Pistons vs New York Knicks

Game Breakdown

*Special Situations*

• So, I find it FASCINATING in this game they have decided to put Cade on Brunson and Ausar on Bridges with the potential playoff matchup coming soon

  • I just can’t imagine Cade on Brunson would be the decision in a little over a week from now

  • But I love the gamesmanship (Knicks are also putting McBride on Cade and not Bridges)

  • You know what…..IF Cade can stay out of foul trouble this could be interesting

    • 1. It keeps AUSAR out of foul trouble early in the game

    • 2. You would get a lot of cross match possessions where Brunson would end up on Cade on the other end of the court

    • I just don’t think it’s worth the potential foul trouble on Cade….they can get Brunson switched onto him when they want using other actions (although, Knicks have tried to avoid it at times)

  • Ausar takes the assignment to start the 2nd half

• Down 11 with 9:00 in the 3rd quarter, seems like Detroit needs to respond here

  • THJ and KAT exchange missed mid range jumpers

  • THJ gets another and knocks it down followed by Ausar with a great recovery block on a Brunson 3PA

  • THJ missed 3PA is followed by Bridges - KAT middle PnR as KAT continues to do his work in the lane

  • Cade - Ausar PnR as they have continued to put Ausar as the ball screener with KAT matched up with him

    • Gets Ausar to FT line (weakside foul contest by Achuiwa)

  • Brunson with ANOTHER tough 3PM that is followed by Ausar missed layup but Duren OREB putback

  • Pistons unable to cut into the lead

• IF THEY WIN THIS GAME, REMEMBER THIS SEQUENCE IN THE 3RD QUARTER

  • Duren forces a TO in the ball screen drop vs Brunson that leads to a bucket in transition

  • Schroder forced an 8 second count ATO, Detroit has an ugly possession bailed out by Cade attack and finish

  • AND THEN….another great Duren defensive possession with verticality contest that leads to transition and the Cade putback OREB

• CADE HAS TO TAKE AWAY FROM THIS GAME HOW MUCH THEY TRIED TO TAKE CHARGES ON HIM

  • BOLD AND UNDERLINE FOR THE PLAYOFF SCOUTING REPORT

• Able to seal this win off big shots from multiple players

  • Finish it off running a familiar action with Schroder passing to Cade at the “elbow” (pushed out to 3P line on this one) and then following over the top….we often see Cade keep and get the ball screen but here he gives and Schroder hits a TOUGH floater with the foul

    • NOT SO FAST

  • KAT gets the bucket and the FT and then MCBRIDE RUNS THROUGH THE PASSING LANE AND GETS THE STEAL

  • Brunson misses the 3PA and Tucker mishandles the OREB or this would have gotten REAL interesting

Pistons

• Cade, THJ, Ausar, Harris, Duren

• OFFENSE

  • First action of the game is the EXACT same action as the Kings game….weakside staggered with cleared out strong side ball screen for Cade and Duren (doesn’t create an open look, secondary action does)

  • PACE after MAKES

    • KAT gets a downhill drive and finish (but falls down), Detroit immediately gets it in and attacks that results in a THJ corner 3PM

    • Bridges mid range jumper (but falls down), Detroit gets it down the sideline and up the floor and Beasley gets a wide open C&S 3PA (missed)

  • They are way, way too loose with the ball in the 1st quarter

    • Multiple players

    • This continues into the 2nd half and is still a result of multiple players

  • MCBRIDE IS GOING TO JUMP PASSING LANES!!!

    • BOLD AND UNDERLINE IN THE PLAYOFF SCOUTING REPORT AND THEN SHOW ALL OF THE CLIPS LIKE AT THE END OF THE GAME!!!

• DEFENSE

  • Already given up at least 3 off ball cuts (backdoors or miscommunication) for easy buckets just in the 1st quarter

    • This has been really, really bad in the 1st half

    • And the 2nd half

• DUREN with the first 3 buckets of the game, finishing plays

  • GREAT off the ball flare screen for Harris during a Cade post up that gets Harris an open C&S 3PM (these are those little nuanced things we don’t always see but this is a really nice play)

  • He has been crazy active on the offensive end to start the game

  • Showing the physical finish AND the finesse finish in the 1st half alone

• CADE getting to his spots in the 1st quarter

  • This has been a consistent theme for him against the Knicks this season

  • I thought McBride would be an interesting matchup for him (in non Anunoby minutes in the potential playoff series) but it does look like Cade is tall enough to shoot over him

  • Scoring the ball efficiently AND creating shots for teammates with his gravity

  • Love that they ran a designed post up for him in the 3rd quarter

    • Cuts into the post position

  • LEFTY hook

    • Have a feeling we are going to see A LOT of these post ups in the playoffs

  • 3RD QUARTER TAKEOVER!!!

  • I love when he uses the jump shot to draw the big defender up in the ball screen and then drop off to the rolling big

• HOLLAND comes in AGGRESSIVE with the jump shot

  • Misses the mid range jumper but knocks down a corner C&S 3P

  • Big time rotation tip out DREB impact, have been critical of him not being more active on the weakside at times on the boards

  • Man, he is struggling to finish in the lane now

    • You know he is going to stay aggressive though

  • Sometimes positive and sometimes negative he is ALWAYS involved in the action

  • What a great recovery block after giving up the backdoor cut

  • He’s had a really nice start to the 4th quarter

    • Two great baseline cuts….he’s had a heck of a final quarter

    • Add another one from the top of the key!!!

• SCHRODER continues to struggle with the jump shot

  • The off the ball defensive breakdowns are really starting to be worrisome

  • He’s going to pressure the paint though

• BEASLEY seems to be doing more and more inside the 3P line over the last couple of months

  • Great hustle play at the end of the 3rd quarter

• STEW gets in foul trouble in the 1st half

  • Awesome HC “chase down” block on McBride

  • Really nice short roll pass to Holland

  • Putting together some really nice point of attack possessions vs KAT drives in the 4th quarter

• HARRIS with a couple encouraging makes in his return

  • Had the C&S 3PM earlier in the game and now knocks down a mid range jumper over Tucker

  • And now a corner C&S 3PM off a Cade mid post isolation

  • Making all the shots this team needs him to make

  • Big mid post iso make over Bridges in the 3rd quarter

• AUSAR with a struggle offensively so far

  • Has had some really nice defensive possessions vs Brunson

Knicks

• Brunson, McBride, Bridges, Achiuwa, KAT

  • They are definitely trying to avoid switching the early offense action with Cade and whoever Brunson is guarding

• ACHIUWA has been very active offensively to start the game

  • Downhill drive and off the ball cut

  • Another PERFECTLY TIMED cut

  • Man, he seems to be heavily involved in the offense in the 1st quarter

  • Capped off with a BIG TIME poster dunk in transition on Stew

  • Also has a great defensive play with active and accurate hands forcing the steal

  • Feel like he has had one heck of a two way impact in this 1st half

  • Even knocks down a C&S 3P from the top of the key

  • Just an absolutely awesome two way performance from him thus far

• KAT off the dribble ability is causing early problems for Duren

  • Man, he has been so aggressive off the bounce in the 1st half

    • He is taking contact on these drives and still finishing

  • He gets in 1st half foul trouble

  • He is really doing a lot of his work in the lane so far

    • Either those drives or the OREBs

• BRUNSON first two jump shot makes are absolutely ridiculous level of difficulty

  • Another one over Duren in the 2nd quarter

  • Back to back defensive plays with digs on the ball

  • Has tried to take 2 charges in the 1st half on Cade, didn’t get the call on either but this would definitely be something to watch for in a potential series

• MCBRIDE knocking down shots in the 1st quarter

  • Cade has been able to score over him a couple times BUT he has also caused some disruption

    • I bet he has jumped 4 or 5 passing lanes

  • He stays making shots

• BRIDGES with a SICK secondary defender navigation dribble and then able to hit the soft touch jumper off the glass

  • He looks soooo confident with that mid range pull up jumper

• TUCKER seems to be actually giving them solid minutes

  • Hits a HUGE corner 3P when Detroit is making a run in the 3rd quarter

• SHAMET with some BIG TIME 3PMs in the 4th quarter