Improvements this team needs to make / potential of current core?

[blueadams]

So. Let's take a look at the roster as is.

Drummond. 22yrs old; plenty of time still between now and his prime. Defensively and on the glass--he's already as good as there is in the NBA (and his defense will improve w knowledge/experience). The 36% FT shooting is a major issue. With a LOT (LOT!) of work.. perhaps he could bump that 10%, to 46%. That'd be enough of an improvement -- not necessarily to stop the hack-a-shaq'ing -- but enough to make it unviable. Offensively; one--his decision-making needs to get a lot better. Dre takes a lot of bad shots. Period. And that will improve with knowledge/experience. Two--his touch around the rim needs to improve. He needs better, more reliable post moves. He needs to continue to work on his baby-hooks. And he will. He's been improving, and he'll continue to improve. He's already as good a pick and roll roll man as there is in the league, arguably. Will he ever be a dominant go-to low-post scorer? Maybe. But he'll at the very least develop into a very good one. Will he be a star go-to scorer.. a 1st or 2nd option on a championship level team? Maybe. But he'll at least be good enough to be a 3rd or 4th scorer. And with his defensive and glass-prowess, he'll easily be good enough to be a starting center on a championship team. One piece--here.

KCP. First things first, he's an RFA next off-season. We'll match whatever offer he gets and still have him for at least two more years. We'll have two years of observation before the big KCP decision needs to be made. 23--still much room to grow before he reaches his prime. Already a plus, albeit not elite defender. In this offense. And building around a point guard who isn't a great outside shooter. He NEEDS to be a great outside shooter. NEEDS to be. 31% from 3 this year. Absolutely unacceptable. Ideally, you'd have a guy shooting 40% in his shoes. And frankly--hope that I'm wrong--I don't see him improving his outside shot that much ever. Especially not in the next two years. The two is a position we should most certainly be looking to upgrade. Again.. hope to be proven wrong over the next two years.

Reggie. 26. Closer to his prime than the aforementioned two. Last year, his improvement was phenomenal. I expect that to continue this season. I expect him to eventually become a very capable lead guard of a championship-level team. His outside shooting unexpectedly improving so much to boot is just a bonus. His defense, however, is bad. As long and athletic as he is, there's no reason that it should be. I expect that with greater emphasis and coaching, that aspect of his game will greatly be improved. A second piece--here.

Marcus, Tobias and Stanley. Marcus 26. Tobias 23. Stanley 20. Marcus a 36% 3pt shooter last season. Tobias a 34% 3pt shooter last season (38% with us). Stanley a 31% 3pt shooter last season. Obviously, all three of these guys have some room to grow.. Marcus a little, Stanley a lot, Tobias somewhere in between. All three can, and NEED to improve their outside shooting. And I believe all 3 will. Marcus is already a very plus NBA defender. Stanley -- everyone knows -- most definitely has the ability to become a very plus NBA defender (and I'm sure he will with knowledge/experience). Tobias has never been known as much of a defender. But this really surprised me. https://www.facebook.com/DPNBasketball/videos/1206970749313721/. Over the last 3yrs, Tobias Harris has been THE best defender of LeBron James in the NBA (and Marcus Morris has been the 2nd!!). OBVIOUSLY.. that is a very important ONE guy to be very good against defensively.
...These three guys. In summary. Are they going to be good enough to be the 4th and 5th best players on a championship-caliber team? Without question. At forward.. we're set (and it's very nice too that Stanley can play some 2 as well).

Bench-wise. Is Baynes good enough to be the backup center of a championship caliber team? Probably. Is Ish going to be good enough to be the backup point of a championship-caliber team? We'll see (I think yes). Is Leur going to be good enough to play against your Kevin Love types (or will Ellenson eventually be)? Again, I think the answer is yes.. but we'll still have to wait and see.

***

The basic conclusion of this post. We need to somehow acquire a legit superstar 2-guard if we're ever going to win a championship.

[ImHeisenberg]

I hope Drummond isn't as good as he's going to get on defense.

[In SVG We Trust]

KCP got a nice mid-range game, and he's better shooter than his numbers shows.

[DCintheD]

Good post. I think KCP's biggest issue is shot selection. In games where he comes out aggressive, attacking the paint, creating good mid range shots, his shot is on. He then starts to take smart 3 pointers within the flow of the game. I don't know if any of you remember the game in Cleveland back in late Feb. KCP came out aggressive, attacking the paint and had one of his most efficient games of his career that led us to a huge win.
When he comes out looking to get his 3 ball going first, he's very streaky. He's the type of shooter that needs to build his confidence with close range buckets before he starts heating up from outside. He's not the pure shooter he thinks he is in some games.
If we get a more consistently aggressive KCP, he will become the stud this team needs him to be. This needs to be his breakout season. By breakout I don't mean 25 ppg. I mean a consistent and effecient 16-18 ppg.

[In SVG We Trust]

Good post. I think KCP's biggest issue is shot selection. In games where he comes out aggressive, attacking the paint, creating good mid range shots, his shot is on. He then starts to take smart 3 pointers within the flow of the game. I don't know if any of you remember the game in Cleveland back in late Feb. KCP came out aggressive, attacking the paint and had one of his most efficient games of his career that led us to a huge win.
When he comes out looking to get his 3 ball going first, he's very streaky. He's the type of shooter that needs to build his confidence with close range buckets before he starts heating up from outside. He's not the pure shooter he thinks he is in some games.
If we get a more consistently aggressive KCP, he will become the stud this team needs him to be. This needs to be his breakout season. By breakout I don't mean 25 ppg. I mean a consistent and effecient 16-18 ppg.

Yeah by he always take some tough shots and assumes responsabilities at the end of some bad possessions. Maybe he isn't the best option for take those shots, but he got the high character to take it.

[zeebneeb]

Pope is my favorite player on the Pistons and I hope he continues to make great strides in his game. He is the type of player who when he knows he has problems he works his ass off to correct them. As someone stated already his biggest problem in his shooting is shot selection. If he worked just an extra dribble, or took his time in releasing his shot that's an automatic +5% right there. He shoots as if anyone who is guarding him, is himself.

One thing I know for certain is this;

If Pope improves his shooting into the 35% range from 3, he will absolutely make the all-star team. When you combine defense like his with offense you get very special players. His wild inconsistencies give me hope he will dial it in one day.

[Brapman]

Our improvements with the current core won't happen in only one year ... we get to watch them grow together for several seasons (baring a trade, which would only likely be for a substantial player). Also, the improvements will be from two perspectives at the same time. The young guys should all improve - a lot. A ton actually. And the guys playing together will improve their synergy, all while the individual players improve.

Here's how I break it down:
-
Superstar potential: Drummond
Star potential: Stanley, Ellenson, Harris - with SJ growing into a big-time team leader, invaluable in its own right.
Borderline all-star potential: KCP and Reggie.
I'm not sure, but think they could be really good potential: Hilliard and Bullock. We'll have to wait and see.

And I'm intrigued by Gbinije.

[mattao313]

Needed Improvements:
Andre Drummond: Defense, Free throws
Reggie Jackson: Defense
Tobias: defense (maybe 3pt shooting)
Kentavious Caldwell-pope: 3pt shooting
Stanley Johnson: Jump shooting all around

Team improvements:
Need to be better on defensive end of the ball, especially pick and roll and rim protecting. Improve team rebounding, rebounding stats are misleading, team seems to struggle to rebound from other positions except center (Drummond and Baynes).

On offense run a faster pace less pick and roll and guys standing around waiting for Reggie to make something happen. More ball movement and other players running pick and roll (Harris, Morris).

[Todd3]

I think the easiest thing Drummond can do to improve the fastest offensively is just learning better pre-pass positioning in the post. He needs to stop posting up at 8-12' . At his size he just needs to get deep position at the rim before the pass, then all he has to do his catch and dunk. It will allow him to finish through contact more too, limiting defenders ability to stop him with fouls.

He started doing it more and more vs CLE in the playoffs and Stan said after it's something they plan to continue.

[MrBigShot]

^I'd like to see Dre do this more:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dhf2Uq1d9FY[/youtube]

[RexRyan]

I hope KCP's minutes drop down to 32-33 mpg - his shooting percentages would magically rise imo

[Spider156]

I hope Drummond isn't as good as he's going to get on defense.

We've seen him transform into a superstar when he controls the game defensively. There's a reason we became so good after the All Star break. He started caring about defense. SVG is trying to make it a habit. He's repeatedly said Andre has all the tools to become a superstar and he's there already. It just takes a choice and everybody will follow. Turning 23, I mean the sky is the limit. As much potential as KCP will get this season, Drummond will be the same. Drummond, KCP, and Stanley Johnson are our core. Jackson is in it right now but his defense isn't there. I'm hoping he gets better next season. We'll see what happens because if he doesn't then I want him traded!

[Spider156]

I hope KCP's minutes drop down to 32-33 mpg - his shooting percentages would magically rise imo

It will because now we have Smith at PG and Bullock can play! Also we have more PFs meaning Harris and Morris will play less there. KCP will become more efficient this season

[Spider156]

^I'd like to see Dre do this more:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dhf2Uq1d9FY[/youtube]

He actually does it a lot more than we think he does. Truth is though his touch is so soft that his tip ins are more effective. Thing is though he was better at them in his first 2-3 years than last year. That's probably because he wasn't the focal point on offense. But I wonder if he can put it together this season. Like I've said before, if Drummond improves anywhere close to how much he improved last season, he's going to become a superstar. Take away the intentional foul? Damn

[mattao313]

I think Drummond is hesitant to make aggressive moves because he is one of the worse ft shooters ever. So instead he goes for quick hook shots.

[Todd3]

I think Drummond is hesitant to make aggressive moves because he is one of the worse ft shooters ever. So instead he goes for quick hook shots.

Agree. That's why he needs to use that aggression pre-post instead to get better position before he gets the ball. Then by the time he gets it and they foul, he's already dunking and he will be getting And 1s instead. As opposed to starting at 8', making his move, and getting fouled 3' from the rim with less chance of finishing.

Refs don't call as many fouls jockeying for post position either, so there's less chance of them being able to intentionally foul before he gets the ball, as the refs will just think they're jockeying for position. And odds are teams won't want to do that a lot anyways because it'll put their best bigs in early foul trouble. Unlike the usual intentionally fouls when teams put in a designated scrub to do it, we'll be able to use Dre's ability to get fouled to our advantage, being able to target which of their bigs we want to put in foul trouble instead.

[MotownMadness]

This team is still so young and nobodies beating the Warriors anytime soon. Basically we are in no rush and need to just kick back and watch them develop and see where we are at then.

[Spider156]

This team is still so young and nobodies beating the Warriors anytime soon. Basically we are in no rush and need to just kick back and watch them develop and see where we are at then.

I'd bet Cavaliers win again next season. I thought OKC was going to give the Cavs a fit cuz of their size but they didn't win. Golden state had the momentum until Lebron decided to take over. I whole-heartedly don't believe GS got better with Durant. I just don't see how a team that won 73 games should change anything. Blame it on not conserving your energy the right way throughout the season and try again. If anything try to get a better big than Bogut to get better at rebounding and matching teams. In my opinion, there's a good chance they shot themselves in the foot. Best thing GS did do is get rid of their biggest competition. Otherwise they got smaller and softer.

[MotownMadness]

This team is still so young and nobodies beating the Warriors anytime soon. Basically we are in no rush and need to just kick back and watch them develop and see where we are at then.

I'd bet Cavaliers win again next season. I thought OKC was going to give the Cavs a fit cuz of their size but they didn't win. Golden state had the momentum until Lebron decided to take over. I whole-heartedly don't believe GS got better with Durant. I just don't see how a team that won 73 games should change anything. Blame it on not conserving your energy the right way throughout the season and try again. If anything try to get a better big than Bogut to get better at rebounding and matching teams. In my opinion, there's a good chance they shot themselves in the foot. Best thing GS did do is get rid of their biggest competition. Otherwise they got smaller and softer.

They will be better, if not in the regular season they will be much more dangerous in the playoffs. Playoffs are just different and more situational. Hell they almost lost as many games in the playoffs as they did in a entire 82 game season.

[joedumars1]

I think Drummond is hesitant to make aggressive moves because he is one of the worse ft shooters ever. So instead he goes for quick hook shots.

That and taking crazy falls from hard fouls. He took 2-3 pretty scary looking falls when he tried to just power and dunk