Betrayer

Can’t seem to get this below 10. Cade having a real rough day.

Ok Ausar, the catch on the alley-oop made up for it.

Omg Ausar’s hands.

Everyone must be watching the Lions. It’s ok, I’ll hold the fort.

Ausar with some runouts and Hayes finally hits a three. Cut it back to 10.

If Killian is just going to let Giddy walk down the lane can we get a shooter in there instead.

Stew with a dumb tech after a bad offensive foul, and then Williams drops in 2 more to make a 12 point game into the half.

Ivey is in his own head so far right now. I hope he can pull out and get things together. It’s already feeling like a Bey trajectory, but I just hope he doesn’t become this team’s Ayton.

For someone with such good hands on D, Ausar’s are pretty bad on O so far.

And that’s why you need Burks or Harris or even Sasser in that corner instead of Hayes.

There it is, Duren!

Chet winning the first half battle with JD.

Bad challenge. Ivey got him on the second attempt. First block was clean though.

And that’s why you need Ivey out there with a PG. He’s so much better attacking after the defense is already bent.

This is starting to look bad. Ivey having another rough one on both sides. If not for Burks it would be even worse.

You just can’t play enough defense to make it ok that you only have 8 pts halfway through the first. Really need a shooter in this starting lineup to save Cade.

Still can’t shoot though.

Killian coming out strong on D.

That’s a flagrant 1. No review of course. Just go ahead and hit us in the face.

This'll be a tough game tonight. I'm not expecting a win, just hoping we keep it in single digits and show the same defensive identity we've seen over the first three games. It's a good measuring stick but ultimately they're a team that's 3 years further along in their rebuild due to their 25 year old star versus our 22 year old (potential) star. Plus, they started with a warchest of assets that got them a lot of "3 and D" players, where we started with Dre and the corpse of Blake, which has netted us a lot of "3 or D" players I know it won't happen on a win streak, but Monty really needs to insert Burks in the starting lineup for Killian. Vecenie has talked about how much harder we're making life on Cade in his video breakdown and the numbers back this up. That starting lineup is a -10 (101 ortg) and lineups with Burks in there instead of Killian (or Ausar) are +36. Just having that one shooter in there changes everything. Killian is the one I would move to the bench because of how much Ausar gives you the other end and on the glass. Plus, I think it helps Killian to be surrounded by all those offensive players on the bench. It probably also helps Ivey (and the bench) to have Killian out there defensively and as a distributor. It's a win/win. I understand that they'll move Bojan in there when he comes back and Killian is probably just keeping his seat warm, but I don't want to wait that long. Also, they need to move Bogey 2 days after he returns. They've already let his value dip from it's peak and every day after he comes back will only compound that asset management blunder.

If we had the red alternate jerseys this year, then I'd be ok with it. But we don't. So I'm not. I guess I should just be happy that the paint is actually painted, as it should be.

So much fun to watch this team play their hearts out on the defensive end. What a game! Ausar just shut the door on Lavine in the 4th to close it. Duren couldn’t be stopped. Cade doing it all. Stewart imposing his will and running to the rim whenever they put a small guy on him. Some nice coaching adjustments as well. Give me this effort all season and I’m happy.

What a fun game to be at! Bottom line for me is this is a different team on defense from last year. The effort and physicality is so much higher. I’m seeing Stew and Duren make defensive plays and then celebrate and flex at the Pistons bench. Haven’t seen stuff like that since the Wallace days. Absolutely love it. With the youth in this core, they’re still a few years from competing, but it’s good to see an identity finally being built. Offense is a struggle at times, especially when Cade spends the game in foul trouble, but I love the attention to defense. Obviously, turnovers are a problem, but we’re dealing with 5 guys under 22 in their second game in a new system. It’ll be ok. Have to get Burks in the starting lineup for Killian. If you haven’t watched the Vecinie breakdown posted above, you should. They need that shooting threat and also a vet who can draw a foul and calm things down. Have to give Monty props. This looks like a different team so far. Also, I see him making in game lineup adjustments as opposed to just following a script. I have criticism here and there, but just seeing a coach try to make adjustments is refreshing.

I'll be there rooting for our team with my Cade jersey on! Let's get that first win of the season!