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Lakers-Pistons Preview

On the scale of sportswriter adjectives, the Los Angeles Lakers hover somewhere between "shorthanded" and "injury-ravaged." Pau Gasol is improving but still out of commission. Kobe Bryant is playing, but with a hurt groin. Luke Walton has an aching back and is likely out until 2010.

And yet, their Tuesday night opponent, the Detroit Pistons, might be worse off still. Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince, who together dropped the guillotine blade on the Shaq-era Lakers in the 2004 Finals, are both shelved with injuries, and point guard Rodney Stuckey left the Pistons' Sunday night game early with a strained something. (It was either an ankle or a calf, depending on who you ask.) Stuckey will play tonight, but Detroit still runs only eight deep.

And that's only if you count Kwame Brown.

Star-divide

Despite their injury-ravagedness, the Pistons haven't looked too bad so far. In fact, they're the very model of a middle-class NBA team. Their record is 5-5 against an average slate of opponents, and they're 15th in the league in net points. Nothing in those results should embarrass new coach John Kuester. Especially since he's had to give 15 minutes a night to Kwame and 20 to Jonas Jerebko, the only Swedish player in the league.*

And here you were thinking the Lakers' bench sucked.

Prithee take a closer look at the Pistons' team stats, below.** All terms and their significance explained here. League rankings are in parentheses.

Pace

87.4 (29th)

Offensive Rating

106.8 (13th)

Turnover Rate (Off.)

13.0% (7th)

FTA/FGA (Off.)

0.36 (3rd)

Free Throw % (Off.)

70.2 (28th)

Effective FG % (Off.)

48.7 (19th)

True Shooting % (Off.)

53.0 (20th)

Offensive Rebounding %

27.9 (9th)

Defensive Rating

104.7 (15th)

Turnover Rate (Def.)

13.3% (19th)

FTA/FGA (Def.)

0.37 (28th)

Effective FG % (Def.)

46.5 (5th)

True Shooting % (Def.)

51.8 (8th)

Defensive Rebounding %

70.9 (24th)

 

The Pistons play at a slow pace, as they've seemingly done forever. The offense runs through four perimeter players: Stuckey, new acquisitions Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva and backup PG Will Bynum. Though he's the only one to come off the bench, Bynum might be the best of the group. He's an efficient scorer and has the potential to wreak Aaron Brooks-like havoc on the Laker D.

Stuckey and Gordon throw some different looks at you. The former is a big power guard in the Rajon Rondo mold, while Gordon loves shooting like Kwame loves cake. It wouldn't surprise me to see Ron Artest spend time checking these guys, both to give Kobe a rest on defense and because the Pistons don't have a small forward worth guarding. (Jerebko hardly ever shoots. I told you he's Swedish.)

Speaking of nobody worth guarding, Ben Wallace is back as the Pistons' starting center. He's the same Ben Wallace you remember, but worse. This doesn't mean, though, that Andrew Bynum gets the night off. Stuckey and the other Bynum are both adroit at getting shots in the lane, and as the numbers above show, Detroit's a good offensive rebounding squad. The Lakers are next-to-last in the NBA in defensive rebounding, so... you know. If they feel like hitting the boards tonight that'd be great.

Isiah_medium

The Laker offense has been a disaster two straight games now. Their shot selection has been bad, their shot making even worse, and not nearly enough effort has been made to pound the ball in to Bynum. The Pistons don't have amazing inside defenders, so Drew could have another big night if the other Lakers don't forget he's on the team. Except for whoever's guarding Fish (most likely Gordon and Will Bynum), there's no position at which the Lakers don't have a matchup edge on offense.

It's unclear, though, exactly how much of a problem Kobe's groin will be. He practiced fully on Monday and says he's OK, but you and I know he hasn't looked the same the last couple games. Detroit doesn't have a Battier-caliber defender, so Tuesday should bring us closer to knowing whether Kobe's just been off lately or, alternatively, whether the groin is a real concern.

We'll also find out how Phil Jackson adjusts the rotation for Luke's absence, which opens up about 10 minutes of playing time. Technically Adam Morrison is next on the small-forward depth chart, but Phil must know he'd be exposed in a bigger role. Instead I expect to see more small lineups, with incrementally more run given to Shannon Brown, Jordan Farmar and Sasha Vujacic.

(Feel free not to explode with delight at this prospect. Until Pau returns, allowing Lamar Odom to spend more time at three, there aren't a ton of great options here.)

Detroit's a team the Lakers should beat, even at less than full strength. If you combined the two teams' rosters, only one Piston (pick one of the guards) would start, and a couple Pistons who get real minutes (Jerebko and Kwame) would play not at all. The Lakers have been so bad the last six quarters, nothing can be taken for granted, but the first three-game losing streak in the Era of Gasol for now looks pretty unlikely.

* - I was going to write that Jerebko is the only Swedish player in NBA history, but it turns out Miles Simon was born there as well.

** - Thanks to Basketball Reference and Hoopdata for the numbers. Excellent sites, both.

Nbacbsdetlal_medium

2 recs  |  Comment 25 comments |

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Comments

Display:

The Revenge of Kwame Brown

"This is not a game for boys. This is a game for men." - Phil Jackson

by Gils_Keloids on Nov 17, 2009 10:32 AM PST reply actions  

Lakers favored by 10 1/2 ... any takers?

"This is not a game for boys. This is a game for men." - Phil Jackson

by Gils_Keloids on Nov 17, 2009 10:48 AM PST reply actions  

Sure!

If I can take the Pistons.

by DexterFishmore on Nov 17, 2009 10:56 AM PST up reply actions  

Ok, I put you down for the Pistons

You get a number one draft pick if you win.

"This is not a game for boys. This is a game for men." - Phil Jackson

by Gils_Keloids on Nov 17, 2009 11:46 AM PST up reply actions  

Man, is that really the line? This game feels pretty close to "pick 'em" to me...

"A bizarre and extremely rare hybrid Blazer/Laker fan, Timbo has always struggled to contain the Beast Within, like Dr. Jekyll, Bruce Banner, or Ted Kennedy." — Miled Animal

by timbo on Nov 17, 2009 7:01 PM PST up reply actions  

You both owe me a first round draft pick

"This is not a game for boys. This is a game for men." - Phil Jackson

by Gils_Keloids on Nov 18, 2009 12:57 AM PST up reply actions  

Kwame is gonna F us up

sweet sweet memories with the picture of the game 7 vs det i dont want to spoil the ending,but i wish they would let fans run on the court like they use to (looks at your ron artest) lol

if somebody wanted to watch that game 7 it might be on a jtv channel called www.justin.tv/thegoldendynasty

lakers replays,champs dvds,etc

YOU CAN PUT IT ON THE BOARD YES!
www.reverbnation.com/czheckproductions

by Czheck on Nov 17, 2009 11:43 AM PST reply actions   1 recs

now showing game 7

lol thanks for the idea it was a classic game 7

http://www.justin.tv/thegoldendynasty/old
a little larry bird told me that laker replays,old laker playoff games and championship dvds can be seen on a certain JTV channel i could be mistaken though.

by Thegoldendynasty on Nov 17, 2009 11:50 AM PST reply actions  

OK. I prefer Gasol in street clothes to Kwame suited up & ready for action to fumble every pass thrown to him. That made me frickin’ mental.

And yes I am a 2009 World Champion Fan.

by olf on Nov 17, 2009 12:39 PM PST reply actions  

I want to see Shannon on the court with Kobe

Unless my memory is wrong (it often is) I haven’t seen them play together too much this season.

"This is not a game for boys. This is a game for men." - Phil Jackson

by Gils_Keloids on Nov 17, 2009 1:14 PM PST reply actions  

Sometimes we forget how furtunate we are in regards to injuries...

…other teams have it worst:

Orlando’s Nelson to have surgery on kneehttp://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4664468
Paul’s ankle strained no set time for returnhttp://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4659786

I think smashing the Suns made me realize how far Kobe and the Lakers have come from five years ago, when the Suns had the world at their feet.

by PURPLE AND GOLD FOR LIFE on Nov 17, 2009 1:15 PM PST reply actions  

That’s brutal for Nelson to be injured again. And after he was so nice not to get in Fish’s way when we needed that 3 pointer too. :-)

Actually, he seems like an OK guy. Hope he is back soon.

And yes I am a 2009 World Champion Fan.

by olf on Nov 17, 2009 2:25 PM PST up reply actions  

funny!
after he was so nice not to get in Fish’s way when we needed that 3 pointer too

I agree. That team is much more dangerous with him on there…

I think smashing the Suns made me realize how far Kobe and the Lakers have come from five years ago, when the Suns had the world at their feet.

by PURPLE AND GOLD FOR LIFE on Nov 17, 2009 2:27 PM PST up reply actions  

But he wasn't nice

The way he hit Kobe’s elbow with his face

"This is not a game for boys. This is a game for men." - Phil Jackson

by Gils_Keloids on Nov 17, 2009 2:29 PM PST up reply actions  

HA! Yeah, I forgot about that. Oh well, hard to hate him when I am still celebrating (as is most of the Laker team evidently).

And yes I am a 2009 World Champion Fan.

by olf on Nov 17, 2009 2:45 PM PST up reply actions  

Hey we’re the Lakers are the champs!

"This is not a game for boys. This is a game for men." - Phil Jackson

by Gils_Keloids on Nov 17, 2009 3:01 PM PST up reply actions  

Nelson is one of my favorite non-Laker players from a basketball standpoint

even though he did kill us in the reg. season last year,
I’m not complaining; we won the finals because of him

"I don't want to be the next Michael Jordan. I only want to be Kobe Bryant,"
-Kobe Bryant

by KobeisGod on Nov 17, 2009 6:54 PM PST up reply actions  

Kwame's D

Dex,

Don’t discount Kwame’s D to guard post-up defenders, he was useful in those situations as he did play well against Shaq and Yao in the block.

Some suggestions for PJ and gang:
Pull Fisher at first signs of defensive inefficiency. Especially if Bynum is flashing to cover the p’n’r at the top of the key.

Sub in Mbenga and Powell often. Give up fouls to Kwame and Gordon, and their lack of post up skills will remove Detroits bigs from the paint.

by 81 Witness on Nov 17, 2009 1:25 PM PST reply actions  

i rec'd this preview

for showing that screenshot of game 7 of the 1988 finals…

Leave Chad Billingsley alone!!!

by shaqfor3 on Nov 17, 2009 3:43 PM PST reply actions  

In addition to Nelson's injury...

Travis Outlaw will be out a while with a surgery on his foot. Looks like we aint the only ones goin through this epidemic

by desecrator09 on Nov 17, 2009 5:26 PM PST reply actions  

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