With superstardom comes increased attention from defenses, a fact Cade Cunningham is learning for the Detroit Pistons this season, as he is facing a barrage of double teams and traps.
It’s not surprising, as it’s the strategy the Knicks used somewhat successfully against Detroit last year in the playoffs, and until a second star emerges, Cunningham is going to be the guy other teams try to stop, which is just common sense.
Cunningham has yet to look entirely comfortable in the first three games, as he has faced an array of double teams, traps and defenders picking him up full court to make things difficult.
Cade has struggled with turnovers in his career and hasn’t done anything to quell those concerns, as he’s averaging nearly six per game, albeit in a tiny sample size. Cunningham knows this and gave this response when asked about double teams by Omari Sankofa II:
“I just don’t feel like I’ve handled it the way I want to. I’m gonna keep watching the film and try to be better for my team. I feel like we had a lot of empty offensive possessions because I just didn’t handle the hots correctly.”
I have no doubt Cunningham will figure it out, and he’s already shown some of the ways he can punish defenses for doubling and get his teammates more involved.
Cade Cunningham: Letting the game come to him
Cunningham had six turnovers again last night facing a tenacious Boston defense that was hounding him from end to end. Despite that, the Pistons won the game behind Cade’s 25 points, and he got everyone else involved.
The Pistons have been having different players bring the ball up the floor, even when Cade is out there to lessen some of those full court presses he’s been facing.
He’s also been leaning on Ausar Thompson as a second creator, especially last night, when he was able to draw the defense to him, then kick out to Thompson, who has been aggressive getting into the paint and looking for his shot.
I don’t mind when Cunningham defers to his teammates early in games, as it gets everyone involved and keeps the defense honest, so I hope we’ll see more of Cunningham off the ball at times, as it reduces some of the abuse he’s taking from defenses.
It’s an adjustment all superstars have to go through, as you are suddenly on everyone’s radar and the player every team is planning for.
This is especially true when the team doesn’t have an established second star, which is the case with the Pistons, though Thompson will soon be making his case.
Cunningham has to cut down the turnovers, but that may start with him having the ball less at times and relying more on his teammates on offense.