3 takeaways from the Detroit Pistons 117-110 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans
The rookie is growing fast
It’s more or less become a consensus that one of the only things keeping a majority of Pistons fans engaged with the team on a nightly basis is the production of the 19-year old rookie Sekou Doumbouya. The prospect of watching someone who provides so much optimism for a fan base has proven to be worth it. Even on a semi-national scale, Doumbouya is slowly turning himself into a quality product that people genuinely want to see.
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Tonight he was arguably one of Detroit’s best on-ball defenders, and the way he’s able to stay with his man in transition as well as away from the ball is truly commendable. Finishing tonight with 16 points and 8 rebounds on 66 percent shooting and 50 percent from three-point range, Doumbouya made the most of his 35 minutes played.
It was especially relieving to see him play down the stretch in the fourth quarter and in overtime, something that Casey has been hesitant to do as of late. One can assume it was his way of rewarding Doumbouya for his performance. The importance of getting him that late game experience cannot be overstated, and it’s slightly relieving to see the Pistons valuing the development of their younger players over winning meaningless games.
The way Doumbouya was able to put the ball on the floor and try to create his own offense tonight was something that we haven’t quite seen from him since his first start just over a week ago. His confidence in his ball handling and his jump shot is increasing with every game that passes, and tonight in Drummond’s absence he was also able to display his rebounding ability.
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Doumbouya is the future in Detroit, and to watch him grow every single night means the world.