Pistons Links: The Pistons wall formation is complete; wild stats; and an Ohio grandma misses her Boban

The Pistons' Chemistry Experiment -- Sports on Earth

Smooth read -- and nothing too lopsided one way or the other I think.

This organization finds itself in an irritating spot: too good for a high lottery pick and not nearly attractive enough to seduce marquee free agents -- let alone worthwhile contributors at a below-market-value price. The good news is most of what the Pistons have makes a lot of sense; Drummond's supporting cast is an intriguing bunch.

Reggie Jackson is signed on as the starting point for the next four years. That's not a bad thing. The 26-year-old is plenty efficient as a high-volume pick-and-roll scorer. He finished sixth among point guards in Offensive Real Plus-Minus and scored more points on drives to the basket than LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and Damian Lillard ... in over 200 fewer minutes.

I enjoyed what the author wrote about Andre Drummond:

The Pistons have talent, and their path toward upward mobility is clear: Drummond. His ceiling is that of an immovable sequoia who either learns how to make free throws at a respectable rate or thrives under a new set of rules. He's already the best rebounder in the world.

Building a Wall: Boban Marjanovic ('The Big Friendly Giant') -- Hashtag Basketball

Hopefully Boban is not that 'friendly':

Don't look now, but the wall is starting to come together. Drummond is the cornerstone. The fortified archer tower at the wall's most vital fulcrum, and surrounding him are adamantium bricks with a dash of attitude (i.e. hard-nosed guys like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Stanley Johnson, Aron Baynes). Boban is a surprisingly mediocre rim protector for his size, averaging 1.6 blocks per 36 minutes, but he's the perfect spiritual microcosm for a Van Gundy rotation big:

1. He plays hard.
2. Good locker room presence
3. Name doesn't start with Dwight or end in Howard

Van Gundy hasn't been shy about who he isn't offering contracts to. He wants character guys that will buy into the culture he's fostering, a defensive monster that plays 4-out offense. He's not calling Nick Young's agent, and he's not reuniting the Morris twins.

Fun With Numbers: Wild Stats from the 2015-16 NBA Season -- Basketball Insiders

The streakiest of the streaky: Many NBA players have the ability to get hot, but which can get the hottest? That's impossible to quantify, right? Partially wrong, actually.

Using NBAMiner.com, we can track one element of streakiness: Scoring runs. Steph Curry (surprise, surprise) tops the category for last season, scoring 24 consecutive points for the Golden State Warriors in a December game at the Charlotte Hornets, and Paul George (21 straight against the Detroit Pistons in January) is the only other to break 20 consecutive for his own team. If we include the opponent, Reggie Jackson's 16 straight points for either team against the Portland Trail Blazers on November 8 tops the field.

A look down this list reveals a few pretty huge surprises, though. The group of guys who scored at least 15 straight during a game last season includes P.J. Tucker, Marcus Thornton and Rodney Stuckey. Also, the longest such streak during the regular season for a Cleveland Cavaliers player belonged not to LeBron James or Kyrie Irving, but to Kevin Love's 17 in a row against the Orlando Magic in mid-November.

David Aldridge answers fans' questions -- NBA.com

From David Aldridge's Monday Morning Tip (yes, I'm late -- I do realize it's not close to Monday in Michigan, but maybe it's Monday or Tuesday somewhere):

You Don't Mess With the Boban. From Beverley Giananni:

Please, please answer me one question! Why oh why, did the Spurs let Boban leave?

I am a seventy-nine year old granny from Dayton Ohio and a huge fan of the Spurs! With Timothy leaving and one of my favorites, Boban, leaving, I am not so sure anymore.

The simple answer is you can't keep everybody. Even in this new, money-drenched NBA, there are limits. With $94 million already invested in Kawhi Leonard, $84 million in LaMarcus Aldridge, $40 million in Danny Green and $32 million in newly signed Pau Gasol, something had to give -- in this case, $7 million a year for Boban. Even with Tim Duncan's retirement, Marjanovic was still going to be a minutes-limited backup center, and the Spurs weren't willing to pay that much for him. He will help Detroit, though, just as former Spur Aron Baynes did last season.

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The following is an important development, and I'm glad you made it down to the end of this post to read it.

Cockroach milk could be the superfood of the future, say scientists. Stay tuned, folks. Because why not.