(SportsNetwork.com) – Is it too late for the Detroit Pistons to throw a going away party for Josh Smith, who was surprisingly released by the team on Dec. 22.<\/p>\n
The Pistons were 5-23 at the time, but they have been one of the hottest teams in the league since they cut the 10-year veteran, winning nine of their next 10 games, including a seven-game winning streak following Smith’s departure.<\/p>\n
Highlighting the run were road wins against the Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and Toronto Raptors, with the victories over the Spurs and Mavericks coming in back-to-back games.<\/p>\n
Since the Pistons made that somewhat shocking move of dumping Smith, they’ve seen massive jumps in the games of Brandon Jennings, Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond.<\/p>\n
Here’s a detailed look at how each of them fared while playing with Smith and since he was given his walking papers:<\/p>\n
BRANDON JENNINGS<\/p>\n
With Josh Smith \/ Without Josh Smith<\/p>\n
Games – 25 \/ 10<\/p>\n
Minutes Per Game – 28.8 \/ 27.9<\/p>\n
Points Per Game – 12.6 \/ 20.3<\/p>\n
Field Goal Pct. – 36.8 \/ 46.9<\/p>\n
3-PT FG Pct. – 32.7 \/ 42.1<\/p>\n
Assists – 6.4 \/ 7.0<\/p>\n
Turnovers – 2.3 \/ 1.7<\/p>\n
Rebounds – 1.1 \/ 2.9<\/p>\n
Steals – 0.96 \/ 1.4<\/p>\n
GREG MONROE<\/p>\n
With Josh Smith \/ Without Josh Smith<\/p>\n
Games – 26 \/ 10<\/p>\n
Minutes Per Game – 28.9 \/ 30.3<\/p>\n
Points Per Game – 14.6 \/ 16.1<\/p>\n
Field Goal Pct. – 48.1 \/ 50.4<\/p>\n
Rebounds – 8.8 \/ 11.9<\/p>\n
Assists – 1.6 \/ 2.3<\/p>\n
Steals – 0.61 \/ 1.3<\/p>\n
ANDRE DRUMMOND<\/p>\n
With Josh Smith \/ Without Josh Smith<\/p>\n
Games – 28 \/ 10<\/p>\n
Minutes Per Game – 29.8 \/ 29.3<\/p>\n
Points Per Game – 12.9 \/ 12.3<\/p>\n
Field Goal Pct. – 48.2 \/ 54.5<\/p>\n
Rebounds – 12.5 \/ 14.3<\/p>\n
Steals \/ 0.92 \/ 1.6<\/p>\n
During his tenure with the Pistons, Smith handled the ball a lot and often initiated the offense. As it turns out, that probably stunted the growth of Jennings as a point guard, as he now relishes the responsibility given to him by coach Stan Van Gundy to be the leader and to be held accountable.<\/p>\n
And the coach is obviously thrilled with the early results. “He’s really been terrific here lately,” Van Gundy said. “He plays with great aggressiveness and great confidence, and sometimes you’re (wincing) about some of his shots. I’m not trying to put a leash on him, because he’s playing great. You’ve got to let those guys play. And he’s playing as well as I’ve seen him play since he came into the league.”<\/p>\n
In a matter of three weeks, the Pistons have gone from a sure-fire lottery team to one that should be able to compete for a playoff spot with so many subpar teams in the Eastern Conference fighting for the lower seeds. And while the Pistons are on a roll, the two marquee teams in their division are struggling.<\/p>\n
LeBron James was back in the lineup on Tuesday night after missing eight games with back and knee injuries, but that didn’t stop the Cavaliers from dropping their sixth straight game as they lost at the Phoenix Suns, 107-100. The Cavs were 1-7 during James’ absence and have lost nine of 10 overall to fall to 19-20.<\/p>\n
For those who don’t check the standings on a daily basis, you might be shocked to find out that Cleveland is one game back of a Milwaukee Bucks team that won just 15 games last season and lost its standout rookie Jabari Parker for the season with a torn ACL on Dec. 15.<\/p>\n
With more than half the season still left, the clock hasn’t run out on the Cavs righting the ship. But if we don’t see a significant improvement over the next month, it would be hard to imagine they’ll come close to living up to the preseason expectations.<\/p>\n
Keep in mind in James’ first season in Miami, the Heat stumbled to a 9-8 start, but quickly turned things around in a big way, and were 30-9 after their first 39 games.<\/p>\n
As for the division-leading Chicago Bulls, they don’t have quite as many as concerns as the Cavs, but there have been some troubling signs lately.<\/p>\n
Over the past two weeks, Tom Thibodeau’s team has suffered three embarrassing home losses. The Bulls dropped a 96-82 decision to the Brooklyn Nets on Dec. 30. The Utah Jazz won 97-77 on Jan. 7, and the Orlando Magic, minus Tobias Harris and Evan Fournier, went into Chicago on Monday and beat the Bulls, 121-114.<\/p>\n
“You can make an excuse every night in this league if that’s what you choose to do, whether it’s new players, the schedule, the start, who’s out, who’s in,” an angry Thibodeau said after the loss to the Magic. “There’s an excuse every night. You can’t do that. We have to make good. Either you’re in the circle or you’re out of the circle. You want to be in? Let’s go. You don’t want to be in? That’s fine, too. Let’s go.”<\/p>\n
Thibodeau also should be concerned with the play of Derrick Rose, who hasn’t come close to resembling the player he was prior to all his injuries.<\/p>\n
The Bulls’ point guard is averaging 17 points, 4.9 assists and 3.3 turnovers this season, and is shooting 40.2 percent from the floor and hitting 25.4 percent from 3-point range.<\/p>\n
Those numbers are a far cry from his MVP season in 2010-11, when he averaged 25 points, 7.7 assists and 3.4 turnovers, and shot 44.5 percent from the field and hit 33.2 percent of his 3s.<\/p>\n
Rose recently said the Bulls are good enough to win a championship this season, but I don’t see that happening unless his play increases dramatically.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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