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Starts in Denver Tonight...Gets Easier from There
It is strange to say the Pistons are facing must-win games at the outset of the season, but it is indeed the case.
The Detroiters were given a break by the league schedule-makers with their first half-dozen contests out of the gate. In order, the Pistons play Denver, Minnesota, Brooklyn, New York, Milwaukee and Utah. Only the first two are on the road. Only one (Nets) qualified for last year’s playoffs.
If the Pistons are to do anything at all of significance this winter and into next spring, it absolutely must begin with this first stretch of games. Get yourself to 4-2, or gulp, even 5-1, because the brutal four-game roadie to follow (Bulls, Wizards, Thunder, Grizzlies) could very well result in zero wins.
We’ve seen how difficult it has been for the Pistons to bounce back from early-season holes.
They began last season 2-5 and failed to get back over .500 even once the rest of the way.
The year prior, Lawrence Frank and the boys stunningly dropped their first eight games, setting the tone for what would be another joyless, playoff-less campaign.
In 2011-12, it was three quick losses, which then became 2-9, and eventually turned into 4-20.
And it just goes on from there.
Each NBA team begins the season with a clean slate.
But that only lasts until the first game is complete.
The Pistons were given a built-in advantage with the way the schedule breaks for them early on. It is mandatory they take advantage and reel off some victories, or else it will be another uphill, semi-impossible climb back to the break-even mark and playoff qualification.
Put Down the Ball and Slowly Back Away from the 3-Point Line
The best year of Josh Smith’s career took place in 2009-10. He averaged just a shade under 16 points and 9 boards. He shot over 50% from the field. He dished out a career high 4.2 assists and was a beast on both ends of the floor. His defensive tenacity was recognized during awards season when he was named to the NBA’s All-Defensive 2nd Team. The Hawks won 53 ballgames, a crowning achievement for a franchise that has eclipsed the 50-win mark just once in the last 17 years.
It is not a coincidence that this was also the only season of Smith’s 10-year career in which he failed to make a single three point shot. Not a one. He attempted just seven, and many of those were mandatory tries to end a quarter or half. Josh Smith hadn’t just cut down on his three-point habit. He’d eliminated it entirely.
Fast forward to 2013-14, Smith’s first campaign as a Detroit Piston. The man was a human launching pad from downtown. To quote all those made-for-TV commercials, J-Smoove didn’t take 100 threes. He didn’t take 200 threes. Or 250. In 77 games last year, Josh Smith flung a whopping 265 three-pointers toward the basket.
And it wasn’t done in four easy payments like that rotisserie oven or revolutionary garden hose. These were 265 no-good, rotten, bricks taking us from October all the way up to April. To be fair, Smith did connect on a few. 26%, to be exact.
This coming year would likely have seen more of the same ill-advised grenade-launching, but thankfully, there’s a new sheriff in town. Stan Van Gundy brings with him a no-nonsense attitude, which differs from the approach of last year’s boss, Maurice Cheeks, who preferred the “Game Time = Nap Time” coaching philosophy.
Van Gundy has his hands full this season. The roster still has too many spare parts and the Palace has transformed into a morgue. But one thing he can control is Smith’s three-point output. It goes without saying that instituting this red light policy from beyond the arc will be a task of the highest order.
If he can somehow find a way to bring back the far more reasonable 2009-10 Smith and do away with the poisonous version from last season, it’ll go a long way towards getting this ship back on course.
Can KCP Make the Leap?
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is heading into just his second year, but there is tremendous responsibility resting on his shoulders.
In a perfect world, he’d still be learning the NBA game, backing up a hardened veteran like Rip Hamilton, and progressing gradually without having to carry a significant load. Only, with this club, there is so little talent at the wing position that KCP will be relied upon to be one of the Pistons’ top performers.
Jodie Meeks was brought in to add depth at the position, but he’s got back problems and won’t be available for a couple of months. Caron Butler was also added, which would have been exciting if this were 2006. Kyle Singler will likely eat up a lot of minutes, which seems to happen every year, mostly by default.
And it’s not that the former Blue Devil is a bad player; but it’s emblematic of this franchise’s inability to improve over these last handful of years that a marginal guy like Singler somehow finds himself in the starting lineup at the beginning of each new season.
Long story short, the Pistons need Caldwell-Pope to make a giant leap from year one to year two. It’s not the best position to be in, expecting so much from such an unproven commodity, especially since KCP really did not show too much swagger as a rookie.
He shot under 40% from the field, was inconsistent from long range, and found difficulty creating his own shot. His ability to make plays for others also proved non-existent, averaging less than one assist per game, a statistic only Charlie Villanueva could find endearing.
There were many in the Motor City that felt Joe Dumars made a costly mistake passing up local hero Trey Burke in order to snag the more anonymous KCP. Each player struggled at times throughout their maiden seasons, but Burke was clearly the quicker of the two to get acclimated and carve out a niche in the NBA.
That can all change in 2014-15. Caldwell-Pope will have every opportunity to prove his worth and become the Robin to Andre Drummond’s Batman.
And even if he falters, the starting spot and heavy workload will remain.
There’s simply nobody else to put in the game.
Channeling a Pistons Legend
One of the big story lines heading into this year will be the continued maturation of Andre Drummond, specifically on the defensive end of the floor.
We’ve seen how Drummond rebounds the ball, how he finishes around the rim, how he hurls free throws with the soft touch of Wreck-It Ralph.
What remains to be seen is if Drummond can materialize into a Ben Wallace-like presence on defense, not just cleaning the glass, but making it a dangerous proposition for little guards to come in and try to drop in floaters or easy layups.
Drummond, much like his predecessor Wallace, will never be a featured player on offense. His offensive arsenal will likely always be limited to put-backs, alley-oops, and other forms of garbage points. When you can’t reasonably make a shot from more than six feet, your options are fairly restricted. And that’s okay.
Nobody ever expected the guy to be the next Hakeem Olajuown, or even the next Zelly Rebraca. He’ll still tally double-digit points most nights doing the things he does best.
But where he can potentially make his biggest impact in the years to come will be as a defensive force.
Last year, Drummond swatted away 1.6 shots per game, the exact figure he posted as a rookie. It’s reasonable to expect that the big fella take that number to over two a game in year three.
And he’ll have to learn to do it without fouling so dang much. Drummond led all of the NBA in two categories last season; offensive rebounds, which is terrific, and then personal fouls, which is not so terrific.
Drummond racked up 273 fouls, which hinders him from being able to play the heavy minutes the Pistons need him to log to have any chance at winning games. Remember that Big Ben, one of the NBA’s best defenders of all-time, played 16 years in the league without ever committing more than 200 fouls in a season.
Drummond needs to play smarter, using his body more and his hands less. When you possess such extreme athleticism and leaping ability, it’s a crime to be fouling so often.
If he can begin to make that transformation this season, from middling defensive presence to one of the league’s best, it will go a very long way in determining this team’s ultimate fate.
His offensive game will always remain largely the same. But as for the potential havoc he could one day wreak on defense, the sky is truly the limit.
Playoffs or Bust
The 2014-15 season will be a critical one for the Detroit Pistons. They finally have a legitimate NBA coach for the first time in years. They have a budding star in Drummond, a possible sleeping giant in Caldwell-Pope, and Greg Monroe, a player that will be doing all he can to prove he deserves a max-type contract next summer.
The Eastern Conference will be weak once again, with strength at the top in Cleveland and Chicago, and a slew of mediocrity to follow. Many pundits have the Pistons slotted to be in that next batch of teams, finishing anywhere from 4th to 8th in the final standings.
I’m setting the bar fairly, but not without standards. The Pistons need to win at least half their games this year, and find a way to make the playoffs. We’ll worry about actually winning a series when that time comes.
When 16 of 30 NBA clubs qualify for the postseason, it’s simply unacceptable to go five consecutive years without joining the dance. And the last time they did (getting swept by LeBron’s old Cavs) resulted in just about the most uneventful series in league history, so I hesitate to even count that as a real appearance.
Stan Van Gundy does not need to be a miracle worker, but it’ll require quite the balancing act to get this random collection of ballplayers to fit together.
Nobody is really certain how to handle the jumbled Drummond-Smith-Monroe frontcourt.
Brandon Jennings needs to be tutored on the dangers of over-dribbling and the value of proper shot selection.
How many minutes do you play Jonas Jerebko? What position do you play Jonas Jerebko? How do you get Jonas Jerebko to care as much about defense as he does about his hair?
It should make for an interesting winter of hoops in Auburn Hills.
After the last five years, there is literally nowhere to go but up.
How far this group can climb remains to be seen.
