Betrayer

I agree that JB is a grind it out coach. Perfect for a young team but not necessarily that deep playoff strategic guy. I'm also sure it won't matter at all this year. This is a young team with only one All-Star and a lot of flaws to exploit. They're punching above their weight and that's a credit to JB in the regular season, but it's also why they'll struggle come playoff time. I'm not sure there's much JB can do about that either way.

I don’t want to hear JB step to the podium and talk about defense when he only plays Ausar 16 minutes in this game. Spacing is important, but your best offense is transition. Ironic that they showed a stat at the beginning of the game talking about how good the Piston’s record is when Ausar plays over 22 mpg and then this happens.

At this point I'm not sure which matchup is best. Bucks - We just can't beat Giannis and Lopez turns into Dirk when they play us, so maybe this is the worst matchup. Pacers - Carlisle is a great strategic coach and we're a young team with only one star, so we can be exploited. They're also capable of playing very good defense when they want to with some guys that really trouble Cade. Not to mention a stretch big that shoots lights-out against Duren. Also one or both of Stew and Holland will likely get ejected or suspended. Knicks - We have the best regular season record against them, but this is the playoffs and the NBA wants the Knicks in the second round for ratings. You'll be playing 5 on 9 (including the refs and Adam Silver) and watching Brunson shoot 25 free throws every game.

The Pacers just keep pulling out these close wins.

This felt like a loss waiting to happen. On the road against a Miami team that's well coached and fired up to break a losing streaking. And Miami played like it too - they were hitting everything. Yet, the Pistons pulled it out. Great team win with everyone contributing. Loved watching Ausar lock up Herro. The drop off in perimeter defense is huge when he goes to the bench. Duren got cooked a lot on defense and probably shouldn't even have been in the game to foul Herro at the end in a situation where you can swap defense for offense, but he had some really nice moments on the offensive end throughout the game and JB likes to show confidence in his guys. Great to see Cade hit the buzzer beater on a national stage. Sure, maybe it was a lucky shot, but I feel like we're due some of those after the buzzer beaters we've been hit with this season. Edit: I should also mention Holland who was clutch in his minutes off the bench. Great defense and some nice offensive touch on his drives.

Been saying it all year, but Stew should be averaging more than 19 minutes per game. I'd like to see him closer to 25, especially once the playoffs start.

Hopefully we don't let our guard down like we did against the Wizards when we see this team again in a few days. Big stretch here with some weaker opponents coming up: Miami, Dallas, New Orleans (again), and Spurs. You have to win all of those because after that it's Cleveland, Minnesota, OKC.

Except they announced a couple weeks ago that the 30 minute restriction had been lifted, so that's not the reason.

They'll go back to the Jaden Ivey staggered minutes. I don't love that answer, but that's what I'm expecting.

You really didn't want to lose to the Wizards on your home court when you were in a 3 way tie for 4th and your next game is against OKC. Zero urgency, got beat to all the lose balls, and the defense was non-existent. JB didn't help matters at all by running his zero-defense lineup in the 4th. Where's Ausar? What about more Stew in the closing quarter? Nope. 18 minutes for Ausar in what has been a growing trend of Ausar's minutes and on-ball usage declining since Schroder has been fully integrated over the past couple of weeks. It makes no sense, since Ausar's rise was so closely linked with the team's success during the hot streak. Now we're seeing Ausar go back to his role when Ivey was in the lineup - in the corner or on the baseline exclusively rather than being used a ball-handler or screener. Ku did a segment on his podcast about it, so go check that out if you want more details and stats. It's a head scratching move by JB.

Sam and Bryce talking about the Pistons as the best surprise of the NBA season.

I don't love investing in big men not named Jokic in today's NBA, but I think they will after how he's elevated his game since Ausar got in the starting lineup and JB made some defensive adjustments to account for his limitations. He's also continued to show flashes of passing and handling on the offensive end. The playoffs will be a big determining factor for his final value. Which leads to the real question, "how much?". Just don't make the contract untradeable (i.e., max contract) and he can be an asset that leaves you with options down the line. Edited to add: Claxton got a 25M descending contract last year and Hartenstein got about 29M. I expect it would be somewhere in that range.

Holland was always going to be the more developmental pick. You may be right in the end, but I don't think we can call it in year one. Matas is currently getting more minutes on a worse team and he's a year older, so straight numbers don't tell the tale. Their per 100 stats are actually very similar. Yes, Matas is currently a better shooter, but his shot is nothing to write home about either. I'm willing to let this one play out for another couple years.

One of the few times I was right about a draft prospect.

I guess Billups learned something from what Pop did to him in the close-out game of the '05 finals. Let him feel comfortable for a half and then flip the script in the second half to turn up the pressure. Luckily here the Pistons had enough of a lead and Tobias came up big to stabilize the team and secure the win.