Anyone seen the documentary "Gunnin' for that #1 Spot"? It's a pretty cool flick that came out a few years back, directed by the late/great Adam Yauch (Beastie Boys). It basically follows 8 of the top HS players back in 2006 (including Kyle Singler) as they participate in the Elite-24 all-star game at Rucker Park in NYC. (The flick also features Michael Beasley, Kevin Love, Tyreke Evans, Brandon Jennings, ...others. - Spoiler alert: Mike Beasley is a dink!) ...anyway, lots of cool Kyle Singler High School footage in there and even some game tape of him playing Quarterback on the football team. I'm sure that you can score a rental of this from your favorite web-based video rental source.
Sounds much more interesting knowing that there is a Piston in there. Did Singler seem like he had any swagger or was he Mr Fundamentals?
He and Love both played the humble rural kids from Oregon pretty well but Kyle had some commendable street-ball moves and held his own @ Rucker.
Kyle can ball! Dare I say he's better than Gordon Hayward? On par with Dunleavy Jr? Better than Terrance Ross of the Raptors? Wes Johnson was a lottery pick and was traded to Phx for nothing and continues to get DNP's. Kyle isn't a beast, but he's a smart, hard working very skilled basketball player. Love the kid!
He's had a great year so far. How much better will he get than this? I wish the Pistons made half the effort they do getting Drummond on the floor as they do Singler.
Rule no1: every thread must include word "drummond" Anyway, did not expect much from Singler, he reads game very well, does not make uneccessary moves. He and Monroe are braintwins, so to speak.
I'm really impressed with him. He's not the most athletic guy, but he plays very good positional defense, reminiscent of Shane Battier. He can shoot and pass well enough to play the 2 and rebound well enough to play the 3. I love his versatility. I could see him being a 15 ppg, 4 apg, 6 rpg guy, all while giving you solid defense and a great floor game. He's what Austin Daye should have been. He's an ideal starter on a team that could be paying big money to guys like Monroe, Drummond, and Knight in a few years. We could also be paying a big time free agent (Harden?) next summer along with another lottery pick. As for his replacing Stuckey, I think Stuckey is back in the role he should be playing. I like him for 10-15 minutes off of the bench at the PG spot, and another 15 minutes at the other guard spot, more if he's playing well. That's really the role where he can help us.
That shot off the windshield of the car was pretty impressive. And Sheed's shot from way behind the glass (without wind) was almost impossible. Here's a really good DBB post about Singler: The Rise of Kyle Singler: Strengths and Sustainability - Detroit Bad Boys I read somewhere else too that Singler has been the most efficient NBA player on transitions this year as well. Both sources got the data from Synergy. Taking that as a fact and adding to it that he's a good passer on the break and he's igniting the break with crisp outlet passes, we have the reason for the Pistons' quickening pace. After starting the year out toward the bottom of the league again, we have now climbed to 16th in pace. That means that since Singler took over in the starting lineup, we have probably been in the top 10 in pace. For instance, in the past 5 games, we've had the 9th fastest pace in the league, which is probably a good estimate for how we've been with Singler. Refreshing to say the least. Faster pace isn't always good... for instance when you are a great defensive team with a half court that runs like clockwork (2004 Pistons). However, when you're a team that struggles in the half court, speeding up the pace can generate higher percentage FGA's. The Pistons this year now have the same eFG on offense as we allow on defense at .477/ .477. That is a great sign since last year we were at .468/.500. This means we've improved our offensive and defensive efficiency. In fact our defense is almost completely back to average from almost the worst in the league. Year: O eFG/ D eFG 2009: .483/ .485 (39-43) 2010: .474/ .526 (27-55) 2011: .495/ .526 (30-52) 2012: .468/ .500 (31-51*) 2013: .477/ .477 (?) This stat is extremely correlated with W/L record. Lately we have looked like a .500 team in that we've won about half the games, had a blowout win, and remained competitive against a really good team in the Grizz, but fizzled when they had to fire their afterburners. Anyone else sick of hearing the announcers say "Zigler" instead of Singler?
I think it's interesting how integral Singler seems to have become to the team's success in so little time. He's not flashy and won't make the highlight reels much (that's Drummond's department) but he's been awesome so far. I can't say one negative thing about him.
He shoots a low volume because he can't create his own shot. He's assisted on 80% of his field goals, which is the most on the team. Singler's FGA/min are the 2nd lowest on the team, only ahead of Maxiell. Basically, if he's not wide open, he doesn't shoot and passes the rock to somebody else who may then have to force it up. On the rare occasion where Singler has to force a shot, he's looked pretty helpless. He only averages 1.3 assists per 36 minutes as a SG. JJ, Drummond, and Maxiell are the only players on the team that average less than that. Stuckey averages 4.7 in comparison and he's only our 4th best in that stat. The difference between those 2 is probably more than 7 points per game. He doesn't get to the FT line very often (again because he only takes open shots and is extremely selective). He averages 2.8 FTA/36, which is only ahead of Tay at 2.4. He has committed 10 more personal fouls than any other player on the team this year. His PER is 8th on the team, behind Prince and Villanueva (even with Villa's recent cold streak). That probably sounds like a lot of negative things, but I'm sure that I could name far more for almost all other players on the team. Those are cherry picked nicks.
