Blogs > Pistons' Point

An inside look at the Detroit Pistons and the NBA.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Jonas Jerebko finds himself out of Pistons' rotation

AUBURN HILLS — For the first time in his basketball career Jonas Jerebko finds himself out of the rotation.

Playing overseas at the start of his career, Jerebko always played.

In his first two years in the NBA, Jerebko used his energy and effort to earn a spot in the rotation and even started at different points.

Now Jerebko is regulated to the bench after Pistons coach Lawrence Frank elected to give Charlie Villanueva a shot at the backup power forward spot.

Jerebko struggled through the first 13 games, averaging 5.8 points and 2.8 rebounds, while shooting just 35.9 percent from the field.

The normally upbeat Jerebko has not complained about the demotion, but his body language in the locker room before Wednesday’s game suggested he is not pleased.

“I feel fine. I’m ready to play,” Jerebko said.

Jerebko was asked if he is going to do anything extra or different to try to get back in the rotation and said he plans on doing what he’s been doing all along.

“Nothing extra, just keep doing what I’m doing,” Jerebko said. “I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing and I’ll be ready when my number’s called.”

Pistons coach Lawrence Frank has said it’s simply a numbers game with four power forwards on the team and just two spots in the rotation.

“We have four guys who play the position,” Frank said. “They’re each very good players. You can only play two. It just came down to the preseason, deciding to go with (Jason Maxiell) and Jonas. After a period of time we decided to give Charlie a chance. Charlie’s a proven player. We decided to go with Jonas and Max, and now it’s Charlie’s opportunity.”

Passing big man
Greg Monroe is second on the Pistons in assists at 3.6 per game, trailing only Brandon Knight’s 5.8 per game.

Frank said it’s no coincidence Monroe has so many assists, it’s part of the offense.

“That’s by design,” Frank said. “With Greg, he’s a hub for us. He touches the ball virtually every single possession, one way or the other within the flow of what we do. For those that are into numbers, ideally one day down the line he could be a 20, 10 and 5 guy because that’s his makeup. He’s a very skilled offensive player.

“Greg offensively has a lot of room for improvement, but that’s his strength. He’s a very, very skilled offensive player. As long as he keeps moving around and finding different spaces on the floor that’s usually when he has good success.”

Quotable
Suns coach Alvin Gentry was clearly not pleased with his team’s 40-point loss to the Pistons Wednesday night, that much was evident in his postgame press conference.

“I mean, there’s nothing to say, it was a total abortion really,” Gentry said. “I wish there were an easier way to put it but we sucked in all phases of the game. There was nothing that we did that you could say was even NCAA quality. It’s the first game that I can say that I didn’t think we competed hard and didn’t try to match their energy level. It is what it is and it’s over and done with. We’ve got to move on but that was, it was beyond embarrassing. If I was a fan or an owner, I’d be totally (ticked) off. Rightfully so. We just have to find a way to gain consistency in what we’re doing.”

Notes
Detroit’s 40-point win over the Phoenix Suns Wednesday was its biggest margin of victory since Dec. 31, 2007 when the Pistons defeated the Milwaukee Bucks, 114-69. ... The Pistons’ 117 points Wednesday was a season high. Detroit also hit a season-high 12 3-pointers. ... Wednesday’s win marked the first time all season the Pistons have won two straight games. Detroit has won four straight at home.

Monday, November 26, 2012

Pistons rookie Singler has fun with "buckets" videos

AUBURN HILLS — Rookie Kyle Singler likes to get buckets and not just on the court for the Pistons. Singler recently shot a video for Pistons.com of him making a series of trick shots from all different locations.

The trick “buckets” include Singler bouncing the ball off one of the giant bats in front of Comerica Park and into the hoop, Singler punting the ball through the goal post and into the net at Ford Field and the most impressive “bucket” comes when he bounces the ball off the windshield of a moving car, off the backboard and into the net.

Singler admits the shot off the car took him a while, but others he hits right away.

“Each shot’s different,” Singler said. “There’s been shots where I made it on the fifth try. The car one took me a little bit, took me a while. It’s all luck, but there’s definitely a little skill involved.”

How does Singler come with the shots?

“I think about them, whether it’s just between conversations that I had with my friends or most of the shots I Google a place and just try to think of what’s the craziest thing that I can do,” Singler said. “That’s kind of how it happens.”

This isn’t the first time Singler has shot a a video with a series of trick shots. He did it at Duke and in high school.

“It’s something that when I was in high school I did a lot,” Singler said. “Just a couple buddies of mine, we used to always try crazy shots and we’d record them on camera. At Duke I wanted to do it so the video guy and I got together and shot some stuff. It’s just carried on.”

Singler tries to have fun with the videos and hopes to continue shooting them.

“Down the road, yeah,” Singler said. “I’m not sure what the next one is going to be like. I envision myself doing them for a while because they’re fun to do.”

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Kyle "Bucket Man" Singler shows off his skills

Pistons rookie Kyle Singler has earned the nickname "Bucket Man." Singler showed off why he has that nickname in a video posted on Pistons.com of him making buckets all over Detroit. It's a pretty impressive showing. Check it out.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Pistons coach Lawrence Frank postgame interview 11-16-12

Pistons coach Lawrence Frank talks to the media following Detroit's loss to the Orlando Magic.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

PISTON NOTES: Detroit stll searching for first win

AUBURN HILLS — The Pistons fell to 0-8 Monday, the worst start in franchise history. The question now is when will Detroit finally get its first win? The Pistons will get their first shot on Wednesday when they travel to Philadelphia. The 76ers are 4-3 and coming off a loss to Milwaukee Monday. Philadelphia is playing without center Andrew Bynum, but have still played well. “Doug Collins’ got (Philadelphia) playing well without Andrew Bynum so it’s not going to get any easier,” Pistons forward Tayshaun Prince said. If Detroit can’t top the 76ers then their best chance to stop the losing streak is likely Friday at home against Orlando (2-4). After that the Pistons host Boston Sunday then play at Orlando on Nov. 21, host Toronto on Nov. 23 and play at New York on Nov. 25. Detroit has not made any excuses for the 0-8 start, but it’s clear the schedule makers didn’t do the team any favors. “I told you guys before the season started the first seven games is going to be critical because six of them are on the West Coast trip,” Prince said. “If you start off that West Coast trip bad then you put yourselves in a bad position and you’re always going to be fighting an up hill battle. I spoke on it before and now we’re in that situation.” Frank likes D’Antoni hire The Lakers surprised quite a few people by hiring Mike D’Antoni to replace the recently fired Mike Brown. Count Pistons coach Lawrence Frank among those who feel D’Antoni is a good hire for the Lakers. “Mike is a friend and he’s an outstanding coach,” Frank said. He’s an outstanding coach. He has unique experience in that Kobe (Bryant) grew up idolizing him. He coached Kobe and Dwight (Howard) for the U.S. Olympic team. They ran most of his offensive stuff in it so it’s a little bit of an easier adjustment for him. And obviously his relationship and coaching of Steve Nash at the highest level. He’s an outstanding coach. They obviously have very good players. Once Steve gets back healthy I’m sure they’ll be the team that they want to be.” The firing of Brown and the search for a new coach, which included the possibility of Phil Jackson coming out of retirement became a bit of a circus over the past few days, but Frank chose not to comment on that part of the process. “The one thing I learned is unless you’re there, you never quite know,” Frank said. “And sometimes even when you’re there you don’t know. I don’t even try any conjecture. I just know Mike D'antoni is the coach.” Maggette day-to-day Corey Maggette remains day-to-day with a calf injury. Maggette has yet to play this season.