Kyle Singler didn’t give into Pistons pressure to play in NBA this season
In an interview with the Associated Press, Pistons draft pick Kyle Singler doesn’t sound like a man who is likely to be NBA-bound anytime soon:
“I knew they were upset, a little disappointed. The bottom line was that I was a little selfish, I wanted the best for myself, I wanted to be happy,” Singler told The Associated Press from Madrid’s training facilities on the outskirts of the Spanish capital.
“It was difficult but, at the end of the day, if I never play in the NBA, would I be disappointed? Sure, but I’m happy I made the decision I made.”
The 23-year-old from Oregon said the opportunity to play abroad and experience a foreign culture was too good to pass up.
“The opportunity to play a lot more was here, but the bottom line was I was happy and felt no pressure to leave and go back to the NBA,” said Singler.
It would certainly be nice for the Pistons to have another young player in the fold who could hopefully become a rotation player down the road for them, but if Singler is happy overseas and wants to stay their, I’m happy for him. There are some fantastic leagues in other countries where guys can make a nice living and see some cool places. It’s actually pretty refreshing to see an American player realize that the NBA is not the be-all end-all when it comes to pro basketball, even if the league does have by far the most talented players anywhere. I can’t imagine cheering for someone with that haircut on the Pistons anyway.
Ben Gordon’s shoulder injury has bothered him all season
“I did it in practice, on that side of the court, in training camp,” he said, his first disclosure that the injury was suffered in preseason. “That was the first time I did whatever I did to it. Then, in games, I kept getting hit in the same area, and it never really got a chance to get back to what it was.”
An MRI last Saturday, when Gordon first missed a game in a win over Portland, indicated multiple issues in the shoulders, including “a couple tears,” Gordon said.
“It wasn’t really one issue,” Gordon, adding he also had multiple contusions and has developed tendinitis in the shoulder. “Each time I played, it may have gotten a little bit worse, because the last couple games, before the MRI, it was hard to even raise my arms to shoot the basketball.”
Perhaps, Ben Gordon’s injury explains his poor shooting (42.2 percent). Still, I’m not convinced an eighth-year player with such a limiting injury will be the rare case who bucks his trend of decline.
Rodney Stuckey’s 3-point shooting: aberration or breakthrough?
Rodney Stuckey is shooting 37.5 percent on 2.9 3-point attempts per 36 minutes. If those numbers hold, they’d both be career highs and, for the first time, Stuckey’s 3-point percentage will best the NBA average.
Has the fourth-year guard finally solidified his outside shot?
Maybe.
It’s encouraging that Stuckey is attempting so many 3-pointers – 32 in 14 games so far this season – because that indicates his high percentage is a result of increased skill, not becoming more choosy in his shot selection. Before this year, he had never attempted more than 28 3-pointers in a 14-game stretch.
But Stuckey’s 12 makes in 32 attempts don’t break new ground. He’s achieved that 17 others times during his career, though they came as part of just two independent stretches, one that mostly occurred during the middle of the 2008-09 season and one that mostly occurred late last season. In fact, he made 13-of-32 3-pointers four times during his 2008-09 hot streak.
Stuckey producing like this at the beginning of a season certainly gives more reason for optimism. It’s easy to imagine him spending the lockout launching 3-pointer after 3-pointer in a Seattle gym. Whether that happened, I don’t know. But I’m more less likely to consider his 3-point shooting a fluke than had he dropped these numbers in the middle of the season.
I’m encouraged by Stuckey’s production from beyond the arc so far, but until he shoots like this long enough to post the best 3-point-shooting stretch of his career, I’m not ready to declare definitively that he’s turned the corner.
Hooptie Watch: Still worst ever
The Pistons have been terrible this season – so bad, in fact, they have a chance for the worst statistical season in team history. In honor of broken-down and beat-up a models everywhere, I present “Hooptie Watch” – periodic looks comparing the 2011-12 Pistons to other teams in franchise history that missed the playoffs.
There are two basic ways to measure a team’s regular-season level:
1. Win percentage
To rank the Pistons’ non-playoff seasons, I’ll average of both win percentages, and for ease of use, set everything to an 82-game schedule.
Greg Monroe returns to thefty ways
Almost immediately, nearly all of Greg Monroe’s numbers improved this season from last season, with one notable exception:
Steals.
Through his first 10 games, Monroe averaged 0.7 steals per game – down from 1.2 last year, despite his minute rising from 27.8 to 31.0 per game.
Monroe has quick hands and excellent anticipation, and he gets a high percentage of steals by knocking the ball out of the opponent’s hands. He has a knack for timing his swipes for just the right moment when his man eases up with the ball.
His lack of steals early didn’t appear due to unsuccessful swipes. Rather, Monroe appeared so focused on his offense, he rarely even attempted to make steals.
Thankfully, he’s collecting steals at high rate once again. Monroe broke out of his mini scoring slump against the Heat, but he also made three steals. To me, that’s just as important.
Steals are an underrated play, because not only do they always end an opponent’s possession (unlike blocks), they often lead to fastbreaks (unlike charges). They’re especially important for someone like Monroe, who still struggles too often to defend his man and help.
Austin Daye’s big night
Austin Daye scored a career-high 28 points against the Heat last night, and calling that unlikely would be an understatement.
This season, 131 other players have scored more than 20 points in a game. All of them are averaging more points per game in their non-season-high-games than Daye is (3.5 points per game).
By scoring 28 points, Daye joined even more elite company. This season, 50 players have a season-high of at least 28 points. They’ve all scored at least 5.9 points per game more than Daye has in their other games.
Entering yesterday, the two players directly above (Kenneth Faried
Daye’s game could be a total fluke, or he could play the rest of the season less like Reggie Jackson and more like the typical player who’s scored 28 points in a game. Given that Daye played so well a day after a late-night shooting session with his personal trainer, I’m hopeful the third-year player has found his way.
Lost in his slump was the fact that Daye appears to be a hard worker. His confidence might be shaky, and his defense might leave a lot to be desired, but I think Daye works hard.
Daye’s big night puts him in elite company, and I hope he spends the rest of the season proving he belongs there.
Austin Daye reminds everyone that he’s a NBA player for a reason
I was thoroughly impressed with the hustle of Walker Russell Jr. and Damien Wilkins in Wednesday’s loss to Miami. I think it really was the key to making the game close.
I’m just joking. After a visit from Joe Abunassar of Impact Basketball in Las Vegas (seriously, can this guy just be added to the coaching staff?), who he worked out with all summer, Austin Daye showed his full, tantalizing offensive repertoire, the one that made him such an intriguing prospect in the first place, the beautiful skillset that, despite how abysmally he’s played, keeps a vocal contingent of fans strongly in his corner. Daye scored 28 points in 30 minutes and only needed 18 shots to do it. He hit four of his eight 3-pointers.
For the first time this season, he didn’t pass up shots that he can make. He didn’t over-dribble. He didn’t shrink after the few mistakes he made. He played freely, effectively, confident and with energy. As a result, he played 30 minutes in a game for only the 10th time in his career. It’s no secret that Daye’s most dangerous weapon is his jump shot. When he was passing them up to dribble, he was hurting the team. Against Miami, he wasn’t passing them up and, as happens with all good shooters, they started going in. Then, surprise surprise, the defense adjusted, played him tighter and this gave him opportunities to put the ball on the floor, make a few nice passes and show off some other understated elements of his game.
The formula isn’t a difficult one. It’s unrealistic to expect 28 points per game from him, but it’s not unrealistic at all to expect him to play this well. Daye has the ability to be one of the league’s best shooters. Even in limited minutes last year, shooting 40 percent from three wasn’t an accident. He has a pure, natural shot, a quick release and the height to get it off against anyone. He has other offensive skills that are valuable situationally. He can dribble sometimes. He has a mid-range game. He has a nice, un-blockable floater that he can get off in the lane. It’s all dependent on the long-range jumper though. If that part of his game isn’t working, he’s not skilled enough in the other areas to be much of a factor on offense. But if the shot is falling, and with as good as his shot is, it usually should be falling, those more subtle skills he has suddenly make him a more dangerous player and a tougher cover.
Last season, Daye had some success against the Heat, but also made mistakes as a result of Miami’s size and strength on the perimeter. Tonight, that hardly fazed him. Miami didn’t play well and also played without Dwyane Wade. But LeBron James was still around as were Shane Battier and Mike Miller. All three of those guys are much stronger than Daye. All three are solid or better defensively. All three guarded Daye at times and weren’t shy about using their strength advantages to try and push him around.
I’ve seen Daye play well for the Pistons, but even in those moments, Daye’s physical limitations were still very apparent. He still shied away from contact, he still struggled when defenders resorted to clutch and grab tactics. This was the first time I’ve watched Daye in three seasons and didn’t get distracted by his physical strength disadvantages. This season, Daye’s body of work has been far more bad than good, but in a single night, he’s earned his way back into the rotation and for now, that’s enough.
Monroe attones
Monroe had a brutal performance (as did the entire team) against Oklahoma City. He was bothered by Oklahoma City’s strong interior defense and he missed several close-range shots. If he’s truly an All-Star level big man, he can’t miss shots like that, especially against a good team where opportunities around the basket are limited.
He was 8-for-14, he exploited Miami’s weak centers (apologies, Eddy Curry) and he grabbed 10 rebounds. He was back to the Monroe he’s been all season. But, he’s also still a work in progress. The Pistons had no answer for Chris Bosh, and at some point, the Pistons need Monroe to be able to at the very least make things tough for players like Bosh. He and the other Pistons bigs couldn’t do that tonight.
Monroe also had a good look from close range that would’ve given the Pistons the lead in the final minute. He didn’t make it. That’s OK, but the Pistons are also counting on him to be the focal point of the offense, so at some point those are shots he’s going to be relied on to make. For now, it’s progress enough for him to simply bounce back from his worst performance with another strong one.
Wilkins starts for Prince
Tayshaun Prince is still a solid veteran capable of occasional good performances. Much was made of the Pistons re-signing him long-term largely for his intangible qualities — intelligence, leadership, defense, etc. I don’t agree with the signing, but I also don’t disagree with the sentiment. Rebuilding teams that don’t pay any attention at all to maturity, leadership and intangibles in the locker room end up as the Washington Wizards. No one wants that.
My beef though, is that Wilkins essentially showed tonight why the Prince signing was unnecessary. Is Wilkins is good a player as Prince? No. But can he deliver intangible qualities like toughness, defense, intelligence, maturity and being a good teammate for a fraction of the cost? His performance against Miami in 34 minutes gave a resounding ‘yes.’ Wilkins (and Rodney Stuckey, Daye and Jonas Jerebko in more limited turns) did about all a defensive player can do against LeBron James, made things difficult for him. He hustled, played with toughness and played with energy. He didn’t play perfectly — he probably should’ve passed on a couple of his 3-point attempts and he turned it over three times. But he gave decent enough minutes and his energy was a nice compliment to the young players.
The reasons Prince was brought back were valid and justifiable ones. The Pistons just could’ve got those qualities for a much cheaper price.
“It ain’t the same”
A reporter asked Ben Wallace after the game if it was good to hear just a bit of cheers and fans yelling “DEEEEETROIT BAAASKETBALL” for one of the first times this season. Laughing, Wallace responded with the above quote. He’s right — the comparison to the energy of the Palace right now to the Palace during Wallace’s prime years is ridiculous to think about.
But for this team, right now, this is as good as it gets. And for this team, tonight’s game was entertaining. It was fun to see Daye, Knight and Monroe as the team’s driving forces. It was fun to see the team have a chance to win it. It was fun to see Monroe as the guy who got the ball down one in the closing seconds. It doesn’t matter so much that the team lost. What matters is that the young players are asserting themselves and the veteran players are content to let them do that. Even if the results are still a bad team on the court, it’s a positive development compared to last season.
LeBron James and Chris Bosh take on Pistons, likely without Dwyane Wade
Essentials
- Teams: Miami Heat at Detroit Pistons
- Date: Jan. 25, 2012
- Time: 7:30 p.m.
- Television: Fox Sports Detroit
Records
- Pistons: 4-14
- Heat: 12-5
Probable starters
Pistons:
Heat:
- Mario Chalmers
- James Jones
- LeBron James
- Chris Bosh
- Joel Anthony
Las Vegas projection
Spread: Pistons +8.5
Over/under: 187.5
Score: Heat win, 98-89.5
Three things to watch
1. Dwyane Wade?
Dwyane Wade flew to Detroit, but none of the Heat Index writers expect him to play. This doesn’t really affect the Pistons chances of winning. (They won’t.) But if you’re headed to The Palace to see the Big Three, count on just two.
2. Austin Daye bouncing back?
After a late-night shooting session with his personal trainer, will Austin Daye break out of his slump tonight? Probably not, but it’s fun to hope. Keith Langlois of Pistons.com at least expects Daye to receive extended minutes again.
Remember, Daye found himself, somewhat, against the Heat last year.
3. Rough waters ahead
After Monday’s loss to the Thunder, the Pistons’ schedule doesn’t get much easier. Their next there games are vs. the Heat, vs. the Hawks and at the 76ers.
Damien Wilkins, via David Mayo of MLive.com (emphasis mine):
“The next four or five games, all the teams are above .500, with playoff and championship aspirations,” Wilkins said. “We’ve certainly got our work cut out for us. It doesn’t take a long time to figure out if guys are up to the challenge or not.”
I fear Wilkins is correct.
Austin Daye summons personal trainer Joe Abunassar to Detroit
Keith Langlois of Pistons.com:
Austin Daye’s personal trainer, Joe Abunassar, came to town at Daye’s request to help him work out, talk with him and boost his confidence, Daye said. Because Abunassar, a Farmington native who like Frank and Pistons personnel director George David was a student manager under Bobby Knight at Indiana, works with Daye in the summers, he has a barometer to gauge what might be causing Daye’s shooting woes so far.
“He was with me last night,” he said. “We were shooting way late. Having him around is good for me because I know I can always get up some shots, hear some words of wisdom. It’s always good to talk to him because I like to pick his brain a lot and he brings out the best in me.”
Good for Austin Daye, who’s apparently not idly waiting for his slump to end. Hard work – and better play – will get Daye back into the Pistons’ rotation.
Brandon Knight holds steady at seven in Grantland rookie rankings
For the second straight week, Brandon Knight is seventh in Sebastian Pruiti’s weekly evaluations of NBA rookie performances:
Yes, Knight has been turnover-prone in his first few weeks in the NBA, but these types of growing pains should be expected from a 20-year-old point guard. However, Knight’s shooting has been a pleasant surprise, especially in spot-up situations. Knight scores 1.00 point per possession as a spot-up shooter, which is in the top third of all NBA players. In catch-and-shoot situations where Knight takes a jump shot without dribbling, Knight’s numbers are even better: 1.273 points per possession, which puts Knight in the top 17 percent of NBA players. As Knight learns to limit his turnovers, he has a chance to become one of the most efficient rookies in this class.
Knight was fourth in the first week’s rankings and has been seventh each of the last two weeks.
