2012 Detroit Pistons Overview
The Pistons canned head coach John Kuester and brought on former Nets head coach Lawrence Frank in the offseason. Detroit is wishing that this move will breathe new life to an otherwise failing squad. Detroit won just 57 times in two years with Kuester, ending up last year with a 30-52 mark.
The Detroit management has faith that Frank can turn this franchise around soon and will have a brighter future after this season’s draft. The Pistons spent their eight selection to take Kentucky’s Brandon Knight and added a pair of quality second-rounders in Kyle Singler and Vernon Macklin. Although Knight doesn’t necessarily fill a hole for Detroit, he was the best player left in the draft.
The Pistons resigned Rodney Stuckey during the offseason and they will now have a lot of depth at point guard. Stuckey was the leading scorer for the team last year scoring 15.5 points/game. Rookie PG Knight and Will Bynum will play behind Stuckey as they look to have one of the better point guard combinations in the league. They are however extremely thin at the shooting guard slot. Ben Gordon is the only shooting guard on the roster, and he has been a big disappointment for the team ever since they signed him two seasons ago. Gordon averaged 20.7 points/game in his final season with the Bulls in 2008-09, but managed to score just 13.8 points and 11.2 points in his two seasons with Detroit.
The Pistons may not have a stud at center or forward, but they have a lot of nice pieces that could end up complementing each other well. They are excited about center Greg Monroe’s potential, who averaged 9.4 points and 7.5 rebounds as a rookie. Veteran Ben Wallace gives them a big body off the bench, but at 37 years old, he is certainly in his last legs.
The Pistons signed veteran small forward Tayshaun Prince to a four year deal, but at 31 he is also getting old. Prince’s presence though will allow second year-forward Austin Daye to improve at his own speed. The hope for the Pistons though is that Daye will continue to get better and become a big time contributor this season.
Charlie Villanueva will be the starting PF in Detroit but he is a very volatile player and his production doesn’t exactly fit with his personality. Jason Maxiell will backup Villanueva but he is undersized and will have a hard time trying to match-up with taller power forwards. This is arguably the Pistons biggest weakness going into the season.
Prediction: 4th Eastern Conference Central Division: Detroit is finally going in the right direction after some of the players they got this offseason. They still have a long way to go to make the postseason but they are slowly getting to their goals. The Bulls are the obvious favorite to win the division, and right now the Bucks and the Pacers are also definitely better off than what the Pistons currently have on their team. That is why the NBA Finals odds are not too favorable. Although they have players that can get it done on defense, Detroit is still without a go-to scorer that can constantly give them 20 points a night. The lack of playmakers on offense will make it very difficult for Detroit to stay competitive over the entirety of this shortened and unforgiving year.
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