Betrayer

Repeating a Drummond situation is my concern as well. I don't want to invest a lot of money in a Center that can't shoot or defend just because we waited too long to make a decision. It was a bad idea back then and it's an even worse idea in today's NBA.

So, you're saying there's a chance we could win on January 1st?

A lot of talk about starting lineup changes after JB's "starters need to be ready to start" comments from last game. I agree about the Ivey/Beasley switch. Here's the starting lineup I'd roll with: Cade Beasley Thompson Harris Stew Get your two best defenders in the starting lineup. Spacing is about the same as before, maybe better if Thompson's small sample size 33% is to be believed and if Stew gets back to taking a few more. Let Ausar be the DHO hub in the same way you used Duren and get him into that Draymond role. He's a better passer than Duren, has a higher IQ, and can actually attack out of that spot far more easily to keep defenses honest. That said, the org has to decide who they want to trade between Stew and Duren and start that person. The other is your bench Center when you bring in a legitimate starter, so you're not worried about hurting their value by benching them and you might as well get them accustomed to their forever role.

The NBA is such a one trick pony now. Chuck threes all game. If you're lucky you have a star who can play the boring foul game. Moving screens all day and defenders have no right to their space. Having just one way to win is boring. Rant aside, you can't win if you can't rotate on defense and contest shooters. It also doesn't help if you give the ball away so they have extra possessions. It's a simple as that. It's also becoming increasingly obvious that this team has 2 backups Centers and no starter. Choose your backup between Duren and Stew, and trade the other. I'm still listening to offers for Ivey as well. I was in favor of trading one or both of them during the offseason and that hasn't changed for me. In a bubble either of them are fine in the right role, but I'm not paying them big money this offseason to lock them up as my "core".

Agreed. He did have foot surgery, which I imagine has to impact your offseason routine since you probably can't walk or run for a long time. Still though, he just looks like kind of lost, like he's trying to figure out his role. For some reason he's hesitating on open threes and dribbling too much.

Exactly. Most NBA players who aren't on the Pistons are going to make wide open threes. It's a practice shot. I understand that Giannis is a problem with his ability to run directly through you and still get the call, but you at least have to guard the shooters. I saw so many missed rotations and defensive breakdowns, it would be impossible to count them all. This team put all their resources into offense over the summer and, other than Beasley, it hasn't gone well. They're a bottom third team on offense (bad shooting and turnovers). They've been top third on defense, but we really starting to see that come back to earth, no matter how much JB has them playing above their talent level on that end most nights. It's going to be a long December with Boston, New York, Boston, and Miami as the next 4 games. Then you've still got Utah, Phoenix, LA, Sac, Denver, and then Orlando on Jan 1. I could see this team going 2-8 during that stretch with a win over the Jazz at home and maybe stealing that Heat game. Hard to project too many more winnable games this month.

I was thinking the same thing, but then I get PTSD about the two big man lineup. However, if you take Duren out for Stew then who guards Lopez? You can put Harris on him, but Lopez is going to run to the post every play. I suppose you can live with that over the threes he'll get with Duren guarding him, but securing the defensive rebound with Harris and Stew is going to be a real problem against Lopez and Giannis. Maybe if you also put in Ausar over THJ you can make up for some of the rebounding and also have a better option to guard Dame. Bottom line, it's a bad matchup. You have to give Giannis the jumper and hope he doesn't turn into prime KD again like he did last game.

True. They already have 136M guaranteed, which is just crazy. Things look like they open up the year after, but that's when Ivey and Duren's extensions would kick in (if that happens).

He's been pretty bad since he hit his head. Maybe someone needs to hit him in the head again to reset him. After the game, JB put this one on the schedule since they didn't get home from Indy until 5am the night before. I still think they should've shown more fight against a 3 win team, but if rest is the excuse then I want to see them come out swinging against the Bucks on Tuesday.

Can they offer him an extension during the season? Not sure if he'd take it because he's playing himself into a much bigger contract, but just wondering.

The problem is you'd need to give up picks to get people to take those contracts, which is the opposite of what you want to do if you're going to rebuild. They've really screwed themselves by waiting too long to blow this thing up with players that were losing value the entire time.

Not a fan of the point differential tie-breaker. I'd rather see a points system like they do in Summer League where you get points for each quarter you win, or something like that. It feels like NBA2K out there with starters trying to run up the score in a 20 blow point blowout. Either way, that was a heck of a game by the Pistons on both ends. Outside of a turnover stretch to start the 4th, they really cooked the Pacers. Outside, inside, defensively. That was the whole package, especially the effort.

Every team in the league runs 3 or 4 guys who can shoot in their starting lineup. That's called NBA basketball and nobody is saying you shouldn't do that. That leaves you room for 1 or 2 guys who are questionable shooters and Ausar is one I'm putting in the game without question. I'm prioritizing his minutes over Holland's as well. Give me an All-NBA defender with top 5% athleticism, steals, blocks, great rebounding, good passing and bball IQ. And that's from someone who wanted Cam Whitmore over Ausar in the draft. Just don't be a dumb coach and stick him one pass away in the strong side corner (yet) like Monty did or like JB has done with Holland. It's literally the dumbest place to put a guy who can't shoot. Better yet, on offense he can be in the pick and roll as either the handler or screener. He can be the DHO hub like how they're using Duren (or how Draymond is often used). He can also operate out of the dunker spot as you called out. It works even better with Stew in the lineup since you can invert them. Now, not only do you have better spacing but you also have a better defensive Center in there to go along with Ausar's elite defense.

One of Ausar's 4 three point attempts was a 3/4 quart heave to end the quarter. So, he's actually shooting 33% in the 2 games he's played. He probably won't shoot that on the year, but if he does I'll certainly take it from a potential All NBA defender.

Pistons really squandered a weak November schedule that could have seen them get to .500 or better. Get ready for some rough times ahead with the next 5 games being: Pacers Sixers Bucks Celtics Knicks After that you get Utah, which is winnable, but then a west coast trip against the Suns, Lakers, Kings, and Nuggets before coming home to face the Magic on Jan 1. Ouch.

Well, that was painful.

You can't talk about this game without talking about the terrible defensive rebounding. Duren and Stew were out there protecting the rim, but nobody was boxing out their man and closing the possession (Tobias and THJ were big culprits). Defense ends with a rebound, otherwise it's still bad defense. That and the free throw misses were a real problem. This team hates prosperity and keeps trying to find unforced ways to loose. Ivey's shot saved them, but they really have to stop the self-inflicted wounds. With that out of the way, there were definitely some positives in this game. Ivey played a great game, had a low turnover count, and hit the game winner. Duren was out there protecting the rim and showing some serious effort on both ends. Ausar's return! He looked rusty as you'd expect, but the handle and the shot form both looked way better, he made a couple of nice defensive plays, and even played primary ball-handler on a few possessions.

Could use a win in this one after a rough week of losses. Also, I'm starting to figure out who Holland reminds me of - Josh Jackson. From his lack of shooting (but still not afraid to hoist them) to his feisty attitude. Josh was still that same player in year 4...hopefully Holland won't be.

Nice breakdown of what happened on defense in this game.

Graphic I saw today on Reddit showing where the Piston's players from last year are now. You're right, I probably could've gotten some run with the team:

I'll be at this game tomorrow. I'm hoping we get to see Ausar suit up.

Guarantee you Ausar is in better shape than most of the vets in the league who just show up to camp having done nothing all summer. He's been cleared to play, so give him 5 minutes per half in the next game and work it up from there. This "reconditioning" needs to get off my lawn.

Duren’s catching local media/podcast heat over his defense in this game (and in general). This was a classic Andre Drummond game with a bunch of empty stats. He looked completely lost on the defensive end regardless of JB trying numerous defensive looks to take the pressure off of him. At the very least it’s time to split the minutes evenly between him and Stew. Not 30 minutes for Duren in a game where he’s getting torched. The on/off stats between the two of them would say it should be taken even further.

I was really hoping he'd need a couple weeks of "reconditioning" before getting back on the court. Team was better with Beasley in the starting lineup.

This team is going to be the death of me. What’s so frustrating is how they keep trying to beat themselves. Turnovers, free throws, giving up offensive rebounds. All things that should be easy enough to turn around, yet here we are game after game doing the same things. Maybe I shouldn’t complain because they’re clearly a much better and different team than last year, but wow it’s stressful to watch them keep punching themselves in the face Glad it ended in a win this time, but they’ve really got to clean up the self inflicted wounds.