Cade Cunningham is becoming unstoppable for the Detroit Pistons
After watching the detonation of the first atomic bomb, scientist Robert Oppenheimer (the father of the atomic bomb) quoted Hindu scripture and said, “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”
That’s how I felt watching Cade Cunningham on offense last night, as he is becoming an unstoppable force.
He’s getting so much better at playing through contact, several times taking it right into the chest of defenders in transition, knocking them back and scoring anyway.
Cade has gotten so good at coming off screens, taking two dribbles and then time seems to freeze while he decides what to do. If the mid-range shot is there, he takes it and can eat from there all night.
If it isn’t, he does his hesitation move and tries to get all the way to the hoop, where he has become very good at using his body to keep defenders off him and then finishing over their outstretched arms.
If the defense collapses, he has the IQ and court vision to find open teammates, and when he has more of them who can make shots, his assist numbers are going to skyrocket.
There just isn’t much defenses can do against a guy with his size, smarts, patience and shooting ability. The crazy thing is that he is routinely scoring 25 (last night he had 25 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds) without the benefit of the 3-ball, as he only shot four of them last night, making one.
Once Cade puts on some more strength this offseason so that he can more easily finish through contact (and hopefully get more foul calls) and rise up a little more on 3-point shots, I just don’t see how defenses are going to stop him.
This is why Kevin Durant could do nothing but shake his head and smile when he was asked about the future of the Pistons and Cade Cunningham. KD knows the real thing when he sees it.
Cade is becoming a destroyer of defenses right before our eyes and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for the Pistons’ young star.