24-year old power forward Jonas Jerebko is trying to make up for lost time. He broke in with the Pistons as a rookie during the 2009-10 season. He played in 80 games (73 starts) for the Pistons that year and he averaged 27.9 minutes, 9.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 0.7 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Jerebko missed all of the 2010-11 season due to an Achilles injury. But, he’s back this year with a vengeance. Jerebko has played in 7 games (all starts) for the Pistons so far this year and he is averaging 32.9 minutes, 11.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, 0.7 assists and 1.0 steal per game. The Pistons need Jerebko to stay healthy this year to lend support around the basket to center Greg Monroe.

31-year old small forward Tayshaun Prince did his usual solid, but not great job, in 2010-11 for the Pistons. Prince played in 78 games (all starts) for the Pistons last year and he averaged 32.8 minutes, 14.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. He has now played in 661 games (622 starts) in his career with the Pistons and he is averaging 33.4 minutes, 12.9 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. Prince is now #8 in games played in Pistons’ history with 661. He is also #6 in three-pointers made (439), #8 in blocked shots (395) and #10 in points (8,513) in Pistons’ history. It will be interesting to see if the Pistons decide to bring back Prince for the 2011-12 season.

Veteran shooting guard Richard Hamilton has really started to play well for the Pistons as of late. In his last six games, Hamilton is averaging 35.7 minutes, 21.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. He has now played in 49 games (33 starts) for the Pistons so far this year and he is averaging 27.3 minutes, 14.4 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. Injury plus the coaches’ Dog House have ruined Hamilton’s season but at least he’s showing now that he still has something left in the gas tank.

20-year old center Greg Monroe has really excelled since moving into the starting lineup for the Pistons. In his last five games, Monroe is averaging 37.2 minutes, 17.2 points, 11.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game on 61.3% shooting from the floor. He has now played in 61 games (29 starts) so far this year for the Pistons and he is averaging 26.3 minutes, 8.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.0 steal per game. Monroe is shooting 54% from the floor which is outstanding but only 57% from the free throw line. With most of Monroe’s shots coming from in close, he’s going to have to improve his free throwing shooting or opposing teams are really going to start hacking him. The Pistons finally have a player to build around in Monroe who is a pretty darn good basketball player already.

31-year old shooting guard Tracy McGrady is a shell of the player he used to be, but he is stepping up so far in January. T-Mac has played in 13 games so far in January and he is averaging 30.8 minutes, 10.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game. He has now played in 46 games (15 starts) for the Pistons this year and he is averaging 22.0 minutes, 7.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game on 45.8% shooting from the floor. His emergence is one of the reasons that Richard Hamilton has been nailed to the bench.