Slava Kravtsov, Pistons routed in Indiana by Pacers
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Jason Maxiell, PF 20 MIN | 2-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 7 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 2 BLK | 3 TO | 4 PTS | -21This will appeal to the college students out there, but let’s make a Jason Maxiell drinking game. Missed shots inside six feet are a drink, huge dunks are a shot and fouls or turnovers mean you finish your drink. By the way, seven boards are Max’s most since Feb. 6 against Brooklyn. |  |
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Greg Monroe, C 22 MIN | 2-9 FG | 1-2 FT | 4 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 5 PTS | -32Monroe wasn’t good defensively, he wasn’t good offensively and he wasn’t good on the boards. He was just plain bad tonight, something he really hasn’t been much this season. He’s a good player who had a bad night, but he’s also never “stand around and watch him play” good like his teammates appeared to think he was tonight. |  |
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Jose Calderon, PG 26 MIN | 1-6 FG | 3-3 FT | 1 REB | 3 AST | 3 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 5 PTS | -35It was bound to happen eventually — Jose Calderon finally had a bad game as a Piston. Tonight his jumper (finally) wasn’t falling and his passes were going to teammates who had no intention of either:A. Scoring orB. Holding on to the ball. | |
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Rodney Stuckey, PG 28 MIN | 5-12 FG | 1-2 FT | 1 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 11 PTS | -34Stuckey was the best starter tonight and it wasn’t even close. The completely discombobulated offense made his line look worse than it was, though. It seemed like every other possession in the third quarter resulted in a late-in-the-clock-desperation heave by Stuckey — a formula for disaster, aka tonight. |  |
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Kyle Singler, SG 14 MIN | 1-7 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 2 PTS | -21Remember that thing the other day about how Singler is never horribly bad? Forget that I ever said that. |  |
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Jonas Jerebko, PF 20 MIN | 1-5 FG | 1-2 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 4 PTS | +1There were a lot of guys who played 10 or more minutes and had little to no impact on the game and Jerebko was one of them. Even in the fourth quarter with the game well out of reach, it was Will Bynum, not Jerebko, running with the kids. Ouch. |  |
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Charlie Villanueva, PF 15 MIN | 0-3 FG | 2-2 FT | 4 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 2 PTS | -18If I told you the options for the final guy in your 5-on-5 game at the YMCA was down to Charlie V, Jason Maxiell or just running with four guys, which option would you pick? | |
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Khris Middleton, SF 24 MIN | 1-7 FG | 7-9 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 10 PTS | +1He didn’t shoot well, but after checking in and hitting a 3-pointer in the first half, Middleton showed some aggressiveness on the offensive end the rest of the way. He wasn’t half bad defensively, either. At this point, what’s the harm in seeing what you’ve got with him? |  |
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Viacheslav Kravtsov, C 29 MIN | 6-7 FG | 2-10 FT | 10 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 14 PTS | -4There are still a lot of times where I’m not sure if Slava knows exactly what’s going on or where he’s supposed to be, but tonight he was easily the best Pistons player. He’s proven to be a better rebounder than he showed in Europe and his dunk game is almost Drummond-like in its efficiency. You want a bright spot? Here he is. |  |
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Will Bynum, PG 22 MIN | 7-12 FG | 3-4 FT | 1 REB | 4 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 5 TO | 17 PTS | +1I’ll give credit to the end of bench guys — English, Middleton — when they do something good in a blowout, mainly because it’s tough to just go into a game cold and produce. But when Will Bynum puts up numbers (12 points) in a blowout, it doesn’t magically make his badness during the other three quarters go away. | |
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Kim English, SG 20 MIN | 3-8 FG | 1-3 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 8 PTS | +2English still can’t stay in front of his own shadow defensively, but he was the star of his very own fourth-quarter highlight tonight. After making a wide open, fall away 16-footer, the Fox Sports cameras gave it instant replay treatment. Ata boy, Kim. | |
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Corey Maggette, SF DNP COACH’S DECISION MIN | FG | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS | Corey Maggette was active tonight, and apparently he was too ill to watch from the bench. Sounds about right. | |
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Lawrence FrankDid you know the Pistons trailed by as many as 40 points tonight? That’s bad, actually, that’s awful, but this one isn’t all on Frank. You can coach X’s and O’s all you want, but when your guys come out like the Pistons did tonight, there’s nothing a coach can do about it. Any team is victim to lapses, albeit not this horrific, but even Red Auerbach wasn’t coaching them to a win tonight. | |
Players: Charlie Villanueva • Corey Maggette • Greg Monroe • Jason Maxiell • Jonas Jerebko • Jose Calderon • Khris Milddleton • Kim English • Kyle Singler • Lawrence Frank • Rodney Stuckey • Viacheslav Kravtsov • Will Bynum
Posted in Game Review • 38 Comments
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Feb 22, 2013 • 10:27 pm
by Mark
Theres more to coaching than xs and os. Effort from players is a direct reflection of coach’s ability to motivate or not motivate their team. This team appears to have given up on the season with 20 games left, and thats on the coach.
Feb 22, 2013 • 10:33 pm
by Chris N
You might be right, but I think that’s a myopic view. If they get blown out tomorrow night, I’d give more credence to your statement. Tonight, I think they got the snot beat out of them and they stopped fighting.
Feb 22, 2013 • 11:05 pm
by sebastian
Chris N., I have a feeling tomorrow night will be very similar to tonight’s a$$ whipping.
Feb 22, 2013 • 11:56 pm
by Mark
Thats exactly my point, and it happened twice in the last four games prior too, against NO and MEM. I thought this team was past that point of getting blown out and not fighting back. For some reason they regressed back to letting teams bully them around again.
Some of that is due to the trade and injuries, but idk I watch other teams deal with injuries and trades all the time, and their coach’s are able to keep the team together despite all of that. If you are evaluatiing Frank as a coach, part of what you look at is stuff like this. How does his team respond to adversity?
They’ve been through a lot of it the past few weeks, and their response has been very inconsistent. Win big games against SA/MIL, then get completely dominated by NO, MEM, and IND.
Feb 23, 2013 • 11:07 am
by tarsier
What do they have left to play for?
I mean, they should still work hard, and I’m betting they do. But not as hard as the other team who actually has a reason to want to win.
It’s like the difference between working hard washing windows on a building that you wash everyday and will have to wash again tomorrow or working hard to try to get a bid submitted on time when you know that will likely get you a raise. You can make yourself work hard either way, but you just don’t have the same fire in the former case.
Frank can say whatever he wants to the Pistons. They know they’re missing the playoffs and are just playing out the season because they have to.
Feb 22, 2013 • 10:28 pm
by Chris N
Gotta give these ratings an F.
On a night when the Pistons get wiped out by 32 points there’s no way any of your starters should get any other grade than an F.
Feb 22, 2013 • 10:37 pm
by Brady Fredericksen
I can understand that, but it’s like a professer, you’ve gotta be something of a TOTAL FAIL to get an F. Like, in school, you had to be, well, ok, you may have a point.
Feb 22, 2013 • 11:58 pm
by Mark
lol, yeah if this performance doesn’t qualify as a complete fail by all involved, then idk what does.
THe only person on the team I wouldn’t give an F too would be Slava, who I’d give a C.
Feb 23, 2013 • 11:11 am
by tarsier
if this performance doesn’t qualify as a complete fail by all involved, then idk what does
boycotting practice
Feb 23, 2013 • 11:09 am
by tarsier
Giving everyone an F is lazy and boring. You can play poorly but not horribly and still be blown out by a better team. Especially if one or two other guys on your team are playing horribly.
Feb 22, 2013 • 10:31 pm
by robertbayer
Nothing Frank could have done about this? Hmmm … Why even have a head coach then? It is not all about Xs and Os … Check out Phil Jackson’s reference to Larry Frank in an interview over at CNNSI … Leadership is more than that .. Actually .. there are serious doubts about Frank’s knowledge of Xs and Os BTW ..
Jackson:
“How do I get these people to play at their peak level?” Yeah, the X’s and O’s mean something, but you can get people to do that. And a lot of those guys have been hired. The Lawrence Franks and the Frank Vogels. Mike Brown was one of those guys. That’s not a knock. Those guys know how to coach the game.
But coaching is much more than that. It is a spiritual quest. And if it’s not that, you don’t have a challenge,you don’t have a mission. Forming a brotherhood and trying to move it forward, that’s the part that I miss.
Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nba/news/20130219/phil-jackson-los-angeles-lakers-dwight-howard/#ixzz2Lgnt2KUO
Frank needs more of that vision and mission and brotherhood thing .. More important than Xs and Os .. Not understanding that we needed to be playing Kravtsov and Drummon far more and far earlier .. are just a part of that ..
Feb 22, 2013 • 10:39 pm
by Brady Fredericksen
So, are you saying a coach like Scott Brooks is a spiritual zen brother of his players or does he just know how to make two of the NBA’s best players work while involving their role players?
Feb 22, 2013 • 10:46 pm
by Chris N
“Frank needs more of that vision and mission and brotherhood thing .. ”
That’s all he talks about. Listen to him on the radio broadcasts before or after the game. That’s pretty much his mantra.
What he needs is an increased talent base.
Feb 22, 2013 • 10:49 pm
by Brady Fredericksen
That’s exactly it. I mean, Byron Scott is a really good coach with a really good player and his team still stinks. Coaching is a lot of things, but there’s no such thing as a good coach with bad players — and bringing up Phil Jackson, a guy who always won with four top-20 players, doesn’t really jive with Larry here.
Feb 22, 2013 • 11:13 pm
by Tim
This is ridiculous. The talent level on the pistons is not some d league team. Sure, there are holes in the roster, but if anyone still thinks Franks is a good coach after these last two seasons (not to mention his flameout in NJ), they are deluding themselves. Funny to see Vogel in that quote above. Even with his soft sensitive eyes, he gets more hard play out of a dude like Jeff Pendergraph than Frank can pull out of maxiell or cv. Even if the players coming out slow and unprepared isnt on him (btw it is), his inability to read the game flow and react with his rotations will always doom him. Dude is in over his head. again.
Feb 23, 2013 • 12:04 am
by Mark
This team is definitely not talented enough, without Drummond and Knight, to beat the 2 seed in the East in their building. But they should be better than -32.
Though, theyve gotten beat this bad by NY in their building, who was the 2 seed at the time, WITH Drummond and Knight, so maybe we just are THAT much lower in talent.
imo, I really don’t see a ton of talent on IND. NY, yes, they are way more talented overall. But aside from Hibbert, George, and West, who does IND have thats so much better than what we have?
I think IND is all coaching/system/effort. Thats why I question Frank, because I feel he should be able to have a similar impact with our roster than he has had so far as a coach.
Feb 23, 2013 • 1:28 pm
by tarsier
And most of the time, the Pistons won’t lose to the Pacers by 32. Everyone has better and worse games. But this game was not shockingly bad. Most lottery teams have at least half a dozen losses this bad each season.
Feb 22, 2013 • 11:22 pm
by Passion not energy
This team has officialy quit on Frank, has anyone heard of any rumors on who the next coach of the Pistons will be ?
Feb 22, 2013 • 11:22 pm
by Jam
Slava’s FTs were also Drummond-like in their inefficiency.
Feb 22, 2013 • 11:24 pm
by Passion not energy
Serisously , If it were up to me I’d fire Frank now, we still have a half a season left. This is going to get brutal.
Feb 22, 2013 • 11:29 pm
by James
I just want Drummond back, makes me excited about the future. Right now its hard to sit through a game with the roster we have. It’s getting close but I am waiting on calling for Frank’s head, lets see how this team finishes first with Drummond back.
Feb 22, 2013 • 11:38 pm
by Scott Carter
Just tank the rest of the season. As in, STARTING NOW!!
Feb 22, 2013 • 11:44 pm
by Simon
The only thing I want for the rest of the season is to see guys like Slava, Middleton, English and Jonas get some minutes to see if they are part of the future of this team. We already know that maxiell and Charlie v are not long term so lets get 20 odd games into these other guys and give us Some optimism about our future
Feb 23, 2013 • 12:21 am
by frankie d
it is hilarious that some observers are still apologizing for frank’s failures with the pistons.
is this a conference finals roster?
no.
but is this a collection of talent that should be competitive every night it goes out against another team? is this a team that should at least be a real threat to take a 6, 7 or 8 spot in the playoffs?
of course.
it comes down to having a system, a plan and having your players executing it.
watching the pistons is like watching a college team of freshmen. guys just go out and play and sometimes their talent carries them to a result – a win, perhaps – and other times, they just stumble around and look lost.
that is detroit and it has been detroit under frank.
after almost two years, the team should not still be struggling to find, establish and maintain an identity.
what is detroit’s identity?
answer: it doesn’t have one.
that fact rests directly on the coach.
look at indiana. vogel came in and won immediately. he took over from a guy who was losing, started winning and now he has established indiana as a very good defensive team that any team has to fear.
lawrence frank here in detroit?
we’re still waiting….
Feb 23, 2013 • 12:22 am
by Domnick
this is what happens when we don’t make trades…. stupid move by joe dumars RRGGHHH!!
Feb 23, 2013 • 2:39 am
by Lorenzo
No one is trying to confuse Frank with a great coach but a lot of people are confusing this squad with talent. Wake up people, your Pistons squad ain’t that good, it’s as simple as that. Their talent level is exactly what their record indicates and till people start accepting this simple fact the indulgence in the ordained lunacy of would be cockimamy trades, D-league players, end of the bench-hazbins-should be stars-in their own scouting wanderlust imaginarium, will continue to overshadow one simple attribute needed by the hissy fitting torrents who have cared to share. A reality check.
Feb 23, 2013 • 11:51 am
by Desolation Row
“No one is trying to confuse Frank with a great coach but a lot of people are confusing this squad with talent.”
This.
Feb 23, 2013 • 7:37 am
by Ryank
How is Joe D supposed to bring any of these guys back next season. They were just going through the motions tonight, just as they do on a regular basis.
Feb 23, 2013 • 9:12 am
by I HATE FRANK
Its like you guys are just catching up to what I’ve been saying since Day one.
Look at our roster, most of those guys are X’s and O’s players, they have always been those kind of players, so why give them an X’s and O’s coach? you could have hired an X’s and O’s assistant coach. We needed a motivator, that’s why we originally went after Avery Johnson, and yeah I know Johnson failed with Nets, but that bunch needed a coach like PJ…. We settled for Frank, and now this is the results…
Inconsistent play, inconsistent effort, not taking risk, …. Example: Slava should have been play a long time ago, it took drummond injury, and maxiell super poor play to ger him minute 50 games into the season.
Maxiell should have been coming off the becnh, now his overall value has taken a huge hit.
Feb 23, 2013 • 9:40 am
by Corey
Firing frank would be pointless. Directing him to give the end of the bench some minutes so they can grow and be evaluated would be excellent.
much better to fire frank, and hire a new, better coach during the off-season, when they know what the roster will look like next year. I’d the offseason has them looking like a playoff team next year, then they can hire a Stan Van Gundy or MacMillan or someone like that. If they lose Jose and can’t sign anybody good or make significant trades, might as well keep Frank.
Feb 23, 2013 • 11:58 am
by Desolation Row
I agree. What exactly would firing Frank accomplish this season? We’re not going to make the playoffs, he’s a huge upgrade from our last two coaches, and we still don’t know what we will have after the Summer of Joe to entice a guy like SVG to want to come to Detroit. Hell, maybe we land a more marquee free agent because we give him say in who the next coach is.
Talentless teams sometimes get blown out by good teams. The Pistons are a talentless team without Drummond (get over it) and the Pacers are a good team. Not saying the Pistons are devoid of talent, but save for a handful of guys (two of whom are injured), they are rather depleted.
Feb 23, 2013 • 10:59 am
by Talan
In related news, NBADraft.net has us picking up Victor Oladipo at number 9. I’d be happy with that. He has been tearing it up the last month. Thanks Pacers!
Feb 23, 2013 • 11:52 am
by Piston moribund
Everyone is missing the point, what do you all expect when the obvious reason for this pummeling is because BK was not playing. This is an obvious testament that BK is a very imprtant cog, more than anyone here gives him credit for!
Feb 23, 2013 • 11:59 am
by Desolation Row
I was thinking the same thing.
Feb 23, 2013 • 3:16 pm
by tarsier
I can’t tell whether or not this is sarcastic.
Feb 23, 2013 • 1:39 pm
by Slap Dog Hoops (SDH)
Getting Kraztov was certainly a steal for Joe Dumars. This kid a a solid diamond in the rough and with the right amount of minutes can potentially a a solid sleeper pick. Andre Drummound will certainly have to look over his shoulder, because this Kravtsov size is rising up like a bullet
Feb 23, 2013 • 2:51 pm
by Corey
If Kravtsov gets good enough to push Dre for minutes, then Dumars really struck gold. At that point they need to trade him (Slava) for a lottery pick.
Feb 23, 2013 • 6:06 pm
by Talan
Seriously? Slava had one good game and now he’s pushing Drummond for minutes? No one is giving us any picks for Slava, nevermind a lottery pick. I suffered through the entire game last night and the only reason Slava played better than normal was because the Pacer’s stopped trying when they were up 25 points.
If anything, I hope his progression means that Maxiel is pushed out of the rotation when drummond returns.