Pistons vs Washington Wizards

Game Breakdown

*SPECIAL SITUATIONS*

• Kuzma getting buckets in the 1st half and we have seen this Pistons teams lose games they should win because they let guys like this go for 35-40….does that happen tonight?

  • Has 16 points in the first 16 minutes of the game 

  • AND ENDED WITH JUST 22 POINTS

• This is an AWESOME end to the first half where they take the lead from 5 to 12

  • Should also note that Ivey scored buckets at the end of both 1st half quarters

  • Can they pair it with a great start to the 2nd half and stretch this lead out???\

• Kind of just trade baskets back and forth for awhile but here mid 3rd quarter they have extended it behind some FTMs and an Ivey C&S 3PM

  • Extend it out to 23, now 24

  • Back to 23 to start the 4th quarter as Ivey scored to end the quarter yet again

• CAN THEY KEEP THIS LEAD???

  • They are 29th in the NBA in 4th quarter scoring

  • Wizards IMMEDIATELY cut it to 17, went zone defensively

  • And now its 14……

  • Get some stops, get the Beasley transition layup and the Duren bucket to get it back to 18

  • And then Beasley hits the one dribble pull up to get it right back to 21 and this is a VERY good response from this team AND probably puts this game on ice

Pistons - 124 - 104 W

• Cade, Ivey, Beasley, Harris, Duren

  • 7 - 8 on the season

    • Have won half as many games as last season in 18% of the games played

    • AND I BELIEVE….we will wake up Monday morning with the Pistons in 5th place in the East

  • This is about as good of a performance from you backcourt as you could want to see

    • Efficient from the floor and 18:5 Asst:TO ratio between the two

  • First action of the game tonight is Cade-Duren middle PnR

    • Not the prettiest but Duren eventually able to finish over Sarr

    • Nice action ATO early in the 2nd quarter and one we have seen recently

      • Run PnR with Cade-Stew but looking for the lift from Beasley for the 3PM

    • Action to the start the 2nd half is stack PnR that gets Beasley an open 3PM (due to Poole going for a steal)

  • Haven’t gotten multiple really good looks at the rim in the 1st quarter and unable to convert

    • Cade, Stew OREB, Holland drive…all missed short

    • Add Harris on a really nice transition post up vs Poole (I WILL take this matchup) 

  • The backdoors this team gives up…….

    • I know how good they are defensively but this continues to bother me because they are 30th in steals, so it’s not like they are being disruptive

  • Would LOVE to see JB go zone ATO to disrupt the action drawn up in the huddle from the opposing team

• CADE being guarded by Coulibaly will be very interesting to watch, he is one of the better young perimeter defenders in this league

  • Already has 2 or 3 REALLY impressive on ball possessions in the first 6 minutes

    • Gives chest and cuts off Coulibaly drive before it starts, rips Kuzma being loose with the ball

    • Another on ball steal

    • Turning himself into a REAL defensive playmaker

  • He is aggressively ATTACK DREBs

  • Mid post isolations have consistently resulted in really good shot attempts for either him or a teammate

  • 3rd in the NBA in triple doubles this season

    • Combined with the defensive growth he continues to show that all around two way impact he has on the basketball floor

• BEASLEY continues to be hot from the field

  • He got his teammates doing the shimmy celebration with him now, I love it

  • Added a new celebration to the repertoire tonight

  • Has been good from inside the 3P line along with the hot shooting

• IVEY pressuring the paint over and over to start the game

  • Misses a layup but creates OREB for Duren and the transition attack and kick to Beasley is PERFECT process

  • And even better ATO with the probe and then decision to throw the lob to Duren

  • This is a really, really good start from him

  • Follows this up with a couple really rough attempts

    • PASSING has been awesome, the FGAs not so much

    • Finishes up the 1st quarter with 2 makes

      • C&S 3P and silly double hesitation to get to his floater as quarter ends

      • Idk where the numbers still stand but the C&S 3P still looks so much better and buyable

    • Continues shot making into the 3rd quarter

  • 1:36 1st quarter is a really nice pass from him in the ball screen

    • Attacking left off a ball screen from Stew, sees the tag man (George) has committed to far and able to throw a LIVE DRIBBLE LEFT hand pass on time, on target to Harris (3PM)

    • Being able to throw off the live dribble and put it on target is vital to keep the defender from getting into his closeout sooner and a better contest

  • His on the ball defense at the point of attack hasn’t been as good in this first half

    • And NOT just the Poole tough mid range makes, there was some downhill straight line drives given up

• DUREN has 3 very good ball screen reps to start the game

  • Twice has recovered back to Sarr on the pass and third one he just plays straight up and Poole takes a bad shot

  • I think I saw enough grab and go with no passes into the HC possessions in this game for the rest of the season

  • Man, the FT shooting has really regressed here early in the season

  • Really, really nice “body bump” into Sarr to create some space and then left hand finish here in the 4th

• FONTECCHIO back in the lineup (injury) and gets into the game early

  • Continues to make it hard on himself with some of these attempts off the bounce, that isn’t his game

  • Man, this is tough right now

  • FINALLY gets one to go down and another one

    • “Garbage time” but this would be nice if this is what gets him going

• STEW strength really shows up when you see him being physical with a guy like Valanciunas

  • If you don’t have someone that can match his strength he can really do some work against you

  • And you can still see him being effective, draws a couple fouls, gets a couple buckets

  • Has the arc on the 3P shot always been THIS high???

    • 2!!! Attempts in this game….is he going to slowly work this back in?

    • And the mid range, too!

• HOLLAND and Coulibaly get “into it” here in the 1st quarter, I think we have learned quickly that the young Holland isn’t going to back down from anyone

• MOORE JR. staying in the lineup even with Fontecchio back, looks like he has earned himself some more opportunity

  • 9th man in what has consistently been a 9 man rotation for JB (THJ still out)

  • Awesome off ball relocation here at the end of the 1st quarter, just misses the shot

• SASSER actually in to start the 2nd quarter and we see a 10 man rotation in the 1st half

  • Perhaps because of the foul trouble

  • Not an easy role he is playing in right now but still shows that ability to shoot the ball off the dribble

• HARRIS, again, has rebounded the ball extremely well

Wizards

• Carrington, Poole, Coulibaly, Kuzma, Sarr

  • Man, there is a Wizards assistant that is EARNING HIS MONEY as you can year him yelling out all of the actions coming and how he wants the team to to defend them schematically

• CARRINGTON is going to compete and never give you anything

  • As we see early in the game on the Ivey transition steal

  • Does it again in the 3rd quarter

  • Has also put his shot making display

    • He can be VERY dangerous off the bounce, especially

• SARR is having to settle way too much for this fade away jumper as opposed to getting all the way to the rim for finishes

  • Continues to really, really struggle finishing anything around the rim

  • You see the potential defensive impact with the block on the Harris post isolation

• KUZMA very aggressive on the offensive end to start the game

  • Mid range pull ups, PnR finish and then drive and touch off the glass

  • He has NOT been efficient to start this season

  • I wonder if this is the year he gets traded

  • He is absolutely getting BUCKETS in the 1st half

  • Has has thrown some WILD passes in the 4th

• BROGDON making his season debut in this game

  • He looks healthy and has actually broken down the Pistons defense a couple times

• VALANCIUNAS only averages 2.5 FTA per game but it’s in 20 MPG and he’s really good taking advantage of defenders who get their hands “in the cookie jar” in any capacity

• POOLE has given them some trouble in terms of staying in front of him

  • And then he can stop on a dime and pull up in the mid range

    • He covers an insane amount of ground when he does this and then goes to the step back

  • He really is a fun offensive talent….the defense however…..

  • He averages a lot of steals BUT start of the 3rd quarter is perfect example of what he gives up when he goes for a steal, misses, and gives up 3PM to one of the hottest shooters in the NBA (Beasley)

• GEORGE continues to show some interesting play with the ball in his hands

  • His defense has not been good on or off the ball