Betrayer

This right here. I love this team, but there are some major issues with their offense. You can see when they go through stretches where they don't score for 4 minutes it's because they didn't manage to get any stops and get out in transition. If the other team gets hot, the Pistons offense tanks and that's a problem. They're simultaneously fun and frustrating to watch. They need to find an answer in the half court and it can't be letting Cade get tripled every time down the court. That said, this is a super young team building a really fun "defend and run" identity in only their second year with JB. I don't want them to make a Blake Griffin move and screw it up. They should have a good feel for what they need by the deadline or this offseason. Question is whether or not the appropriate player to complete the roster will even be available or if we'll have the assets to go get him if he is.

That's a fun concept. Personally, I'd just like the corner three eliminated. Keep the line at the 23' 9" until it runs off the edge of the court.

I actually trust Stew's three more than most of the other players on the team. Not only that, I think it's critical that we have a big who can space. So, I'm cool with him getting them up there. In comparison to the rest of the teams in the league we take a very low percentage of our shots from three. Like it or not (and I don't), the math bears out that taking more threes - even though you'll miss a higher percentage of them than twos - is advantageous.

I love the winning. I love the defense. AND I'm concerned about this team. They're near the bottom of the league FT percentage, 3pt percentage, and 3pt attempts. That's bad math for 2025 where you're fighting for a small lead taking twos and the other team can erase it in seconds with a couple of threes. And for a team that takes mostly two point shots, they're also shockingly near the bottom of the league in 2pt percentage. They miss a ton of shots right at the rim. They also foul more than almost any other team. Outside of transition buckets and Cade's 4th quarter heroics, their offense ranges between pretty shaky and absolutely terrible. There's 2 ways to look at it. Either these numbers continue and they're going to regress to a team fighting to stay around .500 or this is a good sign that when these things inevitably (hopefully?) improve they're going to be dominant. So, is the glass half full or half empty? As someone who's naturally skeptical and cynical, I'm concerned but enjoying the ride.

Exactly. Give me the Cade, Ausar, Ron, Tobias, Stew lineup. I don't care if you start them or not, but we should see this lineup for 15-20 minutes a game. Three good to great defenders and a couple solid ones. Everyone's 6-6 to 6-9. You can switch anything you want, generate stops, and run. This was the lineup that torched the Bulls and we haven't really seen it since. The traditional thinking that you need Robinson in there to create a decent half court offense is nonsense because all that does is move you from the 25th offense in the league to the 23rd, while tanking your defense completely. It's not worth it. You're going to suck in the half-court with this roster no matter what. Instead, lean in to your strength: Better defense, more transition opportunities, more chaos. Also, when you have Jenkins on the court with Cade, stop having Cade bring the ball up. Let Jenkins fight the full court press, not Cade. In fact, stop having Cade bring the ball up against pressure at all. Give it to him once you get to the frontcourt. He's already seeing double and triple teams every time he comes off a screen, why make him work just to bring the ball up as well?

We can worry about Ivey when he’s ready to go in January.

Well, weird stuff happens in the first game of the season. But you really couldn’t throw away one of the 3 games you’re expected to win in your first 10.

That was the play? Really? No screen, just one on one with a good defender for a contested three?

Still flat on that shot.

Ugh. JB sat Stew.

This is my starting lineup. Cade, Ausar, Ron, Tobias, and Stew. Lean it to what you’re good at.

Vuc magically becomes Jokic against us all the way back to the Drummond days.

JB just sat all our defenders at once.

He looks flat on everything all game.

Turns out Stew is the new #2 scorer.

How is Cade missing all these free throws?

Duncan. At least Caris has played a bit of defense here and there.

Man, Tobias forgot to take his Centrum Silver today.

Ron with a nice 3rd quarter.

Forget it. Just JB doing JB things.

Is Ausar hurt?

JD has 3 rebounds. Vuc owns him as usual.

If the defender is on the inside of the three point line standing still with no forward momentum that should not be a flagrant.

Must be nearing Halloween because Duncan Robinson’s Joe Harris costume is really convincing.

I live in NC now. That’s no excuse 🙂