The Detroit Pistons are already taking advantage of the fact that their G-League affiliate, the Motor City Cruise, is just a few miles from Little Caesar’s Arena.
The Pistons have been sending players back and forth to the Cruise, sending them off one night and then bringing them back the next.
The G-League is obviously a developmental league where young players can get the reps they need but won’t get with the regular team.
Players can get focused coaching and work on different parts of their game, but teams also hope that their young guys dominate, which is exactly what happened last night.
Saben Lee and Luka Garza showed that they are a notch above their G-League competition, which is exactly what you want out of guys who have hopes of being part of the Detroit Pistons’ rotation some day.
Detroit Pistons: Saben Lee has monster night for the G-League
Both Saben Lee and Luka Garza have more experience than some of their G-League counterparts, so you would hope they’d have their way with lesser competition, which is what they did last night:
https://twitter.com/MotorCityCruise/status/1457162803316510720
Lee had an eye-popping 42 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and four steals, narrowly missing a monster triple-double.
Lee was getting to the rim at will for an array of floaters, jumpers and running layups off the glass. With Cory Joseph playing badly, this is the kind of night that might get Lee some run with the Detroit Pistons soon.
Same with Luka Garza, who put up 24 points and nine rebounds for the Cruise, a night he hopes might earn him some minutes off the bench behind Isaiah Stewart.
Derrick Walton and Jamorko Pickett also had big nights for the Cruise, and it was good to see our old friend Deividas Sirvydis get some action as well.
The Cruise won the game over the Cleveland Charge 140-117, and the Detroit Pistons are probably wishing they could get some of that offense for themselves, as they’ve yet to even score 110 points in a game this season.
The Cruise have started the season 1-0 and caught some attention in the process. It’s going to be fun to watch these young players build confidence that they will hopefully bring back to the full-time Detroit Pistons’ roster.