Pistons Links: It's September and there's freshness in the air

Boban Marjanovic is so big that Andre Drummond might give up NBA career in frustration

But then Drummond remembered that it's just pickup runs and that he and Boban are going to be forming insanely useful walls together -- though not often at the same time on the floor but at least together in super big big-man spirit.

From the Detroit Free Press:

The two have already worked against each other and Drummond admitted he has been frustrated in dealing with the 7-3 big man.

The Pistons' goal was to get bigger and they have.

"We got a very, very, very large front line," Drummond said laughing. "It's always fun playing against Boban too. I was telling the guys after we were done playing our first pickup game that it might have been the first time I was really frustrated playing against somebody. It's just so hard to score on him. He's 7-3. He's pretty agile as well, so if anything soft went in the air he was going to get it. If I wasn't trying to dunk the ball, I wasn't scoring."

Also music to our ears:

Drummond said he has already found some chemistry with Ish Smith, who'll be the point guard off the bench. He also discussed 6-11 veteran Jon Leuer and 6-11 rookie Henry Ellenson's addition.

"We've already got a little thing going," Drummond said of Smith. "We play pickup with each other and the chemistry is there. Jon Leuer is one of our guys that can give us a little bit of everything. His personality speaks for itself. He's a very strong character player when he's out there. He makes his teammates better. I've gotten a chance to talk to Henry. We've played together already. We played out here. Henry's going to be a really big piece for us, especially at his age.

"I don't think he understands that yet. He has to come in and be ready to play."

Pistons' KCP poised for a breakout contract season, Jalen Rose says -- MLive

"Covering the league, I always try to find those gems to me that I feel nobody (is) talking about," Rose said, before pointing to Caldwell-Pope and Avery Bradley, an NBA first-team defensive selection.

Caldwell-Pope is considered the Pistons' best on-ball defender, and his time on the court reflects as much. He played a team-high 36.7 minutes per game last season - fifth most in the NBA - while averaging 14.5 points and 3.7 rebounds.

Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy often lauds Caldwell-Pope's defense, but his streaky shooting remains a concern. He saw an overall uptick to 42 percent last season, up from 40.1 percent in 2014-15, while his conversion rate from the perimeter dropped from 34.5 percent to 30.9 percent.

Perhaps that was a symptom of fatigue?

"I don't (think so), because that's what duty calls," Rose said. "That's like saying, do they ask Klay Thompson to defend too much? No. That's what happens when you're a quality two-way player. There's a point guard tonight, there's a shooting guard tomorrow night."

Why the Detroit Pistons Stan Van Gundy is a top 5 NBA coach -- isportsweb

Van Gundy has a legit case as a top 5 NBA coach. Guys like Gregg Popovich, Steve Kerr, Doc Rivers, and Erik Spoelstra are among the most respected coaches in the league. Van Gundy should be considered among that group. Popovich is fair and away the best of that group, with Kerr and Rivers in the next tier, but Van Gundy belongs in the top 5.

Van Gundy has put together a record of 447-296 all time, good enough for a .602 winning percentage. He has made the playoffs in eight of his ten years coaching in the league, just missing on his first year in Detroit and resigning his last year in Miami. He has three conference finals appearances and one NBA finals appearance in those years.

Are we talking about top 5 best coaches in the league or are we talking about 'most respected' coaches in the league? Doc Rivers is respected, sure, but one of the best coaches in the league? I think not. I may or may not back up my opinion in the comments.

Best young cores -- Dime Magazine

Read the article in its entirety to get the gist of their 'formula' for these rankings.

As such, Detroit comes in at number four. Philadelphia 76ers at number five (too low). Milwaukee Bucks at number three (too high). New Orleans Pelicans at number two (Davis is super, but still too high). Number one?

Here's a little bit about Detroit:

The jury is still out on the type of player Drummond will ultimately become. After a terrible start on the block last season, the Pistons All-Star gradually looked more comfortable with his back to the basket. Even so, among those who notched at least 100 post ups, Drummond's 0.72 points per possession ranked 58th out of 65 qualified players -€” and he took more shots from there than every player in the league but Brook Lopez, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Greg Monroe — according to Synergy. But the 23 year old doesn't need to be Al Jefferson to take Detroit to the next level, at least if he continues making strides defensively and improves at the free throw line. A rim-rolling, layup-erasing, rebound-hoarding big man can still be the best player on a great team.

The Pistons need patience with Henry Ellenson -- Upside Motor

It's extremely important to keep in mind for this season that Ellenson is not going to play much and there's not even much reason he should.

This development should be successful, given the infrastructure the Pistons have in place for Ellenson. Van Gundy is a solid development coach, and his work with Ryan Anderson previously gives a blueprint for Ellenson's trajectory. The Pistons also do not need Ellenson right away, as they have Tobias Harris to play a majority of minutes at the four, and Jon Leuer was brought in from Phoenix to supply additional depth at power forward. This should allow Ellenson to get spot minutes in the NBA, or spend some time in the D-League with the Grand Rapids Drive, in order to focus more on improving his game.

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As it's the first day of a great, great month, anyone going to start a new habit or quit a bad one? I have an idea, how about some of the lurkers come out from the shadows and start commenting. How about that!?!