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).