Season Predictions 2016
Current seeding: 8th
Projected seeding: 7th
Things weren’t looking so great for Detroit at this point last season: PF/C Greg Monroe was either going to be overpaid or lost in free agency, there were too many overpaid wing players, and just no other quality long-term pieces other than the offensively-challenged C Andre Drummond. But then president Stan Van Gundy acquired PG Reggie Jackson for spare parts at the trade deadline and extended him in the offseason. Next, he revamped the team’s depleted forwards by acquiring SF/PF Marcus Morris, drafting SF/PF Stanley Johnson, and recently using Brandon Jennings (PG, ORL) to upgrade from Ersan Ilyasova (PF/SF, ORL) to PF/SF Tobias Harris. Now, led by the star trio of the future in Jackson, Harris, and Drummond, as well as an abundance of complementar role players, the Pistons are bound to snap their playoff drought this season.
First round: Toronto Raptors (2)
When playing against the Raptors, the question on every team’s mind is always: “How can we possibly slow down PG Kyle Lowry and SG DeMar DeRozan?” For the Pistons, that strategy is going to have to rely a lot on Andre Drummond to protect the paint against the speedy duo, as he will have to meet them at the rim consistently on their drives. The problem here is that the Raptors have C Jonas Valanciunas and others who can finish around the rim if Drummond were to leave them unguarded, meaning that much of the burden will need to fall on Jackson, SG Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and other Detroit guards, who are not exactly touted for their perimeter defense. Offensively, the Pistons have many scoring threats, but Toronto’s defenders are simply too quick for isolation basketball to work. Thus passing and moving the ball will need to be a priority for Motor City, but the problem remains that the team ranks second-to-last in both assist rate and true shooting percentage.
With the dearth of talent that Detroit has, and the surface-view mediocre levels belonging to Toronto, I could see this being a trendy upset pick and frankly wouldn’t be too surprised if the Pistons pulled it off. Still, Detroit has very little quality bench depth, as compared with Toronto’s, who have among the best second-units in the league that could easily outscore their foes by the bunches during the 30% of the game that they are on the floor. This is just not a good matchup for the Pistons, but we’ll be sure to see them here next year.
Prediction: Toronto wins, 4-2
Current seeding: 8th
Projected seeding: 7th
Things weren’t looking so great for Detroit at this point last season: PF/C Greg Monroe was either going to be overpaid or lost in free agency, there were too many overpaid wing players, and just no other quality long-term pieces other than the offensively-challenged C Andre Drummond. But then president Stan Van Gundy acquired PG Reggie Jackson for spare parts at the trade deadline and extended him in the offseason. Next, he revamped the team’s depleted forwards by acquiring SF/PF Marcus Morris, drafting SF/PF Stanley Johnson, and recently using Brandon Jennings (PG, ORL) to upgrade from Ersan Ilyasova (PF/SF, ORL) to PF/SF Tobias Harris. Now, led by the star trio of the future in Jackson, Harris, and Drummond, as well as an abundance of complementar role players, the Pistons are bound to snap their playoff drought this season.
First round: Toronto Raptors (2)
When playing against the Raptors, the question on every team’s mind is always: “How can we possibly slow down PG Kyle Lowry and SG DeMar DeRozan?” For the Pistons, that strategy is going to have to rely a lot on Andre Drummond to protect the paint against the speedy duo, as he will have to meet them at the rim consistently on their drives. The problem here is that the Raptors have C Jonas Valanciunas and others who can finish around the rim if Drummond were to leave them unguarded, meaning that much of the burden will need to fall on Jackson, SG Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and other Detroit guards, who are not exactly touted for their perimeter defense. Offensively, the Pistons have many scoring threats, but Toronto’s defenders are simply too quick for isolation basketball to work. Thus passing and moving the ball will need to be a priority for Motor City, but the problem remains that the team ranks second-to-last in both assist rate and true shooting percentage.
With the dearth of talent that Detroit has, and the surface-view mediocre levels belonging to Toronto, I could see this being a trendy upset pick and frankly wouldn’t be too surprised if the Pistons pulled it off. Still, Detroit has very little quality bench depth, as compared with Toronto’s, who have among the best second-units in the league that could easily outscore their foes by the bunches during the 30% of the game that they are on the floor. This is just not a good matchup for the Pistons, but we’ll be sure to see them here next year.
Prediction: Toronto wins, 4-2