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.  

[DTroppens]

Really, almost a must-win. If the Pistons don't win tonight, visions of never winning a playoff series (and a home playoff game) in what seems like forever will be the narrative and this team isn't going to win four games in five left with three being on the road. It also would mean they've done nothing to change solving the puzzle Orlando created in game #1.

Orlando did a lot of the things I'm guessing a lot of us worried would happen in the playoffs and they won easily. There's no reason for them to think they can't win three more doing the same thing. Duren isn't suddenly start roaming to hit 15-footers. It's hard to have spacing when you don't have legit perimeter shooters and the guy that is supposedly your section option can't even spread the floor to 12 feet beyond the bucket.

There is no one on this team that is going to scare you into making a defense taking your perimeter game seriously. Put an arc 12 feet from the rim and it'll look like a rush hour traffic jam in a construction zone on an expressway the rest of this series. Really, unless the Pistons suddenly can hit from 40% with a few options consistently from outside, life isn't going to get any easier. And even if the Pistons did that for a game, Orlando or no other potential future opponent is going to change what they do defensively because of one game. They'll challenge Detroit to do it a second, a third and a fourth time and take their chances. 

I'm not as hard core about Thompson thing as a lot of you from game one. I love to see him out there for his defense. And, yes, this team needs that presence. However, he presents nothing to the team offensively and him being out there isn't going to help what this team's dire problem is right now - getting sort of offense that makes life tougher for the opponent on defense. Unless the Pistons get on the break more reliably due to him being on the floor, he also creates some  headaches on the other side of the floor. Could he have played more? Of course. I would've liked to see him play more. But it's not like this magic potion that if he plays another 10 minutes in that game the Pistons suddenly win. And it's quite possible if he played another 10 minutes nothing changes, and the offense could've struggled even more.


 

[buddha]

I think Thompson does create their offense through his defense.  But you have to have SOME spacing out there or else cade is going 1-5.  let ausar crash from the dunker spot.

tobias has to play better and at least be a credible threat from 3.  or put green in there.

there have been a whole lot of surprising results so far.  i expect the pistons to shoot better tonight and win, but it wouldnt surprise me if they dont.  how many 39 point cade games can we expect?  

[DTroppens]

If there is a player beyond Robinson (who is supposed to be one of those players) can possibly do that, Marcus Sasser.

It looks like he'll never play in a playoff game (don't think he did last season and he has hardly played this season) but over the last two seasons the few minutes he plays during the regular season he looks to be no worse than the team's second-best shooter from behind the arc.

Edited 2 hours ago by DTroppens

[buddha]

36 minutes ago, DTroppens said:

If there is a player beyond Robinson (who is supposed to be one of those players) can possibly do that, Marcus Sasser.

It looks like he'll never play in a playoff game (don't think he did last season and he has hardly played this season) but over the last two seasons the few minutes he plays during the regular season he looks to be no worse than the team's second-best shooter from behind the arc.

heurter could be that guy, but his shooting hasnt been too great for the last couple years.

[Betrayer]

3 hours ago, DTroppens said:

I'm not as hard core about Thompson thing as a lot of you from game one. I love to see him out there for his defense. And, yes, this team needs that presence. However, he presents nothing to the team offensively and him being out there isn't going to help what this team's dire problem is right now - getting sort of offense that makes life tougher for the opponent on defense.

Except all the numbers say the opposite. The team is better on offense when he's on the court and has been all season. The reasons are simple:

• You get more disruption, allowing you to get layups in transition
• You get more stops, so you don't have to play against the opponents set half-court defense
• You get more offensive rebounds which usually result in higher percentage shots at the rim
• Conversely, when's he's off the floor opponents score more, so you're forced to play in the half-court

Unless you're suddenly bringing Vinnie Johnson off the bench to jumpstart the offense, there's no one on this team worthy of sitting down a first team All-Defensive player. And even if you did, a scorer only can only match the opponents scoring. A disruptive defender like Ausar gives you more possessions - that means taking away a bucket from the opponent and getting an easy one for yourself. That's been their identity all season.

When you do wind up in half-court sets it's simply poor/lazy coaching to leave him in the corner when team's are sagging off of him. He can be the screen setter or getter in the pick and roll, put in the dunker spot, be the DHO hub (Draymond), used in cuts, or simply play him more minutes with Stew at the 5.

It's really not that hard. He's literally the best perimeter defender in the league and a freak athlete. He's also a very good passer and an decent enough ball-handler. If JB had any idea how to run an offense or adopt a strategy mid-game, this wouldn't be a problem. But we're seeing what Cleveland saw. He's great at building a regular season identity, but his in-game rotations, strategy, and decision making leave a lot to be desired. I truly believe it cost us the series against NYK last year and it could very well cost us this year if it continues.

 

Edited 1 hour ago by Betrayer

[Deleterious]

I don't think Sasser is a very good basketball player.  Doesn't create for himself or others, doesn't score well, doesn't defend well.  He does seem to shoot the 3 well, but that isn't good when its all you can do.

An even bigger reason not to play him is the Magic lineup.  Game #1 saw 9 Magic players get on the floor.  One was 6'5" one was 6'6" and the rest were 6'7" or above.  We're already at a disadvantage running 6'1" Jenkins out there.  You can't really afford to add a second 6'1" player in Sasser as well.

If the Pistons wanted more shooting then Green was the answer.  He played 4m46s and in that time had 3 points and went to the line 4 times.  He plays solid defense and shoots 38% from three.  He played 0 minutes in the 2nd half.  

[RedTeamGo!]

Stons by 20 tonight