Sports

Yashinsky: Who's Hot and Who's Not in Detroit Sports

February 25, 2015, 11:53 AM by  Joey Yashinsky

HOT  -  The Pistons Young New Backcourt

Featured_screen_shot_2015-02-23_at_1.27.47_pm_15912
Reggie Jackson

After just two games, it looks like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Reggie Jackson are going to get along just fine.  KCP is playing the best ball of his Pistons career, racking up 47 points (with 11 3s) in his last two, while Jackson (19.5 PPG, 7 APG, 6.5 RPG) has acclimated to the D very quickly.  If they continue to operate at this high level, the Pistons will go on another run and find themselves locking down that 8th playoff seed come April.

NOT  -  Jodie Meeks

The designated sharpshooter off the Pistons bench has been cold as ice from long range over the last month.  Since January 25th, Meeks has hoisted 48 times from distance and converted only 8 for a nightmarish 17 percent.  The former Kentucky product was signed almost exclusively for his proficiency from downtown, so the extended dry spell is definitely not good for business.  To Meeks credit, he’s been dead solid perfect from the short line in February, going an impressive 29 for 29 at the charity stripe.

HOT  -  Max Hooper


Max Hooper

Who’s Max Hooper, you ask? It’s none other than Greg Kampe’s next man up in his endless line of 3-point marksmen teeing it up for the Oakland Golden Grizzlies. Following in the footsteps of Erik Kangas and Travis Bader, Hooper (a St. John’s transfer) has taken over as the new sheriff in TriplesVille.  Over his last four games, Mr. Hooper has popped in 19 3s in 35 attempts.  Bonus points for Hooper only attempting a pair of paltry two-pointers during this stretch -- this guy’s a designated sniper and he knows it.  Oakland is quietly putting together a very nice season in the Horizon League, winning 10 of 14 games, including a sparkling 7 and 0 conference mark at the O-Rena.  Look for that to become 8-0 as they complete their home schedule tonight against Horizon cellar-dweller Youngstown State.

NOT  -  Raven Lee

Eastern Michigan’s most exciting, and at the same time, most frustrating player.  After going off for 32 points on Valentine’s Day in a rousing home win over Akron, Lee and the Eagles have fallen on hard times.  The sophomore from Romulus has somehow managed to foul out in two of his last three games before registering even 20 minutes of playing time.  Naturally, EMU was drilled in both games, including a 16-point home drubbing Tuesday night at the hands of in-state rival Central Michigan.  With super-quick senior Mike Talley at the point, Lee always capable of exploding at the other guard spot, and high-flying Karrington Ward a constant double-double threat, much more was expected from the Eagles during this MAC season (6-9).  It’s still not impossible to see this group getting hot and making noise in the conference tournament, but it will need to be on the back of Raven Lee, something that has not exactly gone according to plan of late.

HOT  -  Pavel Datsyuk

The ageless Red Wings star has been Mr. Reliable during this hellish six-game roadie out west.  He’s picked up seven points thus far (in four games), including back-to-back two goal performances against Dallas and Anaheim.  Even in Tuesday night’s 1-0 shutout loss to the Kings, Datsyuk was one of the more active Red Wings, continually creating opportunities and registering three shots on goal.  

NOT  -  Tomas Tatar

The leading goal-scorer on the team has been struggling to find the twine in February.  His monthly outputs had been very consistent: 7 goals in November, 6 in December, 7 more in January.  Perhaps hitting a little bit of the late-season wall, Tatar has lit the lamp just twice this month.  With Henrik Zetterberg currently on the shelf with a concussion, it’s imperative that the Wings’ top players pick up the slack.  And even though he’s still young and in just his second full year as an NHL’er, a bulk of that responsibility falls to Tatar.  He must find a way to be more productive or the Wings will continue to drop in the cutthroat Eastern Conference standings.

HOT  -  Michigan State Hoops

The Spartans are revving the engine at just the right time, playing their best ball of the season with March less than a week away.  Tom Izzo’s crew has reeled off four straight, with three coming on the road.  The destruction of Michigan in Ann Arbor was particularly impressive, especially after seeing the Wolverines take out tournament-bound Ohio State their next time out.  Travis Trice appears perfectly comfortable in his new role coming off the bench, while Denzel Valentine’s outside shot just continues to get better.  He’s now close to 42% from three-point range this season, which when coupled with his 83% free throw mark, make for a pretty devastating offensive attack.  If Branden Dawson continues to play at the elevated level he has been of late, it could be a three-man Spartan weave through the brackets next month.  

NOT  -  Tigers Unchanged Bullpen

Featured_joe_nathan_13945
Joe Nathan

One of the ongoing issues with the Detroit Tigers in 2014 was their leaky bullpen.  Leaky might even be an understatement; they were downright fire-starters in many cases, including that two-game October circus in Baltimore.  Somehow, the cast of characters looks very much the same.  Joe Nathan, a year older (he’s now 71), is miraculously back as the team’s closer despite registering one of the worst seasons by any big league reliever in 2014.  It looked like the swan song of what had been a very good career to that point.  But no such luck -- Nathan is back, and for whatever reason, still has a firm hold on that 9th inning slot.  Joba Chamberlain and Joakim Soria, the combination that got rapped all over Camden Yards in that playoff meltdown, are both back.  Al Alburquerque should be a bright spot and is probably ready for a more meaningful bullpen role.  Bruce Rondon seems to ooze talent, but you begin to wonder if that right arm will ever remain fully intact for an entire summer.  Bullpen performance can change drastically year to year, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that this unit turns it around in ’15.  But it would have been nice for the look to change a little bit.  And when I say a little bit, I mean a lot.      

 



Leave a Comment:

Photo Of The Day