Stan Van Gundy has yet to send Pistons in right direction, evidenced by loss to Hawks

Atlanta Hawks 99, Detroit Pistons 89

Brandon Jennings – D-

Jennings left the game midway through the third quarter with a hyper-extended left thumb. After a recent spate of strong play, Jennings (nine points on 2-of-6 shooting with four turnovers and two assists) fell back to Earth in Atlanta. Getting to the line (5-of-5 on free throws) at least offset his poor perimeter shooting (0-for-4 on 3-pointers).

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – D

As is the case far too often, Caldwell-Pope’s shoot abysmally (1-for-7, including 0-for-2 on 3-pointers). But he didn’t let that define his game Friday, at least not totally. Despite drawing a tough assignment in Kyle Korver, Caldwell-Pope defended well (though not exactly productively).

Caldwell-Pope ran Korver off the 3-point arc, holding Korver to just three 3-point attempts in 36 minutes – Korver’s lowest rate of long-range attempts this season outside a game against the Cavaliers in which he barely played. Korver shot 5-for-6 from the field and made two of those three 3-pointers, but I chalk that up to his abillity more than any shortcomings by Caldwell-Pope. Caldwell-Pope also had three steals.

Josh Smith – C

In his return to Atlanta, Smith (16 point on 8-of-19 shooting, eight rebounds, five assists, one turnover) played pretty well on a team without much going. Unfortunately, a team with its act together wouldn’t have needed to rely quite so much on Smith.

Greg Monroe – B-

Monroe picked up his second foul 6:34 into the game and went to the bench for the rest of the first quarter. He returned in the second quarter and needed just 2:19 for his third foul. He went to the bench for the rest of the half.

Monroe finished with… three fouls.

In just 21 minutes, Monroe posted 10 points and eight rebounds. Think the Pistons could have used that production over a longer stretch?

Andre Drummond – B+

This game featured a nice balance of Drummond playing a featured offensive role and continuing to produce in other moments. His post-up game showed progress (13 points on 5-of-12 shooting), and he still crashed the glass (16 rebounds) and defended hard (a block and a steal). Al Horford get the best of Drummond a few times, but that was due more to Horford’s high skill level than a lack of effort on Drummond’s part.

Drummond had two offensive basket interference calls, and he needs to be a little more careful when going for tip-ins.

D.J. Augustin – D+

After the Pistons fell behind by 19 in the third quarter, Augustin made the final two baskets of a 14-0 run that tied the game early in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, Augustin fell a little too in love with his shot. Augustin took half the Pistons’ fourth-quarter field-goal attempts himself, but he shot just 3-of-11 in the period and 4-of-17 overall. To counter: one freaking assist.

Caron Butler – C

With the Pistons’ offense stagnant early, Butler came off the bench and hit a couple 3s to provide a much-needed boost, though his scoring faded. At least he defended pretty well throughout. Butler finished with 10 points on 3-of-8 shooting, including 2-for-5 from beyond the arc.

Kyle Singler – B+

Singler made a couple nice plays in the Pistons’ comeback, including saving a high pass from going out of bounds and driving for a reverse layup. He finished with nine points on 4-of-6 shooting.

Jonas Jerebko – B

Jerebko’s agility makes him a nice perimeter defender for his position, which helped against Atlanta’s pick-and-rolls. He also cut well to the basket on the other end, drawing a couple fouls and making all four of his free throws.

Stan Van Gundy – D

The Pistons (3-10) have lost four straight and seven of eight. If the Knicks beat the 76ers today and the Lakers beat the Nuggets on Sunday, Detroit would have the NBA’s worst record outside Philadelphia and Oklahoma City.

The 76ers are bad by design, and the Thunder are missing Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. What’s the Pistons’ excuse?

I don’t have any overriding complaints about Van Gundy, but the small issues are adding up.

He should have played Monroe more rather than preemptively punishing the center for early foul trouble. Let Monroe foul out if that’s what happens (and it was unlikely to happen). It’d be the same consequence, but you get a little more production from an effective player first.

Van Gundy is also falling into the Maurice Cheeks/John Loyer/Joe Dumars trap of putting too much trust into the Smith-Monroe-Drummond lineup. That unit was outscored by nine points in 12 minutes Friday.

Another problem: Van Gundy’s offense allows Smith to too easily commandeer control. He led Detroit in points (16), shots (19) and assists (5). With only one Smith turnover, that didn’t turn out so bad Friday, but it’s tough for everyone else on the floor when the ball runs through Smith so much. Smith has a tendency, even when making the right play, to disrupt the flow by holding the ball a beat or two too long.