Pistons vs Indiana Pacers

Game Breakdown

*Special Situations*

• Apologies for getting this out so late the next day AND for the double emails (I didn’t get the right cover image on the first one)

• TURNER 3PAs (I wanted to track his overall attempts, not just his makes to see how and why)

  • First Attempt, Turner wing 3PM on drive and weakside kick from Nembhard where the initial breakdown happens with poor transition communication to get matched up properly and then Duren overhelps on the Nembhard drive where Cade isn’t beat

    • Duren and Harris not communicating transition matchups

  • Second Attempt, Turner wing 3PA (miss) off the dribble in an awkward “ball screen handler” situation

    • Turner not known as a 3P shooter off the bounce necessarily BUT Duren is 6-8 feet away and doesn’t even get a hand up…Turner legit could have stopped, really set his feet and took his time because Duren was showing no sense of urgency to get there

  • Third Attempt, Turner top of the key 3PM in transition where Haliburton drives into a little drop behind and quick “screen” on Duren

    • I suppose Cade could be a little more active here BUT to me, Duren has to have more awareness in transition in regards to his man trailing and can’t find himself deep enough to get “screened” AND have the sense of urgency to not get “screened” by Haliburton and get a contest

  • Fourth Attempt, Turner top of the key 3PM in transition where Duren just seems to lack an understanding of who he is guarding

    • Cade isn’t beat AT ALL on this one….it makes NO SENSE to run to where he does when you are defending a stretch big who has already made two 3Ps

  • Fifth Attempt, Turner on the wing 3PM off a stepback going to his right over Stew

    • This is one where you just have to tip your cap for him making a shot over a contest

  • Sixth Attempt, Turner top of the key 3PA (miss) off a Siakam post up vs Ausar

    • I think Stew does actually get a little too far away on this one where Ausar seemed to have things under control…..he does get an aggressive, sense of urgency, closeout where he gets a decent contest but still one where Turner gets a clean look

  • Seventh Attempt, Turner top of the key 3PM in transition AFTER A MAKE because Cade is trailing after complaining about a no call

    • This is on Cade BUT could be solved by communication, the matchups would be BAD BUT you at least don’t give up a wide open 3P to Turner…and THJ is in a tough spot to help because that’s Haliburton for the one more pass and no other teammates to rotate to thim

  • Eight Attempt, Turner top of the key 3PM on Haliburton drive and kick where again I appreciate that Duren wants to help but I just think he is doing it too much based on what is happening at the point of attack

    • THJ really wasn’t beat and it’s Haliburton driving who I feel like you have to know would love nothing more than to drive and kick

  • Ninth Attempt, Pistons are in zone and I just don’t know their particular rules for zone (NBA zone is much different than HS or College zones) to know whose “fault” this was

  • Tenth Attempt, Turner wing 3PA (miss) on a Haliburton off ball screen in for him

    • Stew actually gets caught ball watching BUT I think this is the biggest difference….he has a REAL sense of urgency once he does realize what is going on to recover and at least get a contest

    • That difference in sense of urgency to get to the contest I think is the biggest difference (specifically in this scenario) between Duren and Stew on some of these floor spacing bigs right now

  • Eleventh Attempt (and potentially the nail in the coffin) Turner wing 3PM on a PnP with Nembhard where Cade gets behind navigating the screen and hedge from Duren and then one of a few different things should/could have happened

    • Duren calls the switch earlier

    • Cade executes it earlier IF Duren did call it out

    • Beasley gives a little more help or rotates and then lets Cade X out to the corner

    • Not exactly sure what their coverage would have called for here

• I HATE THE END OF THE QUARTER “GIVEAWAY FOUL” JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE ONE TO GIVE

  • Pacers get the opportunity to sub in Haliburton and Turner and…..Haliburton gets a bucket

• I LOVE HOW THESE TEAMS ARE GOING AT EACH OTHER THOUGH

• What a close to the 1st half for the Pacers, big 3PM off a nice creation and find from Cade….can Detroit carry this slither of momentum into the 2nd half and get themselves back into the game?

  • Nope

  • After going down by even more they do at least get it to 11 going into the 4th quarter and still have a chance

• Cut it to 6 early in the 4th quarter and force a Pacers timeout…feel like you have to keep the momentum going ATO here

  • Missed 3PA from Nembhard

  • Cade with a bad decision but give Nembhard credit for the active hands deflection that leads to a steal

  • Turner misses a floater, gives Detroit another chance to cut into the lead

  • Harris misses short on a REALLY good look right in the middle of the lane where he created separation

    • Just seems like these are opportunities they HAD to take advantage of

  • Siakam with an isolation mid range over Harris, tough shot, big shot

  • Turner rotation block on Cade that leads to Haliburton transition dunk and seems like Detroit may have blown their chance here

  • WELL……should have known better because this team often responds

    • Cade and Harris buckets get it back to 6 ATO

  • Nembhard steals it from Cade at HC (Cade HAS to get rid of these types of TOs BUT Nembhard has truly been really good defensively tonight)

    • Cade does make a nice defensive play to force the TO

  • ANOTHER TO!!!!

    • Detroit has had their chance and just haven’t been able to convert

Pistons

• Cade, THJ, Ausar, Harris, Duren

  • OFFENSE

    • First action of the game takes advantage of Cade gravity AND the Pacers not wanting to switch Haliburton onto primary ball handlers…they know he will hedge and have to recover on THJ PnP…gives THJ the chance to attack the closeout and get Harris a C&S corner 3PA

    • TURNOVERS RETURN!!!!

    • This is a game, and partly due to the cold shooting of Beasley, where you really miss that secondary scorer that Jaden Ivey was for a lot of games this year

      • Just too much scoring creation off the dribble being asked of Beasley and THJ

  • DEFENSE

    • The zone ATO has become a pretty common thing in recent games

    • Transition defense has been awful to start the game and NOT just after TOs

      • Harris and Duren have been at the center of this on at least two possessions that ended with a 3PM

    • Want to continue to emphasize how their poor screen navigation, on and off the ball, puts their defense in tough spots more often than it should

      • You can even see the difference between them and the Pacers in this game

      • I am not trying to pick on Duren here (every member of the team seems to have these issues) but this was just a good example, OVERALL, of how the lack of screen navigation contributes to open looks for the opponent

• AUSAR with a great point of attack possession to start the game vs Siakam

  • Cuts him off multiple times while giving his chest and NOT putting his hands on

  • I think his biggest area of growth is off the ball screen navigation

    • This is a perfect example where he gets just a little bit lackadaisical and stands straight up which puts him behind, gets screened (illegal or not it’s part of the NBA right now) and now he is behind on the closeout which gives up the drive, forcing to Duren to help and the dump off (Harris also has to see this weakside)

  • Love the way he is attacking the basket, really nice read and pass to Cade here along the baseline

    • These are the reads in the HC that give me hope about his secondary creation potential….reads that Nembhard is rotating to take away the baseline hammer so he finds Cade wide open in the slot for the C&S 3PA

  • Continues to generate really nice looks in transition with his grab and go ability

    • This all starts with his impact on the DREBs

  • Gets blocked by Turner at the rim (does stay with it and finish)

    • I think one thing he can grow with in terms of challenging legit rim protectors is ball manipulation, he has to move the line of the ball to get away from the contest….regardless of how athletic he is, these defenders are too good

  • This a beautiful move operating the ball screen where he snakes across aggressively AND does a GREAT job keeping the ball away from the defender before finishing with extension with his left

    • I would prefer he gets these on ball reps in non Cade minutes with Ivey out but I still like seeing him get them every game

• CADE just can’t keep having these ball handling TOs where he allows these really good defenders to reach in and take the ball

  • He will get these defenders for the rest of his career, has to adjust to protecting it even after he has an advantage

  • Second TO fits into a POTENTIAL trend that has come up over the past few weeks

    • Makes an awful read trying to hit THJ on the PnP but I can’t help but wonder if he had predetermined this decision because THJ had hit the back to back to back 3Ps

  • This has been a rough 1st half for him

    • Lots of credit to Nembhard is deserved, as well

  • Has done a lot of splitting the ball screen doubles and hedges which is probably going to be an important development for him considering how much teams may start doing this

    • Putting two on the ball was always a thing but now that he has shown the dribble 3P, even teams who don’t want to fully double may play higher to take that jumper away

  • Love that he is staying aggressive with his 3P jumper at least

  • YES, YES, YES, YES!!! I love this….I know people don’t want to see players “playing for the foul” but if the defender isn’t in legal guarding position or is going to stick his hand out then you HAVE to make them pay….perfect process from him on this one

• THJ really been shooting the basketball well, on one of those hot streaks he can go on

  • Back to back to back makes here in the 1st quarter

    • Just couldn’t find the touch after this hot start though

  • 44% from 3 on 6.7 attempts per game over his last 14 games (including this one)

• DUREN defensive struggles are highlighted above BUT continues to show that play finishing on the offensive end

  • Lob connection with Cade and OREB

  • GREAT recovery block on Turner from the top of the key!!!

    • Love that he continues to show these playmaking flashes

  • He is DOMINATING Turner on the OREBs

• STEW absolutely love the finger wave to the crowd

  • Maybe I have missed it previously but definitely noticed it the past few games

• SASSER, as much as I want him to be a C&S guy, is truly elite with his off the dribble 3P shooting

  • Shooting 47% on these compared to 25% on stationary C&S and 35% on movement C&S

  • Plenty of examples of guys who just need that movement OR the dribble to get into that perfect flow for their shot

  • Doing his job very well tonight

    • Making shots, getting after Haliburton defensively (did have some trouble with McConnell but I feel like nobody keeps that guy out of the lane)

• HOLLAND in foul trouble, doesn’t seem like that has been a consistent issue for him which is the case at times for rookies

• HARRIS has actually had some really nice post defensive possessions vs Siakam

• FONTECCHIO offensive process is something I have not been a fan of for most of the year BUT I do think he has given GREAT effort on the defensive end

  • And on the OREBs

  • BIG transition C&S 3PM followed by a tremendous off ball rotation help (Cade gave up a backdoor ball watching) and block but misses the layup that would have cut it to 6

    • This was almost a tremendous sequence from him, that close

Pacers

• Haliburton, Nembhard, Nesmith, Siakam, Turner

  • That ball is MOVING for them on this first possession (Detroit actually does a nice job rotating and closing out)

• NEMBHARD setting the tone defensively at the point of attack vs Cade

  • Does a great job of not giving up on a ball screen defensive possession and letting himself get “jailed” by Cade

  • His screen navigation, on and off the ball, has been awesome in the 1st quarter AND he is so active with his hands at all times

  • His game has been so impressive

    • Guarding the other teams best player and doing a good job of it AND not having the offense run through him at all BUT still making timely shots when the opportunity presents

    • Just really hard to be that patient offensively and then come through when necessary

• NESMITH is a really interesting player for me

  • C&S 3PM, attacks and finishes at the rim and then knocks down another C&S 3P in transition

• WALKER with a smooth looking euro step in transition

  • I have been very intrigued with his minutes this season

  • Seems like he has been SOOOO disruptive defensively every game I have watched

  • Knocks down a really good looking mid range jumper

    • The 2P jumper numbers are really good this season AND the STATIONARY 3P shooting numbers are as well

  • Really nice possession here of him attacking off the bounce

    • This passing read is SICK as he goes through the progression of 3 different options and then follows it up with soft touch floater on the baseline

  • And, unless I missed something, got rewarded with the start to the 2nd half

  • I feel like he has had a very impactful game

• HALIBURTON defensive activity has been really good to start the game

  • Never be mistaken for some point of attack defender BUT he has given great effort recovering to floor spacers and either taking away the shot OR forcing them to put in on the deck

  • Great example here where has to play two on the weakside….closes out hard to a shooter forcing the pass and allowing his team to get this closeout and eventually forcing the steal

  • I always find myself wanting him to be MORE aggressive, MORE attack mode, MORE of the pull up shooting

    • Maybe I am asking too much but I feel like it’s taken a stepback from what it looked like when he was playing All NBA level to start LAST season (pre injury)

  • SICK eye and ball manipulation in transition to back off the defender with a fake pass and keep the driving lane open

  • He has done a nice job as a…..SCREENER!!

    • Some set actions, some I think he just recognizes naturally but anyone with gravity that can be a good screener is going to get his teammates open looks

• TURNER absolutely showing his value in the 1st quarter

  • Spacing the floor and protecting the rim

  • Even had a nice point of attack possession vs Ausar

  • You can also see where he lacks that DREB impact that you ideally want from your big man

    • Yea, Duren giving some trouble here in the 1st half

• MCCONNELL seems like he just lives in the paint, it’s unreal

• SIAKAM scoring on post ups at 1.20 points per possession

  • Just a very interesting part of this Pacers offense and while he does have some long drawn out isolations he also does a nice job getting position for some of the quick catch and finish opportunities

  • Watch here how he ducks in to get INSIDE position, forcing the defender outside, and the amount of space he gives his teammate to throw him right into a catch and finish

  • Ridiculous mid range fade away on the BLOB that does ice the game