Pistons vs Houston Rockets

Game Breakdown

*Special Situations*

• Tracking Cade Cunningham 10 turnovers

  • Gets surprised by a double team off a spin move in late transition and gets it picked by Tari Eason

  • Transition opportunity after he does a nice job with a steal (in zone) and goes to throw the live dribble left hand pass, I am actually fine with this, but loses control of the ball

  • This one makes zero chance, I just don’t understand what he is seeing here as Holiday peels off to take Ausar and Sengun is multiple feet off….no reason for him to pass this yet, attack Sengun or pull up and shoot

  • So….I understand what he’s doing here because Duren has FVV on him after an off ball switch BUT he has to see that Sengun is coming for the scram switch anyway and then Eason gets a fingertip on the pass forcing it to be too high

  • This one makes NO SENSE to me because it’s Amen on Duren….Amen is one of the best and most versatile defenders in the league…and it’s not like Duren has proven over and over that he can attack mismatches with post ups

    • No excuse BUT I can’t help but wonder if Cade is trying to feed him or “reward him” for how well Duren has played up to this point in the game

  • Simply an off target pass to Ausar cutting into the lane…a pass he should be throwing but have to hit him

  • Another off target pass on the right read to Ausar in the ball screen but hits him in the shins

  • This is probably both a bad decision AND an off target pass….Duren has a step on Sengun in transition but Cade throws it short

  

  • Simply a bad passing read trying to throw the cross court skip pass to Fontecchio, it wasn’t open at all

  • I think the worry here is not many of these are “man, the defense just made a great play” type of play

    • Loose with the ball, bad passing decisions and off target passes

    • He also was REALLY close to a couple more TOs

• After dominating the game for the first 15 or so minutes the Rockets go on a run and actually take the lead

  • Score, stop, score, stop and they at least regain the lead

  • And then immediately lose it again after a trio of Cade TOs

• THJ TAKES A CHARGE!!!

  • Hasn’t been the best close to the game but a big Duren OREB and THJ mid range, Duren block and this charge drawn seal the deal

• PISTONS RESPOND

  • We have seen it all season long and it happens again…still a BIG stretch of games coming up

Pistons

• Cade, THJ, Ausar, Harris, Duren

  • OFFENSE

    • Sengun going to matchup with Ausar and be helper, will be interesting to see how this impacts the offense

    • Are pushing the pace even AFTER MAKES which I think can sometimes surprise the defense just as much

    • We have seen this action from the beginning of the year and it’s impactful here because it forces the switch of Green onto Cade which he can attack all game long

    • Being able to convert these (either direction, Duren to Ausar or Ausar to Duren) would be HUGE for them being able to successfully share the court together offensively

      • I realize this is transition but it’s the same idea of a PnR

  • DEFENSE

    • More Detroit zone defense here in the 1st quarter

      • Play it off and on throughout the entirety of the game in varying situations

    • Great ball screen coverage here from Duren communicating to start the possession and then BOTH Cade-Duren having their active hands

• CADE with another big time opportunity to showcase his ability being defended by an All NBA level defender in Amen

  • Perfect example of what the Cade 3P off the dribble opens up for the offense (not just for him but teammates)

    • You see the impact on the sick hesitation vs Sengun that gives him a downhill driving lane (missed the shot at the rim) late in the 1st half

  • Defenses are going to have PROBLEMS defending him if he continues to shoot the 3P like are seeing combined with what he can do when they commit to take it away like the examples above

  • Love how much we are seeing the creative handle create driving lanes for him this season

    • He has self created driving lanes multiple times against really good point of attack defenders in this 1st half

  • Listen…..the 1st half TOs have been HORRIBLE….BUT these are the types of plays from your star player you want to see because if he is willing to not give up on the play then it holds everyone else to the standard as well

  • You know he is playing at a different level strength wise when he gets into Brooks body and then creates separation because that guy is one of the most physical perimeter defenders in the league

    • So, this is elite level stuff in the 3rd quarter

    • Hits a couple different 3P (make it 3) but hits a baseline stepback on the right side vs Brooks and a baseline stepback on the left side vs Amen

  • His helping off the ball too far away from his man has shown back up in this game

  • He can say all he wants he has always had this vertical pop….we haven’t seen it like this as he gets another one in the HC after splitting the ball screen coverage

• AUSAR with another great opportunity going up against Jalen Green

  • Green has been top 5 in the NBA in scoring since the turn of the year

  • I like some of the cuts he has made to try and counter them playing off of him so much

    • When a defender is playing off of you like this they often lose track of you completely

    • Cade and Harris both have TOs trying to get him the ball (and they were the passers fault).....I think they should just throw a lob to the rim

  • He is going to be an ELITE transition offensive player in this league

• DUREN with a really nice opening defensive possession

  • The hand activity isn’t perfect BUT I feel like he is trying and I love that the hand goes up as the handler gets into the lane where the lob is more likely (maybe not specifically against Sengun) and then make extra effort to steal post entry (does this again later in the quarter that ends in a transition putback dunk for him)….which, as we have seen time and time again leads to transition points

  • LET’S GOOOO!!!! Follows with a great 2nd possession with PERFECT hand placement that leads to deflection AND dives on the floor

  • Has had a little more trouble with playing at the level against Green in the early going

  • Nice little fadeaway jumper….whatever he has to get to I think these non dunk paint finishes are huge for him to continue to develop

  • He is getting UP AND DOWN the court right now

  • Back to back rim contests in the 3rd quarter that resulted in misses

    • One vs Sengun and One vs Green

    • Followed by a left hand block on Green in the ball screen

    • Some nice isolation possessions vs Sengun….and then gives up back to back buckets after I type this

  • Big time OREB late in the game where he doesn’t just assume THJ finishes and follows the drive from the 3P line that gets THJ another chance that he knocks down and MIGHT be the icing on the cake

• HARRIS mid post isolations continue to often draw a second defender

  • Here in the 1st quarter he draws Sengun across the lane which opens up the OREB putback for Duren

  • Inefficient game shooting the ball BUT we see a couple examples of those active hands

• BEASLEY continues to get 3P looks off this baseline staggered action they run every game

  • Just do not understand how teams are not ready for this

• FONTECCHIO first attempt of the game is a 1% attempt where he creates no advantage off the dribble

  • I will stay that I continue to appreciate the defensive effort

• HOLLAND continues to stay confident with the C&S 3P jumper

  • 38% on C&S 3PAs over his last 10 games

  • Don’t like the attempt in the 4th quarter

    • Time on the shot clock, from a few feet behind the line and off the dribble

  • Continues to showcase some passing ability as well

• STEW is really good using both hands to contest shots

  • This looks so unimportant but a lot of bigs only use their dominant hand which gets them out of position OR compromises their length because they are reaching across their body

  • Him meeting Amen at the rim off a straight vertical jump is one of his most impressive blocks, that’s incredible

• SASSER LOVES that right foot, right hand floater

  • Shooting 50% on ALL floaters so far this year

  • And then the pull up 3PM in transition

  • He is playing with A LOT of confidence right now and providing the right spark off the bench

Rockets

• FVV, Green, Brooks, Amen, Sengun

  • Really interesting defensive matchups when you have a guy like Amen and then they can put Brooks on opposing teams defender and Sengun on a non floor spacer

  • This is a team with plenty of defenders who can really disrupt your offensive flow and they haven’t disrupted ANYTHING from the Detroit offense so far in the 1st half

    • Seems like they are really struggling on the DREBs which is not area that would concern you based on the numbers (10th in DREB%)

  • Playing without a center here in the 2nd quarter

  • Able to go offense-defense to end the 3rd quarter and have FVV - Holiday - Amen - Eason - Brooks on the court which is just a ridiculous defensive lineup

  • The offense has seemed to be pretty darn stagnant with the only real actions being the ball screens

• GREEN is so explosive, it’s ridiculous and he does a really nice job changing pace on his drives

  • So talented as he attacks the next ball screen (after getting to the rim) with a side step back 3PM

  • Doesn’t get enough credit for the nuance and craft he attacks with off the bounce

    • Changes pace, snakes screens, scoop finishes

  • He is definitely getting attacked by Detroit on the defensive end right now and so far it has been successful for them

• SENGUN continues to have some struggles with his finishing

  • 23rd percentile at the rim, 67th in non-rim paint shots and 48th in non paint 2P

  • That rim finishing in particular is vital for a non 3P shooter

  • Feel like he is overcommitting right now as a help defender and taking himself out of position for DREBs

  • He is so good at getting position like this (and this one is a set play) but just not able to convert this one

  • Has a nice little run scoring the ball in the 3rd quarter after Detroit had taken a big lead

    • They even run the middle of the floor flat step up ball screen from a guard that the Bucks love to run for Giannis

• EASON is such an interesting player

  • Feel like he comes on the court and you immediately feel his presence

  • The difference between his stationary and movement C&S 3P% is really, really interesting

    • Over 20% BETTER on the movement

  • Looks comfortable off the dribble attacking a closeout

  • You better ALWAYS know where he is at defensively because if you don’t he is going to take the ball from you

• FVV is so physical on the defensive end

  • I know he is short but man, he is going to make you work for it

  • Making shots at a good rate here in the 3rd quarter but has not been the case for the entirety of the season

• AMEN is over 70% at the rim this season and you can see why just in the 1st quarter

  • He takes contact, he has some nuance with how he attacks, body control, etc. along with the elite level athleticism/vertical pop

    • Seems like he has struggled a little bit in the middle portion of the game

  • He is so elite working the baseline off the ball

• WHITMORE shows off his athleticism with a transition alley oop

  • Felt like he was an underrated athlete in that draft class because Amen and Ausar were in it

  • Don’t mind his point of attack defense

    • Gives his chest, seems engaged

  • He’s going to come in and look to score the basketball, you can count on that