Detroit Pistons Grab First Win Of The Season Over Knicks

Detroit Pistons 98, New York Knicks 95

Kentavious Caldwell-pope- B+

KCP played with confidence right out of the gate firing away from 3-point land for the first points of the game.

There was a lack of continuity from the Pistons’ offense in the first three games of the season. It looked like Josh Smith thought he was the g0-to option while everyone else stood around trying to figure out their roles.

Not tonight. In the Pistons first win of the season the offense ran through KCP and Greg Monroe early, something that the Pistons should continue to do for the rest of the season.

KCP shot 8/14 from the field for 20-points, but just misses out on an “A” grade, because I thought he could have been more aggressive getting to the rim. When number five’s shot is falling he’s a huge asset, but if he wants to continue to have the offensive success he had tonight he will need to do a better job getting to the rim and in turn getting to the free throw line.

Brandon Jennings-B

Much better Jennings. Much Better.

Although Jennings continues to see little to no fourth quarter minutes (23 minutes total tonight) he did a nice job getting his teammates involved which helped KCP and Monroe get going early. The box score may not look great for Jennings; 12-points (2 for 9 shooting) and five assists, but I thought he found the right pass/shoot balance and he looked much more comfortable in pick and role situations.

Greg Monroe- A+

Monroe was a terror tonight with a big 23-point 18-rebound performance. I wrote earlier in the offseason that I thought Monroe was the better fit for the Pistons in comparison to Josh Smith and tonight’s performance only backed my sentiment.

The Pistons desperately need to have a strong year, or they at least need to show tremendous strides of improvement, because they can’t afford to lose moose. Just imagine what he and Drummond could do if Drummond could stay out of foul trouble.

Andre Drummond- C-

Speaking of Drummond, he has been frustrated by foul trouble in all four games this season. Some of the fouls he draws are questionable, but I’ve watched him closely and he gets away with a lot of blatant shoves so it probably all works out in the wash.

Despite grabbing seven rebounds (3 offensive) in the first half, Drummond barely receives a passing grade because he continues to get into foul trouble. Not only was foul trouble an issue for Drummond tonight, but he also missed a ton of bunny shots.

He finished 3/10 from the field with seven points and literally all seven misses were right at the rim.

Josh Smith-D

I have a hard time giving Smith a bad grade. It’s not that he doesn’t deserve a bad grade for another poor performance, but it’s the fact that he just doesn’t fit in Stan Van Gundy’s system. Maybe things will turn around and Smith will eventually carve out a role, but as of right now his shot selection is questionable at best and his presence on the defensive end isn’t what I thought it would be.

If Smith and the Pistons still look this far apart through 20 or 30 games I’d start to explore Smith’s trade value.

Jonas Jerebko-B

11 points in 15 minutes? That’s production. Jerebko might be a one-trick pony, but when that one-trick works it’s an asset. If Jerebko can give the Pistons half of what he did from here on out he may start to see his minutes increase over Singler.

Caron Butler- C+

I’d give Caron or any other player a C for the performance he turned in tonight, but the nasty dunk by the 34-year-old in the first quarter was good enough for a few extra points.

D.J. Augustin- B

Although Jennings had a better showing on the court tonight, he still was out performed by Augustin. In 25 minutes Augustin hung 12 on the Knicks (on six shots) and added three assists as the offense seemingly didn’t miss a beat.

What’s more, it was Augustin not Jennings that saw the most minutes in the fourth quarter a trend that’s likely to continue despite Jennings’ improved play.

Kyle Singler- F

I almost gave Singler a grade of “I” for incomplete, because he didn’t receive a whole lot of minutes, but then I remembered that Jerebko scored 11-points in 15 minutes.

It looks like SVG may be dividing Singler and Jerebko’s minutes based on who has the hot hand with their similar skill sets.

Stan Van Gundy-B

Getting his first win as the Pistons head coach is good enough for a passing grade from me, but I questioned his decision to leave Drummond on the bench with about two minutes to play in the game.

I suppose he probably weighed the pros (Drummond’s rebounding) and the cons (Drummonds free throw percentages) on whether or not to bring the big man in, but I thought Drummond’s presence would have been useful at that point in the game.