With Brandon Jennings Out, Other Detroit Pistons Players Must Step Up
Ever since Brandon Jennings went down with his season-ending injury the Detroit Pistons have been uninspiring on their way to 4 straight losses. It’s a far cry from when they seemed to look like a legitimate new NBA team.
The extent of Jennings’ injury simply came at the worst time for him and the Pistons. He was playing some of the best basketball of his career and seemed to take that next step toward becoming a leader.
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What is done is done though and the Pistons must continue looking forward to compete for a playoff berth.
Their brand of basketball in the last 4 games has been bad in more ways than one. Their defense has been atrocious and they simply look like they don’t care.
Some of their losses can be chalked up to tough opponents (Toronto Raptors, Cleveland Cavaliers) but there’s no excuse to losing by 20 points to the tanking Philadelphia 76ers.
“I don’t think I’ve ever coached a game where one team’s [the 76ers] effort was that much better than my team’s effort” -Head Coach Stan Van Gundy
Head Coach Stan Van Gundy was livid after the loss to the 76ers. He was typically harsh to his players blasting them for their lack of effort.
It’s hard to blame him either. The Pistons have been terrible in this recent stretch looking like a team functioning with Josh Smith again.
If the Pistons really want to make the playoffs for the first time in years they’re going to need their current cast of players to step up. They can’t afford any more losses to bad teams as they’ve dug themselves quite a hole.
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The most obvious candidate to fill in Jennings’ role is the now-starting-point-guard D.J. Augustin. He’s been put into this role before like last year when he was with the Chicago Bulls. He also got some burn at PG when Jennings struggled to start the 2014-2015 NBA campaign.
In short, even though Augustin has looked ineffective for stretches he has had some experience before getting regular playing time.
Augustin did fill in admirably with 35 points against the Raptors in the first game without Jennings. Except the Pistons cannot afford a game where he goes for a mere 2 points in 34 minutes against the 76ers.
If the Pistons become too reliant on Augustin’s inconsistent play they may experience an up and down season like they did last season. They’ll need his strong play but they’ll also need him to be just good enough when he struggles.
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Another player that has a huge part in the success of the Pistons is rookie Spencer Dinwiddie. He’s seen some time with the Pistons’ D-League affiliate Grand Rapids Drive but will need to produce at an NBA-level now.
Just as commentator Greg Kelser mentioned on-air a few games ago the Pistons will also need to fill in Augustin’s shoes from when he was on the bench. This is where Dinwiddie comes in.
He’ll have the occasional rookie struggles but if he shows more good than bad it’ll go a long way to fill up the ripple effect created by Jennings’ injury. It’ll also bode well for the future as the potential Point-Guard-of-the-future may be found.
Pistons fans may not be too comfortable thrusting the rookie into the spotlight but it’ll be important to his long-term health and potentially the team’s short-term success.
Dinwiddie has the potential to be a solid NBA player and he’ll now get the first few chances of his career to prove it.
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The biggest player that can directly affect the Pistons’ success though is on the broad shoulders of Greg Monroe. With Jennings injury it casts an even greater shadow on if he will leave or potentially be traded.
For now if the Pistons want to be successful they need Monroe to score more often. If he can even partially take up some of the scoring that left the team with Jennings gone it’ll make Augustin’s job a lot easier.
It might be hard for critics to rely too much on a player that might leave next season but it’s also true that they need a production to be effective this season.
Relying on a young Andre Drummond to be a consistent scoring threat is a big stretch. Drummond and Van Gundy were both wildly criticized for his early-season struggles when he was expected to carry a bigger offensive load.
That is precisely why the Pistons will need a productive Monroe to come through for them. It’ll also help him as an increase in scoring will lead to more potential suitors that come calling this coming summer.
Overall the Pistons lost one of their best players in Jennings and will need to find a solution. With a plethora of players and the trade market it may not be as hard as originally thought.
They will need some players to step up and take the spotlight though. Without a clear, vocal leader this team will struggle its way to another season with no playoff berth.
Now, your thoughts. Who do you think will step up for the Pistons and carry them to the promised land? Or do you think that this team will lay down and ride out the rest of the season to a lottery pick? Whatever the case, Van Gundy will need to do something or else it will be another lost season.