In terms of performance on the court, this is already proving to be a lost season for the Detroit Pistons. The team is worse than could ever have been anticipated, and there aren’t exactly a whole load of positives jumping off the page. A loss to a depleted Brooklyn Nets team last night, in spite of a big game from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, put it all into context really.
As Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press wrote on Saturday, there’s no quick fix. Midseason trades won’t magically get this Pistons team into the playoffs.
So, as a result, the Pistons need to re-evaluate their goals for the season, and find a new focus. There’s probably no better idea for that than the team placing an emphasis on building up, and helping their young players to grow and develop. The Detroit Pistons don’t have much young talent to work with, but those that they do have show real promise.
Spencer Dinwiddie, Detroit’s second round draft pick last summer, has shown flashes of his potential as a combo guard in the extremely limited minutes he has received between preseason and the regular season, and I suppose that in itself is the point.
If the team isn’t winning games, there’s no real reason not to give extended opportunities to some of the younger players to allow them to develop. With that in mind, it would be nice to see Van Gundy give a bit more free rein to Dinwiddie.
One player who is getting his chance and looking every bit the better for it is Kentavious Caldwell-Pope though. Caldwell-Pope is averaging 32 minutes of play per game this year, and his talent alone has dictated that Van Gundy extend his opportunities. Quite simply, Detroit can’t really afford not to have him heavily involved.
For a second-year player, Caldwell-Pope’s numbers are pretty impressive too. His jump forward in terms of progression really started over the summer in Orlando. At Summer League in Orlando, Caldwell-Pope showed himself to be head and shoulders above the rest of the young talent on display.
He led the competition in scoring with 24 points per game, while also throwing in 7.4 rebounds for good measure. Whether it’s in Summer League or in the NBA itself, there’s just a confidence to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope that should give Detroit Pistons fans great optimism for his future.
In his 28 starts this season, the 21-year-old is averaging 12.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, one assist and one steal per game. What’s also impressive is how efficient Caldwell-Pope has become from behind the three-point line, where he now shoots 36.3 percent.
On the other hand, it’s his overall field goal percentage that needs a lot of work. As a rookie, the Georgia native shot 39.6 percent from the floor, but that number has dropped off to 38.4 percent so far this season.
The team won’t want to let him develop a habit of sub 40 percent shooting seasons, and in that sense the next few months offer a perfect opportunity for him to work on that side of his game.
With very little up for grabs, and the team bad enough to be almost guaranteed a decent spot in the lottery, the Pistons need to just ride the season out by building a plan for the future, experimenting, and finding a way to maximize the talent of their young players.