Pistons off to worst start in franchise history with loss to Lakers
Los Angeles Lakers 106
Detroit Pistons 96
Andre Drummond — C+
Same story, different night for Drummond. His post offense was ugly and robotic and he was just plain off on some other bunnies and putbacks. He made up for it as a rebounder and defender, specifically on help defense where he destroyed two Carlos Boozer shots and blocked another to go with 13 rebounds in essentially three quarters. He was benched in the fourth along with the rest of the starters who let the game slip away in the third, but this loss wasn’t his fault.
Josh Smith — D
For 2.5 quarters, I really liked what I saw. Smith was rebounding well, scoring enough (while still taking too many jumpers) and doing a really nice job creating for teammates. Greg Monroe was bad and he was playing well, it was great. Then that disastrous third quarter happened and he couldn’t do anything. He wasn’t functional on the court. He went from probably getting a B+ grade to getting a D. It was INSERT WORD HERE.
Kyle Singler — D
Oh, Singler played tonight? Never even noticed.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope — C-
The shot wasn’t there tonight for Caldwell-Pope, but I really liked his defense on Kobe. It was a group effort, but the Pistons doubled him and put him in awkward positions to where he couldn’t make an easy pass out of it. If only Nick Young didn’t swag him to death when Kobe wasn’t on the floor.
Brandon Jennings — D
I’m probably grading a little harsh here. Jennings’ shot has been rough since returning from a thumb injury, but that isn’t too surprising. He needs to be creating for others if he’s not scoring, and tonight he added three turnovers to his four assists.
Greg Monroe — F
Coming off the bench for a second-straight game, Monroe shot three times in the first half. He missed all three from in the paint while being guarded by Robert Freakin’ Sacre. He returned with the Pistons group that rallied and continued to miss easy shots. This is a problem for the Pistons and, more so, for Monroe’s hopes of being paid the max this summer.
D.J. Augustin — B-
Teams have begun to figure out how to slow Augustin. He doesn’t like bigger defenders, he doesn’t like being stuck on the perimeter — though he LOVES dribbling a million times — and he needs good spacing to be effective. Tonight he was good though. He gave the Pistons a lift with Jennings struggling and helped key that late run. They needed a solid effort with Jennings off and he provided it.
Caron Butler — B-
Butler is the best healthy perimeter scorer on this team, right? He shot the ball well tonight, rebounded and did some nice things off the dribble. He’s the only perimeter player capable of doing all three of those things. This is part of why the Pistons are bad.
Jonas Jerebko — B
The only time it’s fun to see green-light Jerebko is in a game like this. He loves to shoot, and throughout his career it’s helped him play himself out of the rotation, but after not playing a lick in the first three quarters Jerebko came out with his best Kobe impression in the fourth. He was the doubler on most double teams and he hardly ever recovered on Jordan Hill, who went on to torch the Pistons. He gains points for giving a crap and trying, but loses them for losing his man every time down.
Luigi Datome — C
The Greatest Shooter in Europe didn’t shoot very well (3 for 8), but his effort was a pleasant surprise. Too many times last season — at least in the rare time he saw the court — Datome gave a lackluster effort on defense. Tonight he played well and didn’t give Young much room. He came up with a steal, made a pretty 3-pointer and was hovering around for offensive rebounds. I think this loss and all of this losing has convinced me that giving Datome a spin in the rotation wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.
Cartier Martin — F
If he wants to play, he’ll have to make shots and play smart. Tonight he missed all three shots while adding a turnover and foul. Not good.
Stan Van Gundy — C-
I’m not even sure how to grade Van Gundy anymore. It’s not his fault the Pistons are the worst layup-shooting team in the league and his defensive plan against Kobe Bryant worked well enough (Kobe shot 4 of 13 and had 10 turnovers), but Kobe had 10 assists off many of those doubles. They’re bad in every form imaginable. Falling apart in the third quarter only to halfheartedly rally in the fourth quarter is a regular occurrence. Do you give Van Gundy credit for rallying the troops — specifically little-used guys like Datome — or do you downgrade him for letting the Pistons spiral out of the game in the third quarter? It’s probably both, but I’m glad he stuck with the guys who made the game close at the end. But man, this is hard to watch. Like, Kuester Era hard to watch. The Pistons also passed the 1980-81 (Greg Kelser’s rookie year) for the worst start in franchise history. The teams were tied at 3-14, but this year’s special group now has that honor all to themselves.