Comments on: Pistons play awful, Andre Drummond looks like a rookie for first time in loss to Heat

By: gmehl

gmehl — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 00:24:40 +0000

I have noticed from reading comments throughout pre season a similar pattern forming to last season where everyone was whining to start Knight. By memory Knight started by around the 10 game mark. He was playing really well off the bench as a spot up shooter/tempo changer and then once he became a starter his production plateaued to an inconsistent level. It was mainly due to him seeing the other teams best players/defenders.

Now i am not saying the same will happen to Drummond but there is a very high chance it can and will once he does start. As much as i want Drummond to start now and become the second coming of Dwight Howard my better judgement says what is the hurry. We have 82 games to go to enjoy watching this kid develop. It is important that we get it right with him and speeding up his development could ruin him. Him starting won’t be determined because he is already better than Maxiell but rather when he is ready within himself to handle the load of back-to-back games and 5-6 road game swings. I say we give the kid 10-15 games (reg season) to acclimate and then if it looks like he is ready to handle the load then start him. Also remember big guys always take longer settle (eg Andrew Bynum).

By: Holy Crow

Holy Crow — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 22:23:23 +0000

The rigors of an 82 game season make it improbable that a 19-year-old kid with one year of college ball would be inserted into the starting lineup of a responsible NBA team. That being said, Drummond could still be the Rookie of the Year leading a second unit. And like Corey said, it’s not starting, it’s the minutes that really matter. The most important thing is protecting Andre’s health and psyche because this kid is SPECIAL.

By: Scott Free

Scott Free — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 21:34:24 +0000

I’m with you Patrick. Drummond has chemistry with the second unit, and his defensive presence ensures other teams wont pull away while our starters are resting. Plus that bench squad is fast-paced and frenetic which (I believe) complements Drummond’s style and thus far shields the fans from how “raw” he is. I think his deficiencies would be on display in a slower set-offense.

I also fear what Drummond’s starting would do to Monroe, who is most effective under (or near) the basket. With spacing such an important issue with modern ball, i’m not sure the Pistons could afford to park 2 near 7-footers underneath the basket when we rely so heavily on dribble penetration from our guards. I also think Monroe’s offensive rebounding/scoring potential is muted in the high post.

And lets not forget Maxiel. With Jason you know what you get, an undersized, but gritty rotation player. The Pistons didn’t succeed last year until he was injecting into the starting lineup. I don’t see him as effective on the second unit (which has come to rely heavily on Drummond’s unique abilities).

By: Ray

Ray — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 20:56:36 +0000

I guess this is where disagree, playing with the starters gives him the best chance to succeed…. They will create easier scoring opportunities …defensively he’d be a stronger for monroe and the starting unit…and he has earned it … We have been cries about needing size, athleticism, game changing players…we finally get one and we want to give him 20-25 mins off the bench…smh

By: Patrick Hayes

Patrick Hayes — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 16:38:00 +0000

Saying he shouldn’t start yet isn’t saying he hasn’t played exceptionally well and better than almost everyone on the roster.

I think the argument against starting him is they want him in the best situation to succeed. He’s still really inexperienced. Anthony Davis played big minutes and a huge role on a national title team during his one year of college basketball. Drummond played a complementary role on a mediocre team.

Right now, he’s best situation to succeed might be dominating against other teams’ second units coming off the bench. I don’t really see what it matters that much whether Drummond starts. As long as he’s getting 20-25 minutes per game (or more if he can handle it and stay out of foul trouble), it doesn’t make a difference whether he starts or not.

By: Ray

Ray — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 16:14:56 +0000

I hate the idea of not starting Drummond…he had looked better than 99% percent of the roster….he has out played the Russian, and clearly out played Maxiell, and everyone said he’d have to earn it….HE HAS!…NO OFFENSIVE plays are run for him other than alley-opps and he averages 10ppg almost 2 blks in 18minutes…5.5 rebs ,,,,now they are saying look at the level of compeition he did it against… SO WHAT! there are only 1 GREAT team in the east, and 2-3 REALLY GOOD TEAMS… the rest is open game….. Anthony Davis until his last game was shooting 44% …he had a 4-12 shooting game…averaging 1blk per game … No one thought bring him along slowly ….looked questionable on defense….

Perception of Drummond is horrible….if I was Drummond and i busted by butt to get into shape, i have worked hard gone beyond the coaches expectation, and clearly outplayed my competition….id be pissed off if I didnt start…

By: Ray

Ray — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 16:00:52 +0000

completely agree…

We have not game changing superstars…like a Derrick Rose, Kobe, Westbrook, Durant, or lebron or even a Rudy Gay….

But we do have skilled players… Greg is Skilled Big man…

Knight/ Stuckey are skilled Combo guards that can push the ball, and get to the basket…AS LONG AS THE DEFENSE DOESNT HAVE TIME TO SET! …. We should be pushing the ball, even after the other team scores….Greg, Drummond, and Jonas are very good offensive rebounders and we should use that to our advatange … quicker shots… get away from draining the shot clock down just to get a 17-20 foot jumper anyway….

Draining the shot clock is only good or works when your defense can control the pace of the game, but if in 1 minute of game time…your opponent has gotten off 5-6 shot attempts and you have only gotten off 3….. simple math to who has a better chance at winning that game..

By: BIGMARV

BIGMARV — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 15:56:33 +0000

Yeah stuckey starts slow and picks it up slow but he dont pick it up until the last month of the season when basketball wins is not important no more to this current piston team, because they will be long gone out of the race. He has to pick it up now if we want to make at least the 8th spot he has to play out of his mind this year no excuses.

By: Keith

Keith — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 15:36:51 +0000

This has been a problem with our offense for the last decade. We do not create easy baskets. Part of it may be a “defensive philosophy” whereby we slow down the game to get our defense set, but that’s disregarding our personnel. We don’t defend all that well even in the half-court, and our conservative offense doesn’t generally stop teams from running on us. Right now, the efficiency of our offense is probably going to fall directly into how well we rebound on the offensive end. We run a bad offense that focuses waaaaaay too much on mid-range shots, so the only way we can overcome is by giving ourselves significantly more chances to shoot. This is another reason Drummond-Monroe could be such an important pairing. Both crash the offensive glass to create more and more effective scoring chances.

Again, I completely agree that Knight has not been given the opportunity to properly develop. We will often ignore a run-out in order to set the offense, which is stupid since our half-court offense was almost the worst offense in the league. Knight should be pushing the ball a lot more, pressuring the defense into committing early so he or teammates have better shots off passes. Having him dribble at the top of the 3pt line while we run slow, predictable sets hinders him and the rest of the offense.

By: Keith

Keith — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 15:29:20 +0000

We should probably just release Daye for the roster spot. CV might be worth using the amnesty, but he’s probably untradeable. Sit him and play other players, there’s no real incentive to do otherwise.