JSmith vs. Prince

[Go Stones!]

Many of you remember the docile Prince who was the glue-guy back in the day. He didn't need points or rebounds or assists. He did what was necessary. JSmith has SO much more to work with. His athleticism and his size! Would you rather have Prince at this point? Not me! P-Land couldn't stop Josh! He will always be a difficult guard. Much like it is to guard LJames at SF...he is too big and fast. Maybe this was Joe's aim when he got Josh. Play him at SF b/c it is a stark difference than what we have had in the past with Prince and with Melo and James being so big, JSmith can size up a lot better.

In the past we used SF (Prince) as a glue guy and SG (RIP) was a lead scorer. Now we have SG (KCP) more like our defensive specialist/glue-guy and SF (JSmith) as our scorer. This changes when the bench comes in when Stuckey is more score and Singler is more defensive specialist/glue-guy. I guess you need one on the floor at all times. Maybe that is why the Pistons didn't win last night...they were missing their glue-guy at the end of the game...Billups, Jennings, Stuckey, Josh (PF) and Moose. HMmmmmm...

[Go Stones!]

We were doing fine until Dre got his 5th foul...then P-land (see what I did there?) started coming back. This is what you can expect from a successful team, however.

I don't like the blame game. These are the few things that led to our loss:

1. Dre's 5th foul
2. Jennings wasted 3+ straight possessions with "chuck it" and TOs. He did not involve the whole team.
3. FTs - Drummond? If he would have hit JUST...ONE...MORE we would have won.
4a. The close out rotation was 3 guards, JSmith and Moose. Dre wasn't on the floor. This is why we got beat up on rebounds in the 4th.
4b. Chauncey is great and all, but I don't believe he was the one to end the game last night. He seemed slow and out of shape. I also don't believe I would trust Jennings with the ball at the end...I believe Cheeks had a decision: Chauncey or Jennings and he wimped out and included both. I think Cheeks wants to give Jennings opportunities to do the right thing, but when he doesn't it can be a learning/mentoring situation in hopes that at some point in future playoff games when this same situation occurs it will already have been learned.
4c. With this lineup, it didn't seem like Cheeks wrote up a go-to play to allow for a score!
4d. They had to waste a timeout b/c no one was moving around so they couldn't get an inbound pass! Why was Jennings the one throwing it out? Again, I don't believe I would choose the near shortest person on my team to throw out a potential game-deciding inbounding pass!

I would have had our starting 5 except Stuckey in for KCP in the final minutes of 4th quarter and OT. Not having Dre in there at the end is like not putting Ben Wallace in back in 2004.

I did think that both JSmith and Moose found some things that were wrong with their game. JSmith posted up more and made a higher percentage of his shots by doing so. Moose found that he could come close to carrying LA's jock!

[Phil-Good]

Greg Monroe. You have to find some kind of way to get more focused on Defense. You lose your man way too often. In the summer work on your jump-shot. A kiss off the glass. I can see Moose with that old school type of shot.

I believe over time The Moose can get better on both ends of the floor.

Good, fun, game to watch. I knew the Pistons would give the game away in the end and that's what they did. No more crying from me. This team is what they are. The Detroit Lions of basketball. Win, Lose, win, Lose type of team. 41 and 41 might be the final record for this team.

[Oracle]

Anatomy of a 4th quarter meltdown!!!

1. Horrible pass
2. Jacks up ill advised shot
3. Gets attacked for easy score
4. Misses layup

4 brain farts in a row!

This dude single handedly went totally dumb and got the Blazers back into the game!

This is why you yank him and play CB.  I know many want CB to sit but you either play him or keep the ball in Stuckey's hand in crunch. That 3 he took in OT was the dumbest shot........it's tied 107-107 and he's jacking up a 3 with no one under the basket and **** loads of time on the clock.

When all of this happened, we were up 13 points, then after the Jennings debacle, we were only up by 6 I believe!

The problem with us is that it starts somewhere, and as a team, we never recover, as others brain fart with the guy that starts it!

I knew we were in trouble after that, but I thought we had enough in the tank to pull it out, but then Drummond gets totally outplayed by Lopez! Drummond's leaping ability doesn't seem to help him when facing 7 footers, and Lopez, oh well, let someone else say it...

Keith Langlois @Keith_Langlois
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Portland's offensive rebounds killing Pistons in 4Q and OT. Had 7 through 3 quarters, have had 8 since the start of 4th. Killers.
8:44 PM - 15 Dec 2013

But like I said, it starts somewhere, and Jennings, playing an almost perfect game until the 4th, suddenly decides he can do sh!t he hasn't done all game!

WTF is wrong with Jennings and a few other Pistons that they don't understand that EVERY possession in the 4th quarter is important!

No lazy ass passes, no fade away contested jumpers, and rebounds are like GOLD!

Is that so hard to get????

 

[Sissy1946]

They should all get together in the Locker Room & take a hard look at each other & know that they've just given up another victory that was right their in the palms of their hands again, this has got to stop, if your going to play hard & work hard why not win the damn game, 13 points in the 4th quarter again is not acceptable no matter how good they played fir 3 quarters, the main problem is how many games has the other team taken away from them when they had the victory right in their clutch's?
Learn from their mistakes, yeah if only they would, they are now behind  Charlotte in being the worst team in the NBA in the 4th quarter, give them kudos for playing a good 3 quarters but I'm thinking they are a team that wants to get better that their thinking how disgusted they are that they let another slip through their hands, this game should not be acceptable to any of those players especially when it's been a rerun of their other close games they've had.
Boo for the effort in the last quarter & we've been hearing about that 4th quarter for quite a while now, something drastically has to change, they don't seem to be getting a handle on playing for a win in the 4th quarter, players & coach's are going to have to step up here soon.
This is really starting to suck, great 3 quarter team but one of the worst in the 4th.

[WTF]

Even though this was a L... I was pleased the way they utilized Smith... and Jennings shared more than he chucked... they'll win a lot of games with this formula.

Not sure why they stop going to Josh when the Blazers had no answer for him.

[WTF]

Anatomy of a 4th quarter meltdown!!!

1. Horrible pass
2. Jacks up ill advised shot
3. Gets attacked for easy score
4. Misses layup

4 brain farts in a row!

This dude single handedly went totally dumb and got the Blazers back into the game!

This is why you yank him and play CB.  I know many want CB to sit but you either play him or keep the ball in Stuckey's hand in crunch. That 3 he took in OT was the dumbest shot........it's tied 107-107 and he's jacking up a 3 with no one under the basket and **** loads of time on the clock.

[WTF]

Is there anyone on this planet that doesn't know which player on the Blazers you can't leave open... maybe Hooper can explain to Monroe that this guy is Aldridge (like 10 times).... what a dumb ****

Yes he whipped on Moose's ass all game on both ends.

[WTF]

ENIGMA!!!!

[merc]

Even though this was a L... I was pleased the way they utilized Smith... and Jennings shared more than he chucked... they'll win a lot of games with this formula.

[Sebastian]

Damn, damn, damn!!!

[merc]

Is there anyone on this planet that doesn't know which player on the Blazers you can't leave open... maybe Hooper can explain to Monroe that this guy is Aldridge (like 10 times).... what a dumb ****

[Oracle]

Anatomy of a 4th quarter meltdown!!!

1. Horrible pass
2. Jacks up ill advised shot
3. Gets attacked for easy score
4. Misses layup

4 brain farts in a row!

This dude single handedly went totally dumb and got the Blazers back into the game!

[cool breeze]

I was proud of both teams and hope some of you watched the game. Arizona played on Wed. and the players took finals until late Friday and the plane left for a long ride with delays until the team showed up in Ann Arbor about the time the bars close. Then it was a early wake up and no time to shake off the time lag and the game was played Tucson time at 10AM. How many of you have played in a morning basketball game? I know I always seemed to be out of sorts and couldn't shoot the ball well or even see straight. That is why the Arizona players looked pretty sloppy missing many easy shot attempts under the basket while Michigan really shot the lights out for most of the game. What I wanted to point out was the fact that neither team faked playing. Each player gave an amazing effort on both squads. The fans were not just sitting there like they do at Piston games. There was LIFE. This was real basketball. Regular season games in the NBA often make people very sleepy as my wife has pointed out when we have attended both Piston and Suns games. What is missing? Is it the attitude of the players. This season I see players on this Piston team often make incredible athletic plays. That has been missing over the past 4 seasons. But mixed in this season are decisions by Piston players that show me that they are really not 100% vested in the team or the specific game. Perhaps the greatest thing Dumars can do now is look for players around the league or in college who have that special quality of emotion and love for the game above everything else. Labron James has that special quality. Love or hate him, this guy works his ass off in the off season and brings his spirit to his team in a special way. The college guys do that all the time. But some professionals really wouldn't even watch an NBA game in their spare time or if they were retired. they are tired of it and have lost their spirits. Joe needs to guard against signing any additional players like that.

[cool breeze]

DX, I can see on the surface how Anderson improves the team... he will certainly spread the defense and create room for teammates to get inside.... however our #1 goal should be improving the defense... Anderson is worse than Greg ... Greg lit Anderson up the other night.
What I'd like to see done is give this group some time (before the deadline) to see what their max potential is... if it does not improve then we need to make a deal that includes Monroe for a SF... we need to move Smith to PF and closer to the rim on offense (reducing volume of long shots)... this way the PF defense gets better and we open the floor from the SF position (someone that can also defend)...
If we can make it where there is less weak links on defense then we don't have a situation where they are always overextending to help someone else.... the added value is what the defense will do for the offense (transition buckets and not playing against a set defense).
Yes Monroe does work for N.O.

Mercury Josh Smith doesn't like playing power forward. Monroe is so young for a big man and could become a better defender in time and make a great combo with Drummond. I hate giving that up. And I do believe that many of the Pistons current problems relating to lack of consistency is Josh Smith and his approach to playing basketball. It seems he can kill a team's chances in many games because he has a tendency to put several turnovers and missed shots because of poor shot selection into a short period of time. If Detroit has a nice lead, it seems that Smith is the guy who starts making low percentage passes and shots. And he also goes brain dead on defense at the wrong time. Why are we building our team around Smith? Is it impossible to trade him with the Pistons agreeing to pay part of his salary? I see where at times Monroe is the player who keeps Detroit chances alive with his offense. Drummond and Jennings also do the same thing in some games. It seems they cannot be stopped. But I have not seen that in one game so far relating to Smith's ability to string together a great game. I do agree that Monroe, Drummond and Smith do not play well together but believe that in the long run Smith is the weakest player of the three. It is very difficult to sign a player with the potential of Monroe and the way Smith is playing, he is easily replaced. Kyle Singler was the best small forward for Detroit in this last game by far. Smith is not the type of player who can be coached and I doubt if he will ever become a smarter player.

[deusXango]

The calendar, like the clock, works the same way for everybody in the NBA; why are local media types always using the excuse of scheduling and games played for our sub-standard record? Portland is coming to town tonight, with the 2nd best record in the league, and have played the same amount of games as we have (like over 90% of the league); consistency, concentration, dedication across the board, and coaching (yeah, I said it!) is our problem more than scheduling back-to-backs!!

[merc]

DX, I can see on the surface how Anderson improves the team... he will certainly spread the defense and create room for teammates to get inside.... however our #1 goal should be improving the defense... Anderson is worse than Greg ... Greg lit Anderson up the other night.
What I'd like to see done is give this group some time (before the deadline) to see what their max potential is... if it does not improve then we need to make a deal that includes Monroe for a SF... we need to move Smith to PF and closer to the rim on offense (reducing volume of long shots)... this way the PF defense gets better and we open the floor from the SF position (someone that can also defend)...
If we can make it where there is less weak links on defense then we don't have a situation where they are always overextending to help someone else.... the added value is what the defense will do for the offense (transition buckets and not playing against a set defense).
Yes Monroe does work for N.O.

[deusXango]

...Greg Monroe to New Orleans for Ryan Anderson; win-win trade.

Inside game & defense?

Merc, media types from here to Timbuktu have been ragging on the fact that our interior is too crowded and a lot of fans have been making cases based on the over-crowding of the paint; I think that Drummond and Smith can man the inside game just fine, and Anderson is currently the best "sniper" in the NBA. As far as defense goes, it's hard for me to imagine Anderson being worse than Monroe; if they're of equal talent and effort defensively speaking (which I doubt) Anderson makes more sense for this teams makeup than Monroe does. I like Moose, but we can do better and Anderson is better, and he's also within reason.

Anthony Davis needs a player like Moose, more so than Anderson, to realize his full potential, and we need an Anderson to fully appreciate what Joe has brought in, in acquiring Jennings and Smith. Anderson knows that he can't command a max deal, but I don't think that's the Moose's mind set.

[WTF]

"Everyone makes mistakes. There’s nothing wrong with that as long as you can identify them and correct them. It’s time for Dumars to acknowledge his and shop Smith for a true small forward. The greatest value he has to the Pistons right now is as a trade asset, and I’m not joshing."

They're only looking at the numbers and not really giving this the Eye Test that is a lot more telling. If their number are better both offensively and defensively when Josh and Andre are in the game doesn't seem logical to want to change a player that works best with your Franchise Player. No Joe shouldn't be trying to figure out how to trade Josh he need to be thinking what SF can I get for Monroe to play along side of my best combination on the floor.

IMO I think Joe had 2 trains of thought in signing Josh this summer. 1. He saw the potential of Drummond and decided that he needed a defensive PF to play along side him. 2. It wouldn't hurt to see if all three could function in the line up at the same time but there's no way I'm giving a Max Deal to Moose and Josh was always a backup plan.

I think Josh is just the easy target but not the right target so they pick at his shooting percentage beyond the arc without really understanding why it's happening. Joe mistake isn't Josh it all the other players he thought would fix their problem (Datome, KCP, Harrellson) from deep. Neither Joe or Cheeks said Josh was going to save us by hitting the deep shot at least I don't recall it being said. Now what they did ask publicly and often was for Moose to improve his mid-range and FT shooting (didn't happen)

They're concluding Joe trade the wrong player.

[Murph]

Personally, I'm in favor of keeping the starting line-up in the hopes that the stating unit eventually works through their problems, such as Monroe improving his mid-range jump shot and Smith improving his perimeter jump shot.

But if that never happens, and the starting unit must to be broken up to improve chemistry and spacing, then I would be strongly in favor of starting Singler at SF, and bringing either Smith or Monroe off the bench.

I think bringing Smith or Monroe off the bench makes a whole lot more sense then just dumping Smith or Monroe in some crazy trade for less than market value.

We've improved significantly since last season, we're currently the 4th seed in the East and are playoff bound.  Now is not the time to panic.

[Sebastian]

Isn't today the first day that players signed during the summer can be traded? Is there a particular time beyond 12:00:01 AM, this morning?

The reason, why I ask is because the trade APIs at ESPN and RealGM want allow free agents to be traded.

[Oracle]

"Everyone makes mistakes. There’s nothing wrong with that as long as you can identify them and correct them. It’s time for Dumars to acknowledge his and shop Smith for a true small forward. The greatest value he has to the Pistons right now is as a trade asset, and I’m not joshing."

[Oracle]

Read the full article here - Why Josh Smith Experiment Won't Work out for the Detroit Pistons

From the article:

The transition of Josh Smith to the Detroit Pistons has not been as smooth as some would have hoped. Is there a way to make him fit better, or is it time for the Pistons to make a move in the trade market?

The biggest issue with the Pistons is that, while they have a big frontcourt in Andre Drummond, Greg Monroe and Smith, they also have an overcrowded one.

Outside of the restricted area, Drummond has made 3-of-6 attempts on the season, all from inside 10 feet. Monroe has made 19-of-55 mid-range attempts and none from three. Josh Smith is 66-of-237 outside of the restricted area.

Combined, that’s 88-of-298 from more than three feet away.
They are beastly inside, knocking down a collective 330 of 548 attempts, but you can only squeeze so many big men into a three-foot semicircle. When I say “overcrowded,” I’m being literal, not metaphorical.



Data obtained from NBAWowy.


Using NBAwowy’s handy little tool, we can see what the team does per possession, both on offense and defense, when each combination of the three is on the floor.

As you can see, when the full trio is on the court, it has the worst ramifications on both ends. When it’s just Drummond and Smith, the offense plays best. When it’s just Monroe and Smith, the defense does.

In all these instances, though, the Pistons are outscored by their opponents.

Now let’s look at how the team shoots from mid-range with each combo on the court. The numbers are the actual makes and misses, but the bars visualize the shooting percentages.



Data obtained from NBAwowy


When Drummond and Monroe are playing together but Smith is sitting, the Pistons are actually a pretty solid mid-range team. It’s when Smith is on the court that shooting becomes a problem. Some of this is on his belief that he’s a jump-shooter, but some of it is on him being signed to play small forward when he doesn’t have the shot to be one.

This is further magnified by the fact that the Pistons are 33.7 percent from three as a team with Smith on the bench, but only at 26.2 percent when he’s on the court. Overall, they are just 31.4 percent from deep.

While many teams are looking for a stretch 4, the Pistons don’t even have a stretch 3. And it’s like they don’t even care if they hit shots from deep or not. While their shooting is the second-worst in the league, they’ve taken the 13th-most three-point attempts.

Smith has taken the second-most of those on the Pistons, making a paltry 26.9 percent of them.

By using Basketball-Reference’s Game Finder, we can determine that over the course of his NBA career, when Smith has attempted four or more shots from deep, his teams have won 40.4 percent of their games. When he has attempted three or fewer, they have won 47.8 percent of them.

In other words, Smith shooting threes is a good way to lose, and this year he is averaging a career-high 4.3 attempts per game.

[merc]

How about CV, Moose, Siva to Philly for Young and Turner?

Worth considering

[merc]

...Greg Monroe to New Orleans for Ryan Anderson; win-win trade.

Inside game & defense?

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