This Teams Issues 2017-2018

[MotownMadness]

As a huge fan of Kennard I hope you are right but SVG is a defensive coach and Luke really struggled on defense in Milwaukee. I just would love to see what a starting lineup of Reggie, Avery, Luke, Tobias, and Andre could do.

We probably take to big of a hit plugging in Kennard at the 3 against starters. He just doesn't have the length to hold his ground against some of these long as Wings.

[Kaboom3]

True, but you have to pick your poison. Take a hit on defense and start Kennard or take a hit on offense and start Johnson. The way I see it, Kennard's weakness is not as glaring as Johnson's weakness. Who knows how it would turn out (starting Luke) but what other options does SVG have right now? The Pistons are struggling on offense and playing Stanley Johnson 35 minutes is not going to solve that problem.

[MotownMadness]

True, but you have to pick your poison. Take a hit on defense and start Kennard or take a hit on offense and start Johnson. The way I see it, Kennard's weakness is not as glaring as Johnson's weakness. Who knows how it would turn out (starting Luke) but what other options does SVG have right now? The Pistons are struggling on offense and playing Stanley Johnson 35 minutes is not going to solve that problem.

Yeah it's something to consider cause his offense is just a killer but his defense is still pretty impactful.

[vic]

Issue is SVG overvaluing 1 way offensive players over 2 way players.

Boban over Baynes
Kennard over Mitchell
Ellenson over somebody who can get on the floor

It shows up in how he drafts, trades, and the tighter leash he puts on his defensive minded guys.

I like how he has added AB to help change things, but overall his decisions have leaned to the offensive side.

1 way players make coaching too hard.

[Kaboom3]

True and the one time the Pistons went for a perceived two way player (Stanley) they passed on one of the best offensive players in the last 5 years in Booker. Bad luck I guess. I still say Kennard will pay dividends for the Pistons though....not sure about those others on your list lol. His offensive game is really good and he is an extremely hard worker that also has an elite head for the game.

[DetroitSho]

Issue is SVG overvaluing 1 way offensive players over 2 way players.

Boban over Baynes
Kennard over Mitchell
Ellenson over somebody who can get on the floor

It shows up in how he drafts, trades, and the tighter leash he puts on his defensive minded guys.

I like how he has added AB to help change things, but overall his decisions have leaned to the offensive side.

1 way players make coaching too hard.

You do realize Baynes opted out and they wanted to re-sign him right?

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[vic]

Can't resign somebody when you hire their replacement a year early.

[vic]

True and the one time the Pistons went for a perceived two way player (Stanley) they passed on one of the best offensive players in the last 5 years in Booker. Bad luck I guess. I still say Kennard will pay dividends for the Pistons though....not sure about those others on your list lol. His offensive game is really good and he is an extremely hard worker that also has an elite head for the game.

Yeah IMO that's why you gotta stick to good principles. Say 1- two way player doesn't pan out... most of them will.
1 way players pan out but they can't stay on the floor. If you stick with 2-way players you are better overall in the long run.

Also you gotta develop the confidence of your potential two way players. Marcus Smart never got his confidence destroyed by Brad Stevens. He still can't shoot, but he still plays with confidence and Boston's offense is actually better with him on the floor strictly because of his confidence. Not only that he lit up the Pistons with like 6 or 7 3-pointers.

I'd rather take a streaky shooter that can play defense over a 40% shooter you gotta hide on defense. (Dovovan Mitchell vs Luke Kennard). I think that's just good basketball principle.

[GreekAlex]

I think when you guys talk about offensive players vs 2 way players, SVGs biggest problem is believing that his defensive scheming can cover up all the deficiencies.

[vic]

I think when you guys talk about offensive players vs 2 way players, SVGs biggest problem is believing that his defensive scheming can cover up all the deficiencies.

Exactly.

He seems to think he can acquire offensive minded guys and then yell at them to play defense. I've been saying this for two years. His drafting of Kennard, then immediately clowning him for lack of defense was just the icing on the cake.

Not saying I don't like Luke. I like his skill and his hustle. But at a certain point you have to commit to guys who can play defense naturally and are gifted at it, as well as score when they are confident. 2 way guys.

[DetroitSho]

Can't resign somebody when you hire their replacement a year early.

Yeah look at all those minutes the replacement is getting. They really tried to phase Baynes out didn't they?

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[GreekAlex]

There's no shame in any of the losses as they were all hard fought but losing the worst to the Wizards without Wall has a little sting to it.

[Richard Miller]

Issue is SVG overvaluing 1 way offensive players over 2 way players.

Boban over Baynes

Huh? He never did that, on the contrary, the only time Boban got a bit more time was when Baynes was injured, otherwise he was never more than a third or even fourth option.

[Kilo]

Issue is SVG overvaluing 1 way offensive players over 2 way players.

Boban over Baynes
Kennard over Mitchell
Ellenson over somebody who can get on the floor

It shows up in how he drafts, trades, and the tighter leash he puts on his defensive minded guys.

I like how he has added AB to help change things, but overall his decisions have leaned to the offensive side.

1 way players make coaching too hard.

He drafted supposed two way player Stanley Johnson over one was shooter Devin Booker. He got killed on that decision in hindsight, so a couple drafts later he takes the pure shooter over Kennard over the two way Mitchell...

[Kilo]

Can't resign somebody when you hire their replacement a year early.

They misread the market - they thought so much of Baynes that they they thought he'd be priced out of their ability to resign him. We had his EBR and could only match up to $11.5M, SVG/Bowers thought he'd get Mozgov money. So rather than being capped out and seeing Aron walk and then only having MLE, we had money available before Dre officially resigned that they spent on Boban. Right idea, but on the wrong player.

[DCintheD]

Another major issue is this team can’t scout for sh^t.

[Manocad]

The only two parts of this team that I have any real issue with are Stanley’s offense (nearly non-existent) and the bench (pretty much worthless outside of Ish, Luke and Tolliver). Even as frustrating as this string of losses has been, they’ve been in every game. Clearly there is something that every single player in this team can do better, but the team has certainly shown that it can play with and beat any team in the league. But overcoming a starter with near zero offense and a bench with minimal effectiveness is a lot to ask.

I’m now even to the point where if this team looks like it will limp into a 7 or 8 seed due to the deficiencies I’ve noted, trades have to be made.


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[russkopp]

The A #1 problem with this team is we have a starting SF who cannot drive and finish at the rim/jump, create offense for others or shoot. He's a nice defender but that only counts for so much in today's NBA. We need to upgrade and we're short on 3's on this team as it is.

#2, we have no backup center

This team is a 6-8 playoff team who will win some games but lose in the first round as currently constructed.

[El Chivo]

This team issue is to be slightly above average while some other teams are good, very good or great.

[ImHeisenberg]

I like SVG's new offensive system, which is basically a somewhat toned down version of what Pop has been running in San Antonio for the better part of a decade.

That said, they run it on almost every half court set. I don't know if this is a product of repetition, or SVG's continued rigidity?

Additionally, Drummond is not really an ideal component for this system. Pop used/uses guys like Tim Duncan, LaMarcus Alrdridge and Pau Gasol in that role. Notice something all of those guys can do that Drummond can't? Shoot. That opened up room for cuts under the basket, and other opportunities. Defenders don't have to come out and defend Drummond, which doesn't open up a whole lot of space under the basket.

This isn't to rag on Drummond. Considering his limited skill set, I think he's doing well running offense on the elbows or top of the key. The offense just won't ever work as well as it does in San Antonio due to his inability to draw defensive gravity that far away from the basket.

Even so, the product of the offense still creates some space around the basket, and leaves glimmers of space for guys like Harris and Bradley to attack in.

But, good defenses are already figuring this team out and neutralizing a lot of what we want to do on offense. But, overall, I like the system that SVG is installing, and hope he continues to stick with it- even if his current roster isn't optimized to perform in it.

We need a star player. Getting a better backup center isn't going to wildly alter this team's trajectory. We need a star. Specifically, an offensive star. A guy that can get efficient buckets and make hard shots consistently. I know Reggie believes himself the be that guy, and can be on occasion. But, he clearly isn't a star that forces offenses to bend to his will and open up angles and gaps that otherwise wouldn't be there. He doesn't have the speed or explosion anymore.

If a star player comes on the market, SVG should do everything within reason to try and acquire them. Maybe even go a little past "within reason" to make that deal happen. Imagine this team with Kyrie Irving in place of Reggie. We probably take Boston's spot atop the east with him and Avery Bradley arguably being the best back court in the league. But, SVG couldn't get the deal done.