Detroit Pistons: 3 things Jaden Ivey can learn from Ja Morant

Jaden Ivey of the Detroit Pistons got his first head-to-head matchup against Ja Morant last night and it was a learning experience for the rookie.

He definitely learned some things on the court, Tweeting after the game “You either win or you learn” and also had a nice exchange with Morant on Twitter shortly after.

Ivey has been compared to Morant (among others) and if you squinted hard enough during last night’s game, you might have gotten them confused, as Ivey had a few moments that looked a lot like Ja:

Even though Ivey was inconsistent shooting the ball during preseason, he was one of the bright spots and showed flashes of being ahead of schedule as a rookie, especially when it comes to play making.

Jaden Ivey plays out of control at times as he is still learning to harness his incredible speed, but if you look back to film of Morant’s rookie season, you’ll see many of the same mistakes. Now Morant is entering his 4th year and is already an MVP candidate, which is exactly where Ivey wants to be.

There are definitely things that Ivey can pick up from watching Morant, whose game has evolved a ton since his rookie season.

Detroit Pistons: What Jaden Ivey can learn from Ja Morant

Be patient

This is actually one area where I thought Ivey looked better than expected, but he still needs to work on knowing when to explode and when to hold back.

If you watch film of rookie Morant, he did the same exact thing, often trying to exploit gaps with his quickness but ending up driving into the teeth of the defense for a blocked shot or turnover.

If you watch Morant now, he is much better at picking his spots to explode and knowing when to use hesitation moves, how to get the defender on his back and when to pull up and kick out to the open shooter.

Ivey had three turnovers last night when he tried to explode through small gaps only to find defenders waiting. This may have worked on college defenders that Ivey could simply finish over or through, but it won’t work in the NBA, so this is something he can learn from year four Morant, who now has a much better feel for when to use his speed.

Detroit Pistons: What Jaden Ivey can learn from Ja Morant

Floater vs. finishes at the rim

Like Morant, Ivey is a very good finisher at the rim, as he can sky for dunks and also has a bag of acrobatic shots in his arsenal.

But not everything has to be at the rim.

We’ve seen Morant take a pounding in his first three seasons as he drives right into defenders and tries to dunk on their heads. While this is great for the highlight reels, it’s not great for the body and isn’t always the most effective shot.

We see Morant pulling up for floaters much more often now, and it works, as defenders have to respect his ability to finish at the rim and will often sag just enough to leave that floater open.

Ivey did this well once last night, pulling up for an 7-8 foot floater and nailing it early in the second half, but more often than not he tried to get all the way to the rim, which isn’t always going to be there in the half court, especially when teams are going to sag into the paint against the shooting-challenged Detroit Pistons.

Morant spent most of his first two seasons trying to finish everything at the rim, but we’re seeing him pull up for floaters and runners a lot more now, which not only keeps defenses guessing, but saves some of the wear and tear on his body.

Ivey is already starting to incorporate this into his game, which you love to see, as he has the ability to be deadly in the paint.

Detroit Pistons: What Jaden Ivey can learn from Ja Morant

You see Ja Morant get 2-3 easy buckets every game when he simply uses his speed to beat everyone else down the floor.

Ivey may be even faster end-to-end, so this is something he can incorporate into his game.

Most of Morant’s fast breaks happen when he contests 3-point shots and just keeps going. This puts a lot of pressure on the other team, as they have to try and have someone back to stop it.

With Cade Cunningham being such a good rebounding guard, Ivey needs to do the same as Morant and look for opportunities to punish teams for missing a 3-point shot.

Not only can Ivey affect shots with his length, but he can get a few easy buckets every game on outlet passes from Cade, which will help improve his confidence and efficiency.

It also makes teams think twice about crashing the offensive boards with abandon, as they need to keep one (at least) guy back to try and stop the runout.

The Detroit Pistons are going to struggle to score this season and need to get more fast break points, so like Morant, I’d love to se Ivey “contest and go” as much as possible and force the other team to react.