khandor’s sports blog

Looking at the way the Detroit Pistons have performed during their last 7 games:

it should now be relatively easy for others to see that the main reason this team has wallowed in the bottom third of the Eastern Conference Standings, to this point this season, has been the relatively poor job done by John Kuester and the Lack of Team Cohesion his personnel decisions have fostered.

The stark reality for the Pistons this year is that …

There has always been more than enough legitimate NBA talent on-hand for Detroit to compete effectively for a lower tier playoff position in the Eastern Conference … as long as their head coach doesn’t muck it up by:

I. Refusing to settle on one of many different possible solid 8-9 player rotations;

and,

II. Creating a series of needless internal conflicts with the best players on the team.

… in contrast to what you may have been told by certain ‘stats gurus’ who think that the Pistons’ main problem has been rooted elsewhere. 

As was mentioned here yesterday …

If John Kuester is not going to settle on a specific rotation for the Pistons this year, then, Detroit will most likely drop to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.

However, it would be a serious mistake in Basketball Judgment for anyone to think that the chief reason for this type of precipitous decline in the fortunes of this franchise is due to the overall poor quality of the players on their present roster.

Detroit Pistons [10-19] 115
TORONTO RAPTORS [10-19] 93
Complete Game Info

Despite the fact that the Raptors went into last night’s game with a depleted line-up …

Jerryd Bayless [Out - illness]
Sonny Weems [Out - injured]
Peja Stojakovic [Out - injured]
Reggie Evans [Out - injured]

and were forced to use already-injured starters Jose Calderon [PG] and Andrea Bargnani [C] for copious amounts of minutes – even though they were both playing poorly - and were forced to play the final 26:43 without the services of their starting PF, Amir Johnson [who sufferred a re-occurrence of his on-going trouble with back spasms] …

The specific rotation which the Pistons used in this game is but one example of what can happen when a team’s players have a solid understanding of their respective individual roles, and their head coach uses them in combinations that actually make a good deal of sense from an Individual Match-up perspective.

If you take a look at the “Substitution Chart” from last night’s game:

and the Play-By-Play for the 2nd half of the 2nd quarter:

you should be able to see where exactly the Pistons dismantled the Raptors during two specific segments of the 2nd quarter AND used a different rotation than they have employed at any other point so far this season that looks like this:

which allowed their team to take advantage of certain mis-match situations on offense, while limiting their exposure to disadvantageous mis-match situations at the defensive end of the floor.

Kudos to John Kuester.

Well, well, well.

The Pistons’ re-vamped 9-man rotation looked like this, in tonight’s demolition of the Hawks:

Atlanta Hawks 80
DETROIT PISTONS 103
Complete Game Info

It will be very interesting to see if Coach Kuester has the good “basketball sense” to stick with this ‘new & improved’ philosophy … or, at least, a close facsimile of it … for the balance of the season.

If he does:

1. He will finally be making a sound personnel decision and conducting his affairs like a solid NBA head coach;

and,

2. Any knowledgeable basketball observer should not be surprised, at all, to see the Pistons remain in contention for a lower tier playoff position the balance of this campaign;

in spite of what s/he may have been told before by so-called ‘stats gurus‘.

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Related:

Detroit Pistons host the Atlanta Hawks: Where’s Your JOD Now? 

[ROTFLOLWKAS]

After losing their last 2 games against the Boston Celtics and the New York Kincks, it will be very interesting to see how the Detroit Pistons respond this evening, when they journey to Cleveland to take on the team with the top W-L record in the NBA.

While many Pistons fans are lamenting the atrocious state of their squad which was sitting at the top end of the Eastern Conference just 2 seasons ago … this corner of the blogosphere does not share a similar level of doom and gloom concerning the goings-on in the Motor City over the last 12 months.

If the Pistons’ everyday rotation/line-up was to look like this:

STARTERS
1. PG, Stuckey [32 MPG, best multi-dimensional PG with good size]
2. OG, Hamilton [32 MPG, best offensive Wing scorer with good size]
3. SF, Prince [30 MPG, best defensive/rebounding Wing player]
4. PF, Maxiell [26 MPG, best rebounding front-court player]
5. C, Brown [22 MPG, best interior defensive/rebounding player]

KEY SUBS
6. PG-OG, Gordon [32 MPG, best combination Guard with solid perimeter J]
7. SF, Jerebko [18 MPG, best defensive/rebounding back-up Wing]
8. PF, Villanueva [22 MPG, best perimeter-oriented scoring Big]
9. C, Wallace [28 MPG, best interior defensive/rebounding Big]

RESERVES
10. OG-SF, Daye [injury replacement minutes which would be a lot this yr]
11. SF-PF, Summers [injury replacement minutes which would be a lot this yr]

EXTRAS
12. PG, Atkins [DNP-CD]

OUTS [who should be package with another asset in exchange for an inside scoring Big]
13. PG, Bynum [amongst the very best back-up PG's in the NBA]
14. PF-C, Wilcox

what Detroit would find is that:

- the rhythm for their 3 principal Guards [i.e. Hamilton, Stuckey and Gordon] would be much improved
- the quality of their PG play overall would be more consistent [i.e. with Stuckey and Gordon, exclusively, running this team]
- their overall level of “Team Cohesion” would improve significantly
- their interior defense would be improved
- their Guard oriented Team Scoring output would be much improved

Contrary to popular belief, this year’s Pistons team actually has a good deal of solid NBA talent that is simply not being used properly by their head coach.

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PS. Just because Daye [i.e. talented OG-SF scorer] and Summers [i.e. talented PF-SF defender/rebounder] haven’t been given the opportunity to play a whole lot of minutes yet this season, Pistons fans should not make the mistake of thinking that either player has a lower long term ceiling than Jonas Jerebko, who has shown great promise thus far in the limited [but increasing] minutes he has received. Pistons fans were told in the summer that the player they were getting in Jerebko has REAL ability to become a solid contributor to a high end team in the NBA, as his career continues to develop. Few chose to believe what they were told at the time. Time has proven, once again, that they were wrong, and that what was said by yours truly was highly accurate. Well, the exact same thing also applies to Daye and Summers. As the next 2 years continue to unfold, what astute Pistons fans should begin to see more and more is that both of these young men have the capacity to develop into frontline contributors for Detroit, down-the-road a piece … provided that each one is eventually used properly by the team’s head coach who, unfortunately, should be someone other than John Kuester. Until Joe Dumars fixes his problem, in this regard, and identifies a proven high end NBA head coach [e.g. Jeff Van Gundy] who can lead his team properly, the abundant talent on this team is merely going to waste.

As a follow-up to yesterday’s take on the sorry state of the once-proud Detroit Pistons …

Detroit Pistons 104 [21-40]
NEW YORK KNICKS 128 [21-39]

Complete Game Info

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Coming off a tough loss on Tuesday night, at home against the Boston Celtics, Detroit played New York fairly even for the first 32 minutes of last night’s match-up at Madison Square Garden, and trailed by only 5 points at the 4:02 mark of the 3rd quarter, when John Kuester made the decision to replace Rodney Stuckey/PG with Will Bynum:

What others should be able to glean from the Pistons’ performance last night … throughout the contest and, specifically, at crunch time … is that WHEN their coach, John Kuester, chooses to:

1. Use Will Bynum [23 MP] as the primary Back-up to Rodney Stuckey [26 MP], at the PG position, instead of Ben Gordon [OG-PG, 23 MP];

2. Use Rip Hamilton [33 MP] at the SF position, from time to time, in a “going small” 5-man unit, rather than exclusively at the OG position;

3. Use Ben Gordon as the primary Back-up to Rip Hamilton, at the OG position, usually in conjunction with Will Bynum/PG, giving the Pistons one of the “smallest” and least effective guard combinations in the league when it comes to defense and rebounding;

4. Use Jason Maxiell [30 MP] as his Starting Center, rather than Kwame Brown [3 MP in garbage time] … while operating beside Stuckey, Hamilton, Prince [33 MP] and Jerebko [33 MP];

5. Use Jonas Jerebko as his Starting PF, rather than starting Jason Maxiell at that position and then bringing Charlie Villanueva [15 MP] off the bench as his primary Back-up;

6. Use Charlie Villanueva as his Back-up Center, rather than starting Kwame Brown at that position and then bringing Chris Wilcox [DNP-CD] off the bench as his primary Back-up;

7. Not use Austin Daye for more than 10 minutes, as a secondary Back-up at the OG & SF positions, in a game where he was the only member of the Pistons who generated a “positive” plus/minus number [i.e. +6], while shooting 43% from the floor, shooting 100% from the FT Line, with 3 Rebs, a positive Ast:TO and 1 St;

and,

8. Not use DeJaun Summers [6-8, 240] for more than 3 minutes, as a secondary Back-up at the SF & PF positions, in a game where their opponent chose to start [and give critical amounts of PT to] a “going big” 5-Man Unit that looked like this:

Option 1

PG, T-Mac [6-8, 223]
OG, Bill Walker [6-6, 230]
SF, Danilo Gallinari [6-10, 225]
PF, Al Harrington [6-9, 250]
C, David Lee [6-9, 250]

Option 2

PG, T-Mac [6-8, 223]
OG, Eddie House [6-1, 180] 
SF, Bill Walker [6-6, 230]
PF, Al Harrington [6-9, 250]
C, David Lee [6-9, 250];

then, the Pistons are unable to compete successfully on Offense, Defense and in terms of Rebounding.

While others in the on-line hoops community are certainly free to assign blame to whomever they think is most responsible for the current mess in Detroit, as far as these eyes are concerned, the Pistons’ main problem this season is rooted in the poor decision-making of their head coach, John Kuester … i.e. in terms of how he is choosing to use his personnel … which has consistently resulted in awful performances similar to last night’s atrocious display in the 4th quarter.

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PS. Those who have followed this blog for the better part of the last 2 years should be able to readily attest that a simple observation of:

“What Team X needs to do in order to turn around their fortunes is fire their head coach,” 

is not the usual reaction from yours truly. In this case, however, there’s a good deal of solid “NBA level talent” that is simply going to waste in Detroit.

Here’s what yours truly had to say about the Pistons’ fortunes this season back in August and September [2009] with a few of their ardent and vociferous fans at the otherwise terrific site, DetroitBadBoys.com, concerning:

i. The continued development of Rodney Stuckey
ii. The proper role for Will Bynum
iii. The proper role for Rip Hamilton
iv. The proper role for Ben Gordon
iv. The proper role for Ben Wallace
v. The proper role for Jason Maxiell
vi. The proper role for Charlie Villanueva
vi. The proper roles for Jonas Jerebko, Austin Daye, DaJuan Summers and Deron Washington
vii. The proper decisions for John Kuester
viii. The effect of a 3-guard rotation on Team Cohesion
ix. The effect of Team Cohesion on Winning [i.e. Efficency, Effectiveness and Team Excellence]

It’s contagious

Yes, it’s a huge thread with 651 comments [!] … many of which are immature and inane by a certain sub-set of Pistons fans active on that site … but, if you take the time to parce out what was actually said there by yours truly, you should be able to see just how accurate many of those initial comments have been to this point in the Pistons’ season.

Since that time there have been several other articles and discussions concerning the Pistons’ plight this season, at the guard positions, in a variety of different locations on-line:

Could Will Bynum become the Detroit Pistons’ franchise player? [Nov 18]

Bynum or Stuckey? [Nov 19]

Will Bynum > Rodney Stuckey [Nov 20]

Bynum gets love, Stuckey gets none [Nov 25]

Detroit: Stuckey or Bynum – who should start? [Nov 25]

culminating in yesterday’s declaration by the NBA:

Stuckey the East’s Player of the Week

If the Pistons’ long term goal is to eventually regain their former perch at the very top of the Eastern Conference, then, what they’ll continue to do this season is … exactly what yours truly said in the “It’s contagious” thread,

because when a lead guard like Rodney Stuckey [PG, 6-5] gets an opportunity to play the game in this way alongside other elite level performers like:

GUARDS and FORWARDS
Rip Hamilton [OG, 6-7], Ben Gordon [OG-PG, 6-3], Tayshaun Prince [SF, 6-9], Jonas Jerebko [SF, 6-9], Austin Daye [OG-SF, 6-10], Dajuan Summers [PF, 6-9] and Deron Washington [SF-OG, 6-7]

POWER FORWARDS and CENTERS
Ben Wallace [C, 6-9], Jason Maxiell [PF, 6-7], Charlie Villanueva [PF, 6-10], Kwame Brown [C, 7-0] and Chris Wilcox [PF-C, 6-9]

his team has a chance to become a dominant force for years to come, in the NBA, with the benefit of Top Notch coaching and personnel management.

Clearly defining the proper roles for your team’s 2 Point Guards [i.e. I. The Starter; and, II. The Primary Back-up] within an almost exclusively 3-guard rotation, at the Point and Off Guard positions, is a MAJOR COMPONENT of building an elite level squad, when:

* One of your MAIN COGS is an expensive free agent signee, like Ben Gordon, who just happens to be 6-3, 205, and a Combination Guard that can stretch the defense with long distance 3′s and by creating high percentage shots off the bounce, either, for himself or his teammates;

* Another of your MAIN COGS is a seasoned [and wily] veteran, like Rip Hamilton, who is an expert at moving without the ball in his hands and scoring within the mid-range area of the floor; and,

* The 3rd of your MAIN COGS is a terrific young stud, like Rodney Stuckey, with good size and physicality, plus the ability to [A] drive the ball to the bucket and score, [B] convert free throw attempts into points scored, [C] knock down open jump-shots, [D] create high percentage shots for teammates, and [E] Defend and Rebound his own position, in an elite level manner.

The Pistons have now won 5 games in a row, and 6 of their last 7, overall; including 2 solid home-court victories against Atlanta [17-6/.739; 2nd, Southeast] and Denver [17-7/.708; 1st, Northwest].

A healthy Rip Hamilton [OG] is now back in the starting line-up, beside Rodney Stuckey [PG].

It is going to be very interesting to see what John Kuester proceeds to do with a healthy Ben Gordon [OG-PG] and Will Bynum [PG], when each one is ready to return to the Pistons’ regular rotation.

If he slots Gentle Ben [OG-PG] into the rotation as Detroit’s #3 guard, in support of the Stuckey [PG]/Hamilton [OG] pairing … and, alongside of a Maxiell [PF]/Wallace [C] front-court tandem, with support from Villanueva and Brown, and a Small Forward split between Jerebko, Daye and an eventually healthy T-Prince … then LOOK OUT [!], because the Pistons will be joining the Hawks as the “next best two teams” in the EC this season, on the heels of the Celtics, Magic and Cavaliers.  

If he does not do this, however, and, instead, simply returns to using 3 [or more] Point Guards [i.e. Stuckey, Bynum, Gordon, and Atkins], on a regular basis, or using Rip Hamilton frequently at the SF position, in a “small” line-up, or using a 4-guard [or more] rotation, at the PG and OG positions [i.e. Stuckey and Hamilton; Bynum and Gordon; Player X and Atkins], etc., then, unfortunately, the Pistons will continue to flounder this season, hovering about the .500 mark and performing in an inconsistent manner. 

High End teams in the NBA have Quality Depth throughout their roster.

One of the other distinguishing characteristics of these teams, however, is that they are each intelligent enough to pare their rotation down to a “working group” of only 7, 8 or 9 [max.] players; with the rest being able to accept their fate and their proper lesser roles, as reserves, this season.

The first Moment of Truth this season is about to arrive for the Pistons.

How John Kuester chooses to handle it will become a defining moment of his tenure as the head coach for their team. 

Related:

Rip Hamilton praises Pistons coach John Kuester, team’s pluck

Detroit Pistons 99
TORONTO RAPTORS 110
Wed Nov 04 2009 – Game Scoreboard

After battling back from a 17 point 3rd quarter deficit to take a 1 point lead mid-way through the 4th frame, the Pistons then came unglued during a key stretch of 4:25 which, ultimately, sealed their fate in this game:

Line-ups

Play-By-Play

Individual Good/Bad

LES FAUX PAS DES PISTONS

1. Ben Gordon’s individual game stat line from last night looked like this: 

yet, during this stretch of 4:25 in the 4th quarter … with the outcome of the game still in doubt … he did not have the opportunity to shoot the ball even 1 time.

2. When the Raptors made 3 substitution at the 8:42 mark of the 4th quarter … i.e. replacing Amir Johnson with Jose Calderon/PG, Marco Belinelli with Hedo Turkoglu/SF, and Demar DeRozan with Chris Bosh/PF; while leaving Jarrett Jack/OG and Andrea Bargnani/C on the floor … and the Pistons responded with a made 3-PT shot [vs Bargnani/Jack] and a driving layup by Bynum [vs Turkoglu] to re-gain the lead [91-90], John Kuester fell asleep at the switch and decided to continue with the same 5-man unit he had on the floor at the 7:22 mark when Jason Maxiell was called for a PF vs Chris Bosh [defending on the Left Block with the aid of a solid cover down by Rodney Stuckey].

At that precise point in the game John Kuester missed the opportunity to re-work the Pistons’ line-up so that:

* Jason Maxiell was not assigned to cover Chris Bosh

* Austin Daye was not assigned to cover Andrea Bargnani

* Rodney Stuckey was not assigned to cover Hedo Turkoglu

* Ben Gordon was not assigned to cover Jarrett jack

and,

* Will Bynum was not assigned to cover Jose Calderon.

If John Kuester would have made the following subs, instead:

Stuckey vs Calderon
Gordon vs Jack
Villanueva [replacing Bynum] vs Turkoglu
Maxiell vs Bargnani
Wallace [replacing Daye] vs Bosh 

… the Pistons would have been in a much better situation, based on the individual match-ups on the floor, at that time, and would in all likelihood, have been able to fight the Raptors down to the last possession of the game.

3. Instead of making those exact subs at that specific point in the game, John Kuester waited for:

i. Chris Bosh to face-up first Maxiell [Right Block], draw the weak cover down from Bynum [who, at less than 6'0, is useless as a cover down defender], kick-out to Jose Calderon … who buried a huge 3-ball [6:40], to give the Raptors the lead, once again [93-91]; and,

ii. Chris Bosh to re-post vs Maxiell [Right Block], then attack middle with a made jump-hook [5:41, on another weak [late] cover down from Will Bynum;

before he replaced Maxiell with Wallace [vs Bosh], and,

iii. A jump-ball to occur [4:04] before replacing Daye with Villanueva.

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An old coaching bromide that says,

“Players win games in basketball; but, sometimes, coaches can lose them.”

Last night’s final outcome for the Pistons was a prime example of the latter situation … even though Detroit was forced to play without 2 veteran starters, i.e. Rip Hamilton [OG] and Tayshaun Prince [SF], in the 2nd bill of a back-to-back.

Full marks to the Raptors [2-2], however, for seizing upon these gaffes by Detroit … i.e. specifically, Will Bynum/PG and John Kuester/Head Coach … to win a crucial game, from their perspective, as they now head out on the road for 7 of their next 8 contests.

This is what the Dinos have been able to do, thus far, to open the 2009-2010 regular season:

Wed Oct 28 Win vs Cleveland [3-2/.600], 1-0
Fri Oct 30 Loss at Memphis [1-3/.250], 1-1
Sun Nov 01 Loss vs Orlando [3-1/.750], 1-2

Following this evening’s tilt vs Detroit [2-2/.500], however, the next 3 games on their schedule look like this:

Fri Nov 06 at New Orleans [1-3/.250]
Sat Nov 07 at Dallas [3-1/.750], back-to-back
Mon Nov 09 at San Antonio [2-1/.667], 3rd game in 4 nights

According to the Toronto Raptors Season Preview: Game 4 [Sep 24], an astute observer should have been expecting the Pistons to lose this evening’s game, if/when looking at match-up well in advance.

Add-in the fact that two veteran starting players for the Pistons, i.e. Rip Hamilton [OG] and Tayshaun Prince [SF], are now expected to be unavailable tonight, due to their recent injuries, and this SHOULD mean that this game becomes EVEN MORE winnable for the Raptors.

If Toronto is going to try to keep its head above water through the first 20 games of the season … with 3 consecutive road L’s looming on the horizon … winning tonight’s match-up against a depleted Pistons’ squad is absolutely crucial.

One week from today, even if Toronto’s eventual W-L Record stands at a rather inauspicious 2-5, that would still be a might sight better than a thud-like mark of 1-6, which is where they might find themselves [at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, perhaps?] should they fail to win this evening.

With that in mind … it says here that Toronto will play well enough tonight to secure the W and square their W-L Record at 2-2.

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PS. THAT, right there ↑↑↑, is what qualifies as a “legitimate W-L prediction,” from yours truly, for this specific game, for the benefit of those of you who are paying close attention to such matters.

PPS. Whether Toronto can actually get the cover [or not] on this game is a different question altogether. As of now, however, this specific game does not rate as a worthwhile KSS GOTD Selection.

Continuing this series … re: How an astute NBA observer might expect the first part of the schedule to unfold for the Raptors this year

Game 4 – vs Detroit [Wed Nov 04]

The Pistons are one of several teams that should be in contention for a playoff spot in the EC this season. At this point, these two squads seem comparable to one another, from a player personnel and head coach perspective. In a situation like this, the home team usually has enough of an advantage to secure a victory. On the other hand … if Detroit’s veteran back-court can dominate the Raptors’ set of guards, it could easily allow the Pistons to emerge with a hard-earned road W. 

Raptors expected W-L Record: W, 2-2