Player grades: Detroit Pistons have many players underachieving
The starters
Reggie Jackson
Reggie Jackson was delegated to the role of a spacer in Dwane Casey’s new system.
With Blake Griffin being the primary ball-handler, Jackson is actually performing up to standards, occasionally in situations where he needs to get up a quick shot.
His effective field goal-percentage when he has the ball in his hands less than two seconds is 53.1 percent.
However, against the New Orleans Pelicans, we saw a wide-ranging disparity in what Jackson is expected to do and what the streaky point guard is capable of doing.
His shooting percentages for the most part have been good. The knocks on his game? Poor defense, off-ball movement and lack of play-making – not for himself – but for this teammates.
Play after play in the Detroit Pistons match-up against the Milwaukee Bucks, Jackson ran to a spot on the perimeter and camped out, slowly slinking along the three-point line. It was painfully predictable time and time again as Eric Bledsoe did not have to guess defensively.
He among everyone else, knew what Jackson was going to do as soon as he got the ball. Bring it up, pass, stand on the perimeter, rinse and repeat.
Jackson put his game in a blender by the second half but the trend of the game had been set. It took too long for him to get activated.
On the defensive end, Jackson found himself chasing Bledsoe all night. The Milwaukee guard had his way with Reggie, slightly reminiscent to how Jrue Holiday burnt Jackson just Sunday afternoon.
Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond are awaiting the finite arrival of their third, but if Jackson cannot be more active on the floor, those hopes are dashed.
Grade: C
Andre Drummond
Andre Drummond is an anomaly. His numbers tell a very different tale than the eye-test when it comes to his fingerprint on a game.
The all-star reserve is averaging 18.3 points on 50.4 percent shooting from the field. Drummond is also shooting 50.4 percent from the charity stripe, which is one of the characteristics of a scattered season for the Pistons’ starting center.
One of the things Drummond has worked like crazy on is his ability to shoot from the free throw line. There are several videos floating about Twitter that show the struggling free throw-shooter put up a bunch of shots that hit the bottom of the net.
It is hard to assume anything other than a mental block when addressing Drummond’s ineptitude at the foul line this season.
In any event, teams are following the trend and will continue to target Andre at the end of games to test his stroke. Dwane Casey has made it painfully clear that if he has to pull Drummond to combat this strategy, he’ll sacrifice the big man’s playing time.
At 25 years old, it is time for Drummond to become more than just a premier rebounder.
It would not be wise to wish his stroke reminiscent of an Anthony Davis or even Robin Lopez. The idea is to have Drummond get just good enough to draw defenders out to the perimeter at the threat of a three-point shot.
He does not need to start taking a high-volume of those shots because it would only take away from the offensive balance Casey has tried to install.
Drummond also needs to figure out how to space the floor better with Blake Griffin, offensively. The lane is clogged with defenders when both he and Griffin are camped out in the low post. It also discourages any penetration from smaller guards with big body defenders set under the rim to keep Drummond at bay. The starting center also gets caught on more small guard screens than he should and cannot recover on the play afterwards.
Andre Drummond’s numbers are impressive. But, his effectiveness keeps him from being a Grade A player for the Detroit Pistons.
Grade: B
Glenn Robinson III
Robinson III was brought to Detroit to be a role player coming off the bench. He’s now starting for the Pistons after Casey moved Stanley Johnson to the bench.
It’s not been pretty for Robinson. He’s been unable to find any kind of role in the starting lineup.
His month of December has been absolutely putrid. He’s shooting 25 percent from the field and 20 percent from three-point range.
Robinson isn’t a starter in this league and it’s very obvious. His field goal percentage coming off the bench (47%) is much higher than as a starter (37%).
Johnson has played much better in a role coming off the bench. That puts Robinson in a very tough situation. He needs to find a way to be effective in the starting lineup whether it’s defensively or being able to knock down open shots from time to time.
He’s not doing any of those things right now.
Grade: D-
Reggie Bullock
Bullock hasn’t been the sharp shooter that he was a season ago and that’s the value he needs to bring to this team currently.
Right now, he’s shooting under 40 percent and just 35 percent from three-point range. Last season, he shot 44 percent from long range, which ranked second in the entire league.
Part of Bullock’s woes have to do with the fact that he hasn’t managed to stay healthy this season. He’s re-aggravated an ankle injury from earlier this season and hasn’t played in their last three games.
He’s not known for his impact on the defensive end of the floor, either.
The Pistons desperately need Bullock to regain his form from a season ago in order to be successful.
Grade: C-
Blake Griffin
To be completely honest, this is not a good basketball team without Griffin in the lineup.
He’s done it all for this team this season. He leads the team in points per game, assists, three-point field goal percentage, and usage percentage.
His ability to stretch the floor effectively is something he’s never been able to do in his career until now. They have to rely on him to do a lot offensively. It’s no secret what the game plan has been either.
Griffin many times has had to make something out of nothing because of the ineffectiveness of everyone around him. He’s scored 30 points or more in the team’s last three games and it’s not been enough.
According to reports, Griffin is out of tonight’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers for rest. That’s probably a good idea on Dwane Casey’s end. You don’t want the only guy keeping your team’s head above water going down with an injury.
This grade is an easy decision to make.