Aftermath of the trade deadline: Pistons-Bucks.

What a great game to watch as a Pistons fan! The first quarter made us think it would be close, but no, it turned out to be a blowout. The Pistons´s lead grew to as much as 31, and except for that first quarter, there wasn´t a single moment when the result of the game seriously appeared to be in doubt. Even when Flip Saunders put only reserves on the floor and as a result, the lead diminished to 14, I never really got the impression that the lineup on the floor was overmatched, independently from who Milwaukee had in the game. The decrease of the lead seemed a byproduct of a string of turnovers on a few consecutives possessions, something that has happened everytime the reserves have been on the floor without a starter for more than three or four minutes witout a timeout being called.

But let´s heap credit where credit is due: the Pistons´s coach has caught on to that trend, and in the last games, when that has happened, the Pistons have used one of their timeouts and come out great afterwards. That´s how these youngsters are learning the game, anyway. It musn´t be easy to play in the only team in the league that has an unmovable starting five, barring only injury. I mean, even if one of our subs plays well for some games in a row, he just won´t get a chance to start.
Besides, let´s not lose sight of the fact that for all the energy the reserves bring to the games, in spite of their reckless dynamism and some flagrant bad decisions that cost them the ball, Detroit´s turnovers (TO) are consistently few and far between, with one of the lowest rates in the league. Last night, given the up-tempo style of play of the bench, it wouldn´t have seemed that farfetched to expect a double-digit amount of TO for the Pistons, but no, lo and behold, they ended the evening with only 6 of them, and seeing the extended minutes the bench got, they did nearly as fine a job taking care of the ball as the starters. At least as good as many starting units in the league.

And they can only get better ! Next year, I wouldn´t expect Afflalo to make the same kind of mistakes I´ve seen him commit on occasions this season, such as in last night´s game. The kid´s a real gem, as has already been stated. Defensively, he has a real feel for staying with his man as he drives, and that´s no easy feat. Last night, he forced a turnover that way. Smart in order to pace the floor, he just has to knock down the open jumper, which is not too consistent right now.

That´s where Juan Dixon comes in. He´s confident and will score points as soon as the opportunity arises, without being a ballhog as Flip Murray was. Dixon doesn´t need 15 shots to score 10 points, that´s for sure, and that´s a very good thing in Detroit, and in basketball in general. I´m not too sure how he´s gonna handle having a very limited amount of minutes. So far, I think Saunders has done quite a good job. But I wouldn´t say it´s been perfect either. My biggest beef is that I sense he expects every bench player to be just like Dale Davis, you know, see only 5 minutes of action but warm up instantaneously and show all their potential. He broke the pattern for Rodney Stuckey, but like many, many, MANY Pistons fans, I wish he´d give some of the others a chance.

Amir has his, thank you Holy Duck Tail. And we´re starting to see how special he can be, if his confidence is nurtured (we´re not saying he should be a starter, just so we´re clear. But don´t suddenly start cutting his minutes under 15 a night, or he might not be able to develop as well as he´s shown he´s ready to do). Maxiell, we know what he can do, and it´s just a matter of him regaining his form before he´s unleashed once again and strikes fear in our opponents´s hearts. Stuckey and Afflalo have reached a very nice and promising level for rookies, and they´ll be given a chance to shine more next year. Stuckey is, I feel, still a bit too raw to be a consistent difference-maker this year in the playoffs, but we´ll see a sane dose of him, that´s for sure.

So yes, it comes down to the fact that I sincerely believe Herrmann could be a true spark for Detroit THIS YEAR, and a perfect fit for the Pistons. He´s cheered for in an unbelievable way for a seldom seen 11th man. The Palace crowd ain´t mistaken about him. Did you see the way he played yesterday? He doesn´t take plays off, neither offensively nor defensively, even if it´s clear the Pistons´s ball movement isn´t too fluid in garbage time (only more playing time will help). He has a great feeling for the game; you just know he´s aware of the shot clock, of people´s positions on the floor, and I think he could be a good rebounder, because he tends to be aware of the ball at all times on the defensive end. In 4 minutes, he dished out two good passes last night that left someone wide open. Obviously, this doesn´t mean all the credit should be his, but the fact that those shots didn´t go down shouldn´t prevent us from acknowledging the Argentinian is willing to find the open man.

I think with a little more playing time, given his experience and altruism, Herrmann could really become at times the bench´s go-to guy. Yes, I´m joining the choir of people who have called for a week and a half of Herrmann taking Jarvis Hayes minutes as Tay-tay´s primary back-up. Hayes is streaky, no big surprise there; he might be Detroit´s best option on some nights, but again, a lot of nights, he just won´t be, and the Pistons can throw so many good players at the opponents´s throat, they´ll never know what hit them.
We should see how it goes, because I´m positive that some nights, Herrmann could be as big a difference-maker in the crunch as Amir Johnson was last night.

Saunders has to exploit as best as possible the players´s hot streaks, and also mismatches. The regular season has been fine so far, but in the playoffs, it will have to be as good as it gets. Herrmann and Dixon should both play a big role in that during the playoffs, because this year, just good won´t be enough to cut it. A ring is what the Pistons have in mind.