February 3, 2013; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond (1) reacts after the game against the Los Angeles Lakers at The Palace. Lakers won 98-97. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

The Jose Calderon-Andre Drummond pick and roll is something I’ve been wanting to watch for quite a long time (provided you consider almost two months is a long time). And now that Andre Drummond has returned from his back injury, it’s going to be (or at least should be) a staple of Detroit’s offense. Any time you pair a great shooter and passer with an athletic, agile big man, fun things are bound to happen.

It was just one game, but small sample size theater is fun. And whether there is movement preceding the pick and roll or just a simple dribble-the-ball-up-court-bring-a-screen type of play, having a great roll man Drummond (1.19 ppp, per synergy) rolling to the basket should be a great boost to the Pistons offense.

In the 17 minutes Jose Calderon and Andre Drummond were on the floor together on Friday night the Pistons posted an offensive efficiency of 94.8. Hmmm….could have been better, but again, it’s just one game. And there were a few decent to good looking pick and rolls between the two.

On this first play, Jose Calderon receives the ball in the left corner on a pass from Kyle Singler. After he passes, Drummond sets a screen for Singler who flashes through the lane. Rudy Gay gets caught up on Drummond’s screen so his man has to help off of him to prevent a layup for Singler. The play then turns into a side pick and roll for Calderon and Drummond. Because Valanciunas had to help, he is out of position to hedge on the pick and roll. Still, he does a solid job recovering, and Calderon has to throw a tough pass to Drummond, although he may have had Monroe in the lane. He fumbles the ball a bit, and the play ends in a turnover because they are the Pistons. If Drummond is able to cleanly catch the ball, he’s got good position on  smaller Amir Johnson.

This next play has a much more desirable result. After coming off a Kyle Singler screen, Calderon gets the ball on the right side of the court. As this action finishes, Drummond begins to run over to set a screen. Since Drummond ran so hard instead of lackadaisically trotting over, Valanciunas has no choice but to use a sag technique on Calderon because he’s once again out of position to hedge. With Kyle Lowry still recovering and Valanciunas sagging, there is ample space for Jose to make a routine pocket pass to a rolling Drummond. And Drummond being the athletic he is (not to mention a little help from a late rotation by Amir Johnson) is able to convert an acrobatic layup.

In this video, Detroit’s running the same action as they did in my first example. Calderon once again receives the ball in the corner, this time from Brandon Knight. Knight cuts through the lane, just as Singler did in the first one. It turns into a screen and roll for Calderon and Drummond. Valanciunas hedges, but Calderon this time is able to get around it and quickly deliver the ball to Greg Monroe standing at the free throw line. Amir Johnson rotates onto Drummond much better this time, but he rotates back to Monroe who is fairly open. Monroe already knows where the play is going to be before it happens. As soon as he catches the ball he makes a nice dish to Drummond for an easy dunk.

This last one’s a fun one. It’s just a simple high screen and roll. Drummond comes and sets the screen, rolls, and is met by nobody. A nice alley-oop  later and the Pistons have two points. I’m not sure who was supposed to be making the rotation on this play because, well I’m not the Raptors coaching staff, but it looks like Rudy Gay surely could have interrupted his path to the hoop. Oh well. More points for Detroit — those are pretty hard to come by for them this season.

It’s been reported that Drummond won’t have any minute limitation for the res tof the season (you can decide whether that’s a good thing or not), so there should be plenty of pick and roll opportunities for the combination I have now named  Josandre. Only nine more games remain for this version of the Pistons, so the duo might not have a long lived partnership with Calderon’s contract expiring. But for the sake of the new phrase I yell and the Pistons, I sincerely hopefully they do.

Mar 29, 2013; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Toronto Raptors power forward Amir Johnson (15) attempts to block Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond (1) during the third quarter at The Palace. Raptors won 99-82. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

At least the Pistons played well for the opening 5 minutes. Progress!

Tonight marked the return of the Andre Drummond. And trust me, the fun was definitely back. The results still may not be there, but you can actually somewhat enjoy watching a Pistons game again.

Drummond played well in his first game back from a stress fracture in his back that kept him out over a month, scoring 17 points in 18 minutes. He and Calderon seemed to mesh well on offense, at least in the first half. While Drummond and Monroe were on the court together they had a putrid net rating of -17.5. While the numbers showed they struggled, there were a couple of nice high-low passes from Monroe to Drummond for easy dunks.The two are going to have to work well together for the Pistons to have a bright future, and tonight they showed flashes of just how they can do it. While Monroe didn’t have a great game shooting the ball — just 3-11 from the field– he still rebounded and passed the ball extremely well.

Still, with all the excitement of the return of the magical Andre Drummond, your 2013 Pistons are still the 2013 Pistons. And that means disappointment.

Overall the team played extremely poorly aside from the first 5 minutes or so. After the first burst of energy they displayed early in the game, probably from the return of Drummond, they simply couldn’t stop anybody. The Raptors slowly but surely cut into an early 10 point deficit and won the game 99-82 after an embarrassing second half.

In the first half the Pistons just couldn’t slow down Amir Johnson and Jonas Valanciunas. Yes, I just said Detroit failed to stop Amir Johnson and Jonas Valanciunas from killing them. By halftime they had helped Toronto take the lead and Toronto never looked back. It definitely helped that Rudy Gay exploded for 17 points in the 3rd quarter. Toronto’s lead ballooned to as much as 27 early in the fourth quarter. Letting the Raptors post an offensive efficiency of 112.6 is no way to win a basketball game.

Hey Raptors fans, Rudy Gay had 21 points on 14 shots! That must some sort of Toronto Rudy Gay record, right? Of course it would come against this sad, sad Detroit Pistons team. At least Jonas Jerebko shot the ball really well. That’s got to count for something, right?

Sunday night, Detroit will travel to Chicago to take on a Bulls team who will be on the second night of a back to back. But wait there is more bad news. Brandon Knight re-injured his right ankle mid-way through the 4th quarter.

Just nine more games of this terror. Then we can look forward to the future. Hopefully a future that includes a top five draft pick.