Measuring the Jennings impact. 5 games so far but holy ****

zeebneeb · Post #1 » by **zeebneeb** » Thu Jan 7, 2016 4:13 pm

So how has the bench played since Jennings has returned?

Here are just a few stats I was bothered enough to compile;

BEFORE.

PPG-23.8 30TH
APG-6.1 24TH
RPG13.7 24TH
+/- -2.3 26TH

AFTER

PPG-28.6 24TH
APG-8.8 5TH
RPG-17.6 9TH
+/- +6.5 3RD

Jennings has had a HUGE impact on the Pistons bench and the +/- alone is astounding. If this is the sort of impact our bench is going to have on a night in and night out basis, well, who knows how good this team can be.

Anyone know when we get Meeks back?

Kilo · Post #2 » by **Kilo** » Thu Jan 7, 2016 4:22 pm

Biggest impact will be contagious swag(ger) and having fun.

cochiseuofm · Post #3 » by **cochiseuofm** » Thu Jan 7, 2016 4:52 pm

Meeks is due back in February I believe.

hoophabit · Post #4 » by **hoophabit** » Thu Jan 7, 2016 5:24 pm

Small sample size for Jennings, but so far he's that hoped for change of pace PG off the bench. He has energized the bench crew. Even at this stage of his recovery, he's a luxury as a backup point. In saying that I'm not advocating for or against his staying with the team. That will come down to what he wants in any case. As Vinnie, Joe and Isiah demonstrated, there can be room for more than one guy who can play the point. I imagine a lot will depend of how successful the team proves to be this season.

whitehops · Post #5 » by **whitehops** » Thu Jan 7, 2016 5:35 pm

steve blake, even when he is playing well, doesn't have near the impact that jennings does. blake is very much a facilitator in that he can his teammates the ball but then is dependent on them to make the plays. we don't have much of that on our bench. jennings can make plays for himself and others which is huge when you can have starting-quality PG play for 48 minutes.

Todd3 · Post #6 » by **Todd3** » Thu Jan 7, 2016 6:02 pm

Jennings has made a huge difference in the bench. Problem is now that we finally got our bench fixed, our starters aren't playing as good anymore. Might be time to start Stanley. He can still play his same minutes with the bench, just play him the first 6 min of each qtr instead of the last 6 min of the 1st into the 2nd. That way he can maybe help get us off to better starts with his energy, which seems to be lacking in that first group right now.

bballnmike · Post #7 » by **bballnmike** » Thu Jan 7, 2016 6:09 pm

Todd3 wrote:Jennings has made a huge difference in the bench. Problem is now that we finally got our bench fixed, our starters aren't playing as good anymore. Might be time to start Stanley. He can still play his same minutes with the bench, just play him the first 6 min of each qtr instead of the last 6 min of the 1st into the 2nd. That way he can maybe help get us off to better starts with his energy, which seems to be lacking in that first group right now.

Yeah on the one hand we're great in the 4th quarter, but we've had a lot of bad starts that necessitate those big comebacks. I don't think it's a complacency thing, or thinking we can just turn on a switch when we feel like it (like we'd sometimes do in the years following our '04 ship), so maybe his energy could help.

But I'd still like to wait a bit longer and see a bigger sample size of how both units work now that Jennings is back, before making any changes to the starting lineup.

zeebneeb · Post #8 » by **zeebneeb** » Thu Jan 7, 2016 6:41 pm

The only way Stanley starts is if Morris moves to the four. That would make our bench consist of

Jennings
???Hilliard
???Bullock
Erson
Baynes

I dont think it can be done until they get Meeks gets back.

KCP is the Starting SG on the Pistons and plays the most minuets. That is not going to change.

If Stan wants to change the starting lineup before Meeks gets back he has much bigger issues. Right now everything is going well and the whole team has to adjust to Jennings getting back, not just the bench.

Todd3 · Post #9 » by **Todd3** » Thu Jan 7, 2016 7:11 pm

bballnmike wrote:
Todd3 wrote:Jennings has made a huge difference in the bench. Problem is now that we finally got our bench fixed, our starters aren't playing as good anymore. Might be time to start Stanley. He can still play his same minutes with the bench, just play him the first 6 min of each qtr instead of the last 6 min of the 1st into the 2nd. That way he can maybe help get us off to better starts with his energy, which seems to be lacking in that first group right now.

Yeah on the one hand we're great in the 4th quarter, but we've had a lot of bad starts that necessitate those big comebacks. I don't think it's a complacency thing, or thinking we can just turn on a switch when we feel like it (like we'd sometimes do in the years following our '04 ship), so maybe his energy could help.

But I'd still like to wait a bit longer and see a bigger sample size of how both units work now that Jennings is back, before making any changes to the starting lineup.

yeah as long as we're winning I'm fine with giving it a little more time. I wonder if the starters are starting to think they have more margin for error now that they have a bench, whereas before they knew they couldn't win unless they brought it 100% all the time.

I think part of the benches new success isn't just Jennings play but the energy he brings seems to have livened those guys up. Thinking the starters could use something like that, and adding a hungry rookie to the mix could be that for them. We'll see how it goes but something feels a little stale with that group right now, both at the start of games and to start the 3rd.

Todd3 · Post #10 » by **Todd3** » Thu Jan 7, 2016 7:25 pm

zeebneeb wrote:The only way Stanley starts is if Morris moves to the four. That would make our bench consist of

Jennings
???Hilliard
???Bullock
Erson
Baynes

I dont think it can be done until they get Meeks gets back.

KCP is the Starting SG on the Pistons and plays the most minuets. That is not going to change.

If Stan wants to change the starting lineup before Meeks gets back he has much bigger issues. Right now everything is going well and the whole team has to adjust to Jennings getting back, not just the bench.

I wouldn't mess with KCP right now with way he is shooting. I'm thinking move Morris to PF and start Stanley at SF. Then sub Stanley for Ersan at the 6 min mark. Bringing SJ back to play the first 6 min of the 2nd with the bench like he normally does. Ersan would still play mostly with the starters and the bench would remain the same in the 2nd/4th qtrs.

Nothing major, just a subtle change to try and bring some more energy to the starting 5 to start games.

edit: actually that might not work because then Morris would have to play the whole first qtr and wouldn't be able to start the 2nd with the bench. The only way to do it is probably to start SJ for Morris, then sub Morris back for him at the 6 min mark, but can't see Stan not starting Morris right now. Maybe starting Tolliver to bring some energy?