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Over the years, in separate conversations, so many of the Bad Boys – Isiah, Mahorn, Joe D, Salley – have told me that the games were the easy part for them. Daly’s practices were the real test – of their talent, sure, but mostly of their competitiveness. That’s where their minutes – and, by extension, their paychecks – were won and lost.

For an abundance of reasons, Van Gundy can’t bring back all of the elements that made those Bad Boys practices daily tests of manhood. But the essential component – making everyone better by raising the level of competition – will be present when the Pistons gather for training camp as the nights begin to get cooler in southeast Michigan.

If Van Gundy were the type to spend much time looking backward – he isn’t – he’d allow himself a smile at how much has changed in two years. It will be a remarkably different mood, with a remarkably different set of expectations, when this fall rolls around.

That’s a big part of why the Pistons allocated more of their free-agent war chest on Jon Leuer than on anyone else. Leuer comes to the Pistons at 27 off of five NBA seasons – the most recent his best. Van Gundy said Leuer was a player who intrigued him even during his days in Orlando. The Pistons, he said, have tried to trade for him in each of Van Gundy’s first two seasons.

Van Gundy said that as he and his front-office staff and scouts analyzed their options, Leuer was the only player who checked off every box: the size to defend bigger players and the foot speed to defend on the perimeter without sacrificing the 3-point shooting last year’s backup power forward, Anthony Tolliver, offered. Leuer is more athletic than perceived – at the 2011 combine, he measured 6-foot-11½ with a 36-inch vertical leap – with a quick first step and the ability to put the ball on the floor to beat defenders closing out too aggressively.

The addition of Leuer gives the Pistons the luxury of allowing No. 1 pick Henry Ellenson to grow into whatever role his ability to contribute dictates. Though not a carbon copy of Leuer – Leuer is the better shooter at this point and more athletic, Ellenson a more skilled ballhandler– Ellenson eventually will give Van Gundy the same type of positional versatility. Ellenson’s perimeter skills will give a master tinkerer like Van Gundy intriguing options going forward, whether he’s at power forward or slides to center against opponents that go with five perimeter shooters in the lineup.

No greater proof is needed than the 5,376 minutes Caldwell-Pope has played for Van Gundy in his two seasons as his coach. The strides he’s made since arriving as a relatively raw player after two seasons at Georgia, where he was named SEC Player of the Year as a sophomore, have been impressive – but both player and coach believe there’s plenty more to come.

Caldwell-Pope, 23, focused on ballhandling last summer, convinced he needed more of an off-the-dribble threat to keep defenders from closing out aggressively to the 3-point line. And, to be sure, Caldwell-Pope became much more comfortable putting it on the floor, driving to the rim for finishes with either hand. He also became a legitimate passing threat.His defense, among the traits that made him such an attractive draft prospect due to his length, quickness and athleticism, ticked up another notch. Van Gundy routinely put Caldwell-Pope on the league’s increasing number of high-scoring point guards – Steph Curry, Russell Westbrook, John Wall, Kyrie Irving, Kyle Lowry, Isaiah Thomas, et al.

After shooting near the NBA average from the 3-point line in his second season, .345, Caldwell-Pope slumped to .309 in 2015-16. His scoring increased from 12.7 to 14.5, though, a reflection of his greater ability to attack the rim, resulting in 75 more free-throw attempts and a reduction in the number of 3-point shots as a percentage of his overall attempts from 46 percent to 38 percent.
He diversified his off-season workout focus this year, spending more time on perimeter shooting in addition to continuing to work on ballhandling and other areas. Caldwell-Pope along with Stanley Johnson is spending the week in Las Vegas with the USA Select Team helping the 2016 Olympic team prepare for the Rio Games – another sign of the young talent the Pistons have on a dramatically improved roster from Van Gundy’s arrival two years ago.

Jackson’s brilliant 40-point outing in a Nov. 8 win at Portland caught the league’s notice. The advanced stats showed that no center-point guard combination in the league occupied a greater percentage of their team’s offense with pick-and-roll plays than Jackson and Drummond. It became, far and away, the focal point of opponent scouting reports.

Both Van Gundy and Jackson cited the extra attention teams were paying to him to explain the March struggles Jackson endured, scoring a season-low 15.2 points in 15 games while shooting less than 40 percent from the field and 30 percent from the 3-point line, also season worsts. He and Van Gundy watched even more videotape together. Jackson would finish strong, averaging 23.4 points and shooting .375 from the 3-point line in April, and said a major focus of his summer would be studying video of all his pick-and-roll opportunities to get a better sense of how to attack and becoming a more instinctive decision maker.

Jackson was in the running for an All-Star berth last season and, even in an era where there are more than a handful of legitimate candidates in the Eastern Conference, figures to be again this season. Jackson played fewer minutes per game than any Pistons starter last season, averaging 31 per game. Van Gundy was mindful of taxing Jackson, given the enormous burden he carried to initiate the half-court offense.

mattao313 wrote:In all the USA scrimmage vids I watched Mudiay, Lavine, Oladipo, and Turner all dominated the ball. Both KCP and Stanley got to handle the ball and shot some 3s but didn't do a lot.

Blkbrd671 wrote:

mattao313 wrote:In all the USA scrimmage vids I watched Mudiay, Lavine, Oladipo, and Turner all dominated the ball. Both KCP and Stanley got to handle the ball and shot some 3s but didn't do a lot.

rewatch it again, KCP and SJ get quite a bit of play making duty. Both look like they are the 2nd ary point. SJ also gobbles up rebounds.

mattao313 wrote:

Blkbrd671 wrote:

mattao313 wrote:In all the USA scrimmage vids I watched Mudiay, Lavine, Oladipo, and Turner all dominated the ball. Both KCP and Stanley got to handle the ball and shot some 3s but didn't do a lot.

rewatch it again, KCP and SJ get quite a bit of play making duty. Both look like they are the 2nd ary point. SJ also gobbles up rebounds.

Eh to me it seemed like Stanley and KCP were try to play in the system and move the ball while the guys I mentioned, were trying to get their which was annoying.

The Moose wrote:[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKLz9ePxbLw[/youtube]

Didn't think Andre would be playing Drew League

A_dub06 wrote:

mattao313 wrote:

Blkbrd671 wrote:
rewatch it again, KCP and SJ get quite a bit of play making duty. Both look like they are the 2nd ary point. SJ also gobbles up rebounds.

Eh to me it seemed like Stanley and KCP were try to play in the system and move the ball while the guys I mentioned, were trying to get their which was annoying.

I agree it looked like KCP & SJ looked like they were playing within the system but I take that as a good thing. It shows they're disciplined and buying into a team mentality.



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Blkbrd671 wrote:
Any kind of bball film of our boys is good.

Blkbrd671 wrote:[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaBU83zhtvs[/youtube]

Lots of footage of SJ and KCP