2014-2015 Season Preview: Detroit Pistons Q&A

To help get ready for the 2014-2015 NBA season Pelican Debrief is going through each of the 30 NBA team’s with help from other Fansided NBA writers. Today we are joined by James Makula of Pistons Powered, the Fansided Detroit Pistons blog to talk Josh Smith, Andre Drummond and more. 

1. Stan Van Gundy recently hinted that he may not start the Josh Smith/Greg Monroe/Andre Drummond trio together. If he does not which one do you expect to head to the bench?

James: The short answer is Monroe. Monroe has to sit the first two games, due to suspension, and with his signing of the qualifying offer, and the possibility that he will be gone next season, you’d have to think SVG would give Smith the opportunity to win the job. 

One tiny hitch, however, is that the lineup of Jennings, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Singler, Smith and Monroe were top 5 in Net Rating of any lineup that played at least 75 minutes. That lineup outscored opponents by 22.8 points/100 possessions, according to NBA.com. There would be some regression, and it seems extremely unlikely for Drummond to start on the bench, but it is a lineup to keep an eye out for during this season. 

But, if I had to bet, I’d wager my money on Monroe being the one to head to the bench.

2. SVG helped turn Dwight Howard from a raw prospect into a defensive force in Orlando. What are the expectations for Andre Drummond this year now that SVG is in Detroit?

James:The expectations were pretty high, but once SVG did sign with the Pistons, the expectations soared. 

Drummond did a good job of altering shots at the rim, but with Jennings being a bad defender and Singler, Smith and Monroe playing out of position, it was a mess on the defensive end. Players didn’t seem to be on the same page on pick and rolls, which made Drummond look pretty bad at times last season.

With SVG in town and knowing that SVG has already faced this challenge once, I think that this is the year where we really see Drummond look like that defensive force that he’s capable of being. The lack of consistency on knowing how to defend pick and rolls should be gone, now that there’s a good coach in town, but Drummond was abused on the block by players with solid offensive games, and that’ll be more on Drummond than SVG.

3. Is Brandon Jennings the long term answer at point guard for the Pistons? 

James: It seems unlikely. I think that SVG will have his ear to the floor on all point guard rumblings and rumors during the season. Jennings is still very young and has a lot of room to grow, but with the plethora of good point guards in the NBA, it’s tough envisioning Jennings being in the long term plans for Detroit, especially with the lack of improvement that we’ve seen from him since he entered into the NBA.

But, in defense of Jennings, there was a point during the season where it looked like Jennings was really trying to take better shots and get the ball to his teammates, but with the wretched shooting of Smith and players like Stuckey holding onto the rock for, what seemed like, entire shot clocks, he ended up reverting to trying to get “his.”

4. Greg Monroe went the shocking and unusual route of signing the qualifying offer this summer making him an unrestricted free agent this summer. Is he still a Piston next year? 

James: Probably not. With Smith still on the books and Drummond looking like a force to come, I’d have to guess that Monroe’s ego will take him to a city where he can be the focus of an offense. 

5. What is the best case scenario for the Pistons? The worst case? What do you think is going to happen? 

James: Best case: I truly believe that Detroit could be a 50 win team. When they weren’t using Smith, Monroe and Drummond, they had some successful lineups (like the one mentioned earlier). They also brought in some shooting to spread the floor, and that should allow for some lanes to actually be open. SVG has also done a very good job of creating average defenders out of very poor defenders, which could greatly help players like Jennings and Meeks.

Worst case: I still think that the Pistons will compete for a playoff position. Going from some of the worst coaching in the NBA to at least an average coach, plus adding overall talent and depth, should give the Pistons at least 4-6 wins, but the Monroe thing could still end up being a locker room disaster, and if Jennings can’t figure out how to defend the pick-and-roll at least competently, Detroit might be stuck in the lottery for another season.

Gun to my head, I would say Detroit ends up a 45 win team. They do have some new players, but anybody who consistently watched Detroit understands how poorly coached they were. They’ll no longer have Singler chasing around shooting guards that he can’t keep up with, and Smith won’t be playing on the perimeter nearly as often. The clogged up paint destroyed Monroe’s below the rim game. I believe Detroit was projected in Las Vegas as a 40 win team last season. With the increased talent and far superior coaching, I see them competing for a 4-7 seed in the (hopefully) more competitive East.