How will the Detroit Pistons slow down Zion Williamson?

After getting smashed in their first preseason game against the Knicks, the Detroit Pistons hope to bounce back tonight on the road against the New Orleans Pelicans.

This is another tough road matchup for Detroit, who shot the ball poorly and turned it over a ton in the first loss to New York.

Like the Knicks, the Pelicans boast a big front court, with Jonas Valanciunas at center and Zion Williamson at power forward.

The Pistons started Isaiah Stewart at center in the first game and had trouble keeping Mitchell Robinson off the glass, and he’ll face a similar challenge tonight with Valanciunas and Williamson, who are even better.

The Detroit Pistons will once again be undersized and we may see more of rookie Jalen Duren tonight to compensate, as he showed signs of elite defense and was one of the only bright spots against the Knicks.

But the big issue is who is going to defend Zion Williamson, and this is a question that will linger over the Pistons’ power forwards every time they are facing a big front court.

Detroit Pistons: Trying to stop Zion Williamson

First off, there aren’t many teams that have a power forward who can defend Zion one-on-one, as his combination of explosive athleticism and strength are hard to match up against.

But the Pistons really don’t match up well, as Bojan Bogdanovic is simply too small to try and slow down Zion.

The Pistons’ best-bet is probably Isaiah Stewart, but then who is going to play center? This might be a game when we see Detroit rolling with bigger lineups with Duren at center and Stewart at the power forward spot.

But the job will likely fall on Bogdanovic in the beginning of the game, so he is going to have his work cut out for him. One thing he can do is to try and make Zion work on the other end, as Williamson is not the greatest defender.

Bojan needs to run off screens, make Zion chase him around, and try to take advantage of him on the offensive end to somewhat balance the damage Zion is going to do.

Detroit could also use Saddiq Bey on Zion, as he is stronger than Bogdanovic and may have a better time trying to keep Zion from getting to the rim at will.

The Pistons are going to be outsized at every position except small forward and point guard, so this will be a good early test to see how Dwane Casey is going to use his rotations against bigger teams.

Can Detroit make the bigger Pelicans chase them around and keep them away from the hoop? If not, it’s going to be long night for the Pistons, as this New Orleans’ team attacks the rim and tries to bury teams in the paint.

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