2012 NBA Draft: Michael Gilchrist Could Be a Perfect Fit for Detroit Pistons
The 2012 NBA regular season is already a quarter of the way finished, and the Detroit Pistons have quickly staked their claim to last place in the Eastern Conference's Central Division.
Any hopes of making a surprise run to the playoffs this year have been dashed with a bucketful of reality. It should come as no surprise that the Pistons are experiencing growing pains, though.
This season is about getting Detroit's young stars more game-time experience, and giving Lawrence Frank a chance to shape them into a winning team.
It will be hard to watch at times. Losses will pile up higher than the stack of cash Charlie Villanueva rakes in every night for riding the pine.
The Lottery
The bright side of losing is that when the season is over, Detroit will get to take part in the league's annual celebration of futility: The NBA Lottery, where a team's future rests in its ability to turn a handful of ping-pong balls into a franchise-changing player.
A couple of players have already been targeted as picks for Detroit: Andre Drummand and Anthony Davis.
These players could adequately fill the gaping hole in the Piston's frontcourt. With all due respect to Ben Wallace and Jason Maxiell, Detroit needs a physical big man to complement Monroe, dominate the defensive glass and provide a defensive presence in the lane.
Drummand and Davis would clearly make the most sense. Unfortunately, these players won't be around when Detroit picks. They'll be selected first and second overall.
The Pistons are bad, but not bad enough to garner one of the top two picks.
Jared Sullinger, Perry Jones and Thomas Robinson are players that could satisfy Detroit's frontcourt needs, and all of them should be available when the Pistons pick. All three have potential bust written all over them too.
Sullinger is undersized (height, not weight) and slow. Jones has no heart and disappears for long stretches of time, and Robinson has been compared to J.J. Hickson and Kris Humphries. That doesn't instill a lot of confidence, does it?
Pistons' Surprise Pick?
Yes, the Pistons need a player with size who can provide adequate scoring down low, rebound and be a defensive presence in the lane. Easy, right?
Well, it might not be as hard as you think.
Michael Gilchrist is a player that I think the Pistons should really consider. Joe Dumars coveted a Kentucky product last year—Demarcus Cousins—and I think he should focus on another one in 2012.
The Kentucky freshman is only 6'7" and 210 lbs, so he wouldn't be the big man Pistons fans hoped for. But, he's strong and physical, and he has a 7' wingspan.
Gilchrist was recently given the honor of being called the best overall player on his team. Who bestowed him with this title, you ask? Only his legendary coach, John Calipari.
According to mynbadraft.com, what really separates him from the pack—what I think makes him a natural fit for Detroit—is this:
"He is a committed stopper on the defensive end who can create turnovers and start fast breaks and finish them with authority. Although he has the ability to average 20-plus per game, he chooses to find his points in the flow of the game and not hurt his team by taking bad shots. He also hits the glass hard, and has three-point range. When analyzing his character at this point he gets an A-plus, he competes hard and keeps a level head, strong work ethic and unselfish teammate.
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Here's another report on Gilchirist, from nba-draft.com:
"His toughness and strength combined with his elite-level athleticism and quickness enables him to defend 2s, 3s or 4s. He has an unbelievable motor where he appears to give 100 percent every minute he is on the floor which coaches and scouts alike love. He digs in on defense, harassing his opponents and using his physicality to keep them out of the lane.
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In every scouting report I've seen, his negative attributes are minimal. He is raw offensively, lacks a post-up game and needs to develop a more consistent outside shot. That sounds like every college freshman player in the nation.
He's a Natural Fit
Gilchrist was born to wear a Pistons uniform. No other team in NBA history has an identity so closely tied to defensive intensity and physical play. Bill Laimbeer, Rick Mahorn, Dennis Rodman, Ben Wallace: All are Piston icons who impacted their team in a major way with defense.
Gilchrist fits in with that group but brings something extra to the table. He combines their defensive skills with athleticism and a greater offensive game. One scouting report said he could become a "Scottie Pippen-type player."
Today's Pistons team lacks someone like this. Coach Frank preaches defense, but the players he has aren't suited to that kind of game. Gilchrist could be the one to set the defensive tone for this team.
He's a defensive stopper that every successful team needs to shut down the opposing team's best player. He could also settle in nicely as a third or fourth scoring option.
Throughout their history, the Pistons are at their best when they play unselfish, defense-first basketball. They've won three championships that way.
They've never done well when building a team around one superstar player. Their style of play is not suited to the superstar type.
So let other teams draft based on potential. Detroit's been burned too many times.
Gilchrist isn't the next Kevin Garnett or LeBron. But he isn't the next Darko Milicic or Kwame Brown either. The Pistons know what they're getting with him—intense physical play, stifling defense, athleticism and offensive skills that will improve with time.
Most importantly, he has the skill set that makes the Pistons a better team the minute he puts on the uniform. Let's hope the Pistons give him that chance.
