Sports

Yashinsky: Pistons Long Gone, But Ex-Detroit Hoopers Have NBA Playoffs Impact

May 12, 2015, 1:14 PM by  Joey Yashinsky

The NBA Playoffs are in full swing, and while the Detroit players watch at home (again), three former Pistons and a local product turned star are still hooping it up in search of a title.

Let’s jump in and see how these past Detroit ballers are faring in the post-season.

Josh Smith (Rockets)


Josh Smith

Not surprisingly, the Josh Smith and Houston Rockets marriage is showing signs of crumbling.  The Rockets have not been eliminated from the playoffs yet, but facing a 3-1 deficit to the Clippers, you can pretty much close the book on the season.  J-Smoove was very productive in the opening round against Dallas, even taking over one game in the second half with some uncharacteristic playmaking ability (9 assists).  He put up double figures in each of the five games against the Mavericks.

Against LA, it has been a totally different story.  It’s been much more of the Pistons-era Josh Smith that launched bad shots and missed a million free throws.  He scored 9 in the opener, then 8, then 7, and most recently in a Game 4 Clippers destruction, he registered just 1 point.  The shooting percentages have been horrific.  9-for-33 from the floor (27%).  1-for-9 from 3 (11%).  And 6-for-15 from the stripe (40%). 

The Rockets could band together and fight for a home win to prolong the series tonight, but there is very little chance this thing ever gets back to Houston for a Game 7.  The Rockets bet that Josh Smith would be the piece that put them over the top.  Of late, that gamble looks to have gone bust.

Will Bynum (Wizards)

A forgotten man by most of the basketball world, Willy B has popped up again as a spark plug off the bench for the Washington Wizards.  Bynum was cut before the season by Boston, then spent his winter driving the lane in China’s professional league.  But anyone that watched Bynum scrap and claw during his six years as a Piston is not surprised that he made it back on the NBA stage.


Will Bynum

Bynum was getting virtually no playing time until John Wall recently dinged up his hand and was forced to watch in street clothes.  Everybody moved up a slot, and Bynum was thrust into the rotation.  He has played big 4th quarter minutes each of the last two games, helping the Wiz hang on in Game 3, but unable to lead the comeback last night as the Hawks evened the series at two.  Bynum has been his usual self, playing at 100 miles per hour at all times with varying results.  There’s the Good Bynum when he powers through the defense and puts in an easy layup.  Then there’s the Reckless Bynum (like last night) when he coughs up four turnovers in just 14 minutes of action.

If you can remember back far enough to Detroit’s last playoff appearance, a sweep at the hands of Cleveland in 2009, you’ll also recall that Bynum was far and away the best Piston in that series.  So if you’re looking for a team to back the last few rounds of these playoffs, you might want to hop on the Bynumite bandwagon.


Draymond Green (Warriors)

The former Spartan has been in the spotlight for much of the 2015 playoffs.  First off, he plays on the league’s best squad, the 67-15 Golden State Warriors.  Secondly, he has become the de facto team villain, constantly on the receiving end of opposing crowds’ boos and catcalls.  It didn’t help matters in this series when Green inadvertently smacked the head of Memphis point guard Mike Conley, who was already wearing a mask for broken bones in his face.


Draymond Green

With the Warriors lacking in size and bulk, it’s been up to Draymond and his 6’7”, 230-pound frame to act more like 7’1”, 315.  And for the most part, he’s been up to the task.  Golden State entered last night with their season hanging in the balance, facing an almost must-win in Memphis for Game 4 to prevent a devastating 3-1 series deficit.  It just so happened that Green was also coming off his worst effort of the playoffs, a 1-for-8, five turnover clunker that helped the Grizzlies take the series advantage.  Monday night, the 3rd-year forward was ready for his big playoff moment.  He silenced the Memphis faithful with a steady 16 point, 10 rebound outing, and pestered the much bigger Marc Gasol on defense, hounding the Spaniard into a 7-of-19 night from the floor.   

Draymond could stand to be a little more careful with the pill, however.  He turned it over an eye-popping seven times last night, and for the series, has tallied 18 giveaways in just four games.  It is likely taking all of Tom Izzo’s restraint not to jump out of his seat (he was in attendance last night) and race down to the court to order his former player to “stop being so (expletive) careless with the ball!”

Nazr Mohammed (Bulls)

Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t remember the journeyman Mohammed as a Piston.  He came over from Charlotte in 2007 and spent parts of two uneventful seasons doing mostly nothing in Detroit.  Currently, Nazr is riding the bench for the Bulls, though with Pau Gasol out, he’s probably just one turned ankle away from having to get those 37-year-old legs loose and into a real, live game. 


Nazr Mohammed

One very odd stat from the career of Nazr Mohammed.  He has appeared in exactly 1,000 games during the regular season, playing close to 16,000 minutes.  Over that time, he has not connected on a single 3-pointer.  He’s attempted eight and missed all of them.  However, this is where it gets interesting. 

Mohammed has tossed up two long balls during his post season career (just 82 games).  Both of them caught nothing but the bottom of the net.  A 100% playoff 3-point shooter after playing 16,000+ regular season minutes and not draining a single one.  It’d be advisable for Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau to recognize this statistical anomaly and get Nazr set up behind the arc.  History has proven that the guy won’t miss!

 



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