3 takeaways from Detroit Pistons 115-91 loss to Orlando Magic

2. Tony Snell and Luke Kennard

I’m kind of pairing these two players together because they both are showing their purpose for being on the team. They both have high expectations on their respective sides of the court and I think this game helped showcase that.

Luke Kennard looked to start the preseason off with a pinch of confidence in his shot, even if it didn’t amount to making many. The third-year guard out of Duke finished the first half with six shot attempts in 13 minutes of play.

Kennard couldn’t quite get his shot to fall, finishing the game shooting 2-for-8 in 20 minutes, but it’s the preseason (the excuse everyone can use).

The takeaway here is that he seemed comfortable taking shots. Shots that you’d like him to make in the regular season, but he has to find more comfort sometime, and I’d rather it be in the preseason. His aggression on the offensive side of things is definitely a positive sign that the coaching staff has confidence in him, and in turn, he’s showing confidence in his own shot.

Snell had a nice steal at half court on Gordon in the second half and followed it up a few possessions later with a block on a drive to the basket by Evan Fournier.

Snell wasn’t traded for to be an instant offensive weapon, probably quite the opposite. His defense is what he’s known for and he played it quite well in the third quarter.

As he posted the infamous 0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/∞ stat-line in 28 minutes, I think that shows that Snell is going to put up empty box score numbers this season. But, as I said, he isn’t on the roster to pad the stat box.

He also finished the first preseason game with at least one in each recorded statistical column, so take that, haters.