Detroit Pistons: Taking a look at the future backcourt
Roles
Kennard’s and Brown’s roles on the team have minimum overlap which goes a long way in lineup optimization. On offense, Brown has a distributor’s mentality. He is a very accurate passer from a standstill and has great timing. You can use him in sets where he handles the ball while Kennard comes off screens to shoot.
He stays patient and tries to find the open man as you see above. That bodes well with Kennard’s scorer’s mentality. Kennard, this year, is always looking for his shot and he’s finally not afraid to shoot it.
On defense, Brown can take the opponent’s lead ball-handler, a role that got him on the floor last year despite his lack of offense. He didn’t start the season well on that end but he’s getting back on track. He did an amazing job at slowing down Kyrie Irving.
And he just has amazing physical tools. For a point guard, he’s very fast, long and extremely strong. He can really get down in a defensive stance and he can cover a ton of ground and contest with great extension.
And he has great awareness when he’s guarding the weak side, always having the ball and his man in sight. He gets hung up on this flare screen. His teammate is late to switch and pick up the corner man but Brown intercepts the pass with his length and goes on the fast break.
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He also stays patient and draws attention to the middle, allowing Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk to find an open spot in the corner for the three.
Kennard can take the lesser opposing guard wing and be a smart team defender. He sees the floor well on defense and knows where he has to be. Even though he lacks length, being there at the right time allows teammates to get the stops.
Brown and Kennard just compliment each other on both sides of the floor. On defense, Brown can cover for Kennard and on offense, Brown can handle and distribute while Kennard looks for his shot.