Pistons vs Milwaukee Bucks

Game Breakdown

*SPECIAL SITUATIONS*

• I have warmed up to Harris mid range stuff BUT 3rd possession of the game they have a 5 on 4 (no Giannis) in transition and he settles for a mid range pull up

• Same thing we have talked about so many times, can you extend a lead and control a game during the MIDDLE portion….were up 18, down to 9 midway through the 3rd quarter, JB Timeout….

  • ATO action was designed for zone (because the Bucks had played zone pre timeout) so not much movement and Cade has to take a tough mid range jumper

  • Giannis finds AJJ, Pistons NEED a bucket

  • Bucks do go back zone, Harris finds the middle and dumps down to Stew for the dunk

  • Stew ejected (this is huge when you need guys to guard Giannis) and GTJ bucket and it looks like this is going to be another close one in the 4th the Pistons have to figure out how to win

    • There is something to be said for these young guys continuing to get the experience of these types of games

  • *they actually end up losing the lead before the end of the quarter*

• 96 - 103 5:00 (25 point swing against the Pistons in the 2nd half)....can they even make this game until the final buzzer?

  • Cade stepback 3PM after Beasley created an extra possession (99 - 103)

  • GTJ airball, Giannis OREB BUT Cade digs at it and gets the steal

  • Cade attacks and kicks to Harris, one more pass to Moore Jr. who hits the corner C&S 3P (102 - 103)

    • These are the creations that Cade does but doesn’t get a stat for in the box score

  • Lopez fouled on lob from Giannis, 1 FTM (102 - 104)

    • Cade getting a quick rest here, Sasser in

  • Sasser creates separation for a mid range bucket on AJJ (104 - 104)

    • That’s a tough bucket against a good defender in a big moment

  • GTJ misses and JB calls a timeout so he can get Cade back on the court

  • Rough possession ATO but Duren contests Prince and they get a stop

  • Cade transition pull up 3PM….nope, toe on the line and its a 2P (106 - 104)

    • The jumper has been TRUE here in the 4th quarter

  • Bucks run the ball screen action they have had success with with a small screening for Giannis but Pistons defend it well

  • Duren with a bad TO, Cade tries to take a charge on Giannis but called for the foul, 2 FTM (106 - 106)

    • Challenged by JB and not successful

  • Cade with an off target pass to a wide open Sasser 

    • BACK TO BACK TOs when you are up 2, not even getting shots off

    • I love that they are getting these experiences BUT we have to be looking back at some point and seeing the pay off because they have learned from them

  • Prince beats Cade off the bounce for a layup but Detroit comes right back and Cade throws a left hand live dribble DIME lob pass to Duren (108 - 108)

  • Cade too far off Prince? (Giannis does have the ball with 48 points) and 3PM (108 - 111)

  • Cade misses, Duren OREB, BUSTED possession ends with Sasser grenade 3PM (111 - 111)

    • Kind of fitting after how many the Bucks have had this year

  • *have to stop and say this….how can you not be entertained through 13 games this season from this team???? 1, 1!!! dud of a game against the Knicks and the rest of been competitive and entertaining watches*

  • Prince gets a good look but misses with 1.2….do the Pistons have another late game SLOB play to win the game tonight?

    • AND THAT was actually a better drawn up action than the night before and almost worked if Giannis wasn’t the defender that he is and didn’t have the recovery ability that he does….we go to OT in consecutive nights!!!

  • WAIT A MINUTE, WAIT A MINUTE (as Johnny Kane says)....Holland is going to the FT line with the game tied and 1.0 on the clock and Bucks have 0 timeouts

    • And he misses both short, Cade almost got a tip in and we are still going to OT

• Well, not a great start to OT 

  • It’s so so difficult to overcome the emotional swing that Detroit went through at the end of that game…..

  • And the Pistons are not able to

Pistons - 120 - 127 L

• Cade, Beasley, Holland, Harris, Duren

  • I love that they are getting these EXPERIENCES this year….we have been waiting 3 seasons for this type of competitive basketball where they had to learn and grow and improve and bounce back and face adversity of this type (not the “let’s just a win a game to stop the losing streak” type) 

    • That moment is AWFUL for Ron Holland II but do you think there is any better motivation to continue to work on his shot than THAT experience?

    • I realize people hate seeing them blow an 18 point lead and miss 2 free throws to win the game but man, this is the best (and most productive) stretch of basketball Detroit has seen in a few years

    • And with all that said, Friday is another GREAT opportunity to show growth by bouncing back from this tough loss and getting another In Season Tournament win vs the Raptors

  • So, in fairness, I mentioned last game I was not in the “vet PG” camp BUT this particular situation is where I do understand why people see the need for one….

    • With that said, what quality veteran PG would sign up to only play if/when Cade and/or Ivey are out?

  • TO to start the game, not ideal

    • Love that the first designed action of the 2nd half is for the HOT hand, Beasley

    • They LOVE the flex actions ATO, will be interested to see if they find any creative things to do with this as the season goes on

  • Pistons depth is TRULY tested for the first time this season with Ivey, THJ and Fontecchio all missing the game (plus Ausar still not suiting up…..yet!)

    • Sasser and Moore Jr. look to be the guys that get the call

    • It’s too bad that Klintman isn’t healthy as I wonder if we wouldn’t have seen him in this game

    • Sasser-Moore with HARRIS-STEW-REED is quite the lineup

  • Easy to see early on in this game that you have to be neutral in the Giannis minutes and WIN the non Giannis minutes

    • 27 - 24 Pistons when he takes his first break to start the 2nd quarter

    • 38 - 33 when he comes back in

      • Should have been a bigger separation but Connaughton hit a grenade 3P and Lopez got 5 quick points

    • 60 - 47 at halftime which means they won the Giannis minutes here by 8

      • This was behind a 7 - 0 flurry to finish off the half

    • 84 - 82 close to end of 3rd quarter 

      • Pistons lose the Giannis minutes BIG this time, -11, behind the Bucks getting hot from 3

    • 93 - 93 when he returns in the 4th

      • They actually lost these minutes by 2, they are going to have to win this game by winning the Giannis minutes like they did to end the 2nd quarter

  • They actually put a little full court pressure on in certain situations and it pays off to start the 2nd half

    • Outside of Giannis, which he is just tough to defend, they have done a good job defending midway through the 3rd quarter even with the Bucks hitting 3 bail out 3PM at the end of the shot clock

• DUREN starts on Giannis (Harris on Lopez) which is an interesting matchup decision

  • Scary thing here is getting Duren in foul trouble

    • Just a step slow staying in front on the first couple of drives

    • Yup, there’s the 2nd foul

    • MUCH, MUCH better during the 2nd quarter rotation guarding him

      • Hate seeing him get his 3rd on an OREB

  • Continues to flash that rotation and help rim protection

    • Another one mid 2nd quarter that isn’t a block but nice contest that forces a miss

  • Nice grab and go and hits Holland with the lob pass

    • Next one isn’t pretty BUT he does attack and kick which allows Harris to attack the closeout….not positive the right decision wasn’t to hit Beasley earlier on the other wing

• CADE should be able to get anything he wants this game

  • They have no perimeter matchup to really control/contain him (maybe Andre Jackson Jr.)

  • He has been pretty aggressive with the pull up 3P early

    • 3P% is getting a concerning point again after a really nice start from beyond the arc

    • Finally hits one mid 3rd quarter and a beautiful weakside hammer relocation in the 4th when they really needed it

  • 9:00 2nd quarter I love seeing him take the contact from Lopez on the left hand finish at the rim

    • He starts doing this with consistency….be huge

    • Some of these finishes are similar to the turnovers where it can’t be so lackadaisical 

      • 4:15 2nd quarter he gets the advantage on Prince but goes for the finish like Prince isn’t going to continue to play and try to block the attempt

      • 8:30 3rd quarter he does something similar when Lopez is right there to contest and gets blocked (and we saw him tear drop one just a few game minutes ago at the end of the 2nd quarter over Giannis)

      • MUCH BETTER on attempt to start the 4th quarter

      • Trying to dunk on him in transition isn’t necessarily the right way to attack him either…live with those high arcing finishes 

    • Have seen the shot fake in the lane be effective more times this year than the last 3 AND he’s showing some really nice “step through” footwork

  • As good as the defensive improvement has been, people have rightfully mentioned his tendency to lose his man off the ball occasionally

    • 2:30 2nd quarter with Connaughton

    • BUT he continues to provide rim protection with a block on Giannis

      • S/o Keith Black Trudeau for bringing this up so I would look and he was one of the top guard shot blockers in the league right now

    • The steal (before the Lopez block) is actually a great defensive play

• STEW will now get tasked with the Giannis matchup

  • He has stayed in front slightly better than Duren but Giannis still finding buckets

  • AND the PnP 3PM!!! This was nice to see

    • 3:40 2nd quarter is why he has to PnP more, runs ball screen with Beasley and Giannis is 10 feet from the basket, Stew still rolls (right into Giannis on the catch) and now is forcing up a contested “floater thing” as opposed to what would have been a WIDE OPEN top of the key PnP 3PA

    • The counter to this is the AWESOME “highway screen” at the end of the 2nd quarter

  • He has to get rid of these fouls that REALLY hurt the team and himself

• BEASLEY loves hitting them with the post make celebrations

  • Has the little shimmy (or whatever he does) and hits the “too small” early in the game tonight after a lane floater and then something with his follow through after a corner 3PM

  • This is of course a personal one for him playing the team he was a part of last season

    • Looks like he is feeling good and hitting shots off movement and off screens

    • SHOOTING LIGHTS OUT!!! AND telling people about it

• HOLLAND doing a great job of simply running in transition and being aggressive

  • 7 points to start the game and ALL have been from transition

    • They can NOT stay in front of him in transition and it’s not solely straight line stuff, he has a little bit of “wiggle” to throw the defender off

    • And shows off the vertical pop with a poster on Lopez

  • Has a great “one more” pass on one of the below Harris 3PMs

    • Great attack and Beasley find in transition here to start the 3rd quarter

• HARRIS has missed his first three attempts to start the game

  • I believe all have missed short, as well

  • Knocks down a couple 3s in the 2nd quarter, that % is slowly starting to tick up

• SASSER and MOORE JR. combine for a couple steals to start the 2nd quarter

  • Sasser with a HUGE bucket here late in the 3rd quarter, refuses ball screen and blows by GTJ

  • Moore has made multiple impactful defensive disruption plays

• REED doesn’t seem to be bringing that same impactful energy we have seen from him in other of his minutes

Bucks

• Wright, Green, Prince, Giannis, Lopez

  • They only have 3 guys averaging double figures entering this game (Giannis, Dame and Portis)

    • And they don’t have Dame or Portis tonight

  • Rivers with a losing record since taking over the Bucks from Griffin

  • Offense got some production from Lopez for a bit and now looks like their go to is having a wing set a middle ball screen for Giannis

    • Did work the first time

    • Confuses the Pistons the 3rd time they run it and gets Giannis another layup

  • Timely 3P has truly been what has kept them in this game outside of the Giannis buckets

• LOPEZ not having a great year as he gets up there in age but you can still see the impact he has with his sheer size

  • Still has enough skill to hit the little floater in the lane and 3P

  • Does it again in the 3rd quarter and this the 3P from DEEP

  • He was 26% from 3P range this season coming into this game

  • And providing PLENTY of rim protection although this game seems like a bit of an outlier with him averaging just 1.4 BPG entering the game

• GIANNIS knocking down his mid range jumpers early

  • When he is making mid range jumpers like this it is REALLY tough to defend him

    • Mid 40% on the season coming into the game

  • He has been doing EVERYTHING for them which is pretty much the story of the start of their season

  • Absolutely ridiculous start to the game as he scores 22 of the teams first 24 points

  • 3 of his 9 career 20 point quarters have been against the Pistons

    • I know this is same division but man, that’s a pretty high %

  • 50 bomb for him, he is CARRYING this team because along with the scoring he has also provided a ton of rotational rim protection

• TRENT JR. simply getting SOME buckets for them has made their offense look completely different

  • He is BAD defensively at the point of attack

• JACKSON JR. is EASILY their best perimeter defender

  • He is just such a non shooter that it can cause problems with their spacing offensively