Detroit Pistons stock exchange: Who’s trending after Pistons’ 109-105 win over Cleveland Cavaliers

Bruce Brown Jr.

How great was it to see the young guard be so comfortable on offense after the season he had last year? Well, it’s time Brown expresses some of his athletic tools and passing instincts on an NBA court. And last night, he did.

In the first play of the game, Bruce Brown Jr. found a layup. Markieff Morris sets a corner screen for Tony Snell and Jackson hands it off to Snell, who then hands it off to Brown. Drummond sets a ball screen and all this motion has caused Bruce’s defender to trail him instead of going under the screen.

Most importantly Drummond’s gravity is what clears up the lane for Brown. Playing next to the Pistons starting big men will open up space to attack the basket and Brown has to prove that he can handle these situations with efficiency.  He proved that he can do it against a bad Cleveland defense. Now he has to prove that he can do it against most teams on low usage.

In any case, after this game, everyone should feel hopeful about Brown’s development than they were before it. Brown put on a clinic out there last night and showed the improvement he had already showed in Summer League.

However, most NBA defenses won’t be going under the screen on many occasions which will make it hard for Brown to be efficient. Well, that’s why Casey seems to have implemented the Spain pick-and-roll once again. Last year, on various occasions, we saw the Pistons set these kinds of screens for Ish Smith.

Even if the defender goes under the screen, there’s a second screen, set by a guard, that creates an opening to attack for speedy guards like Brown. And even when they force him baseline, he can use that speed to attack the big man and get his big man open for dump-offs like this.

Brown did what he does best last night. He used his athleticism to attack the basket and find open people.

Dribble penetration

The Cavaliers’ defense played a big part in this but it’s great to see the Pistons capitalize on a crappy defense and get dribble penetration. It’s been a team issue for a while now, with Jackson’s injuries and lack of depth. However, last night, with Drummond setting screens on the Cavs small guards the Pistons were able to find space to penetrate.

And Rose can take advantage of that space to drive and find open people on the jump pass. He will benefit greatly from playing next to such a great roll man. Being able to pull up will also be of major importance and Rose has risen to the occasion.

Jackson puts Dellavedova on his hip and gets to the rim for a layup. Drummond does so much to open lanes to the basket just by the threat of his lobs and put backs. Thompson just stays with him even though Dellavedova can’t get back in front of Jackson.

And Jackson sets his man perfectly with his dribble to blow by the screen and get middle penetration himself.

Brown was the main attraction of the night. In the dribble handoff (DHO) his defender goes under the initial screen, which makes him get caught on the re-screen by Drummond. Brown may not be able to score but he has a quick first step and vision to pass. Last year, his handles and overall skills weren’t keeping up with his speed. Now, he seems improved, and it will help the Pistons a ton if he can get dribble penetration.

Overall it was a pretty boring game and the Pistons weren’t hitting their shots for the majority of the 48 minutes. But it offered some excitement with Brown and Rose getting to the rim and it highlighted some weaknesses of the defense.

There are a few things for the Pistons to sort out but they still have two preseason games coming up next week.