22 Days: Pistons & Trailblazers Preview

Team 28: Detroit Pistons

Projected Starting Lineup:

1.) Brandon Knight

2.) Rodney Stuckey

3.) Tayshaun Prince

4.) Jonas Jerebko

5.) Greg Monroe

Key Reserves:

-Will Bynum
-Charlie Villanueva
-Corey Magette
-Andre Drummond

On paper, this team does not look bad. In the early 2000′s, this would have been a playoff team. Unfortunately for the 2012-2013 Pistons, that was the most diluted time in recent NBA history and they are playing in the most stacked NBA the league has ever seen. Brandon Knight is a scoring point guard and did a decent job averaging 12.8 points during his rookie season. He still needs a lot of work on the rest of his game. He is a below average on-ball defender, and a horrible facilitator who does not do anything efficient on the court. He posted a 1.7/1 assist/turnover rate and only posted an 11.79 PER, ranking him 242nd in the league. Like I talked about yesterday, Rodney Stuckey has always been an undersized combo guard who switched between the off-guard and point-guard. Now that it’s becoming common place in the league, he isn’t as out of place, but he also isn’t any good. Tayshaun Prince may be getting up there in age, but he is still a very versatile player who can defend multiple positions and score from the inside and out. There has been a lot of movement up in the motor city, so don’t be surprised if Prince is shipped off to a contender before the trading deadline. Jonas Jerebko is a nice player, but is much more suited coming off the bench as opposed to starting. If rookie Andre Drummond can channel is potential and become a legitimate center at a point in the season, look at him starting and Greg Monroe moving over to the power forward position. Greg Monroe reminds me a lot of Brook Lopez; he has a smooth inside game that doesn’t involve much physicality, a decent on ball defender who can occasionally block. The difference is, Monroe actually competes on the boards – averaging close to 10 a game last season. Their bench has some punch, but it comes to show that the lack of a superstar in this day an age will not allow you to compete on a large stage in the NBA.

Team 27: Portland Trailblazers

Projected Starting Lineup:

1.) Damien Lillard

2.) Wesley Matthews

3.) Nicolas Batum

4.) LeMarcus Aldridge

5.) Meyers Leonard

Key Reserves:
- J.J. Hickson
- Ronnie Price
- Jared Jeffries
- Joel Freeland

What happened to the Blazers team that had everyone climbing over their bandwagon not two years ago. Oh that’s right, knees. Greg Oden and Brandon Roy were supposed to be two cornerstones to this franchise and were forced to the sideline due to chronic injuries to their knees. What is left, is one All-Star surrounded by rookies and decent role players. Damien Lillard tore it up in the summer league, but how much can be expected from a guy who never played a ranked team throughout his entire college career? Now he is going up against the most stout group of point guards the league has ever seen. I think he will be solid, but I do not think he will be able to carry this team to the places many other believe they can reach. Their wing play is alright, both Matthews and Batum are solid defensive players who are athletic, but tend to be streaky when it comes to shooting – especially from deep. They do still have one cornerstone with LaMarcus Aldridge who reached his first NBA All-Star game just a season ago. He is a deadly mid range shooter who is fluid around the rim. He can shoot over both shoulders and can fade and score from both baselines. He has continually improved on his rebounding skills averaging eight a game. He still needs to improve in that area, as the focal point of their inside game, he has to average more than two rebounds a quarter. Myers Leonard came into the NBA as a project and will now be the starting Center for a team that has a very demanding fan base. All of this change has been the after effect of the teams firing of GM Kevin Pritchard, the man responsible for getting this team to the playoffs just two years ago. This team has a high upside and a high downside. They could end up being a menacing team, but more than likely they will sink underneath their inexperience.


Joshua Jackson


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