Comments on: Pistons take three-game win streak into five-game road trip http://www.pistonpowered.com/2012/03/pistons-take-three-game-win-streak-into-five-game-road-trip/ Your Go-To Source For Pistons Coverage Thu, 23 May 2013 03:09:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: frankie d http://www.pistonpowered.com/2012/03/pistons-take-three-game-win-streak-into-five-game-road-trip/comment-page-1/#comment-58310 frankie d Tue, 13 Mar 2012 16:28:18 +0000 http://www.pistonpowered.com/2012/03/pistons-take-three-game-win-streak-into-five-game-road-trip/#comment-58310 "This isn’t grounded in the reality of what actually happened." fact: jefferson had two fouls in the first 9&1/2 minutes and had to sit as a result. getting two fouls like that is never good.  and he had to come out of the game as a result. he may have defended monroe relatively well, but he still fouled.  again, jefferson is notorious and has been throughout his career for this.  it is hardly news and surprising.  it is what he does...in addition to torching teams with his devastating low post game. "actually defended Monroe quite well in the first half, pushing him off his spots and forcing him into tougher shots than he wanted (believe Monroe started 1-for-5ish and didn’t shoot the ball well all night) only partially true. yes, monroe started off 1-5, but ended up making 4 of his last 7 shots to end 5-12.  he was definitely starting to shoot the ball better in the second half and was becoming more engaged offensively as the game went on.  in the 3rd quarter, he scored 9 points and had 3 assists.  and then he sat down with 48 seconds in the 3rd quarter and did not return until there were 3 minutes left in the game, with detroit behind by 3. yes, jefferson actually defended monroe well, initially, but monroe did what he does routinely...he adjusted as the game went on.  this is a pattern with monroe that was discussed by myself and other commenters after the atlanta game.  the first time he plays against a player, he will often take a while to figure him out.  and then he will make an adjustment - sometimes between games, but sometimes, as in the atlanta  and this game, in the middle of the game - and start to have success against that guy. that appeared to be what was happening against jefferson. jefferson is pretty simple to attack and i was surprised that monroe tried to attack him the way he originally did.  he started off deep in the low post and the lower part of the midpost.  this is right where jefferson can be reasonably effective.  in fact, i wouldn't doubt that jefferson lured monroe down low, gave up ground to get monroe into an area where he could defend him. and, yes, down low, jefferson does a decent job generally, and last night he did a good job on monroe. jefferson's achillles heel defensively is when he has to defend away fron the basket, out in space.  he is one of the league's worst big men defending the pick and roll and he has horrible lateral movement.  what monroe discovered and started doing in the second half was that he just needed to get jefferson out in the 12-15+ foot area.  once he did that he started to have success.  he hit jumpers and he started to go around jefferson and when others came over to help jefferson, he found the open man with his assists.   the beautiful thing about monroe's game is that he has that kind of versatility.  if he can't work in the low post, he can go out in space and work like a small forward with mid-range shots and dribble drives.(which is something the utah broadcasters marveled at.) and just when monroe started rolling, frank takes him out and sits him for 9 minutes at the crucial part of the game. in that 3rd quarter, when monroe was rolling, jefferson had 2 baskets, 2 free throws and 3 turnovers.   imho, what was happening was something this fan has seen plenty of times this year: monroe had figured out something, had adjusted and was starting to get the best of the guy trying to guard him. and then, frank sits him down for 9 minutes. it really didn't make sense. monroe looked like he was on his way to a huge half.  he could have carried detroit offensively.  detroit only scored 13 points in the 4th quarter and obviously needed offensive punch.   (it also didn't help that frank used a lineup with 3 nonshooters on the floor for long stretches during that time.) this is a perfect example of frank's lack of "feel" in games.  it is exactly what  i've noted several times.  often, he sticks to rotations that just are not working.  it was worse at the beginning of the year, but it is still an issue, as evidenced by last night's game.   again, this is not "hindsight" as i touched on this issue in a comment in the first quarter.  and i questioned why monroe was not in the game in the middle of his fourth quarter banishment. it's just one game, and one loss so it is not that big of a deal, obviously.  but because it is a habit of the coach and a real pattern, imho, it is something that continually hurts the team and will continue to do so. i hope frank takes note and makes his own adjustments. btw, i did not said anything about monroe and knight not playing in crunch time.  i just didn't complain about that. i think my comments on last night's game were pretty much confined to how monroe was handled...his PT, how he was subbed in and out, the way they used him last night. i have to admit i did think it was odd that gordon, once again, was out on the court at crunch time, but i didn't say anything.   i imagined frank understood something i did not about using gordon and knight in that situation. “This isn’t grounded in the reality of what actually happened.”
fact: jefferson had two fouls in the first 9&1/2 minutes and had to sit as a result. getting two fouls like that is never good.  and he had to come out of the game as a result.
he may have defended monroe relatively well, but he still fouled.  again, jefferson is notorious and has been throughout his career for this.  it is hardly news and surprising.  it is what he does…in addition to torching teams with his devastating low post game.
“actually defended Monroe quite well in the first half, pushing him off his spots and forcing him into tougher shots than he wanted (believe Monroe started 1-for-5ish and didn’t shoot the ball well all night)
only partially true.
yes, monroe started off 1-5, but ended up making 4 of his last 7 shots to end 5-12.  he was definitely starting to shoot the ball better in the second half and was becoming more engaged offensively as the game went on.  in the 3rd quarter, he scored 9 points and had 3 assists.  and then he sat down with 48 seconds in the 3rd quarter and did not return until there were 3 minutes left in the game, with detroit behind by 3.
yes, jefferson actually defended monroe well, initially, but monroe did what he does routinely…he adjusted as the game went on. 
this is a pattern with monroe that was discussed by myself and other commenters after the atlanta game.  the first time he plays against a player, he will often take a while to figure him out.  and then he will make an adjustment – sometimes between games, but sometimes, as in the atlanta  and this game, in the middle of the game – and start to have success against that guy.
that appeared to be what was happening against jefferson.
jefferson is pretty simple to attack and i was surprised that monroe tried to attack him the way he originally did.  he started off deep in the low post and the lower part of the midpost.  this is right where jefferson can be reasonably effective.  in fact, i wouldn’t doubt that jefferson lured monroe down low, gave up ground to get monroe into an area where he could defend him. and, yes, down low, jefferson does a decent job generally, and last night he did a good job on monroe.
jefferson’s achillles heel defensively is when he has to defend away fron the basket, out in space.  he is one of the league’s worst big men defending the pick and roll and he has horrible lateral movement.  what monroe discovered and started doing in the second half was that he just needed to get jefferson out in the 12-15+ foot area.  once he did that he started to have success.  he hit jumpers and he started to go around jefferson and when others came over to help jefferson, he found the open man with his assists.  
the beautiful thing about monroe’s game is that he has that kind of versatility.  if he can’t work in the low post, he can go out in space and work like a small forward with mid-range shots and dribble drives.(which is something the utah broadcasters marveled at.)
and just when monroe started rolling, frank takes him out and sits him for 9 minutes at the crucial part of the game.
in that 3rd quarter, when monroe was rolling, jefferson had 2 baskets, 2 free throws and 3 turnovers.  
imho, what was happening was something this fan has seen plenty of times this year: monroe had figured out something, had adjusted and was starting to get the best of the guy trying to guard him.
and then, frank sits him down for 9 minutes.
it really didn’t make sense.
monroe looked like he was on his way to a huge half.  he could have carried detroit offensively.  detroit only scored 13 points in the 4th quarter and obviously needed offensive punch.  
(it also didn’t help that frank used a lineup with 3 nonshooters on the floor for long stretches during that time.)
this is a perfect example of frank’s lack of “feel” in games.  it is exactly what  i’ve noted several times.  often, he sticks to rotations that just are not working.  it was worse at the beginning of the year, but it is still an issue, as evidenced by last night’s game.  
again, this is not “hindsight” as i touched on this issue in a comment in the first quarter.  and i questioned why monroe was not in the game in the middle of his fourth quarter banishment.
it’s just one game, and one loss so it is not that big of a deal, obviously.  but because it is a habit of the coach and a real pattern, imho, it is something that continually hurts the team and will continue to do so.
i hope frank takes note and makes his own adjustments.
btw, i did not said anything about monroe and knight not playing in crunch time.  i just didn’t complain about that.
i think my comments on last night’s game were pretty much confined to how monroe was handled…his PT, how he was subbed in and out, the way they used him last night.
i have to admit i did think it was odd that gordon, once again, was out on the court at crunch time, but i didn’t say anything.   i imagined frank understood something i did not about using gordon and knight in that situation.

]]> By: tarsier http://www.pistonpowered.com/2012/03/pistons-take-three-game-win-streak-into-five-game-road-trip/comment-page-1/#comment-58281 tarsier Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:03:43 +0000 http://www.pistonpowered.com/2012/03/pistons-take-three-game-win-streak-into-five-game-road-trip/#comment-58281 Jefferson gets way too much of a bad rap for his defense. He's certainly not great on that end, but he is serviceable. Much like a McGee: big body, quite athletic, pretty decent shot-blocker, strong rebounder, but not great at the nuances of defense. Jefferson gets way too much of a bad rap for his defense. He’s certainly not great on that end, but he is serviceable. Much like a McGee: big body, quite athletic, pretty decent shot-blocker, strong rebounder, but not great at the nuances of defense.

]]> By: Patrick Hayes http://www.pistonpowered.com/2012/03/pistons-take-three-game-win-streak-into-five-game-road-trip/comment-page-1/#comment-58274 Patrick Hayes Tue, 13 Mar 2012 13:37:33 +0000 http://www.pistonpowered.com/2012/03/pistons-take-three-game-win-streak-into-five-game-road-trip/#comment-58274 <p>This isn't grounded in the reality of what actually happened. This is your point: Al Jeff doesn't defend well and picked up two fouls, so Monroe should've went at him. Maybe so.</p> <p>But to say that without mentioning that Jefferson actually defended Monroe quite well in the first half, pushing him off his spots and forcing him into tougher shots than he wanted (believe Monroe started 1-for-5ish and didn't shoot the ball well all night) just isn't making an honest argument. So it's the coaching staff's fault that Monroe shot the ball poorly and didn't establish good position? Please.</p> This isn’t grounded in the reality of what actually happened. This is your point: Al Jeff doesn’t defend well and picked up two fouls, so Monroe should’ve went at him. Maybe so.

But to say that without mentioning that Jefferson actually defended Monroe quite well in the first half, pushing him off his spots and forcing him into tougher shots than he wanted (believe Monroe started 1-for-5ish and didn’t shoot the ball well all night) just isn’t making an honest argument. So it’s the coaching staff’s fault that Monroe shot the ball poorly and didn’t establish good position? Please.

]]> By: frankie d http://www.pistonpowered.com/2012/03/pistons-take-three-game-win-streak-into-five-game-road-trip/comment-page-1/#comment-58233 frankie d Tue, 13 Mar 2012 06:39:53 +0000 http://www.pistonpowered.com/2012/03/pistons-take-three-game-win-streak-into-five-game-road-trip/#comment-58233 my initial point is being lost. i agree that detroit has no one who can guard jefferson. monroe is clearly not that guy and ben is past his prime. but just as detroit had no one to guard jefferson, jefferson could not guard monoe.   jefferson is one of the most notoriously bad defenders in the nba. this is what i posted during the first quarter: "the pistons are not exploiting the fact that jefferson is a horrible defender.  they should be going to him every time down to try to get him in foul trouble and on the bench.  otherwise he will really hurt you." al jefferson is known as a bad defender.  if you get him about 12-15 feet away from the basket, any offensive player can just walk around him.  . so the strategy for a team in detroit's position should be to make utah pay for having a bad defender on the court. and with a guy like jefferson, that means one of several things. making him defend.  not likely. or if he won't defend, make him foul.  that is good because it limits his time on the floor and as i noted, he is less likely to kill you. and if he won't foul - because he wants to stay on the floor - then greg monroe scores 40 points tonight.  and nowadays, jefferson will either foul or simply give up the points.  he is one of the league's worst big man defenders, even worse than his numbers indicate.  detroit was in an ideal position tonight.   and then this sequence happens: jefferson had picked up his second foul with over 2 minutes to go in the first quarter. he goes out immediately. monroe goes out 1&1/2 minutes later. ben w. replaces him. jefferson comes back in with over 8 minutes to go in the first half. monroe doesn't come back into the game until 4 minutes later, with a little over 4 minutes left in the half.after monroe left the game with a minute left in the first quarter, his replacement, wallace, did not attempt a shot. when monroe returned, with 4 minutes to go in the first half, he attempted one shot.  that is exactly what utah wanted.  their horrible defensive center gets a break because he doesn't have to guard the totally offensively-incompetent backup center who is playing more minutes than usual for some inexplicable reason. (teams are treating ben wallace as they treated him when carlisle coached the team: they literally do not guard him.  he can stand 10 feet from the basket with the ball and no one will guard him.) the point i made as the game was progressing - this is not hindsight! - is that the pistons should do everything they can do to get jefferson in foul trouble.   they can't guard him.  but he is a horrible defender.  common sense says go after him.  get him in foul trouble so he has to sit on the bench, instead of lighting up the pistons' inadequate defenders. playing wallace extended minutes in this particular game is so mindnumbingly stupid, it boggles the mind.  did he do a better job defending than monroe? i guess....in the sense that he looked a little better while he was getting abused, i guess he did a better job.   but did he stop jefferson from getting his shots and his points? no. the coach's fixation on ben's "defense" was illustrated beautifully tonight.  his "defense" didn't prevent jefferson from scoring tonight.  in fact, jefferson made lots of his point against wallace's "defense". would the team have been better off if monroe had been in the game and if the team had focused on making jefferson either defend or give up easy baskets or foul? imho, yes.   it is pretty simple.  ben w. couldn't defend jefferson.  no one on detroit could defend jefferson.  so why ignore a strategy of trying to force  jefferson  to  defend/or foul/or give up easy baskets? this is a perfect example of what i consider to be a  the lack of "feel" for the game.  not only did he fail to recognize and understand the obvious way to go with his personnel - limit ben's minutes; set monroe up to exploit his matchup with jefferson - but he exacerbated the situation by doing exactly the worse thing: allowing jefferson to go long stretches where he did not have to guard anyone, where he could save his energy for the offensive end.   a very winnable game tonight against a very flawed team that had its share of turmoil. unfortunately, the coach was on a siesta, when he should have been thinking of ways to get al jefferson off the court. my initial point is being lost.
i agree that detroit has no one who can guard jefferson.
monroe is clearly not that guy and ben is past his prime.
but just as detroit had no one to guard jefferson, jefferson could not guard monoe.  
jefferson is one of the most notoriously bad defenders in the nba.
this is what i posted during the first quarter:
“the pistons are not exploiting the fact that jefferson is a horrible defender.  they should be going to him every time down to try to get him in foul trouble and on the bench.  otherwise he will really hurt you.”
al jefferson is known as a bad defender.  if you get him about 12-15 feet away from the basket, any offensive player can just walk around him.  .
so the strategy for a team in detroit’s position should be to make utah pay for having a bad defender on the court.
and with a guy like jefferson, that means one of several things.
making him defend.  not likely.
or if he won’t defend, make him foul.  that is good because it limits his time on the floor and as i noted, he is less likely to kill you.
and if he won’t foul – because he wants to stay on the floor – then greg monroe scores 40 points tonight. 
and nowadays, jefferson will either foul or simply give up the points.  he is one of the league’s worst big man defenders, even worse than his numbers indicate. 
detroit was in an ideal position tonight.  
and then this sequence happens:
jefferson had picked up his second foul with over 2 minutes to go in the first quarter.
he goes out immediately.
monroe goes out 1&1/2 minutes later. ben w. replaces him.
jefferson comes back in with over 8 minutes to go in the first half.
monroe doesn’t come back into the game until 4 minutes later, with a little over 4 minutes left in the half.after monroe left the game with a minute left in the first quarter, his replacement, wallace, did not attempt a shot.
when monroe returned, with 4 minutes to go in the first half, he attempted one shot. 
that is exactly what utah wanted.  their horrible defensive center gets a break because he doesn’t have to guard the totally offensively-incompetent backup center who is playing more minutes than usual for some inexplicable reason.
(teams are treating ben wallace as they treated him when carlisle coached the team: they literally do not guard him.  he can stand 10 feet from the basket with the ball and no one will guard him.)
the point i made as the game was progressing – this is not hindsight! – is that the pistons should do everything they can do to get jefferson in foul trouble.  
they can’t guard him.  but he is a horrible defender.  common sense says go after him.  get him in foul trouble so he has to sit on the bench, instead of lighting up the pistons’ inadequate defenders.
playing wallace extended minutes in this particular game is so mindnumbingly stupid, it boggles the mind. 
did he do a better job defending than monroe?
i guess….in the sense that he looked a little better while he was getting abused, i guess he did a better job.  
but did he stop jefferson from getting his shots and his points? no.
the coach’s fixation on ben’s “defense” was illustrated beautifully tonight. 
his “defense” didn’t prevent jefferson from scoring tonight.  in fact, jefferson made lots of his point against wallace’s “defense”.
would the team have been better off if monroe had been in the game and if the team had focused on making jefferson either defend or give up easy baskets or foul?
imho, yes.  
it is pretty simple.  ben w. couldn’t defend jefferson.  no one on detroit could defend jefferson.  so why ignore a strategy of trying to force  jefferson  to  defend/or foul/or give up easy baskets?
this is a perfect example of what i consider to be a  the lack of “feel” for the game.  not only did he fail to recognize and understand the obvious way to go with his personnel – limit ben’s minutes; set monroe up to exploit his matchup with jefferson – but he exacerbated the situation by doing exactly the worse thing: allowing jefferson to go long stretches where he did not have to guard anyone, where he could save his energy for the offensive end.  
a very winnable game tonight against a very flawed team that had its share of turmoil.
unfortunately, the coach was on a siesta, when he should have been thinking of ways to get al jefferson off the court.

]]> By: Dan Feldman http://www.pistonpowered.com/2012/03/pistons-take-three-game-win-streak-into-five-game-road-trip/comment-page-1/#comment-58221 Dan Feldman Tue, 13 Mar 2012 04:39:50 +0000 http://www.pistonpowered.com/2012/03/pistons-take-three-game-win-streak-into-five-game-road-trip/#comment-58221 <p><a href="http://www.82games.com/1112/11DET3.HTM#clutch" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Brandon Knight has played 87 percent of Detroit's clutch-situation minutes</a>. That ties for tops on the team. <a href="http://www.82games.com/1112/11DET14.HTM#clutch" target="_self" rel="nofollow">With Greg Monroe</a>.</p> Brandon Knight has played 87 percent of Detroit’s clutch-situation minutes. That ties for tops on the team. With Greg Monroe.

]]> By: RationalSportsFan http://www.pistonpowered.com/2012/03/pistons-take-three-game-win-streak-into-five-game-road-trip/comment-page-1/#comment-58216 RationalSportsFan Tue, 13 Mar 2012 04:02:05 +0000 http://www.pistonpowered.com/2012/03/pistons-take-three-game-win-streak-into-five-game-road-trip/#comment-58216 Agreed that it is a bit nitpicky, but a team like the Pistons need to push every potential edge...so, if it would be even SLIGHTLY better for the Stones to play  Greg and Brandon a few extra mins, they need to do so...   Here's hoping we somehow win the lottery this year, get Anthony Davis, and don't have to worry about pushing small edges any more! Agreed that it is a bit nitpicky, but a team like the Pistons need to push every potential edge…so, if it would be even SLIGHTLY better for the Stones to play  Greg and Brandon a few extra mins, they need to do so…
 
Here’s hoping we somehow win the lottery this year, get Anthony Davis, and don’t have to worry about pushing small edges any more!

]]> By: RationalSportsFan http://www.pistonpowered.com/2012/03/pistons-take-three-game-win-streak-into-five-game-road-trip/comment-page-1/#comment-58215 RationalSportsFan Tue, 13 Mar 2012 03:59:48 +0000 http://www.pistonpowered.com/2012/03/pistons-take-three-game-win-streak-into-five-game-road-trip/#comment-58215 Oh, didn't know about your and Frankie's history. And to be fair, not many people can really defend a hot Jefferson.  Making him work for it is about the best you can expect. Oh, didn’t know about your and Frankie’s history.
And to be fair, not many people can really defend a hot Jefferson.  Making him work for it is about the best you can expect.

]]> By: Patrick Hayes http://www.pistonpowered.com/2012/03/pistons-take-three-game-win-streak-into-five-game-road-trip/comment-page-1/#comment-58214 Patrick Hayes Tue, 13 Mar 2012 03:59:24 +0000 http://www.pistonpowered.com/2012/03/pistons-take-three-game-win-streak-into-five-game-road-trip/#comment-58214 <p>And as for "better than the average internet commenter," I have never made apologies for arguing against points I don't think are strong ones, and I don't expect readers to hold back when they think I've made a weak argument (and lucky for me I guess, they don't).</p> <p>I understand your point and Frankie's point: the Pistons should care less about winning and play their young guys in late game situations regardless of their performance to that point in a given game.</p> <p>I just think it's nitpicky here. Monroe played two minutes less than his season average. Knight played right at his season average. I don't think having Monroe get abused by Al Jefferson for 2-3 more minutes would've been particularly beneficial, especially when he has to face another bruising big man in Sacramento Wednesday. I don't think Knight getting schooled by Devin Harris for another couple minutes would offer all that much value when he has to contend with Evans/Isaiah Thomas, two tough matchups of their own, Wednesday.</p> <p>Those two guys clearly didn't have it tonight, not that their replacements did either. Saving a few minutes for each guy to hopefully make them fresher in the next game is just not a bad strategy and not harmful to their development.</p> And as for “better than the average internet commenter,” I have never made apologies for arguing against points I don’t think are strong ones, and I don’t expect readers to hold back when they think I’ve made a weak argument (and lucky for me I guess, they don’t).

I understand your point and Frankie’s point: the Pistons should care less about winning and play their young guys in late game situations regardless of their performance to that point in a given game.

I just think it’s nitpicky here. Monroe played two minutes less than his season average. Knight played right at his season average. I don’t think having Monroe get abused by Al Jefferson for 2-3 more minutes would’ve been particularly beneficial, especially when he has to face another bruising big man in Sacramento Wednesday. I don’t think Knight getting schooled by Devin Harris for another couple minutes would offer all that much value when he has to contend with Evans/Isaiah Thomas, two tough matchups of their own, Wednesday.

Those two guys clearly didn’t have it tonight, not that their replacements did either. Saving a few minutes for each guy to hopefully make them fresher in the next game is just not a bad strategy and not harmful to their development.

]]> By: RationalSportsFan http://www.pistonpowered.com/2012/03/pistons-take-three-game-win-streak-into-five-game-road-trip/comment-page-1/#comment-58212 RationalSportsFan Tue, 13 Mar 2012 03:58:02 +0000 http://www.pistonpowered.com/2012/03/pistons-take-three-game-win-streak-into-five-game-road-trip/#comment-58212 I get your point on Gordon.  Perhaps my bigger complaint is with Joe D for not amnestying him (or Chuck) this offseason. As far as your claim that "it’s just as valuable to send a message to your PG that he’s expected to take care of the ball and he’s expected to defend, or he won’t be gifted those crunch time minutes," I disagree, though I think that your approach isn't crazy or unreasonable.  I would prefer that he plays through mistakes and gets the crunch time opportunities (like the Cavs give Irving and the Wiz give Wall).  There are plenty of other opportunities to lecture Knight on ball control.  When watching film, for example, a coach can give emphasis to his TO's.  Or in practice.  Or anytime Larry can call him into his office. So, I agree that the turnover problems and defensive breakdowns should be taken seriously, but I just wouldn't punish him with limited minutes.  I think that hurts the team long-term. I get your point on Gordon.  Perhaps my bigger complaint is with Joe D for not amnestying him (or Chuck) this offseason.
As far as your claim that “it’s just as valuable to send a message to your PG that he’s expected to take care of the ball and he’s expected to defend, or he won’t be gifted those crunch time minutes,” I disagree, though I think that your approach isn’t crazy or unreasonable.  I would prefer that he plays through mistakes and gets the crunch time opportunities (like the Cavs give Irving and the Wiz give Wall).  There are plenty of other opportunities to lecture Knight on ball control.  When watching film, for example, a coach can give emphasis to his TO’s.  Or in practice.  Or anytime Larry can call him into his office.
So, I agree that the turnover problems and defensive breakdowns should be taken seriously, but I just wouldn’t punish him with limited minutes.  I think that hurts the team long-term.

]]> By: Patrick Hayes http://www.pistonpowered.com/2012/03/pistons-take-three-game-win-streak-into-five-game-road-trip/comment-page-1/#comment-58208 Patrick Hayes Tue, 13 Mar 2012 03:53:04 +0000 http://www.pistonpowered.com/2012/03/pistons-take-three-game-win-streak-into-five-game-road-trip/#comment-58208 <p>Well, this is a long debate for Frankie and I. He feels strongly one way, I feel strongly the other. His post pretty clearly glossed over some facts, like the fact that Monroe was really ineffective offensively and defensively in the first half. No one defended Jefferson well tonight, but Wallace at the very least made him work harder than Monroe was. That's a pretty important point to include in a discussion here.</p> Well, this is a long debate for Frankie and I. He feels strongly one way, I feel strongly the other. His post pretty clearly glossed over some facts, like the fact that Monroe was really ineffective offensively and defensively in the first half. No one defended Jefferson well tonight, but Wallace at the very least made him work harder than Monroe was. That’s a pretty important point to include in a discussion here.

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