Pistons - 109 - 91 W
Cade, Ivey, THJ, Harris, Duren
First action of the game we see a couple common themes so far offensively
Ivey starting possession with ball with Cade off the ball BUT Cade gets a touch and immediate action is on empty side (this one a ball screen with Duren)
Second action is another empty side ball screen
Absolutely beautiful possession from the bench/two way guys at 6:30 in the 4th
Drive and kick, one more, drive and kick, one more, Jenkins 3PM AND Jenkins was the one that had the first drive and kick
Beasley for Ivey is the first sub, I like what I think the idea behind this will be
Even more floor spacing for Cade AND staggering Ivey into 2nd unit
Holland-Stew enter the game together again in this one
LOVE LOVE LOVE the sub at the end of the 1st half….feel like this is something we hadn’t seen the past few years where just go full offense/defense in a situation like this
And it pays off because Harris essentially plays the 5, sets the ball screen and gets the and one step back from the mid range
I do feel that it’s noteworthy that Sasser didn’t come in until 4th quarter and at the same time as Jenkins
Just wonder what this means about his spot in the rotation as things stand
Still some miscommunication with switch or no switch on quick DHO/Handoffs
You can see Harris and THJ talking about it after a Beal 3PM
The weakside X rotations are just so much better than I have seen over the years I have watched this team
AND more players seem to be seeing the hand in the one more passing window
I HATE the giving up of backdoors
HARRIS immediately shows what he can contribute as far as being an “advantage exploiter”
Talked a lot about floor spacing but here he attacks a closeout into a mid range jumper
Has had some early defensive disruption AND a couple nice playmaking possessions
Showing that he can give some usage out of ball screens
DUREN first tried true grab and go ends up dribbling off teammates foot and 3PM for Beal off the turnover
3:20 1st, YES!!! Awesome hand activity in the ball screen coverage and forces a TO
THJ is going to really struggle to stay in front of people defensively
Hopefully he is getting all of his misses out in the preseason
IVEY energy on the defensive end is very noticeable
Picking up full court on the ball
Rotation attempted charge drawn and then almost steal on weakside rotation
11:10 2nd you can see the continued need for growth in ball screen navigation
Continues to do the “little things”
OREB early 2nd quarter on Holland airball 3PA
Another one late in the 3rd quarter
Feel like his passing has been really solid throughout the entire 3 preseason games thus far
Do NOT like his 3PA to start the 2nd half with how early in the possession it was
With that said, he does look to be confident with the jump shot right now….can he sustain and be consistent? (we have seen hot stretches)
Hits 3 straight in the 3rd quarter
CADE has the mid range going early
3 in a row and looking very comfortable
3:35 1st Quarter is the shot that is huge for him this season, defense goes under the ball screen and he stops and knocks it down
Struggling offensively (6 or 7 straight misses) and he drive right into a mid post isolation and gets fouled
And then hits isolation stepback mid range jumper on ensuing SLOB
There’s the floater!!! And it was a really nice use and reuse of the ball screen
Love seeing him finish through contact with a couple and one finishes AND showed an ability to manipulate the ball away from the block contest
BEASLEY just takes very little time to get his base under him to rise up into his jumper
STEW doing those true “big man” things
PnR finish, ball screen block, transition run
Doesn’t always look the most athletic or aesthetically pleasing but gets it done
Talking about “advantage exploiters” you see an example of him doing it without the C&S 3PA
Attacks a closeout, one dribble and kick, leads to one more pass and wide open 3PA for Holland (missed)
Knocks down a 3P and has had an awesome first rotation off the bench
Really love the way he plays “cat and mouse” in the ball screen coverage
HOLLAND offense just going to be a little bit of a roller coaster it looks like
The handle continues to be pretty loose
6:45 2nd is situation for growth and learning
Exploits the advantage, PERFECT!....BUT….real shot blockers in the NBA that he has to see and should have either dumped off to Duren or taken one more dribble to baseline and hit Beasley for weakside hammer
Makes a big time hustle OREB late in the 3rd quarter when the Suns were on a BIG run that ends with a Fontecchio layup
REED getting some extended run with the top rotation after Duren “injury” (assume it wasn’t serious and just precautionary)
Can imagine he gets quite a few opportunities during the regular season even as the “3rd big”
Suns
Jones, Beal, Durant, Dunn, Plumlee
They have committed some pretty silly turnovers in the early going
Who takes those defensive matchups on the perimeter?
Does Booker have a step up defensive season?
Feel like this team has plenty of floor spacing to really attack teams and then kick if they need to
Will want to watch how well their offense flows to create those easy looks OR if they continue to “settle” for tough attempts because they have the stars that can make them
DURANT in the mid range….rinse and repeat
Not many players make me just shake my head with the ridiculousness of their shot making as much as he does
JONES looks like he is going to be a really nice fit for them offensively
Not just setting the table offensively but also play finishing with C&S 3PM
OKOGIE is so aggressive to the OREBs and physical
BEAL has been a BUCKET in this game and has made it look pretty easy
DUNN not quite as impactful in this game as the one the other night
Still see the potential defensive impact with the transition block on Harris
Another corner C&S 3PM in this game, talk about a jumper that looks better than I expected