OT - Utah Jazz at Detroit Pistons 7:30PM

Submitted by Cold War on

Trey Burke and the Jazz play at the Palace for the first and only time  this season. Trey says he is excited to be playing in Michigan again.

Finally, a reason to actually watch a Piston game.

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bacon1431

January 17th, 2014 at 8:44 PM ^

Unless something drastically changes, the Josh Smith as a wing experiment has failed. His athleticism is a plus when he's being guarded by PF and he can create more open shots. But when he's being guarded by guys equally athletic as him, he's worthless. Might mean Moose doesn't get re-signed by the Pistons.

Joined: 07/26/2008

MGoPoints: 25277

TheLastHarbaugh

January 17th, 2014 at 9:01 PM ^

Zach Lowe wrote a good article on Grantland about the Pistons a couple days ago, titled, "The Pistons Shouldn't Be This Bad."

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/the-pistons-shouldnt-be-this-bad/

Basically...

The big 3 experient hasn't worked.

Mo Cheeks has done a terrible job of coaching and managing minutes.

The have a lot of defensive potential, and a lot of good/potentially good defenders being put in bad spots, which has led to them underperforming mightily on that side of the court.

They have no 4th quarter offense at all what-so-ever.

They probably need to trade either JSmoove or Moose.

Joined: 08/06/2008

MGoPoints: 10710

Team 101

January 17th, 2014 at 9:14 PM ^

Just tuned in.  They say Trey had a slow start but he's looking good now.  14 points and 8 assists so far late in the third quarter.  KCP has 5 points and 1 assist in fewer minutes.  Definitely rooting for Trey tonight.

Joined: 04/15/2013

MGoPoints: 37909

bacon1431

January 17th, 2014 at 9:25 PM ^

He shot < 30% in the first half and had 4 turnovers. It was a pretty bad start. His defense was bad too.

Pistons are making it easy for him this half. But Trey sure knows how to put a bad stretch behind him.

Joined: 07/26/2008

MGoPoints: 25277

MH20

January 17th, 2014 at 9:42 PM ^

A lot of guards play many years in the NBA and barely shoot over 40%.  Not saying that Burke will be one of those guys -- I believe he will become a mid-40s shooter -- but he certainly isn't the only one with a subpar field goal percentage.

Hell, the guy the Pistons essentially decided they'd rather have running the point -- Brandon Jennings -- is a career 39% shooter, including a robust 37.7% this season.  For comparison, Trey is shooting 39.1% early on in his career.

Joined: 10/30/2008

MGoPoints: 40409

TheLastHarbaugh

January 17th, 2014 at 10:11 PM ^

Of all qualified guards (not just point guards) for FG% leaderboards, Trey Burke is 2nd to last in the league in FG%.

That's not just a fact you can swwep under the rug by saying something nebulous like "a lot of guys barely shoot over 40%."

Even adjusting for 3s, he's the 6th worst guard and the 3rd worst point guard.

It is clearly something he needs to improve if he wants his career to go anywhere in the NBA. 

 

Joined: 08/06/2008

MGoPoints: 10710

MH20

January 17th, 2014 at 10:52 PM ^

Yeah, Burke's field goal percentage stinks right now.  No argument there.  But he's a rookie, and a guy who missed the first month of the season recovering from a broken finger.  He'll improve.

I'd rather have Burke over Brandon Jennings.  Jennings has shot over 40% once going into this his 5th NBA season.  This is who he is at this point: a guy who can make some passes but takes horrible shots and doesn't seem like much of a leader.  Burke still has a lot of time and a proven drive to succeed.

Joined: 10/30/2008

MGoPoints: 40409

remdog

January 17th, 2014 at 9:15 PM ^

floater in the lane by Trey. 14 points, 8 assists. Closing on a double double despite a rough start. Everybody in the crowd must be wondering wtf Dumars was smoking when he picked KCP over college player of the year local favorite Trey Burke. Seriously, WTF.

Joined: 05/14/2009

MGoPoints: 3072

TheLastHarbaugh

January 17th, 2014 at 9:16 PM ^

I don't think the phrase "defensive rotation" is in the Pistons' lexicon. It's been that way all year. But hey, at least JSmoove hasn't shot a 3 in awhile. Small victories, right?

Joined: 08/06/2008

MGoPoints: 10710

bacon1431

January 17th, 2014 at 9:45 PM ^

He can shoot. If youv'e been watching and tracking him this season, you can see he's getting better. But the Pistons are in a "win now" mode so alot of his minutes get swalled by the veterans and the inconsistency in minutes may hurt his development. I certainly wish we had someone other than Mo Cheeks helping him.

Joined: 07/26/2008

MGoPoints: 25277

bronxblue

January 17th, 2014 at 10:35 PM ^

He's shooting about 54% in January, including 43% from 3, scoring about 10 ppg, and continues to play really good defense for a team that desperately needs help on the perimeter.  

By comparison, Burke is shooting about 37% this month (including an attrocious 32% from 3) though his scoring is a bit higher (13.5 ppg) and he's obviously much more of a distributor.  I think Burke is the odds-on favorite for ROY, but people are ignoring the fact that he's a volume shooter who isn't particularly good at shooting, which will bite you in the ass over time.  Hell, in today's game he shot 17 times+4 FT to get those 20 points, and had 7 TOs for those 12 assists.  He's going to put up nice numbers because he's the top scorer and PG who racks up a ton of minutes, but I've been worried about his long-term NBA future simply because the league doesn't have a long history of guys succeeding who are average defenders and mediocre shooters.

Joined: 11/22/2008

MGoPoints: 171019

tbeindit

January 17th, 2014 at 11:27 PM ^

Shooting was never Burkes best quality though. He's best when he's in rhythm and running the offense which is something the pistons have not had all year.

I like KCP but not even close to how much I like Burke as a pro prospect. I've never bought into KCP as a legitimate scorer. Maybe he's going to get there but he looks a lot more like a backup on a good team than anything close to an all star. Along with this, the pistons are still short a guy that can run the offense efficiently.

Joined: 01/27/2011

MGoPoints: 2039

KAYSHIN15

January 17th, 2014 at 9:21 PM ^

Numbers but the main reason I wanted Burke was because he has intangibles that Jennings just does not possess. Burke is a born leader and Jennings is all talent and no leadership.

Dumars made 2 fatal moves that should cost him his job this year. 1) hiring Cheeks instead of proven coaches like George Karl and Lionel Hollins, and 2) trading for Jennings instead of drafting Burke.

Joined: 09/06/2010

MGoPoints: 4289