Team Identity

[BiGG RaBB]

Joe said himself u put your 5 best players on the floor.. Position still matters but to an extent. Talent then versatility seems to have the highest priority.

I wouldn't be surprised if JSmitty slides over to the 5 at times. I believe he has the strength and athleticism to do so. In a sense we have 3 c's on this team as well. I expect Dre, Moose, and Smitty to be on the floor together for around 24 minutes a game.. The other 24mins each guy would be the featured C for 8mins which misc starter/bench guys filled in to suit there strengths.

This teams will FEATURE it's bigs, whether the in your face defense, or shove it down your throat offense, that is our Identity. It's ridiculous when you think about it.. This team has some very nice lineups they can throw out. Even the malcontents have a place on this team from a match-up standpoint.

[ajaX82]

To put it simply, our team identity is defense, rebounding and points in the paint

[ComboGuardCity]

To put it simply, our team identity is defense, rebounding and points in the paint

Exactly this and hopefully a deadly transition game.

[MrBigShot]

Grind it out defense, destroy you in the paint inside out, crash the boards hard especially offensively, and bring athleticism in the half court and in transition. Additionally, we have some guys who can shoot in Knight/KCP/Singler/Middleton and Datome if he pans out.

I like the direction. Inside out gives us the best opportunity to win in this league. Just look at Memphis/Indiana who both did pretty well in the playoffs. I think they both had some clear issues keeping them from getting past the Heat/Spurs respectively.

Pistons are all about defense.

[retrolenny]

I'm hoping teams average under 80 pts a game against us. Dumars has gone back to our roots. Hopefully it rubs off on Moose and Datome. I REALLY like Mitchell.

[DetroitPistons]

I'm hoping teams average under 80 pts a game against us. Dumars has gone back to our roots. Hopefully it rubs off on Moose and Datome. I REALLY like Mitchell.

There is 0% chance that we hold opponents under 80ppg on average. We will be good defensively but I don't see us as an all-time great defensive team, especially considering that we don't even know the rotation and haven't seen that rotation on the floor together.

[theBigLip]

I would like to be known as a high FG% team as well - don't care where they come from, but a high FG% doesn't just mean you've got good shooters, but you shooters taking smart shots.

[dVs33]

big athletic defensive team.
Joe made some solid moves to change the emphasis of this team around this offseason. It's going to be a fun year me thinks.

[Montanabadboy33]

Yes, love it!!! Joe is building a team that plays Detroit basketball, and it's about freaking time

[Dre Drummond]

I'm hoping teams average under 80 pts a game against us. Dumars has gone back to our roots. Hopefully it rubs off on Moose and Datome. I REALLY like Mitchell.

Last year only one team averaged under 90 points allowed per game and that was the Memphis Grizzlies.

If we hold teams to under 95.0 points next year that would have been 5th best in the NBA.

Last year we held teams to 98.8 PPG which we will certainly improve on this year if we stay healthy.

[Cowology]

I'm curious to see what sort of pace we play at. I'm FAR more interested in defensive efficiency than ppga. For some reason people tend to associate ugly grind it out bball with defense, but they are not synonymous. We don't need to relive the Carlisle era of walking the ball up and grinding it out for 20+ seconds while playing time management.

We're already going to have some issues in the half-court, with the athletes we got there is no reason we aren't trying to turn dominant defense into instant offense by pushing the ball in transition and taking early opportunities in the shot clock while relying on our ability to crash the offensive glass.

I'm not saying go crazy and get into an up and down game that doesn't allow us to set our defense either, but we need to play to the strength of our roster and dictate the tempo at both ends.

Dominate the paint at both ends & push the ball. That's who we should be.

[dan2314]

without a great deal of shooting in the half court, it needs to be defense leading to fast breaks. knight, kcp, smith, stuckey, mitchell and drummond are all fantastic in transition. not too dissimilar to the clippers, even though i dont think they will ever be super successful. the difference is, we have real bigs, who can score in the halfcourt in monroe. (and drummond to some extent), as well as on the break.

should hopefully be top 5, maybe top 3, in rebounds, points in the paint, fast break points, and forced turnovers - possibly steals and blocks too.

thats the sort of team we need to be to be successful with what joe has put together. lets not forget, with cv and stuckeys expirings we will be adding another piece next offseason, if we dont get one through trade between now and then. that will be very exciting if this team makes the playoffs as is already.

[Montanabadboy33]

I'm curious to see what sort of pace we play at. I'm FAR more interested in defensive efficiency than ppga. For some reason people tend to associate ugly grind it out bball with defense, but they are not synonymous. We don't need to relive the Carlisle era of walking the ball up and grinding it out for 20+ seconds while playing time management.

We're already going to have some issues in the half-court, with the athletes we got there is no reason we aren't trying to turn dominant defense into instant offense by pushing the ball in transition and taking early opportunities in the shot clock while relying on our ability to crash the offensive glass.

I'm not saying go crazy and get into an up and down game that doesn't allow us to set our defense either, but we need to play to the strength of our roster and dictate the tempo at both ends.

Dominate the paint at both ends & push the ball. That's who we should be.

I've wondered about this too, I agree it seem like we should be a run and gun team a little bit, with our athletes, but I wasn't sure what kind of a system Cheeks runs and if he'll let them get out and run. I remember one thing Sheed was good at was getting defensive rebounds and snapping off a quick outlet pass that could, in theory, get the break started, if Monroe can do the same and we can get Drummond and Smith streaking down the court, it sure seems like thats a goood way to get some high percentage buckets and easy scores.

I also agree I don't want to see us turn into a Suns shoot in 4 seconds type of offense. We should kill on the offensive glass too, I hope we crash hard, it seems a lot of times in the NBA the team is headed back on D as soon as the shot goes up, I hate that.

[DetroitPistons]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think Cheeks is known to push the ball on the fast break a lot. I'm fine with that and all because it fits our personnel (defense and athletes) but I really hope we can establish a reliable halfcourt offense. Fastbreak run and gun basketball does not win come playoff time if it is the core of your offense.