Hopefully, the injury doesn’t cause him to miss a lot of time — he’ll probably join a long line of famous masked Pistons like Bill Laimbeer, Antonio McDyess, Rip Hamilton and Charlie Villanueva. In the meantime, though, Knight’s absence allowed another rookie to show what he can do as a team’s primary lead guard.

Walker Russell‘s circumstances are quite different from Knight’s. Knight is a prized, highly hyped lottery pick who will be given ample opportunities to turn himself into a good NBA player. Russell has no such guarantees. He’s playing without a guaranteed contract. If not for a long list of injuries, the Pistons would’ve never signed him even to that non-guaranteed deal. He’ll be 30-years-old later this year. And when the Pistons regulars do return, there’s no guarantee, despite his solid play, that he’ll even hang around on the roster.

Saturday’s audition was big for Russell, and he made the most of it. He showed for an extended stretch what he has shown in the brief flashes of playing time the Pistons have given him: he can run a NBA offense, he always looks to make plays for others, he competes hard on defense and he takes care of the basketball. He scored nine points with four assists, two turnovers and two steals. If the Pistons can’t keep him, he might not be a difference maker, but he will give competent minutes off of most benches in a league that overall doesn’t have an abundance of unselfish, smart point guards.

But Russell’s performance didn’t just do him some favors if he finds himself in need of a new team soon. Subbing the minutes of a shoot-first player in Knight (he’s been getting incrementally better as a passer, but his first inclination his entire life has been to score the ball) for a pass-first (and maybe pass-second) player in Russell allowed the Pistons other shot-loving rotation players the chance to play more freely. Ignoring last night’s performance by Knight for a minute, when he’s been in the lineup, the Pistons offense hasn’t looked good. That’s not all Knight’s fault, but because he’s a shoot-first guy and because Rodney Stuckey and Tayshaun Prince are shoot-first guys, they all kind of struggle for power at times. All three guys possess some ability to create for others and all three possess some ability to create shots for themselves. What is usually missing is an understanding of who is supposed to do what. Sometimes all three are too assertive, sometimes none of them are. What has resulted has been a mess of an offense with no true facilitator and three guys who all seem to want that job, but none of the three showing he can do it full-time. Oh, and complicating things, the one guy who is a natural facilitator, who should have the offense running through him, Greg Monroe, plays center, so he relies on others to get him the ball. As we’ve seen all season, there are many games Monroe doesn’t touch it enough as a result.

Subbing Russell for Knight makes that problem less complex. When Russell’s in the game, he brings the ball up, he starts the offense and Prince and Stuckey didn’t have to worry about figuring out when they were supposed to take turns as playmakers and when they were supposed to simply take the shots that came to them.

Monroe also was heavily involved. He finished with 24 points and 16 rebounds, and he also got 17 shots, the most he’s had in the last four games.

I was looking forward to seeing how Knight followed up that first really good performance of his career. It’s disappointing he didn’t get a chance at it tonight, but the game wasn’t a total waste, either. Hopefully, he’s learning how to have command of an offense and run it efficiently when he gets to watch Russell out there.

Big plays by veterans

Stuckey and Prince didn’t have good games overall, but both helped put the game away late with key plays and big shots.

Prince made a nice pass to Jason Maxiell for a dunk to the the Pistons up five with 2:31 left. Stuckey hit a contested 18-footer off the dribble to put the Pistons up seven with less than two minutes left. Maxiell snuck in for an offensive rebound/dunk to put the Pistons up five with less than a minute to go.

Stuckey had a poor shooting night (5-for-13), but he got more aggressive in the second half and started getting to the free throw line by driving inside more. He was passive in the first half, didn’t get a couple of calls, and settled for jumpers after that. It was good to see him come out more aggressive, particularly late in the third quarter and in the fourth.

Prince also shot poorly, and he and a few others got torched by Trevor Ariza for 17 first half points. Prince did a little better job on him in the second half.

Maxiell had another fantastic game. Last night, I mentioned Maxiell’s previous struggles as a starter. He had a good game as a starter against Milwaukee, but due to injuries, the Bucks were starting their typical backup frontcourt guys. Tonight, Maxiell finished with 10 points, 5 rebounds and a block against a big frontline of Emeka Okafor and Jason Smith. Those guys certainly aren’t All-Stars, but Maxiell has often had problems getting shots off inside against taller players. He was active and delivered another encouraging performance in what has been a nice bounce-back season for him so far.

Jerebko impresses again

After a rough stretch of games where Jonas Jerebko wasn’t his energetic self, his activity has come back nicely over the last three games. He scored 11 points and had five rebounds against the Hornets.

More importantly, though, he’s stayed out of foul trouble the last three games. When Jerebko picks up quick fouls, he becomes much less aggressive. A non-aggressive Jerebko is a non-effective Jerebko. He’s a huge asset with his constant motion and activity when he can stay on the court.

Knight’s scoring early was impossible to ignore. He hit 3-pointers, attacked the basket, drew fouls and scored 18 first half points (and a career high 26 in the game), helping the Pistons get off to a good start for a change, something they’ve rarely been able to do this season. The scoring was certainly nice, but for the first time this season, Knight made the correct pass and delivered those passes with precision consistently throughout the game.

He finished with seven assists. He was owed a few more — Jason Maxiell, Jonas Jerebko and Tayshaun Prince all missed very make-able shots off of great passes in the first half that should have resulted in assists. But the outcome wasn’t as important as the setup. Knight’s passes were on target. He made amazing passes through traffic for layups. He made basic passes that simply kept the offense flowing. He has done neither of those things particularly well this season. For the first time, Knight’s production matched the rhetoric that he could be the starting point guard of the future.

Another name that came up in discussions of Knight today is Rodney Stuckey, both because Ben Gulker noted that Stuckey’s rookie assist/turnover numbers were far superior to Knight’s and because of my arguments with a couple Stuckey-loving slappies. I’m reminded of something Dan Feldman wrote about Stuckey earlier this season:

Stuckey is – obviously to nearly everybody – not close to Westbrook’s level. Playing through injury during a blowout loss won’t get him there. Playing well consistently will.

Once Stuckey gets healthy, that’s what I hope to see from him – not just sporadic bursts of energy, focus and production when it suits him.

Stuckey deserves credit for playing well enough lately to raise expectations, and I’m hoping this is finally the time he’ll break through. But he must earn it in games that don’t hold extra meaning to him.

Stuckey has undeniable talent and things he does well. But, as Dan noted, he’s spent four plus seasons now trying to turn into a player who can do more than offer tantalizing glimpses at a player capable of being more than simply a serviceable rotation player.

Knight’s performance against Milwaukee was a nice surprise considering his recent struggles and the fact that he arguably his worst pro game against these same Bucks less than a week ago. Knight isn’t the same player as Stuckey, but his challenge is the same: performances like this have to become routine, not pleasant surprises, if he’s going to become the player the Pistons think he is. As Stuckey has show during his career, finding that consistency isn’t so easy.

Greg Monroe does what Greg Monroe does

Nothing to see here, just a young center bullying like he does every night. Monroe had 18 points and 11 rebounds. He still didn’t shoot enough — he finished 7-for-12 with Knight and Prince both taking more shots than him. Nearly every time Monroe catches the ball around the basket, he gets a quality look for himself, even if they don’t all go in (but seriously … a large percentage go in, throw him the ball a lot more!).

He is still having a bit of a turnover issue. He had four more tonight, so that’s 14 in his last three games. But, as commenter David noted the other night, at least Monroe is making up a bit for those turnovers by getting steals at the other end. He had two vs. Milwaukee and now has nine over the last three games.

Jonas Jerebko helps everyone

Jerebko’s stats aren’t going to jump off at anyone — 6 points, 3 rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block in 22 minutes — but when he’s his active self, as he was tonight, he really helps the Pistons’ offense have some flow to it.

The Pistons don’t have many players who move without the ball. Stuckey, Knight and Prince all like to have the ball in their hands. Monroe doesn’t get it as often as he should, but he’s also a player who can be effective by touching the ball a lot on offense.

But for any of those players to look better when they are dominating the ball, they need movement. When they don’t get it, the offense is arguably the ugliest in the league. I’ve noted a few times that Monroe, in particular, benefits from an active Jerebko in the lineup because, unlike the others mentioned, Monroe is really good at hitting cutters and Jerebko is really good at making cuts.

Well, if Knight’s performance tonight is an indication, he might have the ability to pass on the move to guys who are also moving. Three times in the game, Knight got penetration and found Jerebko for an easy layup, then hit him trailing a play for a dunk and set up a short jumper that Jerebko will normally make, he just didn’t in this case. Jerebko’s minutes are somewhat limited because he’s had foul problems this season and, because of his frenetic style, he gets tired. A tired Jerebko is less effective. But when Lawrence Frank can keep him fresh and when Jerebko can keep himself from picking up cheap fouls, he can potentially help make Knight an even better player by providing a constant target for him.

Passive Austin Daye returns

Daye had a frustrating performance against Milwaukee. When he had a few good games to break out of his bad shooting slump a couple weeks ago, Daye was using his jumper to set up his dribble. The key, obviously, is he had to take his jumper and make it to make the defense understand it’s a threat. Those makes from the perimeter gave him more opportunities to put it on the floor.

Against the Bucks, Daye was hesitant to shoot his jumper again. He passed up good looks. He dribbled into worse shots than the ones he passed up. He missed a jumper in the third quarter and was slow to get back on defense, leading to an uncontested Milwaukee dunk and also leading to Daye taking a seat on the bench for the rest of the evening.

Daye is another lighting rod of debate around here, with a few commenters frequently objecting to Frank’s short leash with him. Tonight, it appeared that Daye’s teammates helped Frank make the decision. Knight and Maxiell were both visibly upset when Daye passed up good looks at shots on offense. Stuckey seemed upset with him on the transition dunk. It’s a recurring theme with Daye. If he doesn’t immediately make shots when he enters the game, his confidence is shot and his passivity afterwards hurts the team. Tonight was one of those nights for him. It became clear that the team couldn’t leave him on the floor. I have no idea how the Pistons solve whatever confidence issues he has.

Maxiell hits the boards

During John Kuester’s first season, he rewarded Jason Maxiell‘s hustle and solid play off the bench by giving him the first prolonged starting stretch of his career. The results weren’t good. Maxiell was over-matched against most starters and it took away one of his clear advantages: he often feasts against slow backup centers off the bench. So when Maxiell entered the starting lineup against New Jersey, I was worried that it might undo some of the production he’d been giving the team in his bench role. He didn’t play well against the Nets, but he had a nice game in his second start tonight against the Bucks, finishing with 8 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks (one on a Brandon Jennings floater ended up in the third row and the other was a traditional Maxiell smash from behind off the backboard). Surprisingly, it was his jumper that made him useful offensively. He looks much more comfortable taking shots in that 10-15 feet range than he ever has before.

Maxiell is not going to be effective every night, but he’s rebounding, blocking shots and playing energetic defense again this season. Plus, he looks like he’s in much better shape than he was last season. He, like many on the roster, still needs a prolonged streak of consistent play to rebuild his value, but at the very least, he’s getting there.

Defending Jennings

Brandon Jennings always has big games against the Pistons, and his improvement this season is a big reason the Bucks are still solid despite being hit with a ton of injuries. Plus, he always plays great against the Pistons. He got off to a good start and the Pistons couldn’t prevent him from pushing the ball up court and couldn’t keep him out of the lane early. But they adjusted, and Knight, Stuckey and Walker Russell all took turns at him, playing effective defense from about the second quarter on. Jennings only finished with one assist (partially a product of horrid shooting by his team) and he only scored four points in the second half.

What they can do is set small, realist goals and accomplish those. In a recent string of blowouts, the Pistons have been sloppy with the ball and turnovers have removed any chance of those games being competitive early. Against the Nets, the Pistons took care of the ball and they hung around the entire game.

The improvement started with the point guards. Brandon Knight broke out of his slump. He was aggressive, penetrating inside, looking for teammates and, most importantly, maintaining that aggression while not getting out of control. As expected, Deron Williams mostly had his way with Knight defensively when they were matched up, but Knight had good moments. He took Williams off the dribble and hit a contested jumper over him early in the fourth quarter, then drew an offensive foul on the other end.

Knight shot the ball poorly from 3-point range, but he played well down the stretch. He made a nice drive inside, drawing the defense, and found Jonas Jerebko for a short jumper to cut the Nets lead to two in the final minute. Then, with the Pistons down three on the final possession, Knight caught the ball and, although he didn’t get the shot off before the buzzer (even though his three almost went down), I like that they went to him and I like that he stormed off the court really mad at himself for missing. Knight had four assists and just one turnover in 43 minutes.

The other element of that point guard production came from Walker Russell. I’ve made no secret of my affection for the guy. He’s maybe the most unselfish passing guard the Pistons have had since Chauncey Billups was around (settle down nuetes … I’m not comparing him to Billups). Until tonight, his passing has been the only real contribution he’s made to the team. Tonight, he finally got his shot to fall as well. Russell scored 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting, his best effort as a pro. He also grabbed six rebounds, played pesky defense (he was really annoying Jordan Farmar) and finished with two assists and no turnovers.

As a team, the Pistons turned it over just nine times, tying a season-low. For lottery purposes, it’s for the best that the Pistons didn’t win. But for their young players, who played hard enough and well enough to win tonight, it would be nice if the Pistons could occasionally pull out a game like this to reward that work. For now, the team should be thrilled that they at least temporarily fixed the turnover issue.

Tayshaun Prince plays better

Let’s get the negative out of the way: Prince is still not doing a good job of making entry passes into the post. Not sure if the issue is him not setting up a good enough angle to get it in or Greg Monroe not establishing good enough position. Regardless, there’s an issue there between those two that needs to be fixed still. Also, I was no fan of Prince’s shot with the team down two. After Knight and Russell created shots through penetration all game and Monroe once again proved to be unguardable inside, the best the Pistons did on that possession was an iso for Prince in which he settled for a contested, fadeaway mid-range jumper. And on the defensive end, down two, Prince and Monroe both let Kris Humphries walk right between them and grab an offensive rebound with :20 seconds left. Now, it wasn’t that big a deal since Monroe tied Humphries up and the Pistons won the jump ball, but it was still a horrid breakdown at that point in the game.

But there were far more positives from Prince this game. He gradually became more willing to move the ball. He made much quicker decisions, which was key. Prince is his most effective when he catches the ball and quickly decides whether to shoot or pass. Too often, he holds. Sometimes, he’s able to slowly work himself into a decent shot. More often than not, though, he over-dribbles, the rest of the team stops moving and he either settles for a contested shot or passes to a teammate for an awkward shot as the shot clock is running down. Tonight, he wasn’t as methodical, and that made him infinitely easier to watch. He took 15 shots, but they were mostly good ones, and he made nine of them. He also had six rebounds and his four assists tied a season high.

The Pistons need to continually work on making Prince a part of the offense while also ensuring that he doesn’t assert himself as the only option.

No answer for Monroe

Monroe got more touches tonight. He finished with 21 points on 11 shots and New Jersey really had nothing for him inside.

Turnovers, though, were once again an issue. Monroe turned it over four times tonight after turning it over six times last night. He also didn’t do a good job boxing out on the defensive glass. There was the aforementioned whiff by Monroe and Prince on the Humphries offensive board. Shelden Williams grabbed six offensive rebounds in the first half and seven for the game. Monroe is a solid rebounder. He has the skill to be one of the game’s best. He still loses focus on the defensive glass too often.

There were no shortage of moments that would disgust the most even-tempered of coaches in Tuesday’s loss to the Knicks. Landry Fields made his first six shots. Carmelo Anthony, famous for never passing to anyone ever, had five assists by halftime. Amar’e Stoudemire plays no defense, yet the Pistons rarely attacked him, either with penetrating guards challenging him or by looking for post players to establish position. But above all, the unforced turnovers are the most unwatchable problem the Pistons have right now.

Turnovers have plagued Brandon Knight this season, but that’s to be expected as a young rookie point guard forced into huge minutes because of all of the Pistons’ backcourt injuries. The trend, though, is spreading. Greg Monroe had six turnovers by the start of the fourth quarter. The team as a whole turned it over 20 times and did so in a variety of ways.

Some of them were the brainless type. Monroe made a weak outlet pass without bothering to notice that a Knick was standing right in between him and his target. Austin Daye, with no defensive pressure, simply dribbled the ball off his foot as he tried to advance it up court.

Some of them were bad calls. Monroe is getting no respect from officials. Tyson Chandler played him physically, reached in frequently and on more than one occasion stripped the ball away from him while having a chunk of arm or jersey as well.

Some were the Rodney Stuckey variety — aimlessly driving into traffic, drawing easy charge calls or throwing the ball away after getting caught in the air with nowhere to go.

As a result, the game was obviously another difficult one to watch. There are few positives to point out with the Pistons, which is why I admire Fox Sports Detroit not really trying anymore. Ryan Field was sharing LeBron James’ reaction tweets about Blake Griffin’s dunk on Kendrick Perkins and FSD was running stories about the Madison Square Garden renovations. Really, what else are they supposed to talk about? The Pistons have now lost 10 of 11 games, including six straight. Four of those six have been by 20 points or more. Knight’s play has fallen off drastically. After a semi-positive three-game stretch that looked like Tayshaun Prince was coming out of his shooting slump, he’s regressed back to his mean this season.

The Pistons aren’t going to stumble onto many positives that result in wins this season. Instead, they should be focused on smaller goals. Reducing the turnovers will keep games more competitive. Getting Monroe more touches will make the offense run more smoothly. Those should be the team’s two immediate priorities.

Greg Monroe needs to shoot way more

At the risk of being a broken record … you know what? … scratch that. I will continue to scream about this point as long as it is an obvious and obnoxious trend. Tayshaun Prince shoots way too much. Greg Monroe shoots nowhere near enough.

Monroe is one of the most efficient scorers in the league this season. Prince is a terribly inefficient scorer. It’s ridiculous that after tonight’s game, both guys are attempting 12.3 shots per game. Prince is shooting 41 percent this season. He never draws fouls and he doesn’t create shots for teammates. He is way too involved in the offense.

Although Monroe doesn’t draw a lot of fouls yet, he does get contact on many plays. He’s still a young, unproven player, and he’ll eventually get those calls. On top of that, he shoots a high percentage, he puts pressure on a defense and he sets up good shots for teammates.

Prince was signed to be a veteran leader. I’m worried that Prince’s interpretation of that might make him think that means he’s a go-to player. If Monroe is going to keep developing, Prince needs to take a backseat in the offense and be the complimentary player his skillset suggests he should be.

Walker Russell is the team’s best passing guard

There’s strong evidence that Walker Russell is only a temporary Piston who will probably play elsewhere when the team’s other guards get healthy. The great thing for Russell is he’s created a market for himself by showing in Detroit that he’s a smart, capable bench player who probably should’ve been in the NBA sooner. The unfortunate part for the Pistons is that if he does indeed go elsewhere, they’ll be back to a collection of guards who aren’t particularly good at setting up others.

Prince doesn’t deserve the entirety of the blame for the offense running poorly — he’s just taking too many shots and stopping the ball. Knight and Stuckey are also bogging down the offense. Knight’s turnovers are a problem and Stuckey is still too often over-dribbling and not creating good passing angles to get the ball into the post. Neither player creates easy shots for teammates. When Russell is in the game, he’s able to change the tempo, he has good court vision and awareness and he routinely gets players open jumpers or layups. Russell isn’t a long-term piece given his age and non-guaranteed contract, but the Pistons’ offense will get worse if he’s not on the roster.

Jerebko gets it going

Hopefully, after playing only 15 minutes tonight, Jonas Jerebko is primed for a big contribution tomorrow. Jerebko, who has struggled with his shot of late, hit all four attempts tonight and grabbed four rebounds. He also got a little feisty with Renaldo Balkman late in the game.

It might be time to start Jerebko again. The Pistons are getting jumped on at the beginning of games. Maybe Jerebko’s energy to start the game could prevent them from starting in such big holes.

Unfortunately, less efficient scorers Rodney Stuckey, Tayshaun Prince and Austin Daye took more shots than him and, not surprisingly, didn’t hit many of them. They combined to shoot just 13-for-42. It’s even more frustrating when you consider three of Monroe’s 12 attempts were missed tip-ins that came on a single possession.

The other night, I went into detail about how the Pistons just simply played dumb basketball. They did it again, so there’s no point in expounding in great detail once again. Bad teams often don’t play smart, and the Pistons don’t. What has been confounding is that Prince, in particular, and Stuckey to some extent, have been around long enough to recognize when a post guy has a definite advantage and get him the ball a lot. The Pistons have technical issues too — the perimeter guys as a whole do a really terrible job of creating good enough spacing to make entry passes, so as a result, they often throw the ball around a lot, can’t get it to Monroe in a good spot, then settle for a long jumper when the shot clock is running down.

The Pistons don’t have many easily correctable problems, but this seemingly should’ve been one. In the first quarter at one point, Monroe had just three shots while Stuckey/Prince had combined to take 12. There’s no possible way that the Pistons could’ve gone into this game without talking about getting Monroe the ball a lot. It’s disappointing that they didn’t do it much early and it’s disappointing that they didn’t really make the necessary adjustments to get him more shots. It’s on the coaching staff and it’s on the guys on the floor for not recognizing an obvious mismatch the entire game.

Plenty more bad games are ahead for the Pistons this season, but watching the failure of veteran players in particular to recognize mismatches has been probably the most frustrating part of the season for me.

Knight and Daye struggle in reversed ways

Against Philadelphia, Brandon Knight played poorly, but he stayed aggressive. He still looked for his shot (even if he missed 13-of-17) and he came up with a steal and a couple of deflections on defense. Lawrence Frank lived with the struggles and Knight still played 37 minutes.

Against Milwaukee, he played poorly and wasn’t aggressive. He only shot the ball four times (making zero), he turned it over four times and he failed to be an impediment at all to Brandon Jennings, who was in the lane most of the night. Consequently, Knight was benched.

Most of the season, Austin Daye struggled with his shot, became passive on the court and passed up good looks that were in his range. As a result, Frank benched him and removed him from the rotation for several games.

Against Milwaukee, Daye’s shot wasn’t falling, but he kept aggressively looking for it. He played 37 minutes.

Although I think Frank has been to patient with mistake-prone veterans, I think he’s clearly been consistent with how he handles young players, and this is a perfect illustration of it. Much of the season, Knight has been allowed to play through ups and downs because he plays hard, with energy and aggressively. Daye has not because he’s often been passive and lacked energy. Tonight the roles reversed, and Daye was allowed to play through his shooting struggles because of his activity while Knight wasn’t because of his passivity.

Agree or disagree with how Frank is handling their minutes, at least he’s being consistent in his reasoning.

What to make of Jerebko?

I agreed with Frank’s thinking when he decided to bring Jonas Jerebko off the bench to save him from early fouls. The problem is Jerebko’s offense is clearly hurt by not playing as much with Monroe. Jerebko is great at moving without the ball and Monroe is great at finding cutters. Jerebko isn’t a great perimeter shooter, but the attention Monroe draws gets Jerebko cleaner looks from outside. As a reserve, Jerebko’s shooting has fallen from 47 to 43 percent. His 3-point shooting has fallen from 36 to 26 percent.

I don’t think it’s terribly vital to start Jerebko, his future in the league might be as a high energy combo forward off the bench anyway. But the chemistry he and Monroe were developing might be more important than Jerebko picking up the occasional cheap foul.

Monroe picked up a technical foul, one that I didn’t have a problem with, considering the pounding he was taking under the basket. Monroe is too good offensively and too active to not get more calls than he was. And Monroe was angry. He promptly went down on defense and stole the ball from Brand. My immediate thought was the Pistons would invoke the Rasheed Wallace rule and immediately go to Monroe in the post after picking up that technical and displaying so much anger.

Now, because Wallace was some kind of folk hero, the meme was always that he magically played so much better and more aggressive after picking up a tech. I don’t know if that was more legend than reality, but I love the idea of going immediately to any post player who picks up a tech after getting mauled inside. I don’t think Monroe would’ve magically started finishing better around the basket, but I do think there was a chance he would’ve got a call on at least one of those final two possessions of the half. If Monroe caught it, made an aggressive move and drew contact, I would bet he would’ve got that call at that point even if he hadn’t been earlier in the game. That’s just how referees are sometimes. They don’t like it when you berate them, but if it comes to that, they generally start paying a little more attention as long as you aren’t constantly trying to show them up, and Monroe doesn’t qualify as that type of guy.

Instead, the team went two straight possessions without Monroe so much as touching it, let alone catching it in a position to do anything with the ball. The player I expected to recognize that situation was Tayshaun Prince. He didn’t. Rodney Stuckey didn’t either.

In fact, both veteran players had several what you would call “youthful mistakes” in the game.

Stuckey spent much of the game matched up with Jodie Meeks. Meeks does one thing on offense: shoots threes. I lost count of how often Stuckey completely lost track of where Meeks was on defense. It was four times in the first half and one time early in the third quarter before I gave up on it. Meeks converted on 3 of 5 threes and passed up several more good looks. He was seriously open all night.

Prince’s performance was more troubling. His numbers weren’t good, but that’s somewhat forgivable since it was his first game back after a couple off and Andre Iguodala is a great defensive player.

The Pistons had two of their best performances of the season with Prince out of the lineup. The team’s official twitter feed was spouting off about Prince’s “veteran cool-headedness” being a missing ingredient in those games. He returned, the offense stagnated and they had one of their worst performances of the season in Friday’s loss. Making things worse, George Blaha said in the intro before the game that the Pistons had missed Prince because he was playing the best of anyone on the team before he had to miss two games. I get that the announcers have to put a positive spin on things, but that’s just blatantly false. In three games before Prince missed the last two, he shot 3-for-9, 6-for-14 and 5-for-13. Yes, he had that nice three-game stretch before that, but those games so far are an anomaly in what is turning into a very poor season for him shooting the ball.

Against Philly, he shot below 40 percent again, and many of his looks were clean ones. Against Philly, Stuckey played really lazy defense.

My issue is those two factors — missing badly on open shots and playing lazy defense — are things that got Austin Daye removed from the rotation. How Lawrence Frank responds when veteran players are guilty of the same things that young players do wrong will be interesting.

I don’t discount Joe Dumars’ reasons for re-signing Prince. I disagree with the price and length of the contract, but in general, I do agree that it’s a bad idea to throw a team full of young players together with no veteran presence in the locker room (see: Washington for examples of what could happen minus vets). I also have a lot of respect for Prince’s intelligence and knowledge of the game. I do, however, still have serious questions about how he fits in on this team. He’s happiest when he’s playing a lot. So far this season, he hasn’t played well. He’s also had injury issues, but because he likes to play a lot, he hasn’t missed much time or played fewer minutes as a result. Daye had his third straight decent game against Philly. What happens if Daye’s play demands that he gets more minutes and those minutes come at the expense of Prince? What happens if the Pistons continue to play their best when Prince is the least involved in their offense? Will Prince still be OK with his role, still be happy and engaged, if his minutes and role diminish?

Daye was the first reserve off the bench tonight and Damien Wilkins didn’t play until the game was far out of hand, so it looks like Daye has already earned back his rotation spot. Based on how poorly Prince has played overall this season, and how well Daye is now shooting it, if it keeps up, it won’t be long until Daye proves to be the better option over Prince at least offensively as well. I hope it happens simply because the Pistons have more to gain by Daye’s improvement than Prince getting 30+ minutes per game.

How Frank and Prince handle it will be very interesting.

Knight struggles with physical play

In two games this season against Philadelphia, Brandon Knight has shot 9-for-32 and has seven assists and six turnovers. It’s no secret how Philly defends him — they beat him up. Jrue Holiday and Lou Williams attack him on the perimeter, knowing that if Knight gets in the lane, they have shot blockers who can bother him. On those occasions when Knight did get inside, he ended up on the ground pretty frequently. Knight has exceeded expectations this season so far, but how he plays against more physical players is probably something he’s not going to be able to fix until he can get stronger in the offseason.

The Jason Maxiell is still alive tour continues

The Pistons have no shortage of highly paid players who have failed to meet expectations over the last few seasons. But while Rip Hamilton, Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva have had their share of defenders with theories as to how it was the offense/minutes/situations they were being used in that was hurting their games, Jason Maxiell had no such luxury.

An undersized, athletic hustle player who has never relied on plays being run for him, Maxiell has been a useful rotation player in the past as a result of his ability to out-run and out-jump people. Then he got a bit heavier, and he wasn’t so fast and he wasn’t jumping so high anymore. Predictably, his production dove over the last three seasons, and he looked like the player on the roster with the least hope of ever rebounding from that downward trend. Instead, he’s quietly putting together a really nice season. He shot 4-for-7 against Philly and grabbed seven rebounds. He’s played himself into shape after a poor start to the season and although he still does have the ability to make the athletic play, his jump shot from 10-feet and in has really improved as a weapon for him. If he keeps this up, there isn’t a contending team in the NBA who wouldn’t love to have a player like him on its roster.

It would be nice to see Vernon Macklin earlier than garbage time

Vernon Macklin isn’t exactly a “prospect” considering his draft position, age for a rookie and limited skillset. But in the few garbage time minutes he’s received this season, he’s hustled, ran the floor and has a pulse. With Maxiell playing well and Jonas Jerebko in need of minutes, it’s hard to justify getting Macklin into a game when it’s not out of reach at the moment, but the Pistons have a tough stretch coming up over the next few weeks, including their first back-to-back-to-back of the season, so perhaps Macklin can spell Ben Wallace for a few minutes coming up?

When Doug Collins coached the Pistons in the 1990s, he used to start Don Reid, who was terrible, at center. But Reid played hard, gave the Pistons a few minutes early, and then was never seen again most games. With Wallace surely in need of a night off at some point over this stretch, maybe Frank can employ a similar strategy with Macklin, just to see whether he’s completely over-matched by starting caliber players or whether he shows any kind of ability. The odds against Macklin becoming a legit NBA player are slim, but the Pistons don’t have anything to lose by figuring out if he can beat those odds.

Just because not everything is so negative …

This was pretty funny, via Vincent Goodwill:

The kiss-cam: Stuckey sees him and Monroe on it, playfully kisses Greg on the head…

While Frank had seen enough, I couldn’t get enough.

From this Pistons team, I will take 48 minutes of effort anytime I can get it. After a few years of dogging it too often, it’s a welcome sight. So what if the Pistons fell apart in overtime during a 107-101 loss to Atlanta? That’s Frank’s problem and not one I share.

This was the Pistons’ most satisfying two-game stretch of the season, even more so than back-to-back wins over the Pacers and Magic during New Year’s weekend. Not only did the Pistons play better tonight and against the Heat on Wednesday than they did in the victories, their two losses will improve their lottery odds.

And really, that’s still so, so important. For everything that went right tonight for the Pistons – Greg Monroe’s offense, Brandon Knight’s penetration – something went wrong – Monroe’s defense after he shoots, Knight’s finishing.

The Pistons are a work in progress – a big step from getting worked every night – but they need help. Some will come internally, as efforts like this will accelerate the growth of players already on the roster, and some will come from their lottery pick. Tonight, the Pistons helped themselves on both fronts.

Eventually, the Pistons must prove capable of competing for 53 minutes when necessary. But this year, 48 will play just fine.

Greg Monroe turns tables on Josh Smith

Greg Monroe missed his first six shots, but in the nine minutes he played before scoring his first point, he had four rebounds, an assist, a steal and charge drawn. That’s what makes him such a likable player. Even when his shot isn’t falling, he still players hard and tries to contribute in other ways.

At that point, it appeared Monroe would be limited mostly to those other contributions tonight. Monroe’s first six misses – and no free throw attempts early – were no coincidence. Josh Smith defended Monroe phenomenally, forcing Monroe out of his spots.

But like a veteran with a wealth of experience, Monroe sized up Smith, adjusted his moves ever so slightly and went to work. Monroe finished with 22 points on 10-of-20 shooting with 11 rebounds , four assists and two steals.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: it’s a joy watching Monroe play offense.

And Monroe’s defense has picked up since it bottomed out early in the season – with notable exception. After Monroe shot tonight, he was frequently slow to get back on defense and pick up his man, and that led to a few Atlanta baskets.

Brandon Knight dictates offense, despite struggles at rim

Brandon Knight had zero(!) turnovers tonight. None, zilch, nada.

Although Knight spent time at shooting guard next to each Rodney Stuckey and Walker Russell, his turnoverless performance tonight was more impressive than his no-turnover outing against the Bobcats for two reasons:

1. Knight played 42 minutes tonight compared to 35 minutes against Charlotte.

2. Knight attacked all night. He drove to the basket and set his teammates up with a career-high eight assists. Somewhat-risky drives and passes increase turnovers, but they also create better shots. To get those better shots and not turn the ball over, like Knight did, is aces.

Knight was particularly effective after grabbing his five defensive rebounds. They weren’t necessarily contested rebounds, but he immediately tried to create a fastbreak opportunity with some success.

Next, Knight needs to take better advantage of his ability penetrate. He made just 1-of-7 layups tonight. At least he took advantage of his outside shooting, including 4-for-8 on 3-pointers, to score 20 points.

Jason Maxiell hits high note

Jason Maxiell is playing himself out of the amnesty discussion.

It had been 66 games since Maxiell last scored 12 points in a game. Tonight, he scored 12 points in the second quarter alone, on 5-of-7 shooting. He finished with 19 points, matching the second-highest total of his career, and a season-best eight rebounds.

Although a lot of Maxiell’s game is based on brute force, he made mid-range jumpers and moved actively to create shots at the rim tonight. And yeah, his strength helped too, allowing him to convert two shots while being fouled.

With stellar play off the bench this season, Maxiell has turned himself into a useful role player. Some nights, like tonight, he scores. Some nights, he defends. Some nights, he rebounds. He doesn’t always put together all his skills in a single game, but as a $5 million expiring contract next season, he’ll value if he keeps playing like he has this year.

Austin Daye plays through slow start

Through three quarters, Austin Daye was 0-for-3 – a disappointing output following his breakout game against the Heat. Although I wish Daye had made more shots in his first 13 minutes and four seconds of playing time, his misses provided an opportunity to assess where his head is.

For the first time in a long time, Daye played within himself despite not making shots. He attempted a shot every four minutes and 21 seconds, which – ignoring the the games he played 31 seconds and 11 seconds – would have been his least-frequent shooting game since the season opener. Daye moved the ball well and rebounded and defended decently enough.

In the fourth quarter and overtime, Daye made 4-of-8 shots, including 2-of-3 3-pointers, for 12 points. He wasn’t nearly as impressive as Wednesday, but Daye didn’t let his early misses take him out of the game.

Daye earned a rotation spot against the Heat, and he probably didn’t prove tonight that he deserves minutes all season, but he certainly did enough to warrant continued playing time in the near future.

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.

#Pistons just confirmed: Stuckey reaggrevated that groin injury, but he’ll continue to play. Down 23

Kudos to Rodney Stuckey for playing hurt, and I hope he sets an example of toughness for his teammates.

But that’s not the battle Stuckey needs to be waging, especially during the latter stages of a 99-79 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight.

Keith Langlois of Pistons.com:

Stuckey has a little extra juice vs. OKC. Likes to go vs. Westbrook. Snub of ’08 Select Team still sticks with him.

That battle – one that nobody outside of Pistons employees cares about – isn’t the right one for Stuckey, either.

Want to prove you’re better than Westbrook? Bring it every game.

Westbrook had 24-6-5 tonight. He had 21-6-3 in his last game. He had 36-7-5, 26-4-7, 21-8-8, 22-7-2 and 30-6-4 in his last five games before that. He’ll probably have something like 24-6-5 in his next game, too. That’s why he just received a max contract.

Stuckey has shown flashes of brilliance, and that got him $8.5 million for each of the next three years. But his salary is generously inflated for what he might be, not what he is. For him to earn more money in 2014, he must play well more often.

Stuckey (12 points on 5-of-11 three rebounds and no assists in a foul- and injury-limited 22 minutes) started the game strong, but he faded by the second quarter. That followed his best game of the season, against the Trail Blazers on Saturday.

I’m not sure whether Stuckey lacks the mental focus or physical conditioning to play so hard – not even necessarily so well – every game. But for whatever reason, Stuckey has never established himself over a sustained stretch.

Stuckey is – obviously to nearly everybody – not close to Westbrook’s level. Playing through injury during a blowout loss won’t get him there. Playing well consistently will.

Once Stuckey gets healthy, that’s what I hope to see from him – not just sporadic bursts of energy, focus and production when it suits him.

Stuckey deserves credit for playing well enough lately to raise expectations, and I’m hoping this is finally the time he’ll break through. But he must earn it in games that don’t hold extra meaning to him.

Brandon Knight stinks up defense

Brandon Knight was dreadful defensively. He got lost defending Daequan Cook off the ball a couple times, allowing two 3-pointers. On the ball, Russell Westbrook carved him up.

At times, Knight let his defensive struggles affect his offense. In the first quarter, James Harden made a transition 3-pointer over Knight. On the next possession, Knight forced a 3-pointer of his own – and airballed.

I know Knight is young. I know the Thunder guards are excellent. I know, I know, I know.

But once again, until Knight puts it together, he hasn’t put it together.

Greg Monroe stinks up offense

Greg Monroe (3-of-14 for 12 points in 27 minutes) really struggled offensively tonight. As Royce Young of Daily Thunder predicted, Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka took turns defending Monroe, and both bothered him.

Like I said before the game, the plan for guarding offensive centerpieces is often to send multiple types of defenders at him. This was a test Monroe failed on his road to becoming Detroit’s offensive hub.

With 12, 10, 10, 13 and 4 points in his last five games, Monroe isn’t a reliable No. 1 option yet.

Austin Daye stinks up everything

Austin Daye (3-for-10 for nine points) finally made his first 3-pointer of the season, but for the most part, his shot looked just as off as it has all season.

Daye was just as bad defensively – slow on help rotations and timid once he got there. To be fair, Daye spent many of his minutes at power forward – though, that might have helped his offense against a big man not accustomed to guarding out to the perimeter – and that could explain some of his defensive ineffectiveness. But it doesn’t exactly explain his lack of defensive awareness.

At least he got 20 minutes to work through his problems, his second-longest out of the season.

Setting the pace

Many fans have suggested the Pistons, last in the NBA in pace, should play faster. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy.

To a degree, a team controls its pace only as well as it defends. The Thunder are not a running team on the face value of its players’ ability to get up the court quickly, but they cause a lot of turnovers and misses that lead into transition opportunities. That’s why they ran so much tonight. It’s much harder to run after allowing a made shot.

Until the Pistons defend better, their pace won’t fluctuate much.

He smiled.

This was no forced smirk, but a wide grin. Speculating, I’d say he was excited to play the Portland Trail Blazers – the Seattle native’s de facto hometown team – and put on a show for his friends and family watching on television in the Pacific Northwest. Remember, Stuckey (or someone using his account) tweeted he “would go ASAP” to Portland during his contract negotiations with the Pistons.

Whatever his motivation tonight, mission accomplished.

Stuckey scored a season-high 28 points, matched a career-high four 3-pointers, dished five assists, grabbed four rebounds, had just one ball stolen in 38 minutes, took a charge and and even dunked(!) in the Pistons’ 94-91 win. This was a complete performance, and it came in a game it appeared meant a little extra to him.

For the rest of the Pistons, tonight was set to be just another game. It was the second game of a back-to-back and came on the heels of a four-game losing streak – each loss coming by at least eight points. We’re more than a quarter of the way through the Pistons’ season, and it’s clear they’re a bad team.

But that doesn’t matter to two players: Walker Russell and Damien Wilkins.

The Pistons were +11 in the 10:43 those two played together, including a second-quarter run that gave Detroit the lead for good. Russell and Wilkins moved the ball, defended with energy and inspired their teammates to do the same. It’s fitting the game ended with Jason Maxiell diving on a loose ball at midcourt – and a win.

Leaving the arena after every game with a loss becomes demoralizing. These are human beings, not robots. As much as it’s ideal for this team to keep losing and keep improving, it’s not that easy.

If they keep losing, remaining focused on improvement becomes a bigger challenge. If they win more, they forsake precious lottery combinations.

Players like Wilkins and Russell allow them to walk a middle ground.

Russell spent the last few years as a D-League guard and Wilkins has an unguaranteed minimum contract for a reason. They’re not good enough to lift the Pistons out of the lottery, but they’re good enough for wins like this one every once in a while.

I don’t know whether Stuckey will play with the same drive in Detroit’s next game, but I’m quite confident Wilkins and Russell will.

That’s why they’re here.

Bash Brothers

Jonas Jerebko (11 points, five rebounds and two blocks in 22 minutes) and Jason Maxiell (seven points, seven rebounds and a steal in 26 minutes) definitely benefited from the style Walker Russell and Damien Wilkins dictated tonight.

Jerebko is an excellent ball-handler and passer – for someone who shouldn’t be relied upon to do either often. His strong off-ball cuts set him up to receive passes when the ball is moving well, and he’s capable of making an extra pass or dribbling to force a scrambling defense to collapse, but the Pistons shouldn’t consistently rely on him to create for his teammates. Tonight, they didn’t.

Defensively, both players are best with other good defenders, and the Pistons played strong team defense tonight. Maxiell likes to be physical, but sometimes that takes him out of the play to rebound or help, so his teammates must compensate. Jerebko has the nimble feet to scramble and help and trap, but that’s only effective when his teammates are playing at least decent man-to-man defense. Tonight, they were.

I loved the way both played until Jerebko’s night ended prematurely when his mouth fouled Craig Smith’s elbow, resulting in this:

Brandon Knight scores tonight, but tomorrow?

Brandon Knight scored 14 points, and following 22 points against the Grizzlies yesterday, this is the highest-scoring two-game stretch of his young career. He often took advantage of Portland defensive lapses to get inside for either layups or free throws, which was helpful tonight.

But I’m not sure how much it means going forward. As Knight proves he’s capable of attacking and finishing, defense will gameplan for him and take away the wide driving lanes he saw tonight.

Don’t get me wrong, Knight’s scoring was in no way a negative. I’m just not convinced it’s a big positive. I was much more impressed with his three assists and only one turnover – even if both those numbers are deflated by Knight looking more for his own shot tonight.

Greg Monroe does more than score

The Pistons were guard-dominated and didn’t go to Greg Monroe often tonight, but he was still involved, including a big tip shot late in the fourth quarter. He finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and two steals in 30 minutes.

He has scored below his season average in each of his last four games, and I hope that trend will stop. But as long as he’s not the focal point of the offense, it’s nice to see him still work hard on the glass and defensively.

Austin Daye receives DNP-CD

Austin Daye had his good and bad moments against the Grizzlies, but Lawrence Frank held him out tonight. For someone lacking confidence, Daye will probably suffer in the short term. Hopefully, in the long term, this process will make him mentally tougher.