the Detroit Pistons entered last night’s preseason game against the Suns with some positive vibes after winning their first against the Bucks.
The good feelings were quickly dampened by the Suns, who came out in midseason form with Kevin Durant barely hitting the rim on any of his shots as he racked up 21 points in 19 minutes.
The game was played in the Breslin Center in front of an energetic crowd that was treated to a fairly entertaining game.
I’m not going to do the preseason disclaimer every three sentences, but everything is taken with a giant grain of salt right now even if there are some concerns developing.
Last night was a mix of positive and negative, so let’s get to the overreactions for game two.
The Pistons can hang with their defense!
The Pistons shot 40 percent last night from the field and 30 percent from long range, yet they were only down by seven at the half and had the score cut to two in the third quarter before a couple of turnovers led to 3-point shots for the Suns and both teams emptied their benches.
The Suns are a good team led by an all-time great and the Pistons were hanging with them even though their shots weren’t falling.
They were doing it with defense, challenging every shot, cleaning up the defensive glass and getting to the free-throw line. Defense and effort are there for you every night, even if the shots aren’t going in, and this is something the Pistons have to learn and lean into.
Even with Durant making everything, the Pistons were right there, which should give them confidence that they can win more of these games on nights when their shots are going in. The defense also led to 20 fast break points and 23 points created off turnovers.
It’s a good sign that JB Bickerstaff’s goal of improving the defense is starting to happen.
We’re going to be talking about turnovers for the Pistons all season again!
I hope this isn’t true, but Detroit coughed the ball up 20 times last night and it was the primary reason they lost the game.
Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren accounted for seven of them, and in the case of Duren, this simply cannot happen. He gave it up being weak with the ball under the rim (and was challenged successfully on weak attempts several other times. JUST DUNK IT!), twice on terrible moving screens (more on that in a second) and once in transition when he tried to do a bit too much with the ball.
Duren also scored 17 points and added six rebounds, but he has to be stronger with the ball. I am also not a fan of trying to add too much to his offensive game, as he needs to work on defense and setting screens, and let the offense come via the lob. I cringed a bit when I heard JB Bickerstaff talking about expanding his offensive role as a playmaker when it is far more important that he become an anchor on defense. Speaking of Duren...
Jalen Duren has to set better screens!
The momentum of the game shifted in the second quarter when Jalen Duren got called for two moving screens in rapid succession.
This has always been a problem for him, as he is trying to get out of the screen and into his roll before he’s even made contact half the time. Again, I would stress upon the young man that setting a good screen makes it easier, not harder for him to score, even if he doesn’t get into his roll as quickly.
There was a great example of this in the third quarter when Duren set a solid screen for Jaden Ivey, who got into the paint and sent it back to Duren as he rolled to the rim for the lob and dunk.
It was a nice pass by Ivey but the whole thing was set up by a solid screen by Duren. However, too many times he sets a phantom screen, especially at the top of the key, and tries to roll too soon, which makes that pick-and-roll with Cade Cunningham much easier to defend, as the defender just goes right over the screen.
I am starting to get worried about Cade Cunningham!
Ok, not really. Ok, really.
Cunningham has had two poor shooting games to start the preseason, which is no big deal, as everyone is trying to shake off the rust, but there are other things that concern me.
The first is that he looks slow. His pace with the ball is snail-like and he just looks a step slow trying to get to the hoop. This is slightly concerning after his first fully healthy offseason in years, as I expected him to come out looking crisp and quicker.
He’s also over-dribbling and getting stuffed at the rim. He only got credited with one turnover last night, but it should have been 3-4, as Cunningham went to the rim several times only to meet a wall and give up the ball. This has to stop, as Cunningham has more options this season, so the Pistons don’t need him to go into Teen Wolf mode every possession.
Cunningham did have eight assists, so it wasn’t like he didn’t impact the game and there were several plays in which he showed quicker decision making. In the second quarter Cunningham got into the paint, but before he met the defenders he hit a cutting Ivey with a great pass and Jalen dropped it off to Duren for a dunk.
When Cade goes fast and keeps the ball moving the Pistons are a better offense. When he spends the entire possession backing his guy into the lane or spends a lot of time pump faking, it usually ends in disaster.
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.