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YOU MAKE THE CALL: Pistons vs Raptors

Some NBA observers in the on-line hoops community consider Detroit and Toronto to be heading in opposite directions this summer, with their additions/subtractions:

I. The Pistons are viewed as a team IN DECLINE; while,

II. The Raptors are viewed as a team ON THE RISE.

When comparing the PTL of their respective rosters, however:

#

Pos

DETROIT

TORONTO

 

STARTERS

 

1

PG

Stuckey, 23

Jose Calderon, 27

2

OG

Hamilton, 31

DeMar DeRozan, 20

3

SF

Prince, 29

Hedo Turkoglu, 30

4

PF

Villanueva, 25

Chris Bosh, 25

5

C

Wilcox, 26

Andrea Bargnani, 23

 

BENCH

 

6

PG

Gordon, 26

Jarrett Jack, 25

7

OG

Washington, 24

Marco Belinelli, 23

8

SF

Daye, 21

Antoine Wright, 25

9

PF

Maxiell, 26

Reggie Evans, 29

10

C

Brown, 27

Rasho Nesterovic, 33

 

EXTRAS

 

11

G

Bynum, 26

Quincy Douby, 25

12

F-C

Wallace, 34

Amir Johnson, 22

 

RESERVES

 

13

PG

TBD

Marcus Banks, 28

14

G-F

Summers, 21

Sonny Weems, 23

15

PF-C

Jerebko, 22

Patrick O’Bryant, 23

 

OTHERS

 

Head Coach

John Kuester

Jay Triano

GM

Joe Dumars

Bryan Colangelo

Rec Last Year

39-43/.476, 8th

33-49/.402, 4th

Playoff Streak

8

0

the follow-up question is:

At which spots in Toronto’s line-up do these people see the Raptors’ personnel with a distinct match-up advantage compared with the Pistons?

STARTERS? BENCH? EXTRAS? RESERVES? OTHERS?

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Which team has more match-up advantages?

View Results

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According to these eyes …

Toronto Raptors
Have an advantage with Chris Bosh vs Charlie Villanueva.

Detroit Pistons
Have an advantage with Richard Hamilton vs DeMar DeRozan.

Have an advantage with Ben Gordon vs Jarret Jack.

Have a minor advantage with the upside of:

Summers [#35/2008] & Jerebko [#39/2008] 
vs 
Banks [#13/2003], Weems [#39/2008] & O’Bryant [#9/2006].

Have an advantage with Joe Dumars vs Bryan Colangelo.

Have an advantage with a better Win% from last season [.476 vs .402].

Have an advantage having qualified for the playoffs 8 consecutive seasons.

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FYI … The Raptors average player age is 25.4 years; while, the Pistons average player age is 25.7 years.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, August 27th, 2009 at 2:07 pm and is filed under Analytics, Basketball, NBA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

11 Responses to “YOU MAKE THE CALL: Pistons vs Raptors”

  1. MarkButter in SoCal Says:
    August 27th, 2009 at 3:03 pm

    Minor advantage Jerebko/Summers (left out Day) all taken in 2009 (not 2008) agianst 3 guys with at least 3 years experience (so they are who they’re going to be). I think it’s a bit more than “minor.”

  2. khandor Says:
    August 27th, 2009 at 3:25 pm

    MBiSC,

    Welcome aboard! :-)

    Only “minor” because of the relatively few minutes overall Summers & Jerebko might end up playing this season, given the Pistons’ depth at the SF & PF positions and their respective roles as possible #13 & #14 on the team’s depth chart.

    Unlike others in the blogosphere, this corner sees tremendous value overall in the additions of Daye, Washington, Summers & Jerebko to this year’s version of the Pistons.

    Time will tell, however, what type of exact role each is capable of developing for himself.

  3. Raps Fan Says:
    August 27th, 2009 at 3:34 pm

    This Pistons team is really interesting me this season. I don’t know how much of an advantage Ben Gordon is over Jarrett Jack for one reason:

    he got the Bulls into as many holes as he dug them out of last season. Jack doesn’t dig as many holes, but doesn’t dig his teams out as much. Now that I wrote that, I can’t help but wonder which is more valuable, lol.

  4. tim Says:
    August 27th, 2009 at 3:53 pm

    I really don’t like the make up of this Pistons team. Taysaun and CV are going to have to play heavy minutes and not get hurt, and they have another 75 minutes a game to fill at 3,4,5 with Wilcox, Kwame, Maxiell and Bynum. It seems like a front court that will consistantly be at a toughness and tallent decicit. As with last years Suns team and Alvin Gentry, a team that hires a first time coach like Curry and gives up before a year has passed develops the smell of failure around it.
    All those playoff runs are likely to accelerate the aging process for Rip and Prince. Stucky is the only Piston that could be expected to greatly improve. They feel like they are still looking to next summer

  5. khandor Says:
    August 27th, 2009 at 5:16 pm

    Raps Fan,

    Do you recall the original Bad Boyz back-court trio of Zeke, Joe D and The Microwave?

    Well, Stuckey, Hamilton and Gordon might turn out to be highly potent for this group of Pistons.

    re: BG’s value to the Bulls

    The mix of players was different with Chicago than it’s going to be with Detroit, given the size of the other Piston guards, i.e. Rip [6-7], Prince [6-9] and Washington [6-7], etc.

    Kirk Hinrich was not a “curl, then catch & shoot” specialist like Rip.
    Only Sefolosha could approach the defensive ability of T-Prince.
    Rose does not have Stuckey’s size.

    When Detroit plays Gordon as their PG … which is the position I have long advocated as, in fact, being his best slot in the NBA … with any of The Real Deal, Rip, Washington or Prince beside, opponents are going to have a very difficult time on the defensive end of the floor with this Pistons team.

    On the reverse side, when Ben Gordon plays the PG spot he is nowhere near the defensive liability he is when he’s slotted at the #2/OG position … and his team’s rebounding is improved.

    Q1. Might this move blow up still for the Pistons?
    A1. Yes, it might.

    I am not willing to bet against it succeeding, however, at this point in the off-season.

    Ben Gordon’s attitude as a basketball player has always been very different from Allen Iverson’s.

  6. MarkButter in SoCal Says:
    August 27th, 2009 at 5:30 pm

    Thanks Khandor.

    I see your point. I think Jerebko surprises some people this year. He’s 22 and has been playing in some of the euro leagues for several years.

    If Jod can parlay something into a low-post 5 credible threat, I think the Pistons can really speed up the “rebuilding” process. . . as it were.

  7. khandor Says:
    August 27th, 2009 at 5:42 pm

    tim,

    Welcome aboard!

    re: Detroit’s likeness to Phoenix

    You might be under-estimating the rebounding and defensive ability of this group of Pistons, as a whole:

    DaJuan Summers
    Jonas Jerebko
    Jason Maxiell
    Charlie Villanueva
    Chris Wilcox
    Ben Wallace
    Kwame Brown

    Q1. Is Charlie V a softie?
    A1. Yes, he is. However, he is only 1 of 7 Pistons who are at least 6-9 with the strength and robustness it takes to board/defend successfully in the NBA at one of the PF or C positions.

    In addition, the good size and overall athleticism they are going to have in their back-court and on the wing should go a long way toward minimizing any deficiencies they might have from their Center position, on the glass or defensively.

  8. khandor Says:
    August 27th, 2009 at 5:53 pm

    MBiSC,

    At this point, I’m of a similar mind regarding both Mr. Jerebko and the Pistons’ rebuild.

    ———————————-

    When a team makes the playoffs for 8 consecutive seasons, wins 1 NBA Title, is a Finalist another time, and then attempts to execute a “re-build” without ever missing the playoffs entirely … that team’s GM is someone who REALLY knows what he’s doings.

    Q1. Has Joe D. made a mistake or two along the way?
    A1. Sure, he has. However, when you look at the body of work which this man has put in thus far in this league, there should still be no doubt whatsoever that he is one of the BEST GM’s in the NBA.

    ———————————-

    PS. Keep your eye on Deron Washington. Last year at this time, there was a Raptors fan by the name of Mark [I think] who criticized my contention that players named Sharpe, Washington and Plaisted might actually have the Right Stuff to reach the NBA within the next few seasons. Well, lo & behold … 12 months later … the Pistons’ Deron [as opposed to Williams] is someone who their organization thought enough of to allow them to trade away Arron Afflalo this summer. As a 6-7 wing, Mr. Washington is as athletic as any player in the league today [bar Lebron, of course].

  9. Dave Says:
    August 27th, 2009 at 6:16 pm

    Different rather than better … both teams figure to be mediocre outfits.

  10. Dave Says:
    August 27th, 2009 at 6:18 pm

    Side Note: I love the Kuester signing … he’s a very impressive head coaching prospect.

  11. khandor Says:
    August 29th, 2009 at 7:26 pm

    Dave,

    re: Pistons bench vs Raptors bench

    When I look at the two sets of players for these teams:

    DETROIT
    Gordon [proven scorer], Washington [↑], Daye [↑], Summers [↑], Jerebko [↑], Maxiell, Wallace, Brown & Bynum

    TORONTO
    Jack, Belinelli [↑], Wright, Evans, Johnson [↑], Nesterovic, O’Bryant, Banks, Douby & Weems

    although I agree that neither one is likely to take the league by storm this season, it’s the Pistons that have a proven scorer, better athletes on the whole, and more upside.

    ——————————————————–

    re: Kuester

    Hopefully he does a better job than MC [Hammer] did last year.

    He does come with solid experience from a winning situation in Cleveland.

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