(Sports Network) - The best young, unheralded player in the NBA resides in
Detroit Rock City.
The young man's name is Greg Monroe. He's a 6-foot-11 center in his third
season from Georgetown and last season, he averaged 15.4 points per game and
9.7 rebounds per game.
Those are both significant upgrades from his rookie season.
Monroe is a future All-Star, although the East has solid pivot men in Philly
(Andrew Bynum) and Indiana (Roy Hibbert). Monroe has a great skill set and is
able to toil in relative anonymity with the Detroit Pistons.
The Pistons haven't been relevant for a little while. They were the 2004 NBA
Champions and Tayshaun Prince remains from Larry Brown's title team.
The job of replacing that group hasn't gone smoothly.
President of basketball operations, Joe Dumars, spent poorly -- very poorly as
a matter of fact.
The result was the signing of Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva. Gordon got
shipped to Charlotte for the selfish Corey Maggette and Villanueva would get
traded if someone wanted him.
Once the Pistons get past that, there is hope on the horizon, anchored by
Monroe.
Last season's first-round pick, Brandon Knight, showed promised, averaging
double-figures in points. His appearance opened up the off-guard for Rodney
Stuckey, who is a more natural shooting guard despite playing the point for
several seasons.
The Pistons have a boatload of similar players and head coach Lawrence Frank
is working to peg them into spots. With five rookies, coupled with only two
true veterans in Prince and Maggette, Frank has some sleepless nights ahead.
"We're going to continue to evaluate," Frank said. "You've got to see. I don't
want to be in a game with a lineup that we haven't worked on. We have some
interchangeable parts and we'll continue to evaluate guys at different
positions."
2011-12 Results: 25-41, fourth in Central; Missed playoffs.
ADDITIONS: C Andre Drummond, G/F Corey Maggette, F Kyle Singler, G Kim
English, F Khris Middleton
PROJECTED STARTING FIVE:
PG- Brandon Knight
SG- Rodney Stuckey
SF- Tayshaun Prince
PF- Jonas Jerebko
C- Greg Monroe
KEY RESERVES: G/F Corey Maggette, F Charlie Villanueva, G Will Bynum, F Austin
Daye, F Jason Maxiell.
FRONTCOURT: Monroe is the best player on the team. He can score in the post
and he's also a great passer out of the block. Monroe has some work to do in
the weight room and defensively, but he's emerging as a leader.
There are only six players who've been in the league longer than him on the
Pistons' roster.
"Greg went from being one of the lower-talking guys to now being the loudest
guy in the gym," Frank said in the first week of camp. "It just gives you
great evidence of how, when you're willing to improve and make changes, what
happens. Greg is a great example."
Prince is on the downside of his career and who knows what he has left. He
does provide leadership and with those freakishly long arms, can still defend
some.
Jonas Jerebko and Jason Maxiell will battle for the starting job at power
forward and there's a lot to like about both, but Jerebko gets the nod. He
missed the entire 2010-11 season with a torn Achilles, but came back with an
8.7 PPG campaign. There's worlds of improvement to be made, but this fellow
scampers around the court. His energy is infectious.
BACKCOURT: Knight will be 21 in December. That is young to be running an NBA
team for a second season, but the University of Kentucky product is doing just
that.
Knight started 60 of 66 games last season and scored nearly 13 PPG. He
averaged less than four assists a game and that's a pretty pathetic number for
a point guard, but he'll have time to improve that number.
Stuckey is in his more natural position off the ball. His point-guard numbers
looked bad when he was at that spot, but now that he's not, they are good for
a shooting guard.
At 6-foot-5, Stuckey is a big, strong guard who will overpower the weak. There
have been some personality clashes with coaches in seasons past, but he and
Frank get along well. Stuckey is vital to any chance of success for this
season's Pistons.
BENCH: Andre Drummond was selected No. 9 by the Pistons in this year's draft.
He has huge upside, but the possibility of him becoming the next Hasheem
Thabeet looms large. In the preseason, Drummond has looked good.
Will Bynum and Maggette are the guards off the bench. Bynum used to be an
explosive-type scorer, but a foot injury last season set him back.
Maggette has been poison to every team he's touched. He may temper his
selfishness since this is a contract season. Otherwise, Maggette can score,
but the rest of the team won't enjoy him.
The up-front guys are interchangeable with the exception of Villanueva, who's
probably the odd-man out.
COACHING: Frank won two Atlantic Division titles with the Nets. Last season
was a struggle, but Frank's defensive-minded philosophy has resonated with the
Pistons. He is a good NBA head coach and, after a 4-20 start in 2011-12, his
Pistons went 21-21.
OUTLOOK: The Pistons can absolutely contend for the eighth spot in the East
and that's based largely on the confidence everyone should have in Monroe.
The team can adopt the personality of its city and be a hard-working,
defensive group. There are some potential landmines with Detroit, like if
Maggette acts up, Stuckey shows some of those old attitude problems or if
Monroe or Knight regress.
Call it a hunch, but the Pistons will be one of the pleasant surprises in the
NBA this season.
The Sports Network