Raptors Rapture ranks Detroit Pistons second-best in Central Division

It seems not everyone is predicting doom and gloom for the Detroit Pistons in the Central Division this season.

The team over at Raptors Rapture are doing their Central Division power rankings, placing the Detroit Pistons ahead of the Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks.

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Unsurprisingly, the reigning NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers are in the top spot.

This ranking comes in stark contrast to Basketball Insider’s recent rankings, which placed the Pistons fourth in the Central, ahead of only the Bucks.

Our friends at Raptors Rapture seem to have a great knowledge of the team, making some incredibly poignant points about both the negatives and the positives of this Pistons team heading into 2017.

Their assessment of star big man Andre Drummond is especially on point.

Drummond receives praise for being almost unstoppable in the pick-and-roll game with his average of 1.1 points per roll being one of the best in the league.

Drummond’s insane athleticism for a man of his size was also highly touted, something that allows him to be a rebounding machine and finish ridiculous alley-oops.

Their critique of Drummond however, shows they have spent plenty of time watching the Pistons over the past year.

Raptors Rapture were critical of Drummond’s almost non-existent post-up game, something he has been working on recently.

They cited his abysmal 0.73 points per post-up as well as his disappointing 43.6 percent field goal percentage when taking hook shots last season.

To be fair to Drummond, he has identified this as a weakness and last season was by far his best in terms of post-play, as he added a go-to spin into jump hook move, which took the number of post moves in his repertoire from zero to one.

Unfortunately for Drummond, having a single post-move means defenders who have watched just two minutes of tape can minimise his impact in the post significantly.

Drummond’s free throw shooting was also mentioned, although the less said about that the better.

The rest of the starters were lauded too, with the duo of Marcus Morris and Tobias Harris being praised for their proficiency in the post and beyond the three-point arc.

Morris and Harris were ranked in the 83rd percentile and 96th percentile for post-scoring respectively, while also both shooting over 36 percent from deep.

Increased production from Reggie Jackson and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope didn’t go unnoticed either.

Defensively, they acknowledged the team has a long way to go, despite being the 12th best team on the defensive end last season.

Drummond still isn’t great at protecting the rim and Harris has a similar problem playing at power forward, while Jackson is a liability on defence against opposing point guards.

Caldwell-Pope and Morris on the other hand were heralded for their above league average defence.

Overall, the analysis over at Raptors Rapture clearly shows they have paid attention to the Pistons and did their homework on not only the team, but the entire Central Division.

The Pistons have been disrespected in rankings lately, finding themselves ranked lower than the Indiana Pacers and the Chicago Bulls who have brought together the worst shooting backcourt in the league.

Next: Which Piston starter will make the biggest leap next season?

It’s refreshing to see a more realistic and positive outlook on the Pistons heading into the season, rather than one suggesting a significant drop in the standings for no real reason.

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