All eyes were on Jaden Ivey as he made his much-anticipated return against the Memphis Grizzlies in the Detroit Pistons’ first preseason game. It was a tough night for Ivey, who definitely looked rusty, but there were some positives to take away as well.
Jaden Ivey looks bigger and he’s still fast
The first thing I noticed about Ivey is that he looks to have put on some muscle since the last time we saw him play, which was nearly 10 months ago.
This should help him to absorb some of the contact he takes at the rim (more on that in a second) and hopefully stay healthy, which is obviously a concern after he missed most of last season.
It hasn’t slowed him down, as Ivey still goes end to end as fast as anyone in the league, which we saw at the end of the first half when Ivey streaked down the floor for a basket and foul near the buzzer, something he did several times last season.
When Ivey gets a full head of steam, he’s tough to stop, but he still has to play under control, which was one of the frustrating parts of his night.
Jaden Ivey has to cut out specific types of turnovers
It’s the preseason, which should be the disclaimer in front of any observation, but Ivey had three careless turnovers in the first half that are the exact kinds he has to cut out.
On the first he pushed on the fast break, ran into a crowd of defenders and jumped before he knew what he was going to do, which led to an errant pass and turnover. This is the number one type of turnover he has to eliminate from his game.
The second came in a similar situation when Ivey tried to drive into the lane, was out of control and picked up an offensive foul. Again, he has to get better at making decisions in the floater spot and either pull up sooner or get rid of the ball.
The final turnover came on a brain meltdown when Ivey lost focus and didn’t get the ball across half court in time. He then compounded that one by loafing back, not playing any defense and giving up a layup, which was not his finest stretch.
You expect some sloppiness, so it’s not so much the turnovers, but the way they happened that is concerning, as they are the exact things Ivey must improve.
Jaden Ivey initiated the offense
Ivey brought the ball up and initiated the offense nearly half the time he was on the floor, which is a good sign for the Pistons, as he was able to get into the lane.
He had some nice dishes to Chaz Lanier and Cade Cunningham off ball, which is what you want to see, as Cunningham needs more easy looks that he doesn’t have to generate himself.
Jaden Ivey has to stop falling and crying for fouls
The thing I like least about Ivey’s game is his proclivity for falling on the floor and then crying to the refs for a foul while the game carries on. It happened twice last night, once when Ivey went into the lane, was blocked, stayed back to lobby for a foul, was late on defense and then fouled a 3-point shooter because of it.
JB Bickerstaff spoke about how the Pistons have to have a better relationship with the refs after getting a ton of technicals last season and often not getting the 50/50 calls.
Part of it is that they complain WAY too much, especially Ivey, who has to play through the contact and not expect the ref to bail him out just because he’s on the floor.
You can’t make much out of a preseason game, especially the first one for a guy who just missed a ton of time, but there are things to watch in Ivey’s game as the preseason progresses.