Betrayer

To put that into perspective, Ja makes 36M/year. So, 75K is the equivalent of fining someone $105 who makes 50K a year. That's before we even get into his endorsement money. It's nothing.

Agreed, Duren's perimeter defense is a problem in most matchups. It's not even unique to Duren, traditional Centers have been getting played off the court in the NBA playoffs for a few years now. Even the "best" ones like Gobert. It's part of the reason I'm all for removing the corner three to help bring back the big man. Against the Knicks there's an easy answer. You flip Stewart and Duren so Stew matches KATs minutes and Duren matches Mitchell Robinson. JB won't do that because he's very regimented with his rotations and he's more of a player's coach that's going to roll with the lineups that got him there. Still, it's the obvious answer to at least finish with Stew on KAT in the 4th even if you're not going to start him.

This kid just keeps shooting himself in the foot. But also, isn't nearly every NBA player's celebration a three finger gun, bow and arrow, etc? Even Cade does the double-tap finger gun thing when he makes an And-1. I get that Ja has a real history with this and you certainly don't want players making the gun gesture to other players, but it seems like it might be something the NBA should address across the board if they're going to come down on it.

Good effort to cut it to 4 with a few minutes left. That Duren offensive foul call was definitely a turning point where they could have cut it to a single possession and then the Thunder just took off from there to close it out. Still, I can't complain about the fight they showed with Cade, Tobias, Stew, Holland, and Sasser out. I can complain about the first quarter defense and Shroder's shooting, but there's no point. We all saw it.

Huh? Is his logic that there would be more paint touches and therefore more fouls? That's a weird take. Also, Cade has spent the entire season proving that more paint shots doesn't mean more free throws 🤣 Either way, it's obvious that changes to how they call the game defensively are overdue as well.

Yup. Nembhard has given Cade fits and Nesmith has been a problem for him as well. Carlisle will take the ball out of Cade's hands with traps, have his team picking up full-court defense, and simply out-strategize JB who's been great for this team's identity but is also pretty predictable. Turner will rain triples on Duren's head all day and Harris can't guard Siakam. The Pacers are a nightmare matchup and I agree, I'd rather face the Knicks + the refs. That said, the fights and ejections should be fun.

From reports it sounds like the Pistons might be running a bunch of G-League players out there tonight. Good. Sit most of your players and tank the ratings for the game they flexed to national TV. Serves them right for deciding to suspend a bunch of players who were involved in a pushing match that the other team started after Naz Reid got his feelings hurt and came at Ron about a common slap-away foul and Donte decided to lay hands on Ron as well. Still trying to figure out how he got suspended for being the victim of a 2-on-1 that got him shoved to the bottom of a pile of dudes.

Where do I sign the petition? I've been ranting about this for a few years now. Part of my three step process to fix the NBA: 1) Eliminate the corner three 2) Eliminate the non-stop moving screens 3) Give the defender a right to his space if he's there first - no more lifting your arm into a defender or initiating contact with your body to get a call. That's a no-call or an offensive foul.

Nope. He has the required 65 games and most people I've heard nationally think he's guaranteed 3rd team and will probably make 2nd team. Narratives don't change that fast in the NBA.

Remember at the start of the season when JB said he wasn't setting any expectations for the season except that fans would be able to tune in to this team in February or March and see "Piston's basketball"? The man didn't lie.

Brutal schedule incoming, so we could wind up in 6th pretty easily. I'd be happy with winning 1 out of the next 3 and they may not even get that (CLE, @MIN, OKC). Be careful what you wish for though, because Indy could pass New York as well. Last 3 games are against the Knicks and Bucks x2. It'll be interesting to see how much could shift with those games or if seeding is locked and they just roll out the reserves.

MVP.

Great showing by Sasser, but we already knew what he was - a scorer who can get his own. Problem is he's not much more than that and he's undersized. Makes it really tough to find a spot in the rotation for him. More importantly, the Pistons are now at least .500 on the season and they're 1 win away from doing something nobody has ever done - tripling their win total from the previous season. Not only that, the few teams that have exceeded the Pistons single season turnaround in games won have done so by adding a Hall of Fame player. The Pistons added 3 vets who've never even been to an All-Star game and also lost their 2nd best scorer in early January. Atkinson will win CoY because that's been the narrative all season, but the Cavs won't hit the 70 games people were predicting and they won't even have the best record in the league.

Wow, I'm more surprised that THJ is available than Cade sitting out. Dude looked like he would be done for 4-6 weeks and was in a boot after the game.

Maybe they'll catch the Knicks for 3rd and we'll catch the Bucks for 5th. Those two games at the end of the season could be big ones for seeding.

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.