The Pistons obviously had a chance to win against both the Lakers and the Kings, but I’m not too torn up about the outcome. Why? As a lot of you pointed out in the game comments, it’s November, the Pistons are short-handed and the bench is seeing action.
It’s tough to keep one game in perspective between tip-off and the final whistle, but after the fact it’s kind of nice to look back at the box score and realize, “hey, we learned something new.”
What did we learn this weekend? We learned that Cheikh Samb is far more useful than anyone expected this soon. Here’s a highlight reel I found on YouTube of Samb, Amir Johnson and Jason Maxiell:
From Chris McCosky of the Detroit News:
“His growth as a player, both physically and mentally, has been nothing short of astronomical,” Saunders said. “He’s really progressed as far as understanding what we’re trying to do and his grasp of the game. You know, this is a guy who’s only been playing a couple of years, so he has no bad habits. Everything he’s being taught, it’s nothing but good habits.”
Does this mean that Samb won’t be going to the D-League just yet? From Krista Jahnke of the Detroit Free Press:
“I think we’ve talked a little bit, and I think we’ll hold off for now,” Saunders said. “There’s no question we can throw him in the game. He has a presence. … You’re not afraid to put someone like that on the floor.”
I like the decision. If Samb falls out of the rotation, then giving him 30 minutes a game down at Fort Wayne is probably the best thing for everyone involved, but if he’s able to contribute even five minutes a game for the Pistons, I think it’s worth letting him stay. Why? Because there are residual benefits for keeping him around, including giving him a chance to work directly with the team’s coaching staff, letting him practice against NBA-caliber teammates and monitoring his diet/exercise habits to pack a few more pounds on his frame.
But he’s for real. Like Saunders said, he has a presence in the paint, since anyone driving the lane has to keep one eye trained on him. Paired together with another leaper like Johnson, the results can be comical, as the video above proves. Yes, they both need to work on their timing (if they both go for the block, no one is ready for the rebound …), but that’s what playing time is for, to learn how to get better.
As for Johnson, it’s a little difficult to grade his performance this weekend considering the team ran few (if any) plays for him. In the last two games, he’s combined for 33 minutes, 10 rebounds, four blocks and a steal … and just one shot from the field. In time, maybe that will be something to be concerned about, but considering he’s been playing early in the game with some of the starters, I don’t think it’s a big deal. Plus, his plus/minus rating was +9 and +6 on Friday and Sunday, respectively — anytime a player is in the black during a loss means they were doing something right (or at least, not doing too many things wrong), even if they weren’t the ones putting the ball in the bucket.
i was a little upset about what happened with those two games that they should’ve won, but i was thinking exactly the same thing, the performance of max, amir and samb. i realized that game was still a win for the piston because of the way these 3 youngs played…..amir and samb…..this is what they need, to get their defense back. my concern is flip saunders about his zone defense….i guess its okay to stay with it if its effective, but if its not, shouldn’t piston just play man-to-man considering the solid defense thats been occuring between our bigs (sheed, max, amir, samb). can anyone please fill me in why flip keeps staying with zone?
by the way, what’s the latest on stuckey?
Good question about Stuckey, I’d love to hear an update as well Ric.
I gotta do something to make those alley-oops more prominent, but I posted a quick note on Stuckey earlier today. Basically, he could start practicing tomorrow, wearing a protective glove on his hand that he’ll likely continue to wear once he returns.
Ric, the zone defense is working. Especially, with Cheick and Amir on the court as Flip made the point that they don’t get pushed around as much as they would if they were in a man-to-man.
The big problems the last two games has been not having McDyess and Maxiell (because of foul trouble). That left Sheed as our only front court scorer. That hurt our offense especially when he was out.
On a previous post, I said we should still send Cheick to the D-League. I changed my mind based on something Flip said: “Everything he’s being taught, it’s all good habits.” Seeing Andrew Bynum develop the last three years in LA makes me realize that Cheick probably is best served staying with the team. Bynum played almost no high school ball but got some great coaching from Kareem during his first two years. Now, he’s already got better footwork that half the post players in the league.
that shit is ballin’
Look, I don’t want to be the lone raving looney here but I think it’s being pretty optimistic to say last night’s game was fine “because the young guys learned some things”. Yes Flip has to develop the bench (Joe told him to, clearly) and yes he’s doing that. If it was poor bench play that cost us the game, I’d be fine with what you are saying. However it wasn’t the bench driving inside and hurling one handed contested lobs vaguely towards the basket during the 2nd half. That was pathetic to watch and it was done almost ENTIRELY by men aged 28 or over. Throw in that Flip didn’t even seem to SEE this happening, didn’t call time in the 3rd and didn’t substitute the guys jacking up off balance one handed contested lob shots (seriously that’s what they were, with the Piston’s shooter pratically bending backwards just to get the ball towards the net over the King’s players arms)… and imho we have a SERIOUS problem.
Forgive me if I can’t let god awful shot selection slide just because some kid from Africa looked like an NBA player for about 5 mins.
I’m with PG4L (even though she snitched to KG on me). But in the grand scheme of things, hopefully everyone (rookies, vets, coach) can learn something from the west coast swing.
One day, we will look back on the decision by the NBA to put plus/minus in box scores and shake our heads in disgust.
Take this to a logical extreme. Say I played a game with four NBA stars, against 5 college basketball players. I would be getting torched but four NBA players would win that game pretty handily. If I was never subbed out, I might have a +/- of +30 but it doesn’t mean I did anything right.
The same thing can happen in an NBA game with real NBA players. Say Flip Murray is playing with Chauncey for a stretch and Chauncey decides to take over the scoring. Chauncey comes down and hits three 3-pointers in a row. Flip is subbed out and doesn’t return to the game. He might be +9 but he didn’t contribute other than not hoisting up his own shots.
+/- for individual players in an individual game is essentially meaningless. There’s just too many variables. Over a season, or stretches of a season, I think you can look at trends. In a single game though, +/-, in my opinion, only has any meaning when you look at the +/- of lineups.
Also on the Rodney Stuckey front, he’s going to be writing for SLAM magazine’s rookie blogs sometime soon, so keep an eye out for that.
darshan….u maybe right about missing out on mcdyes offense…but guys, i really think they have to go back to their basics, on defense, this is when i would say, larry brown is really missed….even rip admitted about their lack of defense….check it out:
http://www.mlive.com/pistons/stories/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1195532106194810.xml&coll=6
wow ric,
i was about to rail against rip saying he should shut the hell up until he gets his own performance issues under control. Then I read the article and realize he admitted is himself.
“We missed a bunch of bunnies (easy shots) this whole trip, and that kind of takes a toll on you at the other end on defense,” Hamilton said. “We definitely have to do a better job defensively, but we also have to make easy shots when we get them, too. We do those things we’ll be alright.”
First off i hope he realizes he wasn’t missing easy shots, he was missing bad, low-percentage, off balance shots. I also hope he realizes that when he plays so poorly, the toll it takes on the defense is huge. Jason Maxiell would have gotten a lot more playing time on this trip and been much more productive if he hadn’t been trying to compensate for the poor offensive showing on the other end.
i think overall in sacramento they did horrible…billups wasn’t playing d…i mean, wtf!!! beno udrih, making his 23pts season high, HIS SEASON HIGH, AGAINST DETROIT!!! if u review the game, wallace is not stopping anything as well, but i guess i could give him a slack since his basically playing for dyes absence and maxiel’s ridiculus foul trouble….and rip!!!!? forget it!!! im looking for the rip who loves to play tag with reggie miller, where is that guy? he got his own personal issue competing with kobe and martin in a wrong way. for the last 2-3 games in the westcoast, prince is pretty much the only guy whos consistent…..shoooot! i had more fun watching amir and samb get some block shots….im not gna be able to watch them playing against the knicks, and im hoping that when i open this site, theres a good turnaround.
man, all this world-ending, woe-is-pistons talk’s gotta end. all it’ll take to make you guys feel better is to look at our record. and then look at how many games we’ve played at home. 2. TWO. TWICE. that is insane. combine that with stuckey missing every game, big shot missing 2+, dyess missing 3+, and i’m starting to feel pretty good about being 6-4.