Yes. I know. Three games is an insignificant sample size.
But fans from the le détroit du lac Érié (aka Detroit) have not had a lot to be excited about with regard to basketball in over 15 years.
I was pretty excited to see the rookie duo of Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren, so I was keeping an eye out on both to start the season (don’t ask me why Killian Hayes is starting over Ivey this year).
Duren is straight out of the gate this year. Sure. Detroit fans have seen guys with high rebounding numbers and percentages before.
Andre Drummond, for example, but he wasn’t a strong defender. Duren, in contrast, has quickly shown the promise to become a strong rim protector.
And yes, Ben Wallace could rebound AND defend. But Duren can also pass the ball and score efficiently, which, all due respect to Big Ben, are things that NBA champion and 4X DPOY Ben Wallace could not be counted on.
It true that Duren hasn’t showed that he has any more range than Greg Monroe just yet, and he may end up being a guy who needs to score close to the basket (which could be a problem), but his rebounding, defence, play-making from the post, and scoring efficiency has been off the charts for a 20-year-old center.
No he doesn’t. The Pistons lineups where Killian is on the court year are still dreadfully negative despite Duren/Cade balling. With Burks on instead of Killian the net rating swing is crazy
Ivey can also get buckets and that’s much needed because you guys have Cade/Duren/Stew/Ausar anyways, you already kinda slant defense side anyways