| Pistons Add Another Monster Down Low Authored by Joe Sargent - June 29, 2005 - 3:24 pm
Looking back, the Detroit Pistons had a tumultuous season, and finished successfully: one game away from back-to-back titles. Looking ahead, the team will return over 95% of its offensive output from last year, and all five of their starters. This left the Pistons in a pretty privileged position heading into yesterday’s draft. Although it is tough to criticize any team that manages to reach Game 7 in the Finals, clearly the two most prevalent weaknesses for the team last year were their offense and their bench. Their offense suffered from costly droughts; too often these lead to frustration, sloppy play, and losses. The bench, lacking confidence from coach Larry Brown, underperformed, and was unavailable to spell the starters throughout the entire season. The Pistons played with a seven-man rotation for much of the year. Undoubtedly, these heavy minutes fatigued the starters when you consider the team played 107 games this past season.
Obviously, the Pistons could have benefited from drafting a proven shooter, preferably at the swingman position. A player like Francisco Garcia could have addressed both the problems in Motown. When the 26th pick rolled around, however, Joe Dumars and company was faced with few viable options to address the need for offense. The Pistons selected Jason Maxiell, a forward from Cincinnati, who, although undersized, is a beast down low. He fits the mold of Ben Wallace, and his ability to block shots and rebound will add some toughness off of the bench when the Wallaces need to sit. Maxiell has the “blue collar” game that will allow him to blend into the lineup and provide a spark off of the bench. Jason is a hard worker who will have a mature, supportive group of players to help him adjust to the league.
With their second round picks, the Pistons selected prep star Amir Johnson and Alex Acker, a shooting guard from Pepperdine. Johnson is a 6’11” athlete in the mold of a poor man’s (more like beggar’s) Jermaine O’Neal. He will have to add muscle before he can contribute anything to this roster, however the Pistons are one of a few teams with time to wait for him to develop. Acker has shown an above average scoring ability including 43% from the 3-point line. He could find a place on the roster if he shows that he can contribute by providing instant offense off of the bench, similar to the role Jon Barry filled in Detroit two years ago.
Overall, the Pistons helped themselves by adding depth to the bench in Maxiell, and two interesting prospects in the second round. Maxiell plays with the heart that is respected in Detroit, and seems to be a perfect fit to contribute off of the bench as soon as he feels comfortable in his new role.
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