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AUBURN HILLS -- It is easy for fans to focus on the things that Greg Monroe doesn't do.
When the Pistons added Josh Smith, the call went up on Twitter and talk radio that the Pistons should trade Monroe for backcourt help. He doesn't play defense, they said. He doesn't block shots. He's not athletic enough. He turns the ball over too much.
Those critics have a point, too. Those are all weaknesses in Monroe's game -- things that will probably stop him from achieving the heights that Andre Drummond is expected to reach.
Two minutes into Wednesday's season opener, all of the people that wanted to get rid of Monroe were probably beside themselves with rage.
At that point in the 2013-14 season, the Pistons had run three possessions and all three of them had ended with Monroe turning over the ball in the paint. The Wizards led 5-0, and pessimistic fans were already expecting another terrible season.
Monroe, though, played 40 more minutes, and in that time, he showed the ways he can help the Pistons take a big step forward.
He scored 24 points, pulled down 16 rebounds and added three assists and a block. He did turn the ball over two more times in the fourth quarter, but the Pistons were already well on their way to a 113-102 victory despite playing without Brandon Jennings and Rodney Stuckey.
"We were good -- getting a win in the first game is a good thing," new Pistons coach Maurice Cheeks said. "We were missing a couple guys that are going to be key players for us, but the other guys that we count on, they made plays.
"Greg made plays. There will be moments that aren't very good, but that's basketball."
For at least one night, the new Pistons frontcourt was a solid success. Josh Smith added 19 points, five assists and five rebounds, while Andre Drummond pitched in with 12 points and eight rebounds despite game-long foul trouble.
"I think we all just did our jobs," Monroe said. "We protected the paint, we rebounded the ball, we helped each other and we found each other. Me and Andre have been playing together, and we've been playing well with Josh, but we still have a long way to go with him.
"For our first real action, we did a good job. Hopefully, we will continue to get better."
Monroe thought the key was the trio's ball movement, as they combined for nine assists. There were also 10 turnovers, but he hopes that will improve with time.
"We all did a good job of dropping it off to whoever was open, so we got a lot of easy looks early," he said. "We just have to continue to do that, especially as we get more used to each other."
Detroit's new Big Three was also effective on the defensive end, as the Pistons outscored the Wizards 56-28. Detroit hit 73.7 percent inside, as opposed to Washington's 51.9 percent.
"That's where we feel like our advantage is, with those three big guys," Chauncey Billups said. "They are going to give us an advantage against 90 percent of this league, and we have to go to that.
"The good thing is that all three of those guys are really good passers, so it helps our perimeter shooters as well."
The Wizards, though, weren't quite as impressed. They thought the inside dominance was their fault, not because of Detroit playing so well.
"Those guys are big, but they aren't unstoppable," Wizards coach Randy Wittman said. "We just weren't aggressive against them. You can't just stand them and let them have their way against you. We looked like we were playing a pickup game against them."
Wizards point guard John Wall agreed that his team took themselves out of the game.
"It's not that tough to play against their front line -- we just didn't get the job done," he said. "Our big guys didn't make plays, and our guards didn't do anything to help them. You can't get behind like we did against a team playing their home opener.
"The crowd got into it, and every time we got it close, Chauncey or Josh hit a shot to charge them back up."
