Detroit Pistons vs Charlotte Hornets - 3/11/2024
Game Breakdown
Pistons - 114 - 97 W
Cade, Ivey, Fontecchio, Stew, Duren
Nice opening action of the game tonight
Get a weakside with only Fontecchio which forces his man to be the tag on Cade-Duren PnR
Cade makes the pass and Fontecchio decides to turn down the C&S and attack the closeout for a floater
Not positive who it is (maybe Jarrett Jack?) but in recent games I feel like I can hear the Pistons bench coaches being more vocal with defensive communication
SASSER WITH CADE!!!!
You will understand if you listen to the most recent episode of The Pistons Pulse (w/Laz Jackson - LINK at the top of the page)
The reason I don’t like the 2nd Unit of Sasser-Grimes-Fournier-Fontecchio-Wiseman is these guys are ALL play finishes
You need a creator, a defense pressure guy (Cade or Ivey) on the floor to actualize what these guys do best
It just makes too much sense in every way to stagger Cade and Ivey
Ivey comes in and immediately creates a wide open wing C&S 3PA for Grimes (missed)
Seems like the help defense in general on the weakside has been pretty good through the first 18 minutes
HAVE A BIG LEAD, HORNETS CUT IT UNDER 10 WITH 5 TO PLAY….CAN THEY FINISH?
Cade 2 FTMs BUT then foul and give Hornets 2 FTMs
Cade drive and layup (man, would love to see him be the closer in this one like many of us have talked about him being)
Give up OREB BUT Fontecchio forces TO on SLOB
Cade mid range pull up jumper (THIS is what you want to see)
Cade to Duren for dunk
Ivey with a great cut off a Fontecchio drive
Cade drive and MISSED layup BUT Duren follows for putback
Duren steal after Cade missed and gets fouled (makes both)
97 points with 3:11 arter 2 Williams FTs and didn’t score again
IVEY turns down his first C&S 3PA opportunity and I personally like the decision
He drives into the lane, draws defense and gets Stew an open 3 that he misses
Yes, you could argue you would rather have Ivey shoot this than Stew BUT big picture, long term that should be a player that consistently makes the shot on Ivey’s drive and kick OR there is spacing for him to get to the rim and finish
8:00 3rd quarter is GREAT PROCESS!!
Turns down the shot, attacks and then absolute dime to Fontecchio in weakside corner who knocks down the corner 3PM
Every time he has turned down a “decent” 3PA to attack something positive has happened
NOW, I realize he does have to take some of them to keep the defense honest but I stand by him taking too many right now (has to be the “right” ones)
I almost wonder if that little 8-10 foot floater/pull up is a bigger area of need for his scoring than even the 3P shot
Would be an interesting debate which one is more necessary here early in his career
Continues to be an unselfish passer and looks to attack and find teammates BUT he REALLY has to work on the finer points of his passing in terms of velocity and being on target
STEW staying confident with his 3PA
Misses his first 2 but then confidently steps into and makes the 3rd
He just has to get more consistent still
A couple decent attacks of closeouts through 2.5 quarters
We have seen these flashes before but they still need to get more consistent
CADE 6th in the NBA post ASB in Points Score + Assisted On
Showing a little bit of wiggle and separation ability with his handle in the 1st quarter
Yes, he has athleticism/vertical explosion limitations (in comparison to elite NBA athletes) BUT there are ways to make up for that with strength, angles, nuance and playing finishes over contests correctly
It makes it harder BUT I don’t believe it limits his ceiling
I do think his defense and defensive energy has been better recently BUT twice tonight he gets lackadaisical off the ball and gives a shooter an open 3PM off a screen
GRIMES being a great ball mover here to start his rotation
He HAS to start making shots at some point….right?
This is just rough (7/28 and 4/19 coming into tonight and hasn’t made anything from the field so far)
FOURNIER, of all players, has some really nice defensive rotations and deflections/steals
DUREN was a guy I was hoping to see come out and really be locked in to start the game after the ejection….
Not necessarily the case thus far
Dropped passes, missed dunks, missed FTs
Good response so far in the 2nd half
Playing with more energy
Finishing misses, even got a “team OREB” that led directly to points on ensuing possession
Overall, a pretty solid 2nd half
FONTECCHIO hits a 3 to finally stopped the 2nd quarter run
He looks like he is playing with a LOT of confidence and freedom right now
WISEMAN with some decent rim protection again in this one
WHAT A MOVE!!! Wow!!! (10:30ish in the 4th if you missed it)
AND I love his process on the next possession
Could have forced another 1 on 1 moved, didn’t, passed out and ball screen, eventually gets an OREB as well and just misses the little floater
Just a really nice stretch at the start of the 4th from him
Got a big OREB and finish when they needed it after back to back Hornets 3PM
LOVE the interaction with Taj Gibson on the bench
Hornets
Misic, Miller, Bridges, Williams, Richards
RICHARDS immediately just doing working on the OREBs
Looks completely uncomfortable in a short roll situation and then throws an ill advised backdoor pass that gets stolen
MISIC has looked completely out of sorts in the 1st quarter
Comes back with a couple 3PMs in the 2nd
MILLER been flashing the full scoring package multiple times I have watched this season
Just in 1st quarter he has a quick release C&S 3PM and then later in the quarter has an awesome nuanced drive where he “jails” defender and then hits the floater
Has a couple more of these in the 2nd quarter
Left hand one in the 3rd
You can see the foundation for this kid to be an elite scorer someday
Now knocks down a 3PM running off a staggered screen
BRIDGES has had some pretty crafty and impressive drives and finishes at the rim
Hits back to back 3PMs to get them right back in the game
WILLIAMS tried to play a lot more bullyball than what I thought was in his game