4/22/26 7:00PM Rnd 1 Gm2 Magic 1-0 @ Pistons 0-1

[Tigeraholic1]

Little Caesars Arena Detroit, MI

Watch: ESPN

 

 

[Betrayer]

Let's play some trivia:

Who are the Pistons top 5 defenders and disrupters? Easy answer: Ausar, Stew, Green, Holland, Reed.

Which players played less minutes than usual? Yup, same list. Even in limited minutes that group had 7 of Detroit's 9 steals.

Which players played more minutes than usual? Duren. Tobias, and Jenkins - all of whom were not playing well and should have lost minutes. 

The answer to the Magic making it difficult to score in the half court isn't to try to masquerade as a offensive team. We don't have the roster to be anything but a lottery level offensive team no matter who we put in there. And now the issue is worse because Orlando is scoring every time (as they did in the 4th quarter) and we have to go against their set defense every time.

Complete backfire. You can't score in the half-court but you put in a lineup that makes you play in the half-court over and over again.

The real answer is a defense that can get stops, steals, and rebounds and allow you to score against Orlando when they aren't set in their half court defense. This isn't new data. It's been this way for 2 years. The team is better on both offense and defense when Ausar is in the game. It's a fact.

If the Pistons are going to come back in this series they have to address JB's lineups.

[buddha]

game opened at detroit -12.5.  quickly down to detroit - 9.5.

[Deleterious]

Does Duren have a family member in the media?

 

[buddha]

whoever blocks the most shots wins.

[Betrayer]

How to Fix the Rotations for Game 2
(alternate title: Things JB Won't Do)

PG - Cade 38 min or more (Daniss 10 min - I don't need him on the court with Cade)
SG - Duncan 30 min (Huerter 18 min)
SF - Ausar 35 min (Green 13 min - corner threes and defensive disruption)
PF - Harris 28 min (see Center rotation)
C - Duren 28 min (Stew 25 min and Reed 15 min backing up PF and C positions)

DNP: LaVert, Holland, Sasser.

Backup PF/C Logic: I want to see Stew and/or Reed eat up all the backup PF minutes. They're better equipped to guard Paolo, help us match Orlando's size, get offensive rebounds, and play defense.

What about Ron? Their only perimeter threat is Bane and Ausar can match his minutes. After that we just need to match up with their size. Plus, Holland makes a lot of mistakes you can't have in the playoffs and I trust Stew/Reed to space better even as bad as they are at it.

Pairings - Typically you have a set of starters come out early and when they come back in, the other set sits. That way you have some starters in at all times. For that strategy I'm pairing up Ausar + Harris to come out earlier and then come back in when Cade + Duren sit.

That gives Cade more time with Duren who relies on Cade for offense and more time with Green who can hit all those corner threes Tobias missed last game. It also gives Ausar more time with Stew who doesn't always clog the paint like Duren. And when Daniss comes in he'll have Harris and Ausar with him so he can defer to them and doesn't have to play hero ball.

There, rotations are solved. Now someone send this to JB.
 

[Deleterious]

I sent it to him.  Unfortunately, he said the Thompson minutes will not work out.  He mentioned a turnover Ausar had during a scrimmage in training camp, and he needs to be benched for the 4th quarter of game #2.