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Minor injuries throw down a few obstacles, but Pistons camp on course to meet objectives

A handful of assorted injuries chipped away at the integrity of Saturday’s first public glimpse of Stan Van Gundy’s second Pistons team, though that he could laugh about them – kinda, sorta – at least underscored the fact nothing is believed serious.

Aside from Brandon Jennings’ continued rehab from January’s Achilles tendon tear, Van Gundy wouldn’t be surprised to find a full complement of players for Monday’s practice after the Pistons took off Sunday, their first break since jamming nine practices into five days.

The concussion Steve Blake incurred Wednesday has the most potential to linger, given the unpredictable nature of the condition, but there’s no outward signs to suggest that’s anyone’s expectation.

Aron Baynes stepped on Joel Anthony’s foot and slightly aggravated the ankle he had surgically repaired over the off-season, but walked without a limp on Saturday. Reggie Jackson played through a thigh contusion and said afterward it was only a minor aggravation. Marcus Morris suffered a freak injury – his right toenail was ripped off – but he, too, walked without any sign of pain. Ersan Ilyasova banged into camp invitee Jordan Bachynski’s screen and suffered a minor hip flexor injury. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope went to the locker room bleeding from a shot to the mouth, the final straw that induced Van Gundy to wave off the final seconds of Saturday’s event.

“It was either we had to end the scrimmage with 36 seconds or I had to play,” he cracked. “We decided to go with ending the scrimmage.”

Other than the obstacles the injuries created – particularly the run of injuries that left Spencer Dinwiddie as the only healthy point guard for Friday’s practice – Van Gundy was upbeat about camp’s first week. I looked at five camp questions before it convened a week ago; here’s a scorecard on how they’ve begun to be answered.

  1. Which players best complement Reggie Jackson and Andre Drummond in the starting lineup?

    Van Gundy cited Kentavious Caldwell-Pope as the best player of camp so far and included Ersan Ilyasova – along with Reggie Jackson and Stanley Johnson – among the top performers beyond him. Safe to say Ilyasova and Caldwell-Pope, already heavy favorites to start, are more firmly entrenched now than a week ago at power forward and shooting guard.

    That still leaves small forward, where Johnson and Marcus Morris are the contestants. Johnson, by all accounts, has been very good. Van Gundy is doing his best to lend perspective, but it’s clear he believes the Pistons got it right with the No. 8 pick more strongly today than he did even on draft night.

    But Morris was a standout in Saturday’s open practice and remains the favorite to start. Here’s what Van Gundy said after three practices: “I’ll do whatever I think is best for the team. I’m not really settled in on anything right now. But certainly headed into it I would look at Marcus, but we’ll see how it goes.”

  2. How big a role is Stanley Johnson ready to assume?

    Big. Whether he starts or not, he’ll play virtual starter’s minutes, I’d guess. And it would surprise no one if he finished games as often as not.

  3. Who’ll emerge from the crowded field at the wing positions to claim the last few roster berths?

    Saturday’s open practice didn’t reveal much, if any, separation between the three players who might be battling for one spot: Adonis Thomas, Reggie Bullock and Cartier Martin.

    Thomas was another who suffered a minor injury, playing only briefly before complaining of Achilles soreness. Martin hit a few jump shots, Bullock picked up a few put-back baskets.

    On Thursday, after the fifth practice of camp, Van Gundy said this about their competition: “The tough part is they’re all playing pretty well. We really don’t have anybody in camp that’s not playing pretty well. All of those guys know what the competition is all about, so it’s sort of heightened and everybody’s playing hard with good focus.”

    So, still to be determined. With preseason games opening Tuesday, we’ll see how much time Van Gundy can afford to give those players in games when his overriding objective is to play his rotation core together in various combinations to learn more about how they interact.

  4. Will key veteran acquisitions Aron Baynes and Steve Blake mesh quickly and help turn the Pistons second unit into a strength?

    Injuries make progress on this count pretty tough to gauge. Both players drew praise from Van Gundy and teammates before being sidelined. Not much to worry about yet. They should be back soon and both get high marks for basketball IQ.

  5. Will Reggie Jackson emerge as the undisputed leader as well as the long-term point guard Van Gundy acquired him to be?

    Sure looks like it. After three practices, Van Gundy – asked whether Jackson’s voice was one he was hearing frequently in practice – said this: “There’s no question, but more than that he’s playing at a very high intensity level and that’s the best thing you can do as a leader.”

    Among other indicators of his attempt to lead, Jackson continues to bang the drum for the need for better team defense.

    As he ticked off all the impressive individual performances from Saturday’s open practice – Johnson, Morris, Caldwell-Pope and Jodie Meeks in particular – Jackson finished with this: “Just happy with how they did, but as a team overall we’ve got to get better defensively.”