Detroit Pistons Report Card
Preseason expectations: Aim for a .500 record or playoffs; see a UConn trio of Rip, Villanueva and Gordon flourish; continue to see Stuckey develop into a star
Overall based on preseason expectations: F (only one goal was made somewhat)
General: This is another team that plays slow ball, prides itself on crashing the boards. The personnel changed a lot from last year, and the coaches have changed too, but they still like to play “blue collar”.
Key to their success: Tempo, tempo, tempo. The Pistons like to make teams play slower than they’d normally like, and in particular, they like to get 2nd chance opportunities, they were 2nd in the league in offensive boards. Impressive for a slow team. Stuckey has continued to improve his play.
Bad Points: Pistson were one of the worst teams in FG%age defense, and point differential. Latter not good for a slow team.. Also the Pistons had untimely injuries to Prince, Gordon and Hamilton especially early on, and this had an adverse affect on their season.
LeBron money available: About $10 million off the books for next season. 3 million is a player option for Wilcox, and he’s taking it for sure. Don’t expect major moves by this team unless they can trade Hamilton and Prince to another team for their star.
How far can DET go: They are done this year. Money is tied up to their entire core of the team through next year too. Maxiell, Hamilton, Stuckey, Villanueva are all on contract through 2012-2013, Gordon has an option for 2013-2014 which I think he’ll take unless he becomes the next Arenas. Their GM is one of the better ones here, so expect this core to be broken up somehow in the next year or two barring a surprising spark to their 2010-2011 season, but this team is financially more tied up than the Wizards, pre-blow up era.
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