Detroit Pistons Weekly Watch: Villanueva and Gordon Giving Early Returns on Investment

The Pistons have rolled off 3 straight wins in their third week to raise their overall record to 5-4.

The Pistons defeated the 76ers 88-81 and the Bobcats 98-75 at the Palace. They earned their first road victory in a hard fought battle at Washington 106-103.

Richard Hamilton (ankle) and Tayshaun Prince (ruptured lower back disc) were out again this week with their injuries.

It hardly seemed to matter as the Pistons stepped up their play. The rookies Jonas Jerebko and Austin Daye have been holding the fort down at the small forward position with Jerebko starting and Daye coming off the bench. DaJuan Summers, who has been working hard in practices, is being inserted into games now to begin gaining experience and earning his stripes.

Ben Wallace has been the Pistons’ defensive and rebounding heart, playing like the Ben of old in an average of 30 minutes per game.

Kwame Brown has continued to contribute solid backup play for Wallace at center providing a defensive and rebounding presence and garbage points.

Jason Maxiell had a solid week also with quality defense and rebounding and some scoring with a midrange shot and low post game.

Will Bynum continues to spark the Pistons off the bench with two monster dunks against Charlotte that made the ESPN highlight reel. He has also contributed assists and rebounds along with his scoring.

Rodney Stuckey has contributed with modest points and assists production and excellent rebounding at his position. He has also played excellent defense at both point guard and small forward when Coach Kuester employed the 3 guard lineup.

Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva have combined, though, to carry the Pistons offensively, scoring over half the team’s points over the last week. Touted as excellent scorers and indifferent defenders coming into the season, Gordon and Villanueva have also worked hard on the defensive end, contributing to the Pistons’ defensive averages of 89.62 points per game (fifth best in the league) and 0.471 field goal percentage for opponents (third best).

Both Gordon and Villanueva have committed to playing defense with the Pistons and becoming all around players.

This week demonstrates that Joe Dumars’ decision to sign Gordon and Villanueva as free agents during the past offseason was another stroke of his low key genius.

Tayshaun Prince is expected to be out of the lineup indefinitely, receiving treatment on his lower back and being evaluated on the need for surgery. Richard Hamilton remains day-to-day with no timeline for his return.

The young new-look Pistons are showing excellent progress at coming together under Coach John Kuester.

Next week’s opening game at the Palace and the upcoming West Coast trip in which the Pistons play the Mavericks, Lakers, Trailblazers, Jazz, and Suns will be a stern test that would challenge even the accomplished Piston teams of the Going to Work era.

If the first few weeks are an indication, the new Pistons will compete from beginning to end in each game.

When he is not contributing content here at Midwest Sports Fans, Boris is the administrator of Club Pistons, one of the best Detroit Pistons fan forums on the web.

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