FAST BREAKDOWN
Three quick observations from Monday night’s 113-82 loss to the Chicago Bulls at United Center
SLAM DUNK – The Pistons and Bulls played two exhilarating games at United Center last season, the Pistons winning 147-144 in four overtimes nearly a year ago to the day (Dec. 18) and winning again 94-90 in April 2 in a game that effectively tipped the scales to the Pistons over the Bulls in the race for the East’s final playoff berth. This one was … nothing like those games. Chicago scored on 12 of its first 13 possessions, shot 81 percent in the first quarter and ran away from the Pistons. Stan Van Gundy said the Pistons “weren’t in a good place” after losing weekend games to Washington and Indiana. They’ll come home from Chicago in an even darker place, losers of three straight and looking utterly without confidence or cohesion. The Pistons held a lengthy team meeting after Saturday’s loss and players expressed a generally positive vibe about its impact following Monday’s morning shootaround. They don’t have any time to wallow in their misfortune; the next three opponents – Memphis, Golden State and Cleveland over the next week – took a cumulative record of 57-21 into Monday’s games.
FREE THROW – The way the Pistons lost those two weekend games and the general trend Stan Van Gundy had spotted even prior to that led him to openly muse that lineup changes must be considered. The Pistons didn’t practice on Sunday, though, after the Friday-Saturday games and Van Gundy felt a day to plot out a course of action – and, critically, to talk to players about the underlying reasons for change – would have been necessary to take plans any further. The fact Jon Leuer – the likeliest to join the starting lineup – missed Saturday’s game with back spasms and was a game-time decision on Monday also argued against any sudden changes. Leuer played and wound up leading the Pistons both scoring (16) and rebounding (five) in 21 minutes. So Van Gundy stuck to his typical starting lineup and rotation pattern in Monday’s first half – a four-man bench that included Stanley Johnson as backup shooting guard. The Chicago performance isn’t likely to provide him any easy answers. The starting five had its worst performance since being united with last February’s trade for Tobias Harris. When the third quarter didn’t offer any change in tenor, Van Gundy pulled all five starters midway into it with the Pistons trailing by 38 points. They didn’t return. With 7:08 left in the game, he inserted Henry Ellenson and Boban Marjanovic and a minute later brought on Beno Udrih to clear the bench.
3-POINTER – Of the players outside the rotation, who might Van Gundy go to? Tough to say. Beno Udrih played very well before Jackson’s return, but is he going to replace Reggie Jackson or Ish Smith? Not very likely. Reggie Bullock would be one easy pick, but he’s out for about another three to four weeks as he rehabilitates from surgery to repair damaged left knee cartilage. Stanley Johnson and Darrun Hilliard have taken turns as the backup to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope but neither has played consistently well enough to win the job full time. Boban Marjanovic is in a similar spot at Udrih; he’s not going to take minutes from Andre Drummond or Aron Baynes and can’t really play alongside either one. That leaves the rookies, Henry Ellenson and Michael Gbinije. They’ve gotten some D-League experience and shown good signs. Van Gundy feels Ellenson has high-end scoring potential and offense has been an issue for the Pistons. But their defense has suddenly become porous and Van Gundy puts more trust in the value of consistency at the defensive end. Besides, expecting a 19-year-old rookie to be the catalyst of a turnaround – on the heels of three consecutive losses, not 23 – would seem more wishful maneuvering than a prudent course.
