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Overall
Win/Loss Record (as of November 30th): 6-9, third place Central Division
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16
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This Month:
24
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Team
Statistics and League Rank
Points
Scored: 99.4 (18th)
Points
Allowed: 100.0 (19th)
Team
FG%: .455 (12th)
Opponent’s
FG%: .477 (30th)
Team
FT%: .690 (30th)
Team
Three Point FG%: .298 (30th)
Rebounds
per game: 41.7 (19th)
Opponents
rebounds per game: 40.8 (3rd)
Turnovers
per game: 14.5 (6th)
Opponents
turnovers per game: 17.9 (4th)
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Individual
Statistical Leaders
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SDH’s Worst of the Month: Josh Smith
 He was supposed to be the crown jewel of the Detroit's busy off season, but has so far failed to live up to expectations as Josh Smith has come out of the gates struggling and his team's performance as a whole has been far from spectacular. From leading the +Atlanta Hawks in almost every statistical category last season and being regarded as one of the league's most dynamic and electrifying players, Josh Smith has yet to live up to the close to 60$ million contract that the Pistons signed him to. Both his scoring and rebounding numbers have significantly dropped from the previous season as he has produced as scant 13.4 points per game--far from his nearly 19 per game last season--while he has shot equally as terribly from the field at .381. Much of his decline in productivity has likely to do with the fact that he has played out of position at the small forward spot--a place where it has proven that he has been far less effective than his more comfortable power forward spot. Instead of getting the ball on the low block or in transition, he is forced to lurk around the perimeter since the paint is virtually clogged up by the presences of Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe thus not able to utilize his strengths which can certainly to pointed to the coaching staff not him. |
SDH’s First of the Month: Rodney Stuckey
 At a point where both the team and its fans have given up on him, Rodney Stuckey has come into the new season on fire posting probably the best numbers in his career at the Motor City. At November's end, Rodney finished the month of November leading the Pistons in scoring with all 17 points from the game while shooting a career high field goal percentage of .495. Not only is he lighting it up on the offensive end, but the 6'5"combo guard has also become quite a threat from the defensive end as well grabbing at least one steal per game--second behind team leader Josh Smith in that category. What is most notable facet about these numbers is that Stuckey has been doing this coming off the bench playing just 28 minutes per game thus making him possibly the most effective and efficient player Detroit has at this moment. If he continues at this pace, Rodney will certainly deserve consideration for both the NBA's most Improved Player,Sixth Man of the Year, or even both award upon season's end. |
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After four straight years of floundering in futility, it seemed as the wait was finally over for the long suffering fans of the Detroit Pistons as they have watched both their team and their city crumbling around them at all sides. With the news broadcasted worldwide that their city had filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy making it the largest US city to do so, Motor City denizens would at least have some hope to cling to after watching their NBA team have quite possibly its best off season in quite some time. First they went out and signed one of the most athletic and electrifying players in the game in Josh Smith, who has been undeservedly snubbed for a mention on the All Star team despite performing just as well or even better than those named ahead of him. They then went out and acquired via sign and trade another game changing player in Brandon Jennings, who filled in the team's desperate need for a quality point guard and further bolstered the position by welcoming back a former piece in the team's past championship glory, +Chauncey Billups, to add even further depth in the backcourt. With these three quality veteran additions added to their already emerging young core of talented and developing players, it looked as if the long wait would finally be over and NBA fans in Detroit will finally have something to cheer for, but as with everything else that is associated with this crippling city, the Pistons have once again failed to deliver for this long struggling fan base. To say that the Piston's start of the regular season was poor would be an understatement as they finished the month of November on a less than stellar note with a 6-9 record, but statistically they looked nothing like the roaring comeback team many projected them of being. For starters, they have started the regular season with one of the worse defenses in the league as the Pistons allowed their opponents to score more than 100 points per game on them, but also do so at a rather impressive clip at nearly .480 from the field to say the least. What is most disturbing about this trend is the Pistons' opponents are doing this against a supposed physically and athletically gifted front court consisting of smith, who is widely regarded as one of the best all around defenders in the league, and a couple of strong and powerful bruisers in Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond. Smith's all around game has struggled thus far in the early stage of the season posting some of the worst numbers in his career scoring just 13.4 points per game off of .381 shooting and although his defensive numbers remain somewhat solid at 1.5 blocks and 2.0 steals per game, he certainly has not lived up to all his hype upon arriving in Detroit. At the same time, both Drummond and Monroe, despite performing rather well on the offensive end of the court, seem to be out of sync defensively as they allow themselves to get waxed on the court by their opponents on a regular basis and not looking like the dynamic front court force that they billed as coming into the season. Although it is early in the season, it still remains very shameful that such a stacked team blessed with so much size, skill and athleticism would allow themselves to be steamrolled defensively on a nightly like this and it could spell disaster if this trend were to continue. To make matters worse, Detroit's other major off season acquisition, Brandon Jennings, has not really disproved any of his doubters saying that he is not even worth mentioning when talking about the top point men in the league. For many years people in Milwaukee tirelessly hoped that Brandon Jennings would live up to the superstar potential he showed his rookie year when he surpised the basketball world logging two 55 plus games in his NBA debut. Unfortunately, that never really came to pass as try as he might, Jennings was never able to capture the same magic as his he did in his phenomenal rookie season and often got criticized for his less than spectacular assist numbers while at the same time posting less than efficient scoring numbers with his poor field goal percentage. Many thought that a change in scenery along with surrounding him with far more talented players may actually help Jennings reach his full potential and become the star that so many hoped and projected him to be. Sad to say, that has not happened, however, as Jennings has shown pretty much the same as he did in Milwaukee and have many doubting that he will ever emerge to be a true elite point guard in the NBA thus making him another major disappointment for Motor City fans who expected to get far more than what they have been getting thus far. In spite of the rather slow disappointing start to the regular season and the even more disappointing performance of their two highest profile players, the Detroit Pistons can at least have a couple positives in which to hang their hats on. For starters as a team, they execute one of the league's most efficient offenses as they rank among the top teams in the league in field goal percentage and limiting turnovers. And despite the team's inexcusable transgressions on the defensive end allowing their opponents to shoot nearly .500 from the field on them, they do force them to turnover the ball at a higher rate than most teams in the league which essentially balances out their flaws and does not expose them for being worse than they really are. Finally, the Pistons are very fortunate to be in an Eastern Conference that currently sucks beyond any measure with just three out of the fifteen teams having winning records while the rest currently wallow under the .500 mark. In such a bad conference, it is not a stretch to envision the Pistons still being able to earn themselves a playoff appearance despite their less than stellar performance to date, but that will still be considered a failure to basketball purists who expected so much more that the team has been giving thus far. With the team it currently has, Detroit should be performing at a far higher level than they have been doing thus far with the players that they brought in and the money that they had invested in them as well. They certainly should not be lingering in mediocrity with a less than stellar 6-9 record either; instead, with the talent and the depth the team possesses, Detroit should at least have the the inverse of that record at 9-6, or at worse finish 8-7. One can only hope that this month will be the exception and not part of the disappointing trend that has thus far afflicted the Eastern Conference with all the teams that were supposed to be title or playoff contenders falling well short of expectations. It has certainly been painful for fans and proponents for the East Conference to see it falling apart as it has been thus far and the poor start of the Pistons can be considered as one of the disappointing story lines of this young season. It is the hope that not only the Pistons, but the entire Eastern Conference will wake up and finally start playing to the expectations of their fan bases or else it certainly be a long season especially for those in Detroit, who have already had to endure so much without their team stinking up the court. |
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Sunday, December 29, 2013
SDH Presents the NBA's Worst to First for November: 24. Detroit Pistons
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