The Detroit Pistons are currently sitting in 9th place in the Eastern conference and are playing fairly average basketball right now. The Pistons are 17-20 on the season and they’re leading scorer is power forward, Blake Griffin.
Griffin has had a very resurgent season as he was traded last year to Detroit from the Los Angeles Clippers. He scored a career high 50 points this season against a very strong Philadelphia 76ers team earlier in the season. He is currently averaging 25.6 points on the season.
Griffin is also the best play-maker on the team with and average of 5 assists per game. Most of these assists come off of post play, wide open shots, and backdoor cuts from players like Ish Smith, Reggie Jackson, and Reggie Bullock. If he continues to play as well as he is, he may have a chance to become an all star caliber player.
Leading the defensive forefront for the Pistons is 2-time all star, Andre Drummond. Drummond has been a glass cleaner for the Pistons since he was drafted by them in 2012. He is currently leading the league in rebounds per game with 15.4 boards.
Drummond has been a defensive mainstay for Detroit and he continues to show his defensive prowess under the basket. He is also the second leading scorer on the team with 18.2 points per game. Drummond is a center who is very old schooled in his style of play, but he can get it done on both ends of the court and has been very important on the court for the Pistons.
After having a huge game against the Houston Rockets, Drummond had this to say in a post game interview with Fox Sports Detroit, “We did a really good job of game planning, you know, James Harden is an incredible talent. He finds a way to score at any given time. I did a lot of film and watched the way he does different things with his hands to get round to the rim and I just timed it up and got good blocks on him.”
Andre certainly loves to do his homework as he is averaging 1.9 blocks a game and he had 5 blocks total in that win over the Rockets. Drummond also had 20+ points and 20+ rebounds in that game. He’s continuing to grow and prove that he is a force on both sides of the floor.
The combination of Andre and Blake on both sides of the floor is one of the biggest advantages for the Pistons. With the league transitioning to an inside out style of play, having two strong rebounders and prominent offensive threats can make the Pistons a truly deadly team once they work out the kinks.
Blake Griffin had this to say about him and Andre Drummond’s potential dominance on the floor, “I mean you know, we need to use that to our advantage, Andre is one of the best rebounders in the league, is the best rebounder in the league, finishes everything down low. So when teams can’t match up we need to make sure we punish them.”
I think it’s safe to say that if Blake and Andre are on the same page before and during a game, it is a very scary thing for any team in the NBA to play against.
The Pistons started the season very strong by winning their first 4 games against teams such as the Brooklyn Nets, Chicago Bulls, Philadelphia 76ers, and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The strong start gave many fans hope of a great season, but the next 5 games resulted in losses.
Some of their bigger wins have been against the league leading, Toronto Raptors in Toronto. Against last year’s NBA champions, Golden State Warriors, And an overtime win at home against the Houston Rockets. With victories like these against some of the best teams in the league, it is sure to give them confidence.
Another large benefactor for the Pistons this season was the addition of last years Coach of the Year award winner, Dwane Casey. Casey has been regarded as an excellent coach and the Pistons replaced Stan Van Gundy with a better option.
Casey has been very instrumental in improving the chemistry among the team and also getting Blake Griffin back to his all star form. He’s also given more touches to Andre Drummond to showcase his much improved offensive ability and has also ran the defense through Drummond to help protect the rim on the interior.
“He’s playing at a high level right now, offensively and defensively, he’s out there talking and making decisions and communicating. He’s playing great and of all the great players I’ve worked with, it was Dirk (Nowitzki), Kyle Lowry, Kevin Garnett, Shawn kemp, all those guys. He’s playing at that high level right now,” said Coach Casey in a post game interview with MLive after Griffin had his 50 point game against the 76ers.
With all of that said, the Pistons still sit in 6th place in the east and would make the playoffs if the season ended today. With some of their surprise wins it could be likely they make it past the first round, but that may be it from them.
For more info on the Detroit Pistons visit: https://www.nba.com/pistons/
