G8 ~ Pistons (2-5) @ Wizards (5-2) ~ 11/12 7:00 PM EST

[whitehops]

okay, so the start to this season has been less than ideal, but there have been times that inspire optimism going forward.

we roll into Washington on Wednesday to play the wizards, and despite them being a good team don't be quite that intimidated. they are 5-2 but lost to the two half-decent teams they played (Miami and Toronto) and have beaten the pacers (twice), Milwaukee, Orlando and new York. they haven't even played a team from the west yet!


know your opponent: the wizards are missing their young shooting guard Bradley beal but garrett temple has played well in his stead. the wizards are a solid all-around team that doesn't really have many weaknesses but they play very good defense and just seem to grind it out. this brings me to...

whitehops' key to the game: taking care of the ball, don't expect a high scoring game folks! we are one of the best teams in the league at taking care of the ball, but the wizards are one of the best teams at forcing turnovers. considering we are the worst shooting team in the league and the wizards are good at keeping their opponents' shooting percentages down we will really need all the possessions we can get. the other way to maximize our possessions will be through offensive rebounding but the wiz are no slouches on the boards. we won't exactly have a big advantage in the paint either, as they have two big, physical bigs that can hold their own.

whitehops' key matchup: this easily could've been our PG defense vs. wall but I am going to say it's josh smith vs. paul pierce/otto porter. pierce and porter have been splitting minutes fairly evenly and they both play different styles that will challenge smith. pierce is very crafty and uses his body well to create space for his shot. he's had an up=and-down start to the year but he could easily put smith in foul trouble with all the fakes he has. hopefully smith can use his athleticism against pierce on the offensive end, as he can match him strength-wise. porter is as tall as smith and probably longer. he isn't that strong so hopefully smith can take advantage of that in the post. porter is good at moving off the ball which will keep smith constantly moving on D and porter has improved his shot so he can shoot pretty much anywhere inside the arc, even outside occasionally.


PROJECTED STARTERS
Brandon Jennings
KCP
Josh Smith
Greg Monroe
Andre Drummond

John Wall
Garrett Temple
Paul Pierce
Nene Hilario
Marcin Gortat



let's go pistons!

[ComboGuardCity]

Anybody else notice how small ball is dying and how it was a fad?

Gortat/nene
Gasol/Noah
Love/Varejao
Amir/val
Zbo/gasol
David/Asik
LMa/Lopez
Jordan/griffin
Perk/ibaka
West/Hibbert
Favors/Kanter



Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

[whitehops]

Anybody else notice how small ball is dying and how it was a fad?

Gortat/nene
Gasol/Noah
Love/Varejao
Amir/val
Zbo/gasol
David/Asik
LMa/Lopez
Jordan/griffin
Perk/ibaka
West/Hibbert
Favors/Kanter

it's hard to sustain small ball. even now with the tandems of big men in the league, they're being used differently when they were in the 90's or before.

[epheisey]

Anybody else notice how small ball is dying and how it was a fad?

Gortat/nene
Gasol/Noah
Love/Varejao
Amir/val
Zbo/gasol
David/Asik
LMa/Lopez
Jordan/griffin
Perk/ibaka
West/Hibbert
Favors/Kanter



Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

Ah, but we need a PF that can shoot the 3.
/s


*Obviously a 10-15 ft shot would make Monroe a completely different player.

[DetroitSho]

Anybody else notice how small ball is dying and how it was a fad?

Gortat/nene
Gasol/Noah
Love/Varejao
Amir/val
Zbo/gasol
David/Asik
LMa/Lopez
Jordan/griffin
Perk/ibaka
West/Hibbert
Favors/Kanter



Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

Ah, but we need a PF that can shoot the 3.
/s


*Obviously a 10-15 ft shot would make Monroe a completely different player.

Beat me to it. Lol

Let's trade Monroe for Ryan Anderson so we'll be able to guard teams with the likes of Channing Frye, Thaddeus Young, Markieff Morris and all these other devastating Stretch 4's.
/s

[mercury]

That would make a difference if Monroe could actually guard anyone... which he can't

[epheisey]

That would make a difference if Monroe could actually guard anyone... which he can't

He's been looking serviceable this season.

Can we stop giving Josh Smith credit for being a good defender based on his play a few years ago, and likewise, stop saying Monroe is completely terrible based on his play without any sort of defensive system his first few years?

Everyone should have started with a blank slate this season. I think outside of Josh Smith, every player that's got time this season, has looked different than what was expected. Augustin is in fact, a backup, despite some people thinking he was capable of outplaying Jennings. Jennings has actually looked decent. Singler absolutely sucks. Drummond isn't a superstar. Monroe IS our best player, and should have been paid. Butler isn't completely washed up. KCP isn't a phenomenal shooter.

[mercury]

That would make a difference if Monroe could actually guard anyone... which he can't

He's been looking serviceable this season.

We're not talking about Josh the chucker here... Greg Monroe is not serviceable defensively... all you have to do is look with an open eye at the DVR... it's all there.

[epheisey]

That would make a difference if Monroe could actually guard anyone... which he can't

He's been looking serviceable this season.

We're not talking about Josh the chucker here... Greg Monroe is not serviceable defensively... all you have to do is look with an open eye at the DVR... it's all there.

I guess I'm watching a different team than you. I don't think he looks as bad as he has. He's not a good defender. But he's serviceable.

The extremes on this board make it hard to have a reasonable discussion here. There's no middle ground for anyone....and not directed specifically at you, but rather in general for most of this board. (I may be included)

[mercury]

I would assume middle ground would relate to average performance on the subject... in this case when discussing G.M.s defense... it's not worthy of middle ground... if you want to factor in his ability to score in the post and rebound and are willing to factor in defensive liabilities and shooting as important factors then YES we would be talking about "middle ground" deserving slightly above average salary for this team or much more for a team that can use a solid CENTER.
Sorry this should not be in a game thread.

[mus123]

Not really worried about this game tbh. Reading some of your posts here is my 2 cents about the team so far. Monroe isn't awful at defending this year better post defender than drummond by far. Kyle singler is a joke of an nba player. KCP perimeter scoring cant be trusted great defender tho. Josh does more good than bad but the bad is huge. Also lets stop this bs that DJ can take Jennings starting job. He's a backup nothing special. And lastly GM is our best player.

[dVs33]

This is going to be an interesting game.

Jennings needs to step up big time if we want a chance of winning because Wall is the biggest x factor in the game.
For the most part, jennings has been good the last few games, so we need him to keep getting better.
He's not going to stop Wall, but if he can equal his production and take care of the ball, we'll be in good shape.
Also Smith has had a few good games despite his occasional boneheaded moves, so hopefully he comes to play. I like that match up against Pierce, but that only works if Smith doesn't play like a complete a**.

If we stop missing layups, shot a better FT% and Dre stays out of foul trouble this could very well be a win.

[JD43320]

Anybody else notice how small ball is dying and how it was a fad?

Gortat/nene
Gasol/Noah
Love/Varejao
Amir/val
Zbo/gasol
David/Asik
LMa/Lopez
Jordan/griffin
Perk/ibaka
West/Hibbert
Favors/Kanter



Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

I don't think small ball was a fad. The reason it was an important aspect for many teams is because it spread the floor. That is as important as it ever was. The reason it appears to be "dying' is because the league is incredibly thin at SG and SF right now. Many of the 2's that could hand time at the 3 and 3's that could handle time at the four are either washed up or retired. If there aren't enough SG's and SF's that can actually shoot left in the league to support playing small ball then there is no point in using it. Better to play an actual 4 that can rebound than a scrub tweener that gives you nothing. The league is desperate need of an influx of new blood at the 2 and 3.

[theBigLip]

Washington is favored by 6. I got my money on them. I just haven't seen us play a good game yet this year. Washington is looking to make noise in the playoffs. I'm not optimistic.

[whitehops]

Washington is favored by 6. I got my money on them. I just haven't seen us play a good game yet this year. Washington is looking to make noise in the playoffs. I'm not optimistic.

for what it's worth we split the season series with them last year, 2-2. 1-1 at home and 1-1 on the road.

[sfballa13]

Washington is favored by 6. I got my money on them. I just haven't seen us play a good game yet this year. Washington is looking to make noise in the playoffs. I'm not optimistic.

for what it's worth we split the season series with them last year, 2-2. 1-1 at home and 1-1 on the road.

Not only that Washington has lost two games against two good opponents

They played and beat Indiana twice, Bucks, Orlando. Easy schedule so far

[ImHeisenberg]

Washington is favored by 6. I got my money on them. I just haven't seen us play a good game yet this year. Washington is looking to make noise in the playoffs. I'm not optimistic.

I've seen this team play 3 terrific quarters. I've yet to see them play a good 4th quarter. When teams turn it up, Detroit doesn't know how to respond.

I'd definitely lean towards Washington in this game, especially if Paul Pierce gets hot- we won't have an answer for him. And John Wall will be the best player on the floor. Not a good outlook for Detroit- but not a death sentence either.

[tmorgan]

Greg Monroe is a very solid, consistent, good but not great player. I'm not worried about him and I bet no one else is either.

If we want to start winning games, we need at least one of KCP or Drummond to perform. If we want to beat good teams (and the Wiz definitely qualify), they BOTH need to perform well.

[TurboTitan]

can't see us winning this game, wizards have a very deep roster.

[Ghost]

"Pistons have won 4/5 in Washington"

Interesting.