Posts Tagged → Walker Russell
Rodney Stuckey continues stellar play in win over Celtics
I’m a dope, a fool, a sucker. Pick your word, and that’s me.
After the Pistons’ 96-81 win over the Celtics tonight, Detroit’s seventh win in its last nine games, not only am I starting to believe Rodney Stuckey has turned a corner, I actually checked the Eastern Conference standings to see how far the Pistons are from the playoffs. That gave me a much-needed reality check. With an 11-22 record, they’re 5.5 games and three teams out – too far back as the All-Star break nears to be considered a threat for the postseason.
But Stuckey? I’m nearly ready to jump on the bandwagon. As Patrick noted yesterday, Stuckey has had strong stretches before, but this run seems a little longer and a little better. For him to truly prove himself, he must play well the rest of the season. At least now, there are signs he will.
Stuckey is playing hard on both sides of the ball, which has been an issue for him. He’s getting to the free-throw line on offense, and he’s sticking with his man on defense.
At shooting guard, Stuckey no longer has a physical advantage over his opponents like he did at point guard. For him to compete, he must keep playing with energy. That’s far from a given to occur, but these flashes are inspiring.
Add his smart passing, improved outside shooting and savvy jumping of the passing lanes, and Stuckey looks like a complete player. For now, passing the eye test is fine and dandy.
The real test is still over the long haul, and it will be until he passes that one, too.
Most Valuable Player
Rodney Stuckey, who set the tone for the Pistons’ aggressive offense (12-of-15 on free throws) and defense (four steals while guarding Ray Allen and Paul Pierce).
Defining Moment
Rajon Rondo throwing the ball at a referee and getting ejected in the third quarter. It didn’t define the game, which the Pistons led comfortably at the time, but it will definitely define Rondo’s bank account balance.
X-Factor
Will Bynum. Bynum, who’s not part of Lawrence Frank’s regular rotation, played strong on-ball defense – an unusual event for him – and score seven points in his 13 minutes off the bench.
Leaving the benchwarmers on the bench
The Pistons led by at least 11 during the game’s final 16 minutes and as many as 20 in the fourth quarter. But Walker Russell and Vernon Macklin didn’t enter the game until 43 seconds remained. And Austin Daye didn’t play at all.
I was a little disappointed Lawrence Frank didn’t play the benchwarmers more, especially Macklin, who continued to play well in his extremely limited minutes. Tonight, he grabbed an offensive rebound and made a hook shot with three seconds left.
It’s also telling that Daye didn’t play, his third straight DNP-CD.
Ben Wallace sets games-played record by undrafted player in loss to Wizards
Ben Wallace played his first NBA game Nov. 1, 1996. In a very Wallace-like fashion, he had 10 rebounds, three steals, zero points and zero assists in 19 minutes for the Washington Bullets.
Today, against Washington, Wallace tied Avery Johnson for the most NBA games played by someone who went undrafted in the NBA and ABA (1,054). Only Moses Malone, who was drafted in the ABA, has played more games without being drafted by an NBA team (1,329).
Unlike that 1996 night in Orlando, where Wallace helped the Bullets to a four-point win, he couldn’t do much tonight. At 37, his best days are nearly as far behind him as they were in front of him in 1996. Wallace grabbed seven rebounds in 12 minutes, a skill that still at least resembles its place in his heyday. But Wallace’s defense has left him.
On a night he needed his teammates as much as ever, they came out flat. In a 98-77 loss, the Pistons play was the antithesis of Wallace’s prime.
The defeat will improve their lottery odds, a decent consolation. The draft, especially at the top, is still the best place to find talent.
But as Wallace reminds us, there are other ways.
Sluggish Greg Monroe loses battle of fundamentals vs. athleticism
Greg Monroe scored 27 points, the second best total of his career. He made 9-of-9 free throws, a personal-high for attempts during a perfect game from the line.
He obviously played well.
But he didn’t play as well as his numbers indicate.
He turned the ball over six times and allowed JaVale McGee (22 points on 10-of-13 shooting with 11 rebounds) to dominate. McGee is way more athletic than Monroe, so this was a tough matchup. But when Monroe plays lifelessly, as he did for much of the first half, he has no chance against someone like McGee.
Monroe didn’t grab his first rebound until 10 seconds remained in the first half, and he finished with six in 33 minutes.
The Wizards are one of the NBA’s most athletic teams, and that’s why the gave Monroe so much trouble. He played his usual fundamental game, and that allowed him to assist a few baskets on simple passes. But as the Pistons’ primary big man, he was overmatched against an above-the-rim opponent.
The Pistons need a player more capable of matching up with someone like McGee. I doubt Monroe grows into that role. The best bet is in the draft.
Terrible guards
The Pistons’ guards – Brandon Knight (1-of-9), Rodney Stuckey (2-of-9), Ben Gordon (2-of-9), Walker Russell (1-of-7) and Will Bynum (0-of-2) – combined to shoot 6-of-36. Aside from Stuckey (7-of-8), Detroit’s guards shot just 2-of-2 from the line, both other attempts by Gordon. It’s really hard to win with a backcourt shoots so poorly.
It’s even harder to win when allowing the other team’s guards to constantly get to their spots. Nick Young (22 points on on 8-of-13 shooting) and John Wall (15 assists) looked way more athletic than their Detroit counterparts.
Austin Daye struggling again
If you’re noticing a theme, it’s the Pistons’ lack of athleticism. Austin Daye (2-of-9) was never supposed to be a top-end athlete. But if the Pistons can’t count on him to make shots, he’s a liability on the court.
Daye followed his breakout game against the Heat with a couple good game. But since then, he’s regressed to his early season production.
In his last eight games, Daye has shot 10-of-49, including 1-of-12 on 3-pointers. He’s averaging 18 minutes per game in the span, so that’s not really an excuse. The Pistons have given Daye plenty of minutes to prove himself. Until he plays better, they shouldn’t give him any more playing time per game.
I’m not as down on Daye as Patrick is. I still have plenty of hope Daye can turn into a useful, and maybe even a good, NBA player. He’s shown the potential. But, man, he’s got to start making some shots.
Pistons beat red-hot Deron Williams for first time
Most Valuable Player
Deron Williams. Williams entered the game 11-0 against the Pistons, and his first loss to Detroit was no fault of his own. He had 34 points, including a four-point play, and seven assists.
Least Valuable Player
Shawne Williams. Despite a decent number of open looks, the Nets forward shots just 2-of-12 and missed all six of his 3-pointers. No New Jersey small forward helped tonight, but Williams played worst.
X-Factor
The Pistons got the ball to Greg Monroe frequently, which they’ve too often failed to do. When the ball is in his hands, good things happen.
Monroe finished 15 plays tonight and scored 20 points on them. He missed just 6-of-16 shots, but tipped in two of those misses. He also turned the ball over only once in 35 minutes and assisted four baskets.
He was an eager defender, collecting nine defensive rebounds, two steals and a block.
Deron Williams, one of the NBA’s true stars, was the only player better on the court tonight.
Brandon Knight scatters good and bad plays
Brandon Knight, who wore a mask to cover his face, is playing over his head. He certainly had flashes of brilliance – and encouragingly, he’s looking more athletic than he has all season – but the game is still coming too fast at him.
He had 13 points and four assists in 37 minutes, but he often rushed shots (4-of-10 shooting, including 1-of-4 on 3-pointers) and passes (four turnovers). I’ll take the flashes for now, but eventually, he’ll have to settle down.
Walker Russell outplays Brandon Knight
Walker Russell not only played more under control than Brandon Knight, Russell played better. He made both his shots and dished three assists.
But Russell played just 10 minutes to Knight’s 37 minutes. Chalk it up as evidence that the Pistons have shifted gears toward developing their young players rather than playing their best players at all costs.
Jonas Jerebko makes mark
Jonas Jerebko (16 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks) displayed great energy. He was active offensively and defensively, and on a positive note, he didn’t really stand out for doing that, because his teammates came closer than usual to matching his intensity.
Jerebko got a little shot happy at times (5-of-12 in 35 minutes), but I can live with that as long as that’s secondary to his hustle plays.
Ben Gordon returns
Ben Gordon played for the first time since Jan. 20, and he shot well in his return from a shoulder injury. Gordon made 6-of-7 shots, all 2-pointers, and scored 14 points.
But his dribbling was train wreck. He turned the ball over four times in 21 minutes.
And despite two steals, his defense was pretty loose, too.
For Gordon to really help the Pistons going forward, he’ll have to play better than he did tonight – despite his solid scoring line.
Walker Russell’s contract will be guaranteed for the rest of the season, former Piston DaJuan Summers not so lucky
Today was decision day for all NBA teams on non-guaranteed contracts. They become guaranteed for the rest of the season after today. The Pistons had three players without guaranteed deals — Damien Wilkins, Vernon Macklin and Walker Russell. Of the three, there was some uncertainty as to whether the team would keep Russell, a D-League call-up who was added to the roster because of the many guard injuries the Pistons have had this season. HoopsHype reports that the Pistons will indeed keep Russell:
The Detroit Pistons are keeping guard Walker Russell, agent Giovanni Funiciello tells HoopsHype.
HoopsHype also noted that Russell is Detroit’s first D-League call-up, although they have sent a handful of players to their D-League affiliate over the years (hat-tip Packey).
Meanwhile, former Piston DaJuan Summers was among the players cut as the Hornets decided against guaranteeing his contract. Condolences can be offered to Frankie D in the comments. Also, Scott Schroeder of SB Nation has a handy tracker of all the non-guaranteed contracts that were either guaranteed or waived today. One intriguing name: Derrick Caracter of the Lakers. The Pistons do have a roster spot … wouldn’t mind seeing them give him a 10-day contract.
Joe Dumars shifted to offensive focus – but why?
Follow the #JoeDumarsWeek discussion on Twitter.
The common thinking in the Pistons’ fall from contender to bottom feeder in the last few years has been that Joe Dumars has ‘lost his touch’ or that he’s had no vision. In fact, the opposite is true. The current version of the Pistons exists precisely because Dumars had a vision.
After the Pistons lost to Boston in the 2008 Conference Finals, Dumars gave in to increasing pressure to shake up the old core and traded Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson shortly after the 2008-09 season started. But today’s post isn’t going to once again delve into whether or not that was a smart move. I’m going to look at the new era of rhetoric that was ushered in starting with that trade. The Pistons won a title and became one of the steadiest teams in the league for nearly a decade based on, first and foremost, physical defense. Starting with the Billups trade, Dumars began to target players that didn’t fit a specific traditional position and who didn’t necessarily have strong defensive reputations, and that was no accident.
Iverson was the world’s smallest shooting guard (or was until Nate Robinson showed up). Charlie Villanueva wants desperately to be the world’s tallest shooting guard. Rodney Stuckey, at best a combo guard and more likely a shooting guard in college and as a rookie, became a full-time point guard. Ben Gordon was primarily a bench player in Chicago because he was too small to be a starting shooting guard and didn’t have the skillset to be a passable point guard. DaJuan Summers was a hybrid forward at Georgetown with the build of a prototypical SF and the skillset of a low-skilled PF. Austin Daye was a lifetime post player with no chance in hell at playing in the post full-time in the NBA (just don’t tell John Kuester that). Jonas Jerebko, although a good player, isn’t perfectly suited to either of the forward positions. Kyle Singler is yet to play a game for the Pistons, but he’s probably not strong enough to play his natural power forward position in the NBA, and he might not be skilled enough to be a full-time small forward. Brandon Knight is technically a point guard, but he plays more like a shooting guard right now. Will Bynum is the size of a point guard, but he’s a scorer in every sense of the word.
I could ask readers what the best position for most of those players is and it would start heated debates in the comments. And in fact, that was by design. Dumars began talking a lot about his belief that traditional positions were becoming obsolete. He wanted to put a team of five versatile guys who could score on the floor at all times. Below are some examples.
Dumars later says he doesn’t look at backcourts in terms of having a point guard and a shooting guard. He looks for two players who can play well together. So, if he used that line to dodge the question, ask, “For a player who you think would be ideal next to Stuckey, would other teams consider him a point guard or a shooting guard?”
Asked if the Pistons need a “pure point guard,” he said, “When people say that now, I think we still hold on to what a true point guard was 20, 25 years ago. A lot of the young point guards you see now that are having success are also combo guards. I saw some during the playoffs, kids who barely played point guard in college, played two-guard all of college, and now they’re running teams.”
If you don’t have the strong, low-post, traditional four man that can score, if you don’t have one of those top guys, you certainly better have one of those guys we call a stretch four – that can stretch the defense, that’s versatile, that’s inside-out. You have to get one or the other. If you’re not going to get a traditional four guy, then today’s game requires you to have more versatile four men.
Dumars also clearly believed that the NBA had changed into a less physical league where having an abundance of offensive-minded players was more vital than it had been in the past. From an interview with Keith Langlois in 2009:
We also recognize that we have to be able to score the ball more. I think our acquisitions reflect that. Kuester will decide at what pace we pay, but what I wanted to do was give him weapons to put us in a position to be able to score the ball more. How he chooses to do that will be up to him, but I did not want to put him in position where we didn’t have enough weapons to step on the floor and score like you need to be able to score now to have success in this league.
It’s not that Dumars ever publicly said defense wasn’t important. His comments just started to treat defense as kind of an afterthought, something that could be picked up later. Here’s an example:
I don’t think you can ever lose the mentality that for us to win, you have to stop people. You have to play good defense. You can’t be a poor defensive team and expect to win. So the fact that we’ve acquired more guys who can score the basketball doesn’t change the mind-set that you have to stop people. All we’re doing is saying we recognize that we have to score more. To recognize that doesn’t mean that you’re abandoning the mind-set that we have to stop people. You don’t have to choose, either-or. Lest people forget, Chauncey and Rip didn’t come here as these great defenders. They came here as offensive players. Chauncey was talented offensively, Rip was a scorer. They won a championship because they made a commitment to try to defend people. Just because you address the need to score more, doesn’t change your mind-set to have to stop people.
Dumars, in fact, had a pretty clearly articulated plan. It just wasn’t a good one. Now, I obviously cherry-picked some comments from the past to highlight that point, but these are some common themes that I think it’s fair to take away from Dumars’ change in philosophy: 1. He didn’t believe his veteran core of physical, halfcourt veteran players could continue competing at a high level in a league seeing more wide open offenses and stricter officiating; 2. He feared that his core would age overnight, similar to what he experienced as a player when the key players on the Bad Boys pretty rapidly declined; 3. He believed that he needed both more offensive firepower and players who could create for themselves and score in iso situations; 4. He believed defense was important, but that talented players who were poor defenders elsewhere could be taught to be good defenders.
As for that last point about defense, I’ll let Ben Wallace handle the refutation. From Terry Foster of The Detroit News:
Wallace said it’s possible that the Pistons can become a good defensive team and that some of these players can become good defenders. But it’s doubtful they will turn into all-NBA defenders.
“You are born with it; you can’t teach that,” Wallace said. “It’s tough to get to the league and not be a great defender and turn into one. You can be a great team defender. But as far as taking control of the game, it’s one of those things where you are born with that intensity or with what we call that ‘dog’ in you.”
Thanks Ben. As for the rest of the points, I don’t think Dumars’ philosophy has been entirely wrong — traditional positions have become somewhat obsolete, pure point guards are a rarity nowadays and, since he clearly believed a player with Stuckey’s skillset could be an offensive centerpiece, he was right to think surrounding Stuckey with perimeter threats like Gordon, Villanueva and, to a lesser extent, Daye, should’ve helped Stuckey excel. I think he certainly miscalculated on the players he chose to fill those roles and I think he clearly paid way too much for them while casting aside cheaper, more talented options. But again, that’s not the debate here today. My question is simply, why the drastic change in philosophy? Why reinvent the wheel?
Although it’s true the game has changed some over the last four or five seasons, it hasn’t been some sort of seismic shift. The Spurs, Celtics, Lakers and Mavs all won titles over the last five years by being really good defensive teams. The Bulls became an elite team last year built around a smothering defense, and for all of the hand-wringing about the Heat, they’re actually one of the better defensive teams in recent NBA history. Defense hasn’t changed that much, even if officiating does disallow some of the more physical stuff the 2004 Pistons did. That team wasn’t some relic of a lost era. The Pistons of the last decade were talented enough that they would’ve adjusted to today’s tighter officiating (although it probably would’ve taken about 1,000 Rasheed Wallace technicals to make that adjustment).
There is certainly more positional ambiguity today than there was 20 or so years ago, but Chris Paul would like to tell you that pure point guards still exist. Heck, Walker Russell is proof that even traditional point guards with limited talent can make valuable contributions in today’s NBA. Things have evolved, as they always do in sports, but Dumars seemed to be preparing for an offensive revolution that he perceived to be much greater than what was actually happening.
He clearly changed philosophies. This is the first year that the organization has uttered the phrase ‘rebuilding.’ There’s a reason they’ve been hesitant to do that — ‘rebuilding’ suggests that what you’ve been doing has been a failure. But they’re now at the point where it’s impossible to classify the last three seasons as anything but failure. Via Justin Rogers at MLive, here are some comments from Dumars after this year’s draft:
“When we’ve been at our best, it’s because we knew we were putting guys on the floor who would give there (sic) all and do things the right way. We all know we had some slippage in that department over the last year or two. This is a direct effort to reaffirm who we’ve been and why we have these banners in this building.”
‘Reaffirming who we’ve been’ suggests that decisions that preceded this year’s draft were not ‘who the Pistons have been.’ It’s an indirect admission that mistakes were made, that the drastic philosophical shift towards offensive players wasn’t necessary and that the old way was better.
Why did Dumars change? Unless one of the handful of interviews he gives out each year is to the guy who once built a game recap around around what Austin Daye ate for dinner, I will probably never get an answer for that question. As a fan though, it still haunts me. It’s just so strange.
Dumars became a prodigy among GMs. The ‘genius’ tag was tossed around pretty frequently at one time. Other than Jerry West, at one time, you could’ve made a case that Dumars was the most successful star-player-turned-executive ever. Most people who have that kind of success become so married to their philosophy that they never change, occasionally to their detriment. Dumars was the opposite. He stubbornly and rapidly changed course, as if he’d become convinced that the philosophies that delivered his great successes – fiscal responsibility, identifying under-valued talent, toughness, work ethic and defense as core organizational values, etc. – were untenable, and he couldn’t be convinced otherwise. There have certainly been several forces at work that have made the Pistons what they are today, but chief among them was a mysterious, largely unexplained change in how Dumars believed he needed to go about building a successful basketball team. There isn’t a rational explanation for why that happened.
#JoeDumarsWeek
Monday:
- Intro post
- Joe Dumars’ draft track record is strong
- 3-on-3: Joe Dumars drafting
- Poll: Grade Joe Dumars’ total draft history
Everyone loves Walker Russell
A lot of Pistons fans already dig the way Walker Russell plays — a pass-first point guard? What the What is that? — but he seems to be a bit of a folk here on the D-League, where he spent a good chunk of his professional career racking up assists. Ryan Ripley of Ridiculous Upside recent wrote about Russell’s NBA opportunity:
That confidence showed the night before during the Piston’s game against the New Jersey Nets. Late in the fourth quarter, Russell came off the bench to try to help secure the win. Unfortunately, the Piston’s lost 99-96; however, Walker contributed a career-high 12 points, along with 6 rebounds and 2 assists.
When asked about putting up those types of numbers in the NBA, Russell said, “It feels great. What’s even greater is that I was in during crunch time. I appreciate the confidence that the coaches have in me and I just keep on learning from these experiences.”
Walker spent part of the last five years in the D-League working to get an opportunity to play in the NBA. He only had positive things to say about how the NBA D-League prepared him to play at the highest level.
“The NBA is a lot faster and the guys are bigger. Besides that, the D-League does a good job of preparing guys. I feel like I was well-prepared, and people are saying that it looks like I’ve already adapted to the NBA and now I’m playing solid minutes,” Russell said.
Dave Mayo of MLive reports the Pistons will have to make a decision on Russell soon:
At issue is next week’s Feb. 10 deadline for NBA teams to release players with non-guaranteed contracts, like Russell, or guarantee their contracts for the rest of the season …
Will Bynum is close to coming back from a foot strain, but he’s already on the active roster anyway. Charlie Villanueva isn’t close to coming back, is the only Piston on the inactive list, and it’s his spot that Russell took anyway, so that helps Russell’s chances of sticking. Ben Gordon remains out with a shoulder strain, too. And even with Russell, the Pistons are only carrying 14 players, one fewer than the maximum.
I think most Pistons fans would like to see Russell stick around. He’s a great story, seems like a great teammate and his passing has been fun to watch.
Mistakes during decisive possession
During Tuesday’s loss to the Nets, the Pistons had the ball down 98-96 with about 18 seconds left. Crunch-time buckets are very hard to come by, because the defense puts all its effort into securing the lead and the referees tend to allow a little more contact than during the first 47 minutes of the game.
After the inbound pass Prince holds the ball, guarded by the much smaller Keith Bogans, on the right wing. Greg Monroe is in the low-post. Brandon Knight and Jonas Jerebko stand at the left elbow.
Knight comes over to set a pick for Tayshaun Prince. Prince does a very poor job of using the screen, because as you can see, Knight must make a huge step to the right in order to give Prince any opportunity to get away from his defender. Luckily, the referees did not call a moving-screen violation. Unfortunately, the play wouldn’t get better, anyhow.
The Nets switch Deron Williams onto Tayshaun and Bogans stays with Knight. Williams is fast and strong enough to deny penetration by Prince. Meanwhile, Jerebko sets an off-ball screen for Walker Russell while Tayshaun drives left. I believe this was meant to be a hand-off, but Russell somehow simply runs into Jerebko.
Now, there are six players within a couple of feet of each other. Jerebko makes the correct read and fades out to the 3-point line, where he will receive the pass.
Note that the Pistons haven’t used (and will not use) their most effective scorer and one of their better screeners – Monroe – during this possession.
Jerebko has a pretty clear path toward the basket and tries to drive the ball into middle, while Prince hinders Shawne Williams to recover. Knight and Monroe (best shooter, best scorer on the court) are completely out of the picture.
Deron Williams makes another great read and quickly switches onto Jerebko, denying the penetration. Jerebko, who has little experience, gives the ball back to the veteran and let him isolate rather than giving the ball to Monroe, who is covered by Kris Humpries, one of the premier post defenders in NBA history (hint: irony).
Prince posts up Shawne Williams. Williams has several advantages, if not all. He is quicker, and more athletic.
Also, look at the bad spacing of the Pistons. Russell and Jerebko are in no position to score whatsoever. Monroe could take one more step inside to get within his range. Knight sort of hides far away from the basket, but at least he spaces the floor a little bit.
All the Nets are in position to help if Prince gets past his man. Knight should run over to the left wing to take one defender out of the picture, and if his defender decides to double team Prince, Knight could receive a pass and nail a 3-pointer. Jerebko should have stepped into Knight’s spot to create even more space. Another 3-point shooter other than Knight would have certainly helped, but I can’t blame Lawrence Frank for having Russell on the court.
Prince takes the contested fade-away jumper that was to be expected. Do you see Knight? No? Well, he is wide open at the top of the key. All five Nets are in the paint area, and Prince must recognize that. You cannot leave one of your best shooters wide open just so you can take a jumper with a hand in your face –unless you are Kobe Bryant, which Prince is not.
Another possible option would have been passing to Monroe, who has perfect position on Humphries. Granted, this would have been a risky pass, but still possible.
Patrick has written a lot written about Prince’s propensity to shoot, and this is a perfect example. We should let the youngsters try to win games like this. I just don’t see Prince making major contributions much longer, and the Pistons would be better off giving their green players these end-of-game shots.
Baby steps: Pistons limit turnovers in loss to Nets
It’s foolish to watch the Pistons on a game-to-game basis expecting any kind of major improvements. The team is simply one of the least talented teams in the league and we’re approaching half a season of evidence to back that up.
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.
Walker Russell’s D-League performance predicted he’d have NBA success
Like most Pistons fans I’m sure, I really like watching Walker Russell play. He’s really the only guard on the roster who understands what a play-making guard is supposed to do. The Pistons are rebuilding and loaded with expensive guards, so it’s still a longshot that Russell sticks with the team, but he should. Scott Schroeder of Ridiculous Upside pointed out just how solid Russell has been for the Pistons:
It’s possible to go to Hoopdata.com and see that Walker Russell Jr. is now 15th in the NBA in terms of assist rate.
Schroeder also pointed out an article on Russell by Sam Farber of NBA.com that looked at some of Russell’s advanced stats prior to his call-up this season:
Perhaps the most telling statistic for Walker Russell Jr. is one called assist percentage (AST%) which estimates the percentage of his teammates’ made baskets that he assists. Russell’s AST% is a staggering 39.7% — by far the best in the NBA D-League.
Let that number sink in for moment…when Russell is on the floor, he assists TWO out of every FIVE made baskets by the Mad Ants – simply phenomenal …
… when Russell is on the floor for the Mad Ants, they score more points per 100 possessions, shoot at a higher percentage and have better movement (indicated by percentage of made baskets that are assisted). These statistics coupled with Russell’s speed, veteran savvy and astute court vision should make him a valuable contributor for the Detroit Pistons.
Russell like Will Bynum before him has been a great diamond in the rough find for the Pistons. Like Bynum, Russell may not become a full-time starter in the league, but he looks to have a bright future as a competent, rotation point guard who would be a nice addition to virtually any roster.
The Pistons never met a turnover they didn’t like
Lawrence Frank calling a timeout and then storming as fast as he can towards the other side of the court is quickly becoming one of the few entertaining things to watch this season. One of these times, he’s just going to walk right into the stands and never come back.
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.
