Boban mania has officially arrived for the Detroit Pistons
The 7-foot-3 Boban Marjanovic got backup center minutes on Thursday night, and the fans loved it.
With Aron Baynes sidelined with an ankle injury and Andre Drummond in foul trouble for the Detroit Pistons, Stan Van Gundy was forced to play his third-string center 22 minutes in Thursday night’s win over the Charlotte Hornets. And he couldn’t have asked for more from the lovable Serbian big man.
After notching a double-double in nine first half minutes, Boban Marjanovic finished with 15 points and a career-high 19 rebounds. He shot 9-for-11 from the free throw line, led the team with a +12 rating and showed off some passing skills along the way.
BOBAN MAKE PASS. https://t.co/ZoEhZluS3i
— 16 Wins A Ring (@16WinsARing) January 6, 2017
On the Fox Sports Detroit broadcast, George Blaha and Gregory Kelser gushed over the size of Marjanovic’s hands during his free throw attempts. And as expected, NBA Twitter went wild.
Boban Marjanovic for MVP am I right #NBAVOTE
— PistonsThoughts (@PistonsThoughts) January 6, 2017
I like idea of taking this literally — Boban getting 3.75 points per shot and ripping 19 plywood boards out of the walls and ceiling. https://t.co/kdT1tgClzP
— Jason Gay (@jasongay) January 6, 2017
That's BOBAN. https://t.co/ngATAJJygR
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) January 6, 2017
Coach Stan Van Gundy had high praise for Marjanovic, whose 19 rebounds were the most for a Piston off the bench since Jerome Williams had 21 in 1999.
“Probably the biggest reason that game got close is I took him out for a rest, and then it got late and I didn’t go back to him,” Van Gundy said. “I should have just left him in as tired as he was, and probably the game would have been over.”
And per Rod Beard of the Detroit News:
#Pistons SVG on #Hornets defending Boban on the boards: "You can’t prepare for 7-foot-4 — how do you prepare for that?"
— Rod Beard (@detnewsRodBeard) January 6, 2017
Marjanovic’s 22 minutes were the most he’s played since March 28, 2016, when he logged over 30 minutes for the San Antonio Spurs. Before Thursday, he’d only cracked the ten-minute mark twice for the Pistons. He played 12 minutes in a Nov. 14 win over Oklahoma City and just over ten minutes on Tuesday against the Pacers, the first game Baynes missed with an ankle sprain.
Despite limited playing time in his two-year career, Marjanovic has been incredibly efficient. Per 36 minutes, he averages 20.6 points, 14.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks. He’s also a career 76-percent free throw shooter.
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In 2016-17, he’s shooting under 40 percent from the field. But most of his minutes have come in awkward garbage-time spurts, with the home crowd cheering him into low-percentage post-ups.
Marjanovic was signed to take Baynes’s backup spot next season when the Australian’s price tag will most likely be too high for Detroit to match. But with Boban’s big performance on Thursday, some Pistons fans are already calling for Marjanovic to take over the role this year.
That’s probably a bit much to ask. We should be careful about anointing King BOBAN until we see him face off against a center nimbler than Spencer Hawes, or a team that forces him to run the floor more than the Hornets did on Thursday. Aron Baynes’ numbers are down just a bit from last year (4.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 47.1 percent shooting compared to last year’s 6.3 / 4.7 / 50.5 split). But he’s still Detroit’s leader in plus-minus, bringing a much-needed dose of physicality, paint presence and toughness off the bench.
It’s true, it does seem that Baynes’s value has dropped a bit. But part of that might be because Andre Drummond’s free throw woes and lack of defensive discipline have been less exaggerated this year. Baynes hasn’t had to play the savior as much. Plus, when you’ve got a guy as interesting as Boban on the bench, it’s hard not to want to see him play.
For now, we should let this be a light in a dark stretch of the season. Enjoy it, Pistons fans. Boban mania is finally here.
