The Neighborhood Bully 266 Report post Posted December 30, 2014 Tuesday, Dec. 30 vs. Detroit Pistons Vitals: Detroit is 7-23 (.233),4-10 on the road, 4-11 vs. East, negative-5.2 point differential Simply put, Detroit is woeful and spiraling toward the NBA abyss faster than the speed of sound. Maybe that is not simply put at all, but the Pistons cutting ties with a player on a max-contract does not look good. Yes, Josh Smith was a mistake, but is there any worse way to air that dirty laundry than by waiving him? Smith probably could not care less since he is now on a quasi-contending Houston Rockets team. But he will indubitably make the team worse. The Pistons may have just added via subtraction, as the dictum goes. Shot-jacking “point guard” Brandon Jennings never progressed as a player. He may have even regressed since his rookie season in Milwaukee. Greg Monroe is not locked up past this offseason, and he is the best player thus far for Detroit. The Pistons really have nothing all that beneficial going for the franchise in terms of talent. It is expected former Magic coach Stan VanGundy will leave his imprint on the franchise, but it hasn’t happened yet, obviously. The Pistons are coming off a bizarre victory over a much tougher Cleveland Cavaliers team Sunday (Dec 28), a game in which Jennings put up 25 points on an efficient 10-of-18 shooting (He shoots 38 percent on the year), while Andre Drummond did his typical thing on the boards, ripping down 17 to go with 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting. He also protected the rim, blocking five shots. Detroit forced 17 Cavs turnovers,seven of which came from LeBron James, whose shot was about as hot as the Arctic tundra, knocking down 5-of-19 in 32 minutes before bowing out in a game which saw the lethargic Cavs enter the fourth quarter down by 16 points. Key Matchup, Center: Andre Drummondv. Nikola Vucevic Andre Drummond is most exciting and promising talent on the team, and he is really the only Piston other than Monroe with any significant trade value. But he is not going anywhere. Drummond has posted 12.7 points, 12.5 rebounds and 2.83 blocks/steals percontest this season. His body is reminiscent of Dwight Howard, yet the Magic have no such player to counter his massive frame. While NikolaVucevic is improving as a defender and is a better scorer than Drummond, the Pistons young center finds a lot of ways to impact a game. Drummond’s Achilles’ heel is his pitiful free throw shooting (49.2 percent). It should be a spectacle to watch Vucevic and Drummond tangle it up under the glass. Drummond ranks No. 2 in the league inrebounding while Vucevic averages just 0.7 rebounds less and ranks No. 4. Neither are likely to climb past leading rebounder DeAndre Jordan, but a lot of pride will go unspoken over the battle of the boards in this game. This game is not going to be the big ticket game of Tuesday night for anyone cruising League Pass. There is also the distinct possibility that Orlando falls flat on its collective faces in light of the fact that this is the second of a back-to-back, and the fourth game in five nights, following a 102-101 victory over the Miami Heat Monday(Dec 29) night. Nikola Vucevic saw 34 minutes in the game, scoring 26 points, grabbing nine boards and dropping three dimes. Vuc’s game is a bit more developed than Drummond’s approach of raw power, but the different styles will showcase the various ways in which big men can influence a game offensively. It’s hard to imagine Detroit steals this one. Sunday’s game against Cleveland could be the start of a great thing in Detroit, but it doesn’t seem to prudent to go laying down NBA championship bets on Vegas websites quite yet. Let’s just let this one play out before we start laughing at Stan Van Gundy’s new club. Sidenote: If the Amway doesn’t salute and applaud SVG in pre-game introduction, there is another glitch in this NBA matrix. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Years of Tragic and Magic 13 Report post Posted December 30, 2014 [/size] Nice gif! Not only was a foul not called on the play but Adam Silver demanded LeBron be credited with an assist. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Janders 102 Report post Posted December 30, 2014 First (and likely only) game I get to see in person this year, can't wait! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
harveycoolbreeze 5 Report post Posted December 31, 2014 it was cool to see Stan really appreciate the time he had in Orlando. sounds like he misses Orlando I would too if I lived in Detroit and I'm not just saying that because its cold Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Passenger57 65 Report post Posted December 31, 2014 Feel like we've cooled offensively after looking really good last night. So far this game is playing right into SVG's plan for us. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mauro Pedrosa 1,032 Report post Posted December 31, 2014 First (and likely only) game I get to see in person this year, can't wait! Hope you're enjoying the Meeks show Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
magicmacd75 37 Report post Posted December 31, 2014 Unable to watch, what is our problem tonight or is it just not defending the 3? 9-16 3pt % for Pistons at half. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mauro Pedrosa 1,032 Report post Posted December 31, 2014 Unable to watch, what is our problem tonight or is it just not defending the 3? 9-16 3pt % for Pistons at half. No energy, we're missing 3s, Jodie Meeks made 6 threes in one quarter, Drummond is getting a bunch of offensive rebounds... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
magicmacd75 37 Report post Posted December 31, 2014 No energy, we're missing 3s, Jodie Meeks made 6 threes in one quarter, Drummond is getting a bunch of offensive rebounds... Thanks for the update hope we get our act together..these are the games you have to find a way to win Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Years of Tragic and Magic 13 Report post Posted December 31, 2014 First (and likely only) game I get to see in person this year, can't wait! I'm here as well and I'm sick with Evans defensive effort on Meeks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JJZFL 620 Report post Posted December 31, 2014 Problem was our defense fell apart after we took out Payton and left him on the bench until only about 3 minutes left in the second quarter. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Catalina Maria 64 Report post Posted December 31, 2014 They put Travis Diener! They listened to me! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
