The Detroit Pistons started Summer League off right with a win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
It was great to see the new players on the floor for the first time, and there was plenty to be excited about, especially with the debuts of Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren.
Summer League is the time of huge overreactions to everything, as we often forget that many of the guys we are watching are never going to be in the NBA.
Saben Lee has been the biggest target so far, as I woke up for fans calling for him to be waived after a 1-of-8 shooting night.
It was a sloppy, sometimes ugly game, which you’d expect in the first run of Summer League, but there were some bright spots.
Here are my three huge overreactions to the Pistons’ win.
Detroit Pistons Summer League: Overreaction #1
Isaiah Stewart can shoot!
Beef Stew got his first run at power forward, starting there with rookie Jalen Duren at center. Stew ended the game with 13 points, nine rebounds and a block, but the interesting number is that four of his six shot attempts were from behind the 3-point line.
Stewart hit three of them, picking up right where he left off last season, shooting the ball with confidence and knocking them down without hesitation.
His one miss was a huge brick, but the rest were smooth shots that he didn’t rush, but also didn’t hold for too long, which was a problem last season.
It’s far too early to know if the Stewart/Duren front court is going to work right away, but if Stewart can consistently knock down that shot, Dwayne Casey is going to have a lot of options.
Side overreaction: I hate the refs
Ok, so this is not really an overreaction. There were two absolutely ridiculous technical fouls called in the first half, one on Beef Stew for a “hostile act” during a free throw and one to Portland’s Watford for, well, I am not sure exactly.
This is a growing problem as the refs attempt to suck all life out of the game and T guys up for nothing. We saw it last season when Cade Cunningham got ejected for pointing at his own bench. It already looks like Beef Stew is a marked man after the LeBron rampage last season, so I am sure we can expect to see plenty of these “hostile act” technicals for no reason.
While I get the instinct to try to remove some of the nonsense, this officiating just keeps getting softer, delaying the game, and taking all of the emotion out of it. In short, it sucks and I hate it.
Rant over.
Detroit Pistons Summer League: Overreaction #2
Jalen Duren is the starting center!
Duren was impressive in his short run and certainly doesn’t look like an 18-year-old physically. I mean, seriously, are we sure he is 18? I may need to see a birth certificate or DNA evidence or something because he was the biggest dude on the floor and looked like a full grown man out there.
Fans got upset at me when I said we should probably pump the brakes on Duren starting right away, and he did his best to prove me wrong.
He came out and got a dunk off a lob right away, blocked a couple of shots and ran the floor well. He had a couple of bad close outs that ended in dunks and was lost on rotations a few times, but you can live with that if he is providing that type of rim protection and threat on the lob.
Duren was on a minutes limitation after not being able to practice with the team, so he only played 12 minutes, but he was impressive and certainly does not look his age.
I still think Duren is probably going to play limited minutes early on, but he was impressive in his debut and I can’t wait to see more.
Detroit Pistons Summer League: Overreaction #3
Jaden Ivey is your Rookie of the Year!
Ivey had a good debut as well, leading the Detroit Pistons with 20 points, six rebounds and six assists.
He looked a little too amped up at times and played a bit out of control, turning it over five times, mostly when he got into the lane with his speed and had nowhere to go with it.
But he started to find his groove in the second half, and really turned his night around with his defense, which has the chance to be elite. The first thing I noticed about Ivey was how active he was in the passing lanes and how offensive players were tentative with him lurking, ready to pounce.
Ivey’s length and speed are going to lead to a whole lot of steals, and once he gets it going the other way, it’s over.
Check out a few of @IveyJaden’s insane highlights 🔥 pic.twitter.com/SCrTJx3Ta1
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) July 8, 2022
Ivey flashed his elite downhill speed a few times, most impressively on the secondary break, where he waits for his moment and then explodes down the middle of the defense for finishes at the rim.
The comparisons to Russell Westbrook make sense, as Ivey has that type of burst and athleticism at the rim.
Ivey has to learn to harness that speed, but once he started to relax, we really saw what he can do. On a side note, I love his mom Niele Ivey on the sidelines. The Ivey’s have bought into Detroit as a family, which you love to see.
It wasn’t the prettiest game I’ve ever seen, but the Detroit Pistons got the win and a couple of impressive debuts from their rookies.