12/06/2021 07:00 EST Oklahoma City Thunder @ Detroit Pistons

[casimir]

   

Oklahoma City Thunder (6-16) vs Detroit Pistons (4-18)

[buddha]

huge battle in tankathon 2021/2022.

[Betrayer]

Diallo out with a fractured face. It's too bad because he was playing well and with a lot of energy on both sides of the ball. In fact, I probably would've moved him into the starting lineup over Bey at this point.

Corey Joseph ruled out due to a knee issue. Probably music to most fan's ears at this point. Maybe that means Saben minutes or maybe Casey will look to stagger Cade/Hayes by bringing one of them out early. I prefer he kept them playing together because they're really starting to build chemistry with passes to each other and back door cuts. They also have the best +/- of any duo on the team.

[1984Echoes]

Cade's looking damn fine.

Bey is hitting his shots.

Killian also hitting some nice shots!

Grant doing his thing.

Need to bring this play against better teams...

[Hart]

Nice to see Cade shooting better.  Looks to me like his release has gotten a little quicker and more compact as well.  Still has to cut back on the careless turnovers.  

Edited December 7, 2021 by Hart

[buddha]

1 hour ago, 1984Echoes said:

Cade's looking damn fine.

Bey is hitting his shots.

Killian also hitting some nice shots!

Grant doing his thing.

Need to bring this play against better teams...

lol.  nope.

[gehringer_2]

1 hour ago, buddha said:

lol.  nope.

if you add his TO to his assists, Cade had a triple double.

Scored 28, no FTs

Shooting the 3 way better. Can't complain about that.

Edited December 7, 2021 by gehringer_2

[casimir]

I fell asleep for the 4th quarter.  Woke up and saw that a lead of about 10 was about to be a loss of about 10.  How did that happen?

Good grief, was it a layup line out there?

[buddha]

they did shoot very well from 3 for most of the game.  so that's something.  okc just whooped them in the 4th.

remember, okc just lost by 75 to memphis...

[NYLion]

The good news, Cade keeps getting better and better as I suspected he would. The bad? Well, everything else. 

Here's the real hard hitting question, who is worse right now, the Lions or the Pistons? Both have actually been competitive for the most part but both fold like a cheap lawn chair in just about every 4th quarter and can't win a game for the life of them. I'm far more confident about the Pistons future but man, it's a grind to watch these two teams in the meantime.

Edited December 7, 2021 by NYLion

[buddha]

i'm not confident in the pistons' future at all.  of course, i dont know how any detroit sports fan could ever be confident in the lions, lol.  so in that way i guess i'm more confident in the pistons.

but this roster is terrible.  yes, i get that weaver had to work his way out from under the terribleness that was van gundy's roster and that cap space opens up next year, but space for what?  what player is going to come here and make a difference?  what little cap space we've had has been wasted for the most part.

i like seeing cade confidently making threes like he did yesterday.  i hope he keeps it up and gets stronger and turns into doncic or tatum.  

i just have to tell myself its a young team and it will get better.  killian is getting better, cade shot well last night.  bey shot ok if they stop trying to make him more than what he is, which is a 3 and d guy.  stewart is a high energy rebounder.  they should get a top 5 pick next year.

there.  that's about as positive as i can be for this team.

Edited December 7, 2021 by buddha

[NYLion]

I meant more confident in the Pistons future in the sense that they have their star already which goes a long way in basketball. It's like in football when you have your future star in place at QB. With that base, you're off to a great start in your rebuild.

I have no idea if Weaver is the right man for the job but winning the lottery in a really good draft sure made things easier going forward.

[Motown Bombers]

I'm more confident in the Lions future. There will be a lot of lazy talk about their past history, but ownership has done things different this time. There are also proven talent evaluators in the Lions front office along with a lot of draft picks. The NFC North is getting close to losing Aaron Rodgers and Kirk Cousins so there will be two other rebuilding teams. There is also more parody in the NFL. 

The Pistons all rest with Cunningham. I see them more as the Grant Hill era Pistons. Maybe they make it to the middle of the Eastern Conference and lose in the first round. Cade will leave as soon as he can and I doubt there is a Ben Wallace waiting on the other side. I'm so sick of the country club atmosphere of the NBA. Cade will end up on one of the 3-4 chosen teams in the NBA if he is a legit superstar. If he's merely good, the Pistons will need to give him a max contract and overpay. 

[Betrayer]

Rough loss, but good for the tank.

Cade had a really good game. His turnovers need to get under control, but he was the best player on the court for 3 quarters until SGA went crazy. Really didn't expect him to be such a good rebounder as well.

Killian had a nice first half and then struggled in the second half. He's improving though and I really like watching him on defense.

Bey continues to be not just bad, but terrible, this season. Hit a few shots in the first quarter to give us hope, but wound up 5 of 16, which means he was absolute trash outside of Q1. I think he only hit 1 shot the rest of the way. He's pump faking himself out of open shots, taking terrible side-step threes, and just looking lost out there. If Hami didn't have a broken face, I would make a lineup change.

Casey continues to put this team in a bad position. This lead disappeared when he rode that terrible bench squad for way too long in the 4th. He simply decides on a rotation and never deviates no matter how the momentum changes during the game. Everyone watching could see what was happening, but he made no changes, didn't try bringing starters back early to shake it up at all.

Lyles is straight trash. Goes out and jacks up bad shots, tries to take people off the dribble all the time, and just isn't good at any facet of the game. He was 2 for 7. Your back up big is shooting 41% from the floor and 29% from three with an eFG of 47% - that's bad on an epic level. Not sure who else to play, but he's not the answer.

This team really needs a bouncy big man who can rebound, protect the paint, and be a vertical threat in the pick and roll.

[1984Echoes]

1 hour ago, Betrayer said:

... This team really needs a bouncy big man who can rebound, protect the paint, and be a vertical threat in the pick and roll.

Top 3 pick in the draft next year.

[1984Echoes]

On confidence...

It's going to be a tough slog for the Lions. There's just too much to do and too many weaknesses to fix...

With the Pistons, it's just easier. It's basketball.

Top 3 pick next year: Get lucky #1 and we get Paulo Banchero. Lesser pick still = Jabari Smith or Jalen Duren.

The next Chris Webber/ Blake Griffin, Rashard Lewis, Dwight Howard? 

Yeah, we'll see about that.

But here's the downriver: Jerami Grant gets pushed to SF where his lack of rebounding gets hidden. Saddiq Bey gets pushed to the bench as a 3&D Scorer off the bench that will have an advantage against most bench SF's...

We just fixed 3 problems with one draft pick. 

I'm confident that the Pistons have an easier road to competitive/ playoff basketball and will get there sooner than the Lions. The Lions are in a worse spot with a more difficult road to travel to get back to being a good team. And might never get there (under the current Admin). I'm pretty certain the Pistons will.

Even though their play this year is just as ugly as the Lions play this year...

[1984Echoes]

1 hour ago, Motown Bombers said:

I'm more confident in the Lions future. There will be a lot of lazy talk about their past history, but ownership has done things different this time. There are also proven talent evaluators in the Lions front office...

 

Proven evaluators in the Pistons front office as well. To the point that they are able to identify talent in the 2nd round that can stick in the NBA. 

 

1 hour ago, Motown Bombers said:

... The Pistons all rest with Cunningham...

Excuse me?

They'll have a top 5 draft pick next year. And probably hit the lottery the following year as well (if they don't, that means they're already in the playoffs....) It all rests with Cade? BS. That's this year, and next year will be totally different for the Pistons because basketball teams can change just that much. This comment makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. None.

 

[1984Echoes]

3 hours ago, buddha said:

... but this roster is terrible.  yes, i get that weaver had to work his way out from under the terribleness that was van gundy's roster and that cap space opens up next year, but space for what?  what player is going to come here and make a difference?  what little cap space we've had has been wasted for the most part.

i like seeing cade confidently making threes like he did yesterday.  i hope he keeps it up and gets stronger and turns into doncic or tatum.  

i just have to tell myself its a young team and it will get better.  killian is getting better, cade shot well last night.  bey shot ok if they stop trying to make him more than what he is, which is a 3 and d guy.  stewart is a high energy rebounder.  they should get a top 5 pick next year.

there.  that's about...

As close as I can get. I can't do the no-confidence thing...

 

3 hours ago, buddha said:

i'm not confident in the pistons' future at all...

 

...that's about as positive as i can be for this team.

 

I don't understand the no-confidence thing.

Unless it's just a pessimistic personality speaking out loud.

Buddha, I think you resemble that last comment.

I mean... it's pretty sucky watching them right now...

And I am not going to champion their future prospects (winning, not players).

I would just say... it's way too early to make any judgement calls at this point.

What I would say is that, even if you don't like all of Weaver's moves, including those damn stretches...

That he IS able to identify and draft talent. And this team hit rock bottom thanks to SVG, and so... we're going to be getting a few top-o-the-draft picks so...

It might take a couple years but, let's see who Weaver drafts over the next two years, what kind of team he assembles, before rushing to judgement.

 

[RandyMarsh]

To me the jury should still be out on Weaver particularly with Bey's struggles this year and Stewart not progressing. Hayes has his moments and I'm not writing him off but there are a number of guys that he passed on that look better than him as well. 

The Grant signing may be a feather in his cap even if the timing of it doesn't match up with what our goals are at the moment but outside of that has he done anything that you could say was a great or savvy move? Serious question cause I really don't know. 

[buddha]

i am a pessimistic person.  so i always look at the downside of everything.

i think weaver still gets the benefit of the doubt.

i'm just not all that impressed so far.  BUT ITS EARLY.  i understand.

grant may be a "feather in the cap" but what has it gotten us?  2 years of a good player on the worst team in the league?  the pistons should be flipping grant for assets (and maybe they will this year), not sitting around watching him "lead" the team to 20 wins.  i'll see what he does with grant moving forward.

 

[gehringer_2]

They are scoring 7 less per game so far this season. Cade's scoring isn't adding to last year's offense, it's just replacing it - almost. Instead of being able to bring a top pick into a roster he could immediately make better, the pistons are at ground zero, it's Cade and the dozen dwarfs. Your last top pick,  Hayes, should have been the piece that benefited most from bringing in a good player - instead he is exactly where he was last season - which is nowhere. 

Weaver came in and had to turn over the roster. It would have been nice if he had finished with more than zero left, but not to be.

Edited December 7, 2021 by gehringer_2

[buddha]

3 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

They are scoring 7 less per game so far this season. Cade's scoring isn't adding to last year's offense, it's just replacing it - almost. Instead of being able to bring a top pick into a roster he could immediately make better, the pistons are at ground zero, it's Cade and the dozen dwarfs. Your last top pick,  Hayes, should have been the piece that benefited most from bringing in a good player - instead he is exactly where he was last season - which is nowhere. 

Weaver came in and had to turn over the roster. It would have been nice if he had finished with more than zero left, but not to be.

killian is better than he was last year.  unfortunately he was so bad last year that his improvement hasnt really helped all that much.

bey has regressed mightily.  stewart has been the same.

[1984Echoes]

38 minutes ago, buddha said:

killian is better than he was last year.  unfortunately he was so bad last year that his improvement hasnt really helped all that much.

bey has regressed mightily.  stewart has been the same.

The only thing I would say on these 3 (and Saben Lee and Diallo too) is that they are still kids. Especially in the NBA.

[1984Echoes]

2 hours ago, RandyMarsh said:

... has he done anything that you could say was a great or savvy move? Serious question cause I really don't know. 

19 yo's are not old enough to be great and savvy.

It's too early to tell... that's all I'm saying.

And to Buddha's point... Grant is a great and savvy move, but the real tell on signing him will be if Weaver can turn him around for more/ better (future) assets.

We are waiting on that one... (Ben Simmons, right?)

[buddha]

1 hour ago, 1984Echoes said:

19 yo's are not old enough to be great and savvy.

It's too early to tell... that's all I'm saying.

And to Buddha's point... Grant is a great and savvy move, but the real tell on signing him will be if Weaver can turn him around for more/ better (future) assets.

We are waiting on that one... (Ben Simmons, right?)

simmons wont work with cade.  he cant shoot and needs the ball.