Jalen Duren didn’t wait long to make his mark on the preseason, as he caught a pass from Ausar Thompson on the first play of last night’s game against Minnesota and immediately buried a short baseline jumper.
Fans that were worried about rust, or about Duren living up to his contract can breathe a sigh of relief, as Duren looked amazing last night on his way to 24 points, 3 rebounds, an assist, two steals and a block in just 15 minutes of action.
Duren was noticeably quicker and more explosive in his first game and was doing all of it against one of the best defenders in the league in Rudy Gobert.
It’s just one preseason game, so we can't get too excited, but all signs point towards a big leap from Duren that will justify his big payday and hopefully quiet some of his biggest critics.
It won’t take long for Jalen Duren to win over Pistons fans if he plays like this
I was somewhat worried about what kind of reception Duren would get from the home fans in the final preseason game after his lengthy holdout, so was glad he debuted on the road, but if he continues to play like this, he’ll have nothing to worry about.
Duren has taken a TON of criticism, some fair, some not, and there is a segment of the Pistons fanbase behaving like scorned lovers over his holdout.
I’ve had terminally online fans tell me they don’t “trust” Duren anymore (I responded that they weren’t marrying the guy, who cares?), have seen him called every name from “bum” to “greedy” and even had one reader tell me he would stop reading my work if I kept writing about Duren. So sad to lose you, pal.
There was also endless talk about his contract, how he was “overpaid” and even had a few “fire Trajan Langdon” comments from some of the livelier Facebook fanatics.
The doubters and pocket watchers have put Duren under a microscope, so it’s a good sign that he came out and performed well right away and even better that this performance will frighten off some of the trolls.
There is a huge caveat of course: In addition to being preseason, we are in the month of October and there won’t be any level of play Duren can achieve in this month that will move certain fans, as he has to do it in the playoffs.
Saying “wait until April” is a miserable way to watch basketball, but there will be critics Duren won’t win over until he does it on the biggest stage.
He's off to a good start, and let’s hope a summer of being doubted fueled Duren into another leap for the Pistons.
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