half time.
Not sure who else noticed this, but you know what Kuester switched between the first half and the second? Tay began guarding Bosh instead of Jerebko. Look at the difference between Bosh’s 1st and 2nd quarter stats, and the 3rd quarter (once Tay was switched onto him):
http://popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/gameflow.cgi?date=20091227&game=DETTOR
That’s a nice reminder of how valuable Tay’s defense can be. But IMO it also kinda goes to show that Jerebko doesn’t make a ton of sense as a PF. If we have to cross-match our still banged up SF onto another teams star PF just to keep JJ in the starting line-up, doesn’t it make more sense to just bring him off the bench as an energizer?
Also, I like how he would fit in as a big SF, alongside a MFWB/Gordon backcourt.
Didn't watch the game...
but I like your point about Jerebko at the 4. He’s played there a few other times this year and hasn’t been very effective. However, it’s a bit unfair to say that “because he can’t guard Chris Bosh, he shouldn’t play the 4.” If that’s the case, there are very few people in the NBA who should be playing PF. Tay did a good job yesterday, but I wouldn’t trust him to hold Bosh to those kinds of numbers for an entire game.
As for JJ, his perimeter defense still needs work. He is a rookie though, it will get better with time. I think he’s better on the wing, but we have an abundance of guys at the 2 and 3. It will be really tough to get him, 4-second Daye, and others minutes with Rip, Gordon, and Tay coming back.
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by handsomerob1 on Dec 28, 2009 11:26 AM EST up reply actions
You’re right that it’s not a totally fair point against JJ, but I really didn’t like the fact that Tay, in his first game back from the most serious injury he’s ever had in his life, was already being relied on to guard a PF.
I like JJ a lot, and he definitely gave us a huge spark in the 2nd half, but I’m worried that if he continues to have a hard time guarding PF’s, it will lead Kuester to keep switching Tay onto them, which IMO is not in the best interest of the team in the long term.
While JJ has been a pleasant surprise (one of the only ones this season), and while shure, not that many folks and probably zero rookies can effectively check Bosh, JJ seems better suited as a 3 than a 4.
So, this is just the zillionth variation on the theme of “we have a lot of good guards and we’re suddenly surprisingly deep at SF but we don’t have enough talent at the 4-5.”
If it were me, with everyone healthy, I would start Big Ben, CV, Tay, Rip and Stuckey, and bring in Gordon, JJ, MFWB at the 1-3, and some combination of Kwame/Wilcox/Maxy at the 4-5 off the bench.
+++
Agreed, that would be my rotation as well.
Nice overall scoring/shooting/driving balance, and I liked how JJ and Max fit together as a SF/PF combo (JJ’s overall rebounding ability helped cover up Max’s defensive rebounding deficiency a bit, and together they really crashed the offensive glass).
Are you all drunk?
Just because Prince guards Bosh on defensive possesions doesn’t mean they run plays for Tay as a PF. Look how JJ lit up Bosh from 3 point land in the 3rd. JJ will be our starting PF he just needs to get a little better defensively. Maxiel is anemic offensively and, honestly, I don’t think he even fared to well against Bosh when he guarded him. In the summer league JJ saw most of his time at center. I think our best five on the floor include Tay at SF and JJ at PF because CV picks up some dumb fouls in bunches as well, but off the bench for a quarter he can light it up. JJ hasn’t even began to reach his ceiling.
are you drunk?
just because jj played center in summer league doesnt mean he can play power forward in a legitimate basketball league. he isnt strong enough at this point in his career to guard many of the fours he will face and his offense, at this point isnt good enough for him to make back the points he is going to give up.
i love his hustle and energy on the floor, but he is prolly best as a backup to tayshaun.
Look at our roster. We’re not strong at the power positions. We give up alot in height. I know maxiell would be 6’11’’ if he had a neck but he’s not a dominant post defender, atleast not for long stretches. He’s great at defending around the basket, but that’s about it. I’m not saying play Jerebko at center by any means, just saying he has the build for it atleast. I bet he catches on quick and continues to impress at PF.
Plus, we need those SF minutes for Daye. It would be a crime to let him rot on the bench. I’ve been waiting all season to see Dayshaun spell Tayshaun.
This was a tough game to pick an MVP
In my thinking, I let Jerebko’s first half defense go because, well, nobody was good on defense and I didn’t want to fault Jerebko for clearly giving his all when clearly out of position/outmatched by a superior player. But I probably could have flipped Tay and Jerebko in the MVP/Unsung Hero
Also, FWIW, I noticed Big Ben on Bosh a lot in the 2nd half, too.
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On second thought...
I probably should have just gone with Big Ben… he seems to be the Pistons perma-MVP. He’s so steady now that we might be starting to take it for granted.
Detroit Bad Boys- SB Nation's Detroit Pistons Blog
I'm just going to throw this out there...
but I’m against losing efforts getting MVP’s. Just an “unsung hero” is good enough when you lose I think.
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Yeah, if memory serves Ben guarded Bosh for a big chunk of the 4th quarter, especially after JJ fouled out and we went with tiny-ball: Stuck/Gordon/Rip/Tay/Ben for the last five minutes.
And completely agree that Ben, as the only truly above average defensive big on the roster, is pretty much the auto-MVP on many nights.
Charlie V was brought in to be the starting PF
He better rest a few games and get healthy.
Bernard, Percy and AP oh my!
Ratutins Was Raving About Jarebko
Leo Rautins the Raptors TV analyst spent the entire Raptors broadcast raving about Jarebko.
They even showed pictures of Rautins and Jarebko playing together at Syracuse. I wonder if that had anything to do with the enormous continual platitudes that Rautins was doling out for Jarebko.
Probably. However as I posted before the guy can ball.
Funny they have a thread up on Pistonsforum.com enttitled Jonas Jarebko or Amir Johnson. Last time I checked it was 60 – 3 in favor of Jarebko. To that I would hardily agree.
Don’t trade Jarebko now, or in the forseeable future. LOL
While I think he is vastly overrated
particularly on defense, I think Jerebko is doing exceedingly well all things considered. A rookie, 39th pick who has had to play extended minutes in a league with the fastest, strongest basketball players out there.
I would love to see him be a solid 3-4, so I like him getting minutes at the 4. He still needs strength but he needs time to gain that, and he needs to get acclimated to playing strong big guys, and that will only come with playing those strong big guys.
If there is a season to test, experiment and/or waste, it is this one.
I agree, if you look at the W/Ls it certainly is a season of roster appraisal… I think most Pistons fans knew this season was going to be one of rebuilding- I say play that out. You add all the injuries and you do not have the makings of a Championship, so you play with the lineups and you look at what value you have in your team as currently assembled.
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