Walter Herrmann did indeed play well in the 15+ minutes he was allotted last night against the Timberwolves. The result to that being that when I took the pulse of the Pistons Nation this morning I knew there’d be calls for Walter to replace Jarvis Hayes as Tay’s backup. Boy, do we love our end of the bench guys here in the Motor City? I guess you attribute that to the main guys being so good for so long there’s no need to speculate about them, but maybe we need to take a step back before the Herrmania runs wild on us.
While I agree that Herrmann could help if given a few more minutes I’m not convinced that he’s a better option than Jarvis. Look, I just don’t think that when Joe D picked up Herrmann from Charlotte in exchange for Nazr Mohammed he figured we were short one Walter Herrmann. It was a salary dump. Not to say Walter Herrmann is a scrub he’s just on a loaded team.
Let’s also keep in mind that this was against the 19 win T-Wolves which is not the same as Jarvis’ break out game against the Hornets who have been at or near the top of the Western Conference all season.
Jarvis is a streaky shooter but he’s also a capable post scorer and I think it’s something the Pistons should explore more. I don’t think Walter has a better perimeter game. He’s a capable shooter, but not as good as Hayes (when Hayes is on at least). I’m also beginning to think Walter is a one trick pony with that big hand swoop shot along the baseline whereas Hayes has proven to be pretty versatile when he takes it to the rack especially in transition.
On defense it’s about a wash. I know what the Walter backers are gonna say “What about the job Herrmann did on Dirk back in January?” He did a good job, that’s true. But playing good D on Nowitzki is not all that monumental, just refer to any Maverick’s postseason as evidence of that. Furthermore Dirk isn’t isn’t all that tough of a cover if you’re moderately athletic with some size. Size is the one thing Walter has on Jarvis defensively, Jarvis isn’t big enough to cover fours. But, here’s where the wash comes in; Walter isn’t athletic enough to cover threes. Walter doesn’t have very good lateral movement and he kinda has that Mark Madsen spastic look on the court.
So, no I don’t think Walter has shown enough to warrant him replacing Jarvis Hayes in the rotation. But, like I said he can be helpful if he gets time but more situational minutes than anything.
Also seeing as that the Palace crowd has become so endeared to “Big Herm” the Pistons need to cash in. I’m suggesting Walter headbands (like the fro headbands), and by suggesting I mean if they start producing these I want a cut $.
