Tayshaun Prince, SF, Detroit Pistons
Prince still has those long arms on defense and the ability to give you a little bit of everything on offense, but he’s contributing just a little bit less of everything for a confused Detroit team. His shooting is cold (41.6 percent after consistently hitting around 46 percent to 48 percent for his career), but the non-scoring numbers that get at the 31-year-old’s activity level are more worrisome — and perhaps indicate age is finally catching up to him. Prince’s assists, rebounds and free throws are all way down, and he just hasn’t been as dynamic a presence on defense this season.
Some of this is due to the context in Detroit, where rookie guard Brandon Knight has added yet another ball-handler with whom everyone must share, Greg Monroe is snagging boards and assists all over the place and the team is struggling badly in general.
Prince is on a reasonable contract (four years, $28 million), and he provides a veteran presence. But he’s also standing in the way of some young guys, especially Austin Daye, and he’d be more valuable in a limited role on a good team.http://nba-point-forward.si.com/2012/01/20/some-failing-to-live-up-to-expectations/
Greg Monroe is having a monster season. The numbers are ridiculous:
• Monroe is fifth in the league in Player Efficiency Rating, and one of the guys ahead of him (Manu Ginobili) will soon fall off the leader board due to a lack of minutes.
• He is shooting 59.7 percent from the floor. Only Nene shot better last season.
• He has rebounded 14.4 percent of Detroit’s misses, an offensive rebounding rate that would have led the entire league last season.
• He has assisted on 19.4 percent of Detroit’s baskets while on the floor Among players 6-foot-9 or taller, only Hedo Turkoglu and Brad Miller posted higher assist rates last season. One of those guys isn’t a traditional big man, and the other barely eked out 1000 minutes.http://nba-point-forward.si.com/2012/01/13/big-man-greg-monroe-has-quietly-become-a-force-in-detroit/
