5 Major overreactions to Pistons preseason loss to the Suns

Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey playing defense 

It was good to see both Cunningham and Ivey giving effort on the defensive end last night even though neither of them had a banner night scoring. 

Ivey got a nice steal when he flashed into the passing lane in the 2nd quarter after forcing the dribbler into the help defense. He then went the other way on the break, which is something he can do more of if he stays in front of his man and forces him into the teeth of the defense. 

Team defense isn’t about stopping your guy one-on-one, it’s about keeping him from his spots, forcing him into difficult decisions and using your teammates to help without pulling them out of position, which Ivey did nicely on that play. 

Cunningham put the clamps on Devin Booker early on, staying in front of him one-on-one then stuffing him for a block before taking it the other way. 

The Pistons have athletes that can get out in transition, so these types of stops by their guards will lead to easy buckets, which is something the Pistons got precious few of last season. 

They were hardly perfect defensive performances, especially for Ivey, who was caught out of position a few times again (though better than the first game) but the effort was there and both young guards are starting to understand how to play within a team concept. 

The Pistons will get a few games off before playing these Suns again in game three of the preseason on Friday.