10 good things and one bad in Pistons’ win over Magic

Detroit Pistons: 10 good things, one bad in win over Orlando Magic

7. Jaden Ivey’s defense

There were so many things to like about Ivey’s debut. He showed off his electric athleticism, which is game changing for Detroit, as it was something they lacked last season. He played efficient and under control on offense, picking his spots to try to get to the hoop and knocking down the open 3-pointers when they were presented to him. But I was equally impressed by his speed on defense, as Ivey ended the game with three steals when he was able to flash into passing lanes out of nowhere. The best part is that he is able to take those steals end-to-end for scores, which takes some of the pressure off the Pistons’ half court offense, which his still a work in progress.

Twice you can see Ivey jump those passes and once he gets it, he knows what to do and there aren’t many players in the world who can catch him once he starts moving downhill.

8. Jalen Duren’s finishes

Duren is already being compared to Andre Drummond because of his rebounding, but Duren is already better at one thing than Drummond ever was and that’s finishing around the hoop. Drummond loved to tap the ball in, or short arm floaters around the rim like he was a guard.

There’s none of that with Duren, when he gets the ball on an offensive rebound or near the rim in transition, he’s only thinking one thing: Rip the rim off. There’s no playing around, tapping the ball to himself like a volleyball player, Duren tries to dunk. And he should, as he is an athletic freak and is going to be the guards’ best friend this season with all of the lobs he catches and flushes.

9. Cory Joseph’s feel for the moment

CoJo takes a lot of flak from Pistons’ fans, but he was huge in the game last night. When Detroit was floundering early, it was Joseph who came in, settled them down and hit a few shots to get them back in the game. He knows what the team needs of him and he delivered last night in limited action. We can talk about his over dribbling or his medium jersey that seems a little tight around the gut (fills it out like me haha) but CoJo has a feel for the moment and he stepped up last night when the Pistons needed him.