Milwaukee Bucks @ Detroit Pistons — The Palace of Auburn Hills 6:30 PM CT
After opening up the preseason with an 86-83 win yesterday at the Resch Center in Green Bay, The Bucks find themselves in Detroit tonight for a matchup with the new look Stan Van Gundy Pistons.
Detroit opened up the preseason campaign with an overtime win at the Palace against the Chicago Bulls. It took a 7-0 run to bring home the victory, as Greg Monroe and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope led the way offensively. KCP scored 18 while Monroe dropped 24 in a sixth man role.
For the Bucks, it was a struggle offensively in the first half against the Grizzlies. That didn’t stop Khris Middleton and Jabari Parker though from taking over the 4th quarter and securing a late comeback in regulation to secure the win.
The Pistons meet for the first of five meetings throughout the year. The two teams will meet three times during the regular season in the Month of November. They’ll wrap up their season series in late January.
The Intangibles
Radio: 1250 WSSP/105.7 The Fan (Ted Davis/Dennis Krause)
TV: This game will not be televised, nor picked up by League Pass
Online: League Pass Audio
Social Media: @BehindTheBucks | @PistonPowered
Owning the Future vs. Future is Now
The Bucks and Pistons went into the off-season knowing that they needed to make changes. With new ownership established in both cities, both organizations made it clear what their plan of attack was going to be. For Tom Gores, the plan was set in stone once Stan Van Gundy was hired as the team’s president and head coach. The Pistons feel like they have enough pieces in place to win right away.
It’s now up to Van Gundy to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
The Bucks might have surprised the league by listening to Jason Kidd’s proposal to coach their organization. Yet, he feels like the perfect leader for young players in this league to buy into. He has a lot to teach a team that has pieces with the potential to be great.
Projected Starters/Injuries
The Pistons enter the year with a couple of position battles that started working themselves out in the first preseason game against Chicago. Greg Monroe came off the bench and showed that he can fill that role very well. Pairing Josh Smith and Andre Drummond together makes sense simply because Stan Van Gundy prefers interior defense to go along with his premier post player. Smith also can provide some punch offensively and adds more athleticism on the floor. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope did not start in the preseason opener, but his athleticism might win him a starting spot down the line this season. Monroe and former Buck point guard Brandon Jennings both averaged 20 points per game against the Bucks last year.
For the Bucks, the future of Jabari Parker and Khris Middleton shined brightly along the potential of Larry Sanders returning to true form. Sanders grabbed five offensive rebounds and scored 10 points against Memphis last night. Middleton took over the game in the fourth quarter and scored the game tying and then game winning jumpers on dishes from Brandon Knight. His game high of 17 wasn’t necessarily expected, but a welcomed addition to what seems to be a logjam at shooting guard and small forward.
O.J. Mayo sat out last night, because head coach Jason Kidd wanted to play just 12 yesterday. He will get a chance to add to the confusion tonight.
Injury Report
For the Bucks, Ersan Illyasova will miss his second straight preseason game. The forward is still battling illness and didn’t travel with the team to Green Bay yesterday. Meanwhile, rookie Damien Inglis is out after surgery on his right ankle.
For the Pistons, Pistons forward Cartier Martin is questionable with shoulder soreness. Aaron Gray and Spencer Dinwiddie will both sit out tonight’s game. Dinwiddie continues to rehab his knee after surgery midway through his final season at Colorado. Gray is out after a Cardiac episode in training camp. Point guard Will Bynum is day-to-day with a hamstring injury.
Ersan Ilyasova Illness Out Oct 11 vs. CHI 7:30 p.m. —
Damien Inglis Post-surgery – right ankle Ou
Common Ground
Hardly ever does a trade ever work out between teams. Before the start of last season, The Bucks knew that they needed to move Brandon Jennings to build up the future of the franchise. The Pistons felt that they needed an “elite” point guard to run their what looked to be playoff bound offense.
The price was that of Khris Middleton and Brandon Knight.
Both were bright spots in a very dark season last year. Now, it looks like both will play integral roles in the rebuilding of this team.
What makes the future of the matchups between these two teams is that you have two point guards going up against their former teams.
There is enough history here to possibly create a rivalry down the road.
Three Things to Watch
1.) Larry Sanders vs. Andre Drummond
Are you ready for physicality vs. athleticism? Bucks fans are curious to know where Larry Sanders stands in the spectrum of things as he looks to bounce back this season. In some aspects, we might be able to get some answers tonight. Andre Drummond had the highest field goal percentage of any Piston in history last season. He is only going to get better this season.
Yet, Sanders has a lot to prove about what he can do in this league. Bucks fans can argue that we still haven’t seen the best of his ability. Here’s to hoping that these two can create some very rare preseason fireworks.
2.) Mayo on Wheat or Mayo on the Court?
Head Coach Jason Kidd said that the only reason that O.J. Mayo sat on Wednesday night was because he wanted to play only 12 players and with the logjam at guard, he wanted to sit Mayo and give him an opportunity tonight.
Mayo has lost 15-20 pounds heading into preseason. It was surely needed after he turned in the worst season of his career when it comes to pursuit and distribution of the basketball. After a good first year in Milwaukee, Mayo had the lowest assist, steal and rebounding numbers in his career.
He only played in 52 games last season, but it was evident that he wasn’t in the best playing shape of his career.
It will be interesting to see what he looks like on the floor tonight, and where his fit will be down the road for the Bucks.
3.) Middleton and Knight vs. their Drafted Team
There’s something about watching young players with a grudge face the team that drafted them. There is nearly nobody left in the organization that had anything to do with drafting them or trading them, but there is always that fire to prove your worth against them.
Khris Middleton never really got a chance to prove himself in Detroit, because of the injuries he faced while in the blue and red.
Brandon Knight though has a lot to play for.
Knight was thought to be the future point guard of the organization, but after his rookie year, was casted into a confusing role at guard. There is a reason he continues to defend the fact that he’s a point guard. Not only is he looking to get paid in the offseason, but he’s heard all the same things before.
On the flip side, 2009 Milwaukee selections Brandon Jennings and Jodie Meeks will also be competing against the teams that drafted them.