Greg Monroe, Jose Calderon, Will Bynum and more impress in win over Wizards
By Dan Feldman
| Jason Maxiell, PF 19 MIN | 0-5 FG | 1-4 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 1 PTS | 0Seriously, without begging for Andre Drummond to get more minutes, I have nothing to write here. I might just stop grading Maxiell when he produces at a D-level or below. | ||
| Greg Monroe, C 34 MIN | 5-12 FG | 6-8 FT | 18 REB | 4 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 16 PTS | +11Monroe is now averaging 16.1 points and 9.7 rebounds, both marks better than he posted last season. His double-double streak has reached eight games, the longest active streak in the NBA and the fourth-longest all season. Monroe didn’t defend particularly well, but that’s somewhat offset by how well he took care of the ball. | ||
| Jose Calderon, PG 37 MIN | 9-17 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 3 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 4 TO | 24 PTS | +8For the first time since November, Calderon had more turnovers than assists. (For perspective, Brandon Knight has had 11 such games since Calderon’s last.) But Calderon more than made up for it with his outside shooting. The Wizards seemed intent on taking away Calderon’s passing options, and they held him to three assists and four turnovers. But Calderon is also a quality 3-point shooter, and Washington failed to stick with him beyond the arc, allowing him to shoot 6-of-9 on 3-pointers. As expected, Calderon also struggled to stay in front of John Wall. | ||
| Brandon Knight, PG 29 MIN | 3-8 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 3 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 6 PTS | 0The experiment of making Knight the main scoring guard hasn’t failed, but it’s failing. | ||
| Kyle Singler, SG 38 MIN | 5-10 FG | 2-2 FT | 7 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 12 PTS | +15Singler isn’t incredibly productive on a per-minute basis, as tonight’s game illustrates. But on a team lacking players who play well, Singler’s ability to eat minutes is an asset. | ||
| Charlie Villanueva, PF 29 MIN | 3-6 FG | 2-3 FT | 5 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 2 BLK | 2 TO | 11 PTS | +11Villanueva had a four-point play and got after it on defense. Flash and substance. He’s happy. I’m happy. Everyone is happy. | ||
| Viacheslav Kravtsov, C 14 MIN | 2-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 4 PTS | 0Kravtsov played a career-high 14 minutes and became Will Bynum‘s new alley-oop partner with Drummond out. Bynum and Kravtsov connected on two oops, both impressive jams. Defending pick-and-rolls will become a more noticeable problem if he keeps getting more playing time. | ||
| Will Bynum, PG 21 MIN | 8-12 FG | 4-4 FT | 3 REB | 8 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 20 PTS | +11A game after shooting 0-for-8, Bynum continued to show how fearlessly he plays. With the game tied at 76 midway through the fourth quarter, Bynum went on a personal 6-0 run, spearheading an 11-0 Detroit run that broke open the game. | ||
| Rodney Stuckey, PG 20 MIN | 0-7 FG | 2-4 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 2 PTS | -1Stuckey also missed all his shots in the last game before the All-Star break last season (hat tip: David Mayo of MLive). To be fair to Stuckey, he played well in the final game pre-break prior to last year, but the trend is concerning. There should be pressure on Stuckey next February to prove he’s not mailing in these games. | ||
| Lawrence FrankFrank played Maxiell 10 minutes fewer than any other starter and gave Kravtsov season-high playing time – wise decisions for the present and future. Otherwise, Frank went all in to win the game, keeping the rotation at a tight nine players. The All-Star break should give everyone a chance to recover, and it will help ending the first portion of the season with a feel-good win. I liked the offensive gameplan, allowing Calderon the freedom to shoot from the perimeter as the Wizards went under screens and helped off him. |