Player grades from Pistons’ 112-106 loss to the Bulls

Shooting guards and Small Forwards

Luke Kennard C

Kennard was a non-factor before hitting a 3-pointer late in the first half. He did come on in the second with back-to-back 3-pointers and a couple of nice drives. Like most of the Pistons, Kennard is being exposed due to the injuries to Griffin and Jackson.

Without their primary playmakers, Kennard is left to do most of the heavy lifting himself and is simply not quick or strong enough to consistently create his own shots against starting wings. Kennard ended the game with 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, but the Pistons need more from the guy who is currently playing the second most amount of minutes behind Drummond.

Kennard cannot disappear for long stretches of games like he did in the first half against the Bulls, as the Pistons do not have many other scoring options in the first unit.

Bruce Brown D+

Brown was a little bit better than his horrible effort against Toronto, but still managed to turn the ball over twice, miss his only 3-pointer and get blown by several times by the Bulls’ guards. Brown’s defense was improved but still wasn’t good enough to offset his anemic offense and ball-handling.

Brown continues to rebound the ball well, and showed a little more life overall, but his season thus far has to rank as one of the biggest disappointments for Detroit and it won’t get any easier tonight against Kyrie Irving and the Nets.

Langston Galloway D+

In the least shocking turn ever, Galloway had a bad game after having one good one. Inconsistency has been his modus operandi so the Pistons can at least count on Galloway for that. He shot 4-10 and continued to struggle finishing at the rim, including a near air ball on a finger roll in the second half.

I’d never seen someone air ball a finger roll, so for a minute I thought Galloway might get himself into the history books. His defense has been decent and he should probably get a shot at the starting lineup at some point by default, but the Pistons need Galloway to make shots and thus far, he hasn’t.

Small Forwards

Tony Snell D

Tony who? Is there someone named Snell on this team? I’m not going to keep beating a dead horse, but Snell disappeared again and has thus far not been the 3-and-D guy the Pistons were hoping for. He did put the Pistons up late with a go-ahead layup but ended the game with just six points on 2-of-5 shooting.

Snell has been a complete non-factor on offense which is not surprising given his low volume career shooting numbers, but he has also been bad on defense, getting torched by the other team’s wings, which happened again last night. Snell may end up being a valuable role player for the Pistons at some point, but those who hoped Detroit might finally have an answer for their small forward dilemma are probably disappointed.