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Detroit Pistons player preview: Expectations for Henry Ellenson

By Steve Pelletier

Henry Ellenson #8 of the Detroit Pistons (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Henry Ellenson #8 of the Detroit Pistons (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 31: Kyle Kuzma #0 of the Los Angeles Lakers attempts a lay up against Henry Ellenson #8 of the Detroit Pistons on October 31, 2017 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.Ê (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 31: Kyle Kuzma #0 of the Los Angeles Lakers attempts a lay up against Henry Ellenson #8 of the Detroit Pistons on October 31, 2017 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.Ê (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images) /

Defensive struggles

The main thing that hurts Henry Ellenson’s chances for more playing time is his defense, or lack thereof.

This seems to be the main reason Stan Van Gundy never kept Ellenson in the regular rotation, and unfortunately, it looks like Dwane Casey might feel the same way.

Last year, Casey employed a bench unit that featured two defensive specialists down low in Jakob Poeltl and Pascal Siakam. The previous season saw a trio of Patrick Patterson, Lucas Nogueira, and Siakam. And the season before that, it was Patterson and Bismack Biyombo.

All of these guys are good-to-great defenders. Except for Luis Scola, the Raptors under Casey have used front-court players that are solid defenders the past 3 seasons.  This does not bode well for Ellenson.

When it comes to Ellenson’s defense, all I can say is pull up any full game where he played significant minutes, and you’ll see him being bullied on that end.

He seems to play flat-footed, and gets beat by smaller and quicker players, as well as exhibiting below-average strength that gets him pushed around by stronger players.

I remember a Summer League game last year on July 4, 2017 in which Okaro White looked like LeBron James when Ellenson was guarding him. Once the team figured out how slow and weak Ellenson was compared to White, all White did was drive straight at Henry – doing whatever he wanted to do on offense.

No matter how good Ellenson is offensively, this type of defense is going to hinder the minutes and lineup combinations where he can be used.

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