Final grades for the Memphis game - imagine a drum roll- Offense F Defense F

Pitiful first quarter effort by Andre Drummond on both offense and defense gave hope for Memphis. The Pistons opponent was playing the 2nd or a back to back game so the fresh home team would normally play with a high level of passion in the first quarter. This loss was not on Reggie Jackson. It was Drummond who gave supreme confidence to his assigned man on defense, Mr. Gasol. Drummond looked like a lost puppy all night long on defense so I give the game ball to Andre Drummond our franchise player.

Low basketball IQ moments by the Pistons on offense. Half court offense was once again extremely primitive. High school teams run more complex sets. It seems like all we see are players taking long range jump shots off the first pass. Pope shot the ball well in the first half when he touched the basketball. But that was the trouble, Pope seldom ever touched the basketball all night long. When Johnson came in in the first half I don't recall him receiving one damn pass in the half court offense. The offense went through Morris who shot the basketball every time he touched it. You would think that Van Gundy would have insisted that at least one play be run for the 2 guard but even though early on Morris went 1 for 8 with his jump shot, nothing changed. All night long SVG allowed Morris to keep shooting the basketball whenever he wanted to which was every damn time he touched it. How about at least noticing that you are having an off night if you are the player who keeps shooting and missing. Or how about the coach saying something to that player to knock it off. Morris could have said to himself, hey I can't shoot for crap tonight so I am going to make the extra pass to another wide open shooter. No way that ever crossed our small forward's mind at all. The stupidity of this nonsense was amazing. What in hell did Van Gundy go over at halftime? Didn't he look at the stats and tell the players to get Pope more involved in the offense? The only players who have a green light to shoot are Leuer, Morris, Harris, Smith and Jackson. The other players are just fill in players. How many shots did the Pistons get within 5 feet from the basket? We need to forget Smith's crazy wild antics because he is Mr. Turnover again insisting on going solo into the paint against 4 defenders. The Piston offense is so predictable it reminds me of the dull nights we watched Mr. Intangible Michael Curry playing with Ben Wallace. This current group of starters look much like that losing unit where opposing teams can play 5 defenders against 3 Piston offensive players knowing two Piston players will seldom even touch the basketball in the half court offense.

Low basketball IQ moments for the Pistons on defense .. When thinking of this Piston group and offensive production, we cannot forget that the same starters cannot make stops very often and this team depends on opponents occasionally missing shots and Piston players getting defensive rebounds so they can play SVG's up tempo style. Gasol was shooting the ball well from distance last night. Why can't Andre Drummond or for that matter Baynes get their asses out on Gasol and move their damn feet like an average defender would do and get tighter in his space spreading out the legs but being ready for him to shoot the basketball or dribble closer to the basket? Gasol is not quick by any stretch. I have never seen such stupidity by Drummond, Baynes and Lauer who also guarded Gasol. The shot above the free throw line was never contested by all three Piston players. Who can't make that shot when nobody is defending you with the exception of our players? All night long the Piston starters were late with their defensive rotations with at least one player making one or more mental mistakes. And of course there were the 2nd chance opportunities for the opposition. By the way Morris really sucked on defense all night long almost as badly as he did on offense. I dedicate this loss to Morris about all other Piston players. He just loves to shoot the basketball. And SVG seems afraid of him because he failed to tell Morris to knock it off last night. Morris has had some great shooting nights as a Piston but this game along with some others show me that he is not a team first type player.