As KCP, Johnson evolve, Pistons will move closer to capturing an identity
Posted: Fri Feb 3, 2017 12:15 pm
A few weeks ago, with the Pistons showing signs of pulling out of a malaise that began in mid-December, Stan Van Gundy responded to a question of whether he had a handle on his team’s identity without hesitation: “No. Not even close.”
It would be depressing if the uncertainty arose from a lack of possibilities. Choose your adjective – challenging or frustrating or confounding all come close, but none hit the mark – to describe the process of integrating the components as Van Gundy’s fingertips into a cohesive force.
Some nights, the Pistons still rotate around the axis of the Andre Drummond-Reggie Jackson pick and roll. What emerged to start the season, with Jackson missing for 21 games, was a potent isolation attack featuring equal doses of Tobias Harris and Marcus Morris.
Whatever they become, their win over New Orleans on Wednesday night – much needed to halt a three-game losing streak with a critical two weeks ahead of them before the All-Star break – revealed an emerging and necessary piece of the puzzle.
It’s the two-way dynamism held by a pair of high-level wing athletes, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Stanley Johnson.
Caldwell-Pope, already established as one of the NBA’s top perimeter defenders, scored a career-high 38 points and pushed his season’s 3-point percentage above the line that defines elite shooters: 40 percent. With his 8 of 11 showing, Caldwell-Pope is now at .403 for the season from the arc on a career-high 5.6 attempts per game.
Johnson’s numbers weren’t nearly as splashy, but his four points came with five rebounds, six assists and a steal. And the number that really underscored his impact on the 118-98 win was this: plus-36. In Johnson’s 25 minutes – including the last 17-plus – the Pistons outscored New Orleans 73-37.
He even elicited a rare in-game smile from Van Gundy when he facilitated a Harris layup in transition.
Van Gundy explained: “Stanley has his own way of doing things. So today we had our walk through. He did his shooting workout. And then I looked back out there and he’s doing some two-on-two stuff. I said, ‘What are you doing? We’ve got a game tonight.’ At the timeout, I said, ‘Would you run down the court? Instead of doing a two-hour workout on game day, we need your energy in the game.’ So he got out and filled the lane, got the ball on the break and made the nice dish. That’s what we were smiling about.”
Whatever concerns for his future Johnson’s curiously sluggish start to the season caused have been cast aside by his recent play. Van Gundy said earlier this week that he’s now playing at a level above last season, when he assumed the role of sixth man for a 44-win team. Johnson has dropped about 15 pounds over the past two months and now admits he sees a difference in his quickness.
“I got to the point where I guess I was slower,” he said. “I feel faster now. How I gauge how fast I’m moving is if I can stay in front of people. I didn’t notice it. Once (Van Gundy) pointed it out to me, I was like, boom. I went back and looked at body composition from my rookie year, college.”
Van Gundy sees in Johnson, at minimum, the stuff to be an elite defender. He’s mentioned Jimmy Butler and Tony Allen in talking about Johnson’s potential at that end. In tandem with Caldwell-Pope, the Pistons expect they’ll be able to pair two versatile, disruptive defenders.
There’s a case to be made for Caldwell-Pope as the Pistons’ most consistent performer this season. He’s averaging a career-high 14.9 points and 2.9 assists despite seeing his minutes scaled back from 36.7 last season to 33.8, largely a reflection of the unusual number of one-sided games the Pistons have played this season.
He was temporarily sidetracked by a left shoulder injury caused by running into screens in two games a week apart last month, eventually causing him to miss five games. He perhaps subconsciously shied away from contact for a few games upon his return, but Wednesday’s explosion stamped him as fully past the injury.
Where can he take his game from here?
“Is he going to be a guy who’s going to average 24 points a game? He’s young, so anything’s possible,” Van Gundy said. “I think he’s a guy that can be a 16-, 18-point scorer. He plays with good energy. He gets enough cutting baskets to get easy ones. So, yeah, it’s possible he can become a real good scorer.”
At 23, he’s not yet fully formed. That’s even more true of Johnson, still only 20. As their games further flower, Stan Van Gundy will have a better idea of the still elusive identity of his team.
http://www.nba.com/pistons/features/kcp-johnson-evolve-pistons-will-move-closer-capturing-identity
It would be depressing if the uncertainty arose from a lack of possibilities. Choose your adjective – challenging or frustrating or confounding all come close, but none hit the mark – to describe the process of integrating the components as Van Gundy’s fingertips into a cohesive force.
Some nights, the Pistons still rotate around the axis of the Andre Drummond-Reggie Jackson pick and roll. What emerged to start the season, with Jackson missing for 21 games, was a potent isolation attack featuring equal doses of Tobias Harris and Marcus Morris.
Whatever they become, their win over New Orleans on Wednesday night – much needed to halt a three-game losing streak with a critical two weeks ahead of them before the All-Star break – revealed an emerging and necessary piece of the puzzle.
It’s the two-way dynamism held by a pair of high-level wing athletes, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Stanley Johnson.
Caldwell-Pope, already established as one of the NBA’s top perimeter defenders, scored a career-high 38 points and pushed his season’s 3-point percentage above the line that defines elite shooters: 40 percent. With his 8 of 11 showing, Caldwell-Pope is now at .403 for the season from the arc on a career-high 5.6 attempts per game.
Johnson’s numbers weren’t nearly as splashy, but his four points came with five rebounds, six assists and a steal. And the number that really underscored his impact on the 118-98 win was this: plus-36. In Johnson’s 25 minutes – including the last 17-plus – the Pistons outscored New Orleans 73-37.
He even elicited a rare in-game smile from Van Gundy when he facilitated a Harris layup in transition.
Van Gundy explained: “Stanley has his own way of doing things. So today we had our walk through. He did his shooting workout. And then I looked back out there and he’s doing some two-on-two stuff. I said, ‘What are you doing? We’ve got a game tonight.’ At the timeout, I said, ‘Would you run down the court? Instead of doing a two-hour workout on game day, we need your energy in the game.’ So he got out and filled the lane, got the ball on the break and made the nice dish. That’s what we were smiling about.”
Whatever concerns for his future Johnson’s curiously sluggish start to the season caused have been cast aside by his recent play. Van Gundy said earlier this week that he’s now playing at a level above last season, when he assumed the role of sixth man for a 44-win team. Johnson has dropped about 15 pounds over the past two months and now admits he sees a difference in his quickness.
“I got to the point where I guess I was slower,” he said. “I feel faster now. How I gauge how fast I’m moving is if I can stay in front of people. I didn’t notice it. Once (Van Gundy) pointed it out to me, I was like, boom. I went back and looked at body composition from my rookie year, college.”
Van Gundy sees in Johnson, at minimum, the stuff to be an elite defender. He’s mentioned Jimmy Butler and Tony Allen in talking about Johnson’s potential at that end. In tandem with Caldwell-Pope, the Pistons expect they’ll be able to pair two versatile, disruptive defenders.
There’s a case to be made for Caldwell-Pope as the Pistons’ most consistent performer this season. He’s averaging a career-high 14.9 points and 2.9 assists despite seeing his minutes scaled back from 36.7 last season to 33.8, largely a reflection of the unusual number of one-sided games the Pistons have played this season.
He was temporarily sidetracked by a left shoulder injury caused by running into screens in two games a week apart last month, eventually causing him to miss five games. He perhaps subconsciously shied away from contact for a few games upon his return, but Wednesday’s explosion stamped him as fully past the injury.
Where can he take his game from here?
“Is he going to be a guy who’s going to average 24 points a game? He’s young, so anything’s possible,” Van Gundy said. “I think he’s a guy that can be a 16-, 18-point scorer. He plays with good energy. He gets enough cutting baskets to get easy ones. So, yeah, it’s possible he can become a real good scorer.”
At 23, he’s not yet fully formed. That’s even more true of Johnson, still only 20. As their games further flower, Stan Van Gundy will have a better idea of the still elusive identity of his team.
http://www.nba.com/pistons/features/kcp-johnson-evolve-pistons-will-move-closer-capturing-identity