One man's honest opinion about sports in the Motor City, and beyond.

Monday, November 30, 2009

Just like that

When karma turns in the Pistons’ favor you may very well be the recipient of a George Blaha “don’t look now.” On Sunday karma was headed in the opposite direction after Atlanta erased an early deficit “just like that,” according to George. The Pistons went on to defeat Atlanta 94-88.

During the most recent “dark years” – after the Bad Boys and before 2003 – my dad and I were convinced that a “don’t look now” was a jinx. That if Blaha pulled it out of his repertoire it meant certain doom for the Pistons. Of course, that’s because the Pistons were a bad team, and the outcome of the majority of games was never good – no matter what Blaha said (OK, neither of us believe that, Blaha cost the Pistons at least 36 wins between ’93 and ’03)…

Well, don’t look now, but the Pistons (6-11) are at a crossroad. After 6-straight appearances in the Eastern Conference finals - including an NBA championship - the team was blown up two games into last season – just like that.

So where do they go from here? Will they trade Prince and/or Rip for the coveted big man that eludes half of the teams in the league? Is that trade even available? If Rip and Prince had stayed healthy this entire season would the Pistons be sitting at .500 or better? Where is Ben Wallace hiding his flux capacitor? Unfortunately, we aren’t going to know the answers to any of those questions for a while.

That’s perfectly fine by me. I knew this season was going to be a roller coaster ride and harnessed myself in months ago. That’s the beauty of sports. That’s why my parent’s house was redecorated – in an attempt to appease the football gods - for the Michigan-Ohio State game a few weeks back (I am prohibited from divulging further details). That’s why after a Buckeye victory my dad begrudgingly kept the Ohio State magnet above the Michigan one on the fridge (a tradition that dates back to the early 1900s.) Sports are great because every game and every year is different and exciting in its own way.

Yes, Joe Dumars has pulled the trigger and misfired on a few moves. In some cases the gun blew up in his hand. In one case a little pole came out, and a flag unrolled with the word “Darko” printed on it. But you know what? It could be worse. In fact, it could be a whole lot worse. Remember who was on top of the Eastern Conference before the Pistons’ made their move in 2004? It was the New Jersey Nets – who did NOT win a championship during that time – repeat, did NOT WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP. Over the last few years they too blew up their team. This year? Well, they just tied the record for the worst start in NBA history by losing their first 17 games. Oh yes, my loyal readers, it could be a whole lot worse.

Bulls up next

Wednesday night’s game in Chicago (6-8) is an important one for the injury-plagued Pistons. The Bulls currently own the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference – the lowest spot the Pistons would like to finish the season in. The Bulls are heading into Wednesday's game against the Pistons with some injuries of their own - Kirk Hinrich (thumb) and Tyrus Thomas (arm) are both out.

Ben Gordon is questionable for the Pistons for what would be his first regular-season game against his former team. From what I read the Bulls are missing Gordon’s offense, and so are the Pistons while he’s sidelined.

Bulls’ big 3

  • Luol Deng is putting together a nice season. He’s averaging a team-high 18.1 points while shooting nearly 46% from the field. Over the last 3 games he’s averaged 24.3 points (26-53 from the field).
  • Derrick Rose has not taken the leap that Chicago fans were hoping for this season. His statistics are slightly lower than last year, but they aren’t bad at 15.4 points and 5.1 assists per game.
  • Joakim Noah is leading the Bulls (4th in the NBA) with 11.7 rebounds per game. There were rumors that Noah and Ben Wallace didn’t always see eye-to-eye when they played together in Chicago – so this could be an interesting matchup.

Losing Streaks

The Pistons just ended a 7-game skid on Sunday night. The Bulls will either end a 4-game skid tonight against the Bucks or enter Wednesday’s game on a 5-game losing streak. Obviously both teams are looking to gain a little momentum and this should be a hard-fought game.

PS

Did anyone notice that Ben Wallace didn’t flinch when Charlie Villanueva’s face slammed into his hip hard enough to break CV31’s nose?

~Matt Penridge

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Jud Haiku

king of poway high
'zona cat great, three-peat champ
piston assassin
---

~Cousin, Jeff

Also, in honor of Jud Buchler's greatness - which can only be expressed in the form of haiku (see above) - I have created a slide of one of his greatest moments. It was game 1 of the 1997 NBA Finals and MJ had just hit a buzzer-beater to win it. Jud was sooo happy.
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"YES!!! That was incredible, Mike."
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"Yeah, I know, Bud."
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"It's Jud."
-
"Whatever, Pippen is here."


Friday, November 27, 2009

En fuego del porte el miserablo

"I was the first woman to burn my bra - it took the fire department four days to put it out." ~ Dolly Parton

The Pistons are still trying to figure out how to put the fire out after dropping their last 37 games - something like that, anyway. Joe Dumars is attempting to secure access to Ben Wallace's time machine in order to go back and not trade Chauncey Billups, however, Wallace insists those rumors are not true, and that his resurgence has "absolutely nothing" to do with a time machine.

Well, at least things can't get worse - - what, Ben Gordon is out with a twisted ankle??? A four-letter word would be completely appropriate, but I'll let you imagine which one I'm thinking of.

Ok, ok, the Billups trade is behind us. There's no reason to bring it up, and in fact, I like the team we have. That's not to say I think they're a lock to turn it around this year, but not having Rip and Prince for almost the entire season is really what has caused the train to derail (as badly as it has). Now, without their three best players (Gordon day-to-day), it is going to take a gutsy performance to get a win tonight at the Palace against the Clippers.

The big problem for the Pistons will be keeping Chris Kaman from going off. Easier said than done, however, after a hot start Kaman has been unproductive (offensively) in his last three games - scoring 38 points while going 10-48 from the field. For him this is a bit of a homecoming (he went to Central Michigan University) so let's hope he doesn't have some kind of 'eff the Pistons' grudge that makes him blow up for 30 points...

The second problem is that Kaman and Marcus Camby are averaging nearly 20 rebounds between them. This doesn't bode well for the Pistons as they will very likely be dominated on the boards tonight. The best solution would be to hit a high percentage of shots... we'll see how that goes.

The Pistons desperately need a win, but they are rolling into this game without Rip, Prince and Gordon. A lot of things will have to go their way if they want to right the ship tonight at the Palace.

As always, I have hope.

~Matt Penridge

(Special thanks to Aunt Janet. If I hadn't consumed 4 pounds of her legendary stuffing on Thanks Giving, and she not kept the Uncle John's Bathroom Reader in the appropriate room, I would have never saw the Dolly Parton quote.)

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Pistons Pulse

I joined Dave Pemberton, of the Oakland Press, on his webcast 'Pistons Pulse'. I'd like to thank Dave for having me, and hope you enjoy.

~Matt Penridge



Check out Dave's blog for the Oakland Press. Also, you can watch the video and post comments about it there.

http://pistonspoint.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Bynum gettin' props

John Hollinger, of ESPN.com, put Will Bynum on his 'All-Underrated Team'.

"Fans in Detroit already are wondering why Bynum isn't starting, which is pretty amazing considering he began the season as the fourth guard in a three-guard rotation. Believe it or not, the 6-foot powder keg led the Pistons in PER last season, and early this season he's shown that it was no fluke.

Bynum is averaging a point every two minutes and shooting 50 percent from the floor, and while his instincts are as a scorer, he's found the open man enough to keep defenses honest. Another big surprise is all the time he's spent at the free throw line this season, which is an added source of easy points that has helped raise his PER considerably."

Nice to see Will Bynum get a little publicity on the national stage.

~Matt Penridge

Upset???

Rodney Fernando Keys to the Game
  • Need a big game out of Ben Gordon. Chances of stopping LeBron are slim, but a big game out of Gordon could help offset what LeBron does - offensively anyway.
  • Need to run when Zydrunas Ilgauskas is on the floor for Cleveland. The Pistons are young and fast enough to do this.
  • Jerebko will be guarding LeBron. His best shot is to try and force LeBron into shooting jumpshots... much easier said than done. Good luck!
  • Charlie V -- need an efficient 20+ from you tonight. (Charlie took a 5-day hiatus from twitter after the Pistons suffered their fifth loss in a row - I like that he did that.)
  • Can Chris Wilcox emerge tonight?
  • Stuckey, pass the ball, please?

Cleveland has been hot in the last ten games, and I don't expect the Pistons to win, however, I have a feeling they may gut this one out. They've shown a tremendous amount of heart all year, and coming back from a 4-game west coast trip - where they lost all four - the Pistons should be hungry tonight.

~Matt Penridge

Pistons Pulse

I joined Dave Pemberton, of the Oakland Press, on his webcast 'Pistons Pulse'. I'd like to thank Dave for having me, and hope you enjoy.

Check out Dave's blog for the Oakland Press. Also, you can watch the video and post comments about it there.

http://pistonspoint.blogspot.com/

~Matt Penridge (Putting the D in Denridge since 1982)

Monday, November 23, 2009

68 to go

After five straight losses - over an eight-day span - the Pistons’ record stands at 5-9. Not a pleasant start, but I still don’t think we have a true sense of how good this team is or will be. It’s pretty clear they won’t be making a run for the championship, but we knew that heading into the season. They have one glaring deficiency – they can’t get an easy bucket to save their lives (or a game).

They’re lack of easy points boils down to two things. The first is that nobody can score in the low post. Occasionally Charlie Villanueva shows a little touch down low, but it’s not consistent. Without an inside threat the Pistons have to work much harder to score. They are 18th (out of 30) in field goal percentage (45% on the year) - which I suppose isn’t horrible, but it does put them in the bottom half of the league. They have the 4th lowest team scoring average at 92.5 points per game.

The second offensive woe is ball movement. Averaging 15.6 assists per game, the Pistons are second from the bottom (just ahead of New Jersey). This is a real problem. Too often the Pistons are not moving the ball around in their half-court sets.

Stuck on Shoot

Rodney Stuckey, the starting point guard, is taking way too many bad shots. On the season he’s taken a team high 224 shots, but has only scored 231 points. That is very inefficient basketball. On top of that, he’s only averaging 4 assists per game.

Will Bynum, on the season, has scored only 31 less points than Stuckey, but has taken 84 less shots – that is staggering. Bynum is putting together a strong case to become the starter even though his scoring off the bench has been important. When Richard Hamilton returns – and if Stuckey hasn’t improved his offensive efficiency – I think you make that move for sure. Right now there is a defensive concern having Gordon and Bynum together for too long – seeing as they are both, um, “vertically-challenged” individuals, but I think you need a true point guard on the floor, and Bynum is starting to look like the best option.

With all that said, I still have hope for Stuckey. He seems to have a decent skill set. Let’s not forget that he had an abridged rookie season, an inept coach (Michael Curry) in his second, and we’re only 14 games into his third. His development was set back a bit. The only problem is that if a better option is sitting on the bench – well, sooner or later, you have to go to it.

D-Fence

Defensively, I think the Pistons are "not that bad" – at least not for the players they have. Ben Wallace, as I and others have written this season, is playing incredible. The energy he brings really does make the team work harder on the defensive end. They could stand to beef up inside, and could use a shot blocker, but you can say that for most teams. John Hollinger – ESPN’s stat guru – has the Pistons ranked 18th in defensive efficiency. Bring back Rip and Prince, and I think they turn into an above-average defense.

Speaking of which

The absence of Rip (played 1 game) and Prince (played 3 games) is enormous. They are the Pistons’ best all-around players. Rip is an underrated defensive player, in my opinion, and gives maximum effort on both ends of the court. It is not surprising that the Pistons are starting to struggle without those two guys on the floor.

The “what-if” game

Let’s imagine Rip and Prince come back healthy, and the Pistons’ have not sunk too far in the standings to compete for a playoff spot. Either Stuckey will have become more efficient or Bynum will have been inserted into the starting lineup. You are looking at Stuckey or Bynum, Rip, Prince, Villanueva, and Wallace as your starting unit. Off the bench you have Gordon, Stuckey or Bynum and Jerebko. That’s not going to win a championship, but that should get you into the playoffs.

The Unknown

The Pistons need Rip and Prince back, but it doesn’t look like it is going to happen any time soon. The only hope is the Pistons can scrap their way to some victories, and not fall too low in the standings. I am an optimist when it comes to the Pistons – always will be – and I think they should be alright.

I mean, they have a 6-10 Swede… how bad could it be?

~Matthew Penridge

Monday, November 16, 2009

The word from DC

My cousin, Jeff Pink, attended Saturday night's Pistons' victory against the Wizards in DC... So, I decided to interview him via electronic mail. My questions are in bold, his answers in italics, and my comments in [red].

1. From the pics (see previous post) it looks like the Verizon Center has a similar feel to the Palace, on the inside, whaddya think about that?
It’s a pretty interesting arena, a bit different than the Palace. It has three tiers of seats rather than having an upper and lower deck and I don’t think there’s a bad seat in the house.

I didn’t remember this from the last time I was there in 2006, but they’re one of the arenas that dim the lights on the upper seats so that the floor is illuminated, like at MSG and the Staples Center (they might only do this for the Lakers and not the Clippers, but I’m not sure). Either that’s new or I just didn’t notice it last time.


2. How great is it that the Palace is not "The Verizon Center"?

I’m pretty sure the Palace was built entirely by Davidson, right? [it was privately funded and the Davidson family owns the controlling interest – Wikipedia] I’m really glad that there’s no corporate tie-in with the name. Plus, “The Palace” is a great name. I’m trying to think of other arena’s that don’t have a corporate name, off the top of my head MSG is the only one. [There are a few others in the NBA]

3. Heard some boos early in the game, how was that throughout?
They were booing Kwame throughout the game and I was thinking “Don’t boo KB, boo Jordan.” But then I thought that Pistons fans boo Darko because he’s Darko, not booing because of Dumars.

4. How did the Pistons look live?
They looked good, tons of activity on the glass. I didn’t really notice much that wouldn’t be noticed at home, but the team plays a bit more of an exciting style, so that always makes you want to be there. Imagine being there for Bynum’s dunks last week - that would have made my head explode.

It’s the second time in three years that I’ve seen a Pistons-Wizards game at the Verizon Center, Flip Saunders lost both times.


5. How were the beer prices?
Good beer prices, which is surprising because the bars in DC are pretty expensive, but the 22 oz.ers were $7.50.

6. Do you remember when we were excited because we were 3 rows away from Jud Buechler @ the Palace (circa 1999)?
Yeah, that was great. I remember barking at JYD when he was about to inbound the ball. I wonder what JB’s doing now? Maybe he’s actually pulling the strings down there in Phoenix, the master to his good buddy Steve Kerr’s puppet.

[“JYD” is former Piston Jerome ‘the junk yard dog’ Williams]
7. Do you remember how awesome Jud Buechler was? On a level of 1-10 - 10 being the awesomest - I would give him at least a double black belt. What about you?
I’d put him on the list of people who’s awsomeness can only be described in haiku. We’ll have to work on that.

8. I don't miss Rasheed Wallace, at all. (I guess that's not a question).
Nope, Charlie V is pretty much doing the same sh**, except actually goes off for like 30 every once in a while. I haven’t heard much about the Celtics this year. I know they’re off to a good start, but I don’t think that they could beat the Lakers.

[Sheed is 5 for 31, from 3-point land, in his last 6 games. In that same span – averaging 21.5 minutes of play – he’s only grabbing 3 rebounds per game. The Celtics are 3-3 over that stretch.]

~Matt Penridge / Jeff Pink

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Stryk mot idolen för Jerebko

Hank Zetterberg - of the Detroit Red Wings - was interviewed by FSN at the Pistons' game Sunday evening at the Palace. Turns out he's taken fellow Swede, the Pistons' Jonas Jerebko (first Swede in the NBA), under his wing.

The Smalandsposten reports,

Han fick spela mot idolen Dirk Nowitzki och på läktaren satt kompisarna och hockeystjärnorna Nicklas Lidström och Henrik Zetterberg och hejade. Men kvällen blev inte riktigt fulländad för Jonas Jerebko och hans Detroit som föll med 90-95 mot Dallas i NBA-basketen.

Uh, yeah, I couldn't have said it better myself. Gotta love the Swedish connection.

~Matt Penridge

- - Photo from Reuters Pictures - -

I'm working on a post about the first 10 games... should be good. I'm going to begin work on my "Sheed-Curry" theory. For now, enjoy these pictures taken by my cousin, Jeff, at Saturday's game in DC against the Wizards (a win for the Pistons). Check beck later - I'm going to try and get Jeff to write a little something about his trip to DC.




Wednesday, November 11, 2009

A Swede Daye for the Pistons

The Pistons embarrassed the Bobcats in a 98-73 romp Wednesday night at the Palace of Auburn Hills, and improved to 4-4 on the season. Charlie Villanueva led the way with 30 points and played solid defense. I believe the Pistons' largest lead was 312 until head coach John Kuester sent in the Pistons Spare Tires dance team for an 8-minute stretch in the 4th quarter.

I would really love to tell you (my audience of 3.5 people, 1 dog and an albino titmouse named Mahornathon) that the Pistons are a deep team. That Jonas “The Swedish Piranha” Jerebko and Austin “For real, are you sure that’s not Tayshaun Prince?” Daye looked solid against Charlotte tonight. That Jerebko – a 6-10 Swede, mind you – seems to be pretty athletic (he threw down a nice ‘oop’ early in the 1st.) Yes, I would love to tell you that, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Remember, this was the Charlotte Bobcats (3-5), and I’m still trying to figure out why the Pistons scheduled an NBA D-League team.

All jokes aside, the Pistons did look good – especially considering they are still short a Rip and a Prince (the Bobcats were missing Raja Bell and Nancy Lieberman.) If both Rip and Prince come back healthy the Pistons bench doesn’t look too bad. The top four off the bench would be Gordon, Bynum, Jerebko and Daye… Really, the second unit could be a lot worse.

The first half

The Pistons played solid defense, and once again Ben Wallace led the way. He had 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocks in the first half, and helped the Pistons hold the Bobcats to a mere 41 points. On the offensive side Gordon scored an effortless 16 points and Charlie V chipped in 12. The Pistons went into halftime leading by 12.

Third quarter, game over

Detroit came out firing in the 3rd quarter and hit at least 69 shots in a row. Charlie V dropped 18 in the third by himself. Everyone was hitting shots. Even Darko… seriously, he flew in just to stick it Larry Brown (Bobcat's head coach). The Pistons outscored the Bobcats 29 to 12 in the 3rd and went into the 4th up by 28 points.

Solid game for Stuckey

Rodney Stuckey played a good game tonight. He limited his bad shots, and dished out 7 assists. He finished 6 of 10 from the field with 16 points and grabbed 5 boards. He’s actually rebounding very well this year. On paper this was a Billups-esque game. My Dad is skeptical of Stuckey, but that mostly stems from the devastating loss suffered when Joe Dumars accidentally traded Billups to Denver (it was an accident, right Joe?) Ok, it also stems from the fact that Stuckey has been taking way too many bad shots and not getting many assists (both very valid beefs). But, at least for one night, he looked good. I hope Kuester has him watch the tape of this game over and over again.

An a personal side

Stuckey, for my sake, please step it up this year. I’m not sure how many of my Dad’s “Billups was a closer, he’d get to the line In the 4th and the game would be over… who’s going to do that now is what I want to know” rants I can take. (Dad, if you read this, I agree with you, but Billups is gone. And you know what? He seems happy, and I think he’d like you to be happy too… Actually, check that, at least you aren’t talking about Allan Houston anymore.)

Holy Effing Bynum

Bynum had two incredible dunks in this game. The first, in the second quarter, was UH-Mazing… I would describe it, but this is the internet, so just watch it…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7rL7ONw6a4

Coming Up

The Pistons play the Wizards (2-6), in Washington, on Saturday night. Tip off at 7:00pm.

~Matt Penridge

Bobcats Goldthwait

The Pistons play the Charlotte Bobcats at the Palace tonight (Wednesday). They will again be without Rip Hamilton (ankle) and Teyshaun Prince (back). This is close to being a must-win game. Obviously, the 8th game of the season really can’t be considered one that you must win, but it is still important. The Bobcats are not an impressive team, and a legitimate playoff contender should beat them. Also, the Pistons are 3-4 on the season, and there is a big difference between 3-5 and 4-4.

Rodney Fernando Keys to the Game

  • Big Ben needs to keep it going. 16 boards and 3 blocks in his last outing (the Feds are still searching for the fountain of youth he’s been bathing in.)
  • Charlie V has stepped it up, and we need him to sustain it. 16 points and 5 boards will hopefully become an average game for CV31.
  • Jerebko/Daye - They are seeing the bulk of Prince's minutes. So far, so good.
  • Stuckey needs to improve. He's shooting a dismal 36.5% from the field and only dishing out 3.7 assists per game. Not good enough. He needs to get his shooting percentage up to the mid 40s and the assists up to about 6...
  • Need solid minutes from Kwame Brown (who has played Ok this year).

Mekka lekka hi mekka hiney ho

Pistons 92, Bobcats 84. (Gordon for 30???)

~Matt Penridge

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

It tolls for Ben Wallace

An investigation is underway to determine if Ben Wallace has constructed a time machine in his basement. The evidence - tenacious defense and mad rebounding, circa 2004 - was too much to ignore. The Pistons defeated the Orlando Magic 85-80 on Tuesday night, and Ben Wallace, who apparently has decided to ignore the fact that he's 67 years old, played another solid game. The Pistons are now 2-2 on the season.

Wallace had 10 rebounds (6 offensive), 2 blocks and 2 steals in just over 28 minutes of game time. Late in the 4th quarter, Pistons up by four, Wallace grabbed an important rebound and let out a passionate roar to let the Palace crowd know he was back. This was vintage Big Ben - the only thing missing was 'The Fro'.

Head coach John Kuester has done a good job of limiting Wallace's minutes, but there is a lot of basketball to play - so I know it is a little early to call it a comeback. Wallace has battled some injuries in the last few years, and there is no telling how his body will hold up over the course of an 82-game season. But, his mini-resurgence, nonetheless, has been good for my soul.

Guards Getting It Done

"We just couldn't stop their three guards," said Stan Van Gundy, head coach of the Orlando Magic (ESPN.com).

The combination of Gordon, Stuckey and Bynum (Rip was sidelined with an ankle sprain) dropped 63 points on Orlando. Gordon was especially effective on the offensive end needing a mere 10 shots to score 23 points, and hit all 11 of his free throw attempts in the process. Stuckey played a solid first half, but cooled off in the second. For the entire game he converted only 7 of 20 shots, finishing with 20 points. Not impressive, although he was getting to the line and grabbed nine rebounds (over the hobbit-sized Orlando guards). He needs to improve his shooting percentage, get more assists and turn the ball over less if he wants to be a true asset to this team.

Clark Kent

Dwight Howard - who was reported to be floating in a giant tin foil balloon somewhere outside of Auburn Hills - turned out to be on the bench most of the game. He played just under 17 minutes due to early foul trouble - eventually fouling out - and was also nursing a sore shoulder.

Final Thoughts

Overall, a good win by the Pistons. However, they still seem to lack an offensive flow. Their assist total was low again (eight on the night). They don't seem to be swinging the ball around enough. Their guards mostly look to shoot or penetrate (then shoot) - which worked against Orlando, but is not necessarily the best way to play the rest of the year.

Charlie Villanueva was effective and will hopefully build on that performance. Jonas Jerebko cracked the starting lineup in place of Tayshaun Prince (lower back). He went 0-5 from the field, with no points, but actually didn't look too bad in other aspects - a positive sign for the rookie.

Kelser's Call of the Game

Sometime in the 2nd quarter, FSN Detroit's Greg Kelser, referring to Stuckey and a guard for Orlando, said they were "trying to out penetrate each other". Gross.

~ Matt Penridge

The Spanish Armada

Marc 'El Hermano' Gasol is off to a very impressive start for Memphis (1-3). He is putting up 19 points and pulling down 12.3 rebounds per game. His offensive efficiency is flat out stupid. He's gone to the line 33 times in the first 4 games (which puts him in the top 10 for free throw attempts). He's shooting an unbelievably high - for a seven-footer - 84.8% from the charity stripe. He's taken 37 shots from the field and scored 76 points. That means he averages 2.05 points for every shot he takes. That is incredible. To put that in perspective here are a few big men that are NOT scoring 2 points per shot: Bosh, Howard, Duncan and Garnett.

On top of the offensive prowess he's also averaging 12.3 boards (6th best average in the league). At 7-1, 265 pounds, Gasol seems to be a decent defender - at least he's looked that way in the limited amount of games I've seen him play. I couldn't find anything - with a quick Google search - that says otherwise. So, I'm willing to say that at worst he's an average defender.

"El Hermano" will probably cool a bit from the offensive end as the season progresses. I wouldn't expect that he continue to average 2 points per shot. But, after a solid rookie campaign last year, and an incredible start to this season, I think it is safe to say that Marc Gasol has arrived. I wish he was a Piston.

--- Stats from NBA.com ---

~ Matt Penridge