Comments on: Pistons loss to Bulls is easily explainable — it’s an effort thing

By: gmehl

gmehl — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 00:17:35 +0000

@Crispus In reference to your post above, part of the reason Drummond has been out of place on defence is the fact that he has been playing his minutes in the last 4-5 games along side CV. As a defender no matter how good you are if you play along side a crappy defender (CV) then your defence suffers too. CV doesn’t switch, box out and is pretty much abused down low. Poor old Drummond has to guard his man and CV’s on most plays. Also part of being a good defender is talking/communicating with your fellow defenders and let them know who is going where. All have seen CV do is set shitty picks so he can spot up for 3 pointers. Yeah he has been shooting well lately but you have to do more than one thing to be effective in this league.

By: Tom Y.

Tom Y. — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 21:42:48 +0000

They’re gonna guard him with a center and leave Drummond under the rim with a PF guarding him? I wouldn’t mind that actually.

By: Scott Free

Scott Free — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 19:51:29 +0000

So what has Monroe’s problem been anyways? Is this a slump or should we start revising our expectations of what he can contribute?

By: kamal

kamal — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 19:35:57 +0000

Monroe is getting screwed by Frank. Monroe had a pretty solid first quarter, 7 points, 4 boards. But he sat him for a full 12 minutes from the last 2:30 of the first to the last 2:30 of the second. And don’t act like Noah was killing him in the first quarter because he only had 4 points and 3 boards in the time that Monroe was in the game.

Monroe should’ve been taking it to Noah, forcing him to play D and risking getting him in foul trouble. Instead, our guards and wings played one on one. They had a phenomenal game, points wise, but they didn’t play a smart game. I saw a switch in which Monroe had Deng in the post and I think Tayshaun shot it and missed.

Monroe is being wasted setting picks 30 feet out. He needs to get the ball in the post instead of trying to out leg players from the top of the key.

I know he misses bunnies ad gets his shot blocked far more than any 7 footer I’ve seen. But I’d rather see him attempt to go HAM in the first and see if Monroe has it than getting our guards off early.

And if Monroe is struggling defending a big, send in Drummond. Or start him when we play a big strong center like Gasol. Poppavich did it when they played the Lakers. Splitter started instead of Diaw. He put them in the best position to win. The next game with a smaller front line, Splitter went right back to the bench. You play to win the game.

By: bugsygod

bugsygod — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 19:12:35 +0000

It was the same under Carlisle as well, remember Prince didnt get any real time until the playoffs against Mcgrady. Michael Curry was the starter that year. I actually think the playing of young players is only an issue now as we are rebuilding and need to play these young guys. In the cases of Saunders & Curry we were pretty much a veteran team trying to win a championship, not a lot of room for young guys. I believe most coaches, as has been frequently reported, generally give rookies/young players a steep learning curve to get minutes. Usually only the top of the top young guys get a ton of mintues.
That being said….PLAY DRUMMOND WITH MONROE! Hell it seems like we are a better team when Drummond is on the court! Frank just said that winning trumps everything, but NOT playing Drummond is NOT trying to win.

By: piston moribund

piston moribund — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 19:05:28 +0000

Actually its not even about stars, it about leaders. There are no leaders on the team. No one on the teams has that quality. They should just cut “I suck rocks” Corey and sign Ben. Its not Frank, Its not Moose, its not BK7, its not Stuck, and its most certainly not Prince. There is no one with any kind of authority or can garner that kind of respect that people will naturally want to follow. You know you have a problem when Corey Hyman has to gather the troops in a narcissistic and cringe worthy moment on center court after a blow out win for a WTF? No leader from the front office, coach or owner. Its quite obvious that Mr. D was the only true leader. There is probably no one I miss more on the team then Mr. D.

By: bugsygod

bugsygod — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 19:03:10 +0000

Coach was slow to adjust as usual. Drummond is now stealing Monroes minutes instead of Maxiel. Drummond still did not play one minute with Monroe all night while we were getting Hammered by Noah/Boozer. Noah BEASTED our entire front line. Leave Stuckey where he is at an let him be productive, this may finally be his optimal role. Singler looks tired, but keep starting him and let him fight through. Monroe seems a little frustated with the coach lately and being pulled for defense, instead of just playing the Good defensive guy Drummond with him. Get a road win in Cleveland tonight! —- short, clear and consise.

By: Jodi Jezz

Jodi Jezz — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 19:02:11 +0000

Ha, OK Pat…I wouldn’t compare censoring a disrespectful racial word to the phrase “no homo”…And for the record, I’m not black, I just like to do things right…I think what’s ignorant is your love affection for a guy who’s a role player at best…You’re good at writing articles for the Pistons, but you apparently have no history of playing basketball…And with all due respect, you have a very limited eye for talent if you think Singler is the reason we’ve been playing .500 basketball lately…

By: heWizard

heWizard — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 18:53:52 +0000

I agree that his defense and energy were lacking. But if you play Drummond with Moose, guess what happens? Moose is on Boozer and Bull is on Noah. Maybe it doesn’t make Moose a better defender, but it at least changes the look, puts a 7-foot shot blocker beside him, and put our two best rebounders on the floor to combat their two best rebounders. Additionally, if we accept that 30-23-6 is outrageous and rare, and we scale Moose’s production to 40 minutes, a 20-10 game would not have been unexpected and, again, is tough to be considered a failing grade, defense notwithstanding.

By: Crispus

Crispus — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 18:14:18 +0000

On the plus side it’s nice to finally see Charlie V as a member of the Pistons. Looks like all that attitude adjustment and training in the offseason was legit. Now he’s playing basketball for us instead of just being a well-paid, immature lightning rod bolted to the bench.