Real basketball to discuss! The Pistons got the Stan Van Gundy era off to a rousing start with an overtime win over Chicago on Tuesday night. On with Mailbag...
Sylvester (Lansing, Mich.): Didn't get to see the game last night. What were your general impressions?
Langlois: It's one game and nobody will really remember the details in a few weeks when the regular season rolls around, Sylvester, but I think you could see the first signs of what Van Gundy wants. The Pistons got back on defense, limiting the Bulls to 10 fast-break points. They got mostly good shots against the NBA's most consistently stingy defense over the past few years. Ball movement was crisp, especially given the fact they've been together for all of a week. Those are general observations. Individually, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope looks like hes taking off from the high point of his Summer League performance; I liked the presence D.J. Augustin brought when he was in the game but also felt Brandon Jennings looks more in control of the half-court offense and gave more resistance on defense, holding his own against Rose, than a year ago; Jodie Meeks shooting stroke will have a big impact. Lots of other thoughts. Bottom line, I think we got a nice glimpse of what the Pistons are eventually going to look like.
Haris (@harisahmad_1): Assuming no major injuries, who gets more playing time at small forward, Caron Butler or Kyle Singler?
Langlois: Butler drew the start in Tuesday's preseason opener, which by Stan Van Gundy's own words means little. He's experimenting with starting lineups throughout the preseason and it wouldn't surprise me if there are tweaks made to it even into the regular season. That's not unusual when you've added six new players and a whole new coaching staff over one off-season. Even if Butler hangs on to the starting spot, I'd bet on Singler logging more minutes for the season simply based on durability. Butler, 34, missed 26 games last season. That doesn't mean he's fated to again miss a big chunk of games, but history generally proves that players on the dark side of 30 are more apt to miss time due to injury. Singler, on the other hand, has played all 82 games in each of his first two seasons and should be in his physical prime at 26. Now, when both are available, who'll average more minutes? Good question. Stay tuned. Butler might start but average fewer minutes a game than Singler. Van Gundy has--like Lawrence Frank, Mo Cheeks and John Loyer before him --already come to appreciate the trust level Singler inspires. He doesn't blow assignments defensively and he keeps the offense flowing either by cutting hard and consistently when he doesn't have the ball or making quick decisions with it when it finds him. Jonas Jerebko has also impressed Van Gundy and he appears first in line to earn minutes as a stretch four a weapon Van Gundy uses to great effect but Singler is another possibility to earn some extra minutes at power forward when the opposition goes small.
Demarcus (Lawrenceville, Ga.): A mantra Stan Van Gundy has seemingly consistently conveyed is that the rotation will be determined by fit and chemistry. With that being said, if SVG decides through camp and preseason that Josh Smith is best served as the sixth man, what do you think is the likelihood we see Jonas Jerebko in the starting lineup for the first two regular-season games while Greg Monroe serves his suspension?
Langlois: Excellent question, Demarcus. Something I hadn't really considered, but it makes sense that Van Gundy would consider it as a possibility based on something he said over the weekend. Asked if he would consider using Monroe and Smith alternately as starters based on a particular games matchups, he indicated that would not be a likelihood. His reasoning: Because neither Smith nor Monroe is accustomed to coming off the bench, the best way to make either one effective at doing so is to give them the role consistently. So if he decides hed rather have Monroe as the starter at power forward with Smith coming off the bench, then perhaps using Jerebko as the starter for those first two games would be in the cards. Bottom line, though, is within the big three of Drummond, Smith and Monroe you're going to see any one of them playing with one of the two others plenty. That's the only way it really can work if they're going to get the 30-plus minutes a game they all merit. It will be interesting to see how Van Gundy responds when the opposition plays small. Can he devise a system that gives the Pistons the advantage? In other words, can the Pistons do more damage against a smaller lineup on their end then the opposition can inflict on them by stretching the floor and forcing Smith or Monroe to guard the 3-point line? Or is it possible that the Pistons respond and also wind up playing small and going with only one of Smith, Drummond or Monroe on the court?
Reid (@reid_austin): With the new TV money, salaries are going to go up. How do you think the NBA will introduce that? With Andre Drummond being eligible for an extension next year, he could potentially make much more per year than Kyrie Irving, who was drafted No. 1 a year earlier.
Langlois: They've got a lot of time to hash that out, Reid. It seems very likely that commissioner Adam Silver, who has drawn high marks from players so far for his outreach, figures to be solicitous of the players association to gauge their sentiment. There is already speculation the players will be in favor of phasing in the increases to the cap to avoid exactly the type of situation you describe. It could result in younger players than Irving outearning him by several million dollars a year. On the other hand, the players have already expressed their intent to get a piece of the bigger pie and phasing in cap increases also lessens the flow of money to them. They will want something in return for that. I think now that the numbers are in, no matter what is said for public consumption, both sides are going to strategize behind closed doors and figure out the best way forward. And I don't think were close to unanimity within either camp yet.
Ben (@brgulker): Why in the world is Josh Smith starting?
Langlois: He's not yet. Oh, he started the first preseason game and he might well be in the starting lineup on Oct. 29 in Denver, Ben. But Stan Van Gundy is sincere when he says hes completely open regarding his starting lineup and his rotation. He's looking for the best combinations, not necessarily judging players at the same position in a head-to-head fashion. So if Smith winds up starting at power forward over Greg Monroe--and let's assume for the sake of this discussion that Andre Drummond is the starting center--then you can bet Van Gundy will make that decision for reasons that have everything to do with how Smith fits with Van Gundy's other starters. Van Gundy has said you can play offense through either Smith or Monroe at the elbows or elsewhere, so it might really come down to how he views the units defensively. But Josh Smith is certainly a worthy NBA starter. He's been a near All-Star--he had a strong case once or twice, at least, in Atlanta--so there isn't a long list of teams for which he wouldn't start, I'd guess.
Larry (St. Clair Shores, Mich.): Is there a chance any of the people signed for training camp makes the team and will Stan Van Gundy execute a trade before the trade deadline?
Langlois: Way too soon to speculate about the second question, Larry, simply because Van Gundy has to see what he has before he determines what he needs. As for the first question, I would have said no pretty unequivocally before the news that Aaron Gray would miss all of the preseason with an undisclosed cardiac condition. Gray seemed optimistic last week that once a second round of tests is conducted sometime soon and compared against the first batch of tests that he'll be cleared to go. But, in any case, it would be very unlikely that would happen in time for him to start the season. And if there is less encouraging news that emerges before the Oct. 27 roster cutdown to 15 is mandatory, then they might have to consider their options. In that case, 7-foot-3 Hasheem Thabeet--assuming he acquits himself favorably over the next three weeks---might have a chance to stick. The difficulty, though, is that the Pistons would have to move two of their 16 guaranteed contracts in order to create a roster opening for him. The situation is further complicated by the fact Greg Monroe wont be available for the first two games of the regular season while he serves an NBA suspension. Without Monroe and, presumably, Gray for those games in Denver and Minnesota, there is no logical candidate to play center when Andre Drummond rests. Keep in mind, as well, that those games come on consecutive nights, so any idea of playing Drummond 45-plus minutes is probably unrealistic, especially given Denver's altitude and its notorious impact on visiting teams.
Ethan (Radford, Va.): What are we looking at as far as some nationally televised games this season?
Langlois: The Pistons currently have two games scheduled for ESPN, Ethan: Jan. 19 at Orlando, a 2:30 p.m. matinee on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and April 3 at Chicago, an 8 p.m. Eastern start. As you probably know, the schedule is always subject to change. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the Pistons get the uptick I expect them to get in Stan Van Gundy's first year and are competing for a playoff spot if they add a few additional national TV games.
Al (Rockford, Mich.): When do you expect Spencer Dinwiddie to be ready to play and do you think he'll really be able to work his way into Stan Van Gundy's rotation?
Langlois: The Pistons are playing it close to the vest with Dinwiddie's rehabilitation from January ACL surgery, Al, but its pretty clear that he's getting pretty close to full participation. He jumped in live three-on-three drills on Monday, the first live action he's seen as opposed to working in individual drills with coaches or taking part in walk-through drills. That was a really big step for him. If the medical staff determined he was fine to put the stress on his knee required of reacting to another player's movement in three-on-three drills, it doesn't seem like a huge leap to five-on-five full-court action. Weeks, not months, would be my guess. It wouldn't surprise me if it came before the regular season gets here in three weeks. Of course, that would still mean Dinwiddie would have been away from no-holds-barred basketball for 10-plus months, compounded by the transition to the NBA faced by any rookie. Van Gundy has three veteran point guards, two of whom (Brandon Jennings and D.J. Augustin) played 30-plus minutes a game last season and a third (Will Bynum) whos always ready to give you that many or more. Once the regular season gets going, it can be pretty tough on the last four or five players on the roster to find an opportunity for playing time. Practices can be limited, in part because the games come one after the other and in part because you can't run your starters into the ground in practices. The best shot for players who find themselves in the situation Dinwiddie (and Gigi Datome, Cartier Martin and Tony Mitchell, for that matter) finds himself is to stand out consistently in the post-practice three-on-three or two-on-two games that are staged for their benefit by the assistant coaches. Do that and bide your time and opportunities have a way of presenting themselves over the course of 82 games.