Ellis: Diverse roster gives Pistons shot every night

Jonas Valanciunas was a problem.

The Toronto Raptors' center dominated Andre Drummond in the first half of Monday night's matchup against the Pistons. He pump-faked, knocked down jumpers and dunked his way to 22 points and 10 rebounds as the Raptors took a 12-point halftime lead.

Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy huddled with his staff and came up with a remedy — starting power forward Greg Monroe.

Monroe, with a stronger base, is more experienced and a better low-post defender than Drummond. Valanciunas — although he missed only one shot — managed nine points and two rebounds in the second half as the Pistons came back to win their sixth straight road game.

"(Valanciunas) was killing early and then we gave him a couple different looks," point guard Brandon Jennings said. "Greg did a good job, I think, on him in the second half. We were able to be successful."

The move highlights a strength that has flown under the radar during the team's surge into the Eastern Conference playoff chase.

The Pistons feature a diverse and deep rotation of many players who have contributed during this streak of solid play. From the individual dominance of Drummond to the timely contribution of backup center Joel Anthony, most of the roster has had a moment since the waiving of Josh Smith.

It helps in many ways, but it creates a great atmosphere and adds weight to Van Gundy's words when he tells all the players to remain ready because they never know when their time will come.

"No. 1, it's a confidence thing, both for all the individuals, knowing they have a role, it's important," Van Gundy said Friday. "It's also a confidence thing for our team that we've got a lot of guys that can help us, and it takes pressure off of guys. I'm not a guy that has to carry the load every night. Nobody has to feel if I have a bad night we've got no chance of winning. That hasn't been the case."

Many options

Lead point guards?

You can mark in Jennings and D.J. Augustin.

Stretch power forwards?

Jonas Jerebko and Anthony Tolliver fit the bill.

Throw in multiple three-point shooters and the only thing the Pistons really lack is a dynamic wing scorer — although there is a hope that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope can grow into that role.

It has created a team with depth — Caldwell-Pope leads the team in minutes, but he is averaging less than 30 minutes per game since Jodie Meeks' return from the back injury that forced him to miss the first 22 games.

Through Friday night, Drummond was at 29.5 minutes per game, Monroe 29.4 and Jennings 28.7.

And Drummond — bothered by illness — has had games of 17 minutes and 22 minutes recently.

"You look at the guys playing big minutes in the league, we don't have anyone near that list of the top-40 guys, and so I think it helps because you're not going to have to go out and put in 38 minutes and come back the next night and put in 38 minutes per game," Van Gundy said. "We've had guys play those minutes in a game, but very rarely a couple of games in a row.

"It's pretty rare for us to have a guy more than 33, 34 minutes."

It helps that mild-mannered professionals Augustin, Tolliver and Anthony are on the bench. They've all been starters previously, but have grown to accept lesser roles.

It is not easy.

"It's definitely a skill set that's learned," said recently acquired Tolliver. "It's something that took me several years to learn and really accept.

"At the end of the day you always want to push and get as many minutes as you can and break into the rotation, but with me being a new guy, obviously, it's a little bit tougher — especially the way we've been playing."

Two big men

When most teams have to go away from their starting center for either performance or foul trouble, the drop-off is significant. It's usually a good defensive player who is a nonthreat offensively. (Think Thunder big man Kendrick Perkins, for example.)

Drummond is the foundation of future plans, but at 21, he is still developing. It is not surprising when he struggles defensively — particularly against strong post players such as Valanciunas.

But that is when the Pistons can turn to Monroe, who has developed into a solid post defender in his fifth season. Monroe also is more skilled offensively than Drummond.

"The guy crushed us, and he was catching the ball so deep and we just thought Greg would fight him a little harder down there," Van Gundy said of Valanciunas. "Greg's a better low-post defender and that was why we made the switch."

Monroe's presence allows the Pistons to have a starting-caliber center on the floor at all times — a definite advantage even with the proliferation of small ball.

"It does help us a whole lot," Monroe said. "(Van Gundy) has the option to have one of us on the floor at all times if he splits it up. That is one of the advantages we do have with both of us on the roster.

"I think he's doing a good job of kind of using that advantage for us."

An advantage, among others, that Van Gundy seeks to deploy on game nights.

Having options is all a coach can ask.

"We have 11 guys right now — Cartier (Martin) is the only one of the 12 that really hasn't gotten a shot — and 11 of them have contributed," Van Gundy said.

Contact Vince Ellis: vellis@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @vincent_ellis56.

Cast of heroes

Even the bench players have contributed moments during the Pistons' recent winning run. Here are the highlights:

■D.J. Augustin: The backup point guard erupted for 26 points, with 17 in the fourth quarter, when the Pistons led from start to finish at Dallas on Jan. 7.

■Jodie Meeks: The swingman drained nine three-pointers in a 34-point outing when the Pistons blasted the Magic at Orlando on Dec. 30.

■Anthony Tolliver: The recent acquisition knocked down only one three-pointer in an upset victory at San Antonio on Jan. 6, but he played 22 minutes, and his tough defense and grit in snatching five rebounds were key.

■Caron Butler: He made two key jumpers in the fourth quarter of a tight five-point victory over Brooklyn at the Palace on Jan. 10.

■Jonas Jerebko: He had two key jumpers and an assist to Meeks in the Pistons' three-point victory at Toronto on Monday.

■Joel Anthony: The veteran center closed out Orlando on Dec. 30 with four spectacular blocked shots that caused the Pistons' bench to erupt after each one.