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Detroit Pistons Sunday Hoops Rundown

By Sham Mohile

DETROIT, MI - JANUARY 6: Eric Moreland #24 of the Detroit Pistons looks on during the game against the Houston Rockets on January 6, 2018 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Chris Schwegler/NBAE via Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI - JANUARY 6: Eric Moreland #24 of the Detroit Pistons looks on during the game against the Houston Rockets on January 6, 2018 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Chris Schwegler/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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In a new series, the week is recapped – including news, interesting statistics, articles, and league chatter that involve your Detroit Pistons.

Pistons Sign Eric Moreland for the Season

Per Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) of ESPN, the Detroit Pistons plan to guarantee the $1.7 million contract of reserve center Eric Moreland for the remainder of the season.

When Moreland was signed this summer after his impressive Summer League performance, he was expected to be the third center on the roster – behind Boban Marjanovic and Andre Drummond.

However, this season Moreland has had to take over the reserve role from Marjanovic due to his ability to be more active defensively – and has even started in the place of the injured Andre Drummond.

In the Pistons’ win over the Houston Rockets, Moreland was key in defending the Chris Paul-Clint Capela pick-and-roll. Moreland stayed aggressive and it ultimately led to a Pistons win.

Moreland’s contract runs through the 2019 season and if guaranteed for the next two years, he will be owed under $2 million per season.

Pistons’ Scoring Troubles

When Reggie Jackson went down with his gruesome ankle injury, fans and analysts like myself expected the Pistons offense to suffer with Ish Smith taking the reigns as the Pistons’ starting point guard.

However, the Pistons have managed to win two games against quality opponents in spite of having the league’s lowest points per game since Jackson’s injury.

They are just behind the Boston Celtics with 94.4 points per game scored but unlike the Celtics, the Pistons do not sport a top three defense to make up for the offensive woes.

The Pistons are somewhat regressing back to the averages of it’s players as December was troublesome offensively for them as well.

With Jackson’s absence, the offensive problems were amplified  and the Pistons offensive rating plummeted all the way to 98.6.

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PistonPowered Appears on Two Podcasts

This week I had the unique opportunity to voice my opinion on not one, but two podcasts.

First, I had the chance to share a podcast with James Edwards of The Athletic as we both spoke with Vito Chirco on the Detroit Sports Podcast about the options post-Reggie Jackson injury, the emergence of Andre Drummond, and various other topics including my season outlook for the Pistons going forward.

You can listen to both James and myself below:

Next, I spoke with Joe Borelli of the SuperFlight Podcast about not only the Pistons, but also the Rockets, Cavaliers, and other various other topics. This was a fun one to record and I definitely recommend listening to not only our banter, but the interesting conversation that was had.

You can listen to the SuperFlight episode here.

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