The Fan Hub

The Detroit Pistons, after dropping their first three games of the shortened 2012 season, have won back-to-back games to battle to 2-3 and will look to take their streak on the road to Chicago Wednesday. Detroit is struggling in turning the ball over to the tune of 15.2 times a game, however unlike last season, they have begun to hunker down defensively and have a point differential of just -4.0. So while the Pistons might not be an offensive juggernaut, they are not letting teams run away from them as they did last year. While Greg Monroe might not be the most intimidating force in the paint, he has done a much better job in the defensive rotation, and has been a force on the glass to the tune of 8.6 rebounds per game. The Pistons have also gotten strong play from their stretch 4 Jonas Jerebko, who some believed might have been overpaid by Joe Dumars when he landed four-year $16 million deal. Jerebko has given Detroit productive minutes with a PER of 16.7, and giving head coach Lawrence Frank options with the second unit.

Rick Osentoski

What is continuing to kill the Pistons is turnovers. Detroit is averaging 16.2 turnovers a game, and while Ben Gordon leads the team in scoring, he is also its leader in TO/G, and is averaging 1.5 TO/A ratio. The biggest shock thus far is the rotation Detroit is going with. Brandon Knight has solidified his position in the rotation, and in roughly 22 min/g he has been fairly productive without much training camp to help in his maturation process. Still, if Detroit is going to make any type of push in the East this season, they still need to find a productive force on the block. Jason Maxwell has been decent in spurts, but with the plethora of wing players, as the season progresses it wouldn’t be surprising if Dumars looks to make a move to add a legit offensive force on the block.