The Detroit Pistons have re-ignited their rivalry with the Indiana Pacers after it had been dormant for many years.
It was a non-stop yap fest last night that started to wear on me if I’m being honest, but eventually a basketball game did break out amidst all of the talking.
On a side note: Does Tyrese Haliburton ever stop talking? Every time they show him he is yapping, making faces, taunting and generally stirring the pot. Even the normally reserved George Blaha went off on him last night and I was half hoping the mighty Blaha would jump over the table and give Haliburton an old school smack straight out of 1988. Rant over.
The Pistons came out flat (a reoccurring problem for them), got down big early and spent the entire game trying to get back what they lost in the first eight minutes.
Speaking of eight minutes, that’s how long it took for Isaiah Stewart to get ejected after picking up an early T and a flagrant two for shoving Thomas Bryant, another underrated pot stirrer who probably had it coming.
Coach JB Bickerstaff stuck up for his guy after the game and said there was some talk that “crossed the line.” You love to see it from JB, but Stewart has to have more composure than that on a night when the Pistons desperately needed his defense.
Aside from a feeling of abject loathing for the entire state of Indiana, I generally walk away from games against the Pacers with two thoughts.
Thought #1: The Pacers are how you build a team in the modern NBA and the Pistons should copy their strategy
If you look at the Pacers roster, it’s pretty much exactly how you need to build a team in the Apron Era.
They have two highly-paid stars at the top in Super Mouth and Pascal Siakam and then the rest of the roster is filled with quality depth with guys making between the minimum and $20 million.
Teams will increasingly value quality depth now that it’s harder to have three max guys. Outside of Haliburton and Siakam, the Pacers don’t have any household names, just a bunch of players who are good at their roles.
It helps if a few of them are contributing on minimum deals, which is why nailing draft picks later in the first and early in the second round is so important.
TJ McConnell kills the Pistons every time and plays the part of bench scorer and pesky defender to perfection. They’ve got shooters, bruisers and all of them buy into their roles.
They are under the luxury tax and threatening the Bucks for the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference. I hate to say it, but the Pacers are the model small-market team, as they are competitive nearly every season and have done it without a ton of flash or spending.
The Pistons aren’t there yet, but they aren’t far off. The biggest component they are missing is the second star to put next to Cade Cunningham, especially with Jaden Ivey out.
While both Hali and Siakam dropped 30+ last night, it was on Cade to do most of the work himself and hope someone else stepped up. Both Tobias Harris and Malik Beasley had good nights on offense (defense was a different matter, as McConnell was torching Beasley and Siakam mostly had his way with Harris), but those aren’t guys you are going to run plays through very often.
Cade needs his own Siakam.
The Pistons do have some quality depth, but not enough of it, and they could certainly use more size to match up against teams like the Magic, Cavaliers and Pacers.
The Pacers have long been one of the best teams at managing the salary cap and continue to be under the new rules, which is crucial for sustained success.
Detroit is a step behind Indiana at this point, but the blueprint is there and it appears the Pistons have the right guy to see it through in Trajan Langdon.
Thought #2: The Pistons need an upgrade at center
Look, at this point it’s safe to say Myles Turner owns Jalen Duren, so you can’t overreact too much to a guy who is a tough matchup.
However, when you see what the Pacers are getting from the center position compared to the Pistons it is night and day, as Turner is a great shooter who also protects the rim and the Pistons don’t have anyone like that.
It was particularly apparent in the few minutes Ausar Thompson (who was great last night and should have played more) and Ron Holland played together. The Pacers were just using their defenders to double Cade every time one of them got the ball, backing into the lane and daring them to shoot.
This wouldn’t be a problem if the Pistons had a center who could step away from the basket, but they don’t, which is why I would make Myles Turner my top free-agent target this offseason.
Duren has been playing better of late, but gets exposed every time he plays a stretch five or even a guy who can play outside of the lane. He's still bad at defending the pick-and-roll and teams will continue to target him.
Maybe it’s just Turner is a terrible matchup for him, but I couldn’t help thinking that if you swapped Duren for Turner, the Pistons would be the one with a 3-1 head-to-head lead over the Pacers and not the other way around.
These two teams will be battling it out for years to come but the Pistons need to be better equipped for the fight.