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That sucked.

Box Score.

Cade Cunningham:

Started off hot from deep but eventually cooled. Not as bad a night as some have been suggesting, even if he ran out of gas and had some bad turnovers, 30 points on 11-27 shooting with 4 assists (even next to 6 turnovers) while playing 37 minutes isn’t bad. Cade does need to be better, some of the turnovers are utterly avoidable, he’s too willing to take jumpers instead of trying to get inside, at times the focus (on both ends of the floor) simply slips.

HOWEVA

You cannot decouple these things from the lineups he is playing in. If the biblical Job had been a professional NBA player making him the best player on a team putting out these lineups is probably what the devil would’ve put him through. The biggest concern from tonight isn’t even the turnovers, its the fact he went just 6-18 from inside the line. Cade simply does not get easy looks because there are none with these lineups. It would obviously help if he could get some calls, but its easier to avoid fouling when you can just stand freely in front of the hoop since you don’t need to guard your man. Cade is not blameless, but pretty much every second he’s on the floor there are at least the other 4 players on the floor and the front office guys who built this roster that are far more to blame.

Killian Hayes:

Remember how I talked about the fact that despite how much I love most parts of Killian’s game you cannot survive with a guy who never hits shots in the starting lineup? Well, he went 0-6 in 26 minutes tonight. He still had 3 steals which reflect some good defensive moments, but no amount of defense or smart passing makes up for a guy you don’t have to even pretend to guard. The fact that he is starting instead of Ivey only adds to the absurdity.

Ausar Thompson:

At least one of the offensively challeged guys got the message. Thompson was a terror in transition and as an alley-oop target finishing with 16 points on 8-14 shooting. Most of that damage was in the first half and he still didn’t hit a three-pointer but hey. Ausar needs to stack more of these games up to find some competency scoring the ball, if he does he can maybe hold his spot in the starting lineup.

Isaiah Stewart:

Stat line was fine, 12 points on 5-8 shooting (including 2-4 from deep) is effective and teams will start to guard him beyond the arc eventually if he keeps hitting them. He had one especially where he just pulled from the top of the arc even though a defender was in the vicinity that was encouraging, the main issue with Stewart’s game wasn’t really even with the many faults of Stew. The absence of Duren provided a stark reminder that Stewart is simply not physically capable of actually doing stuff you would love a player of his archetype to do. He committed too many fouls, didn’t rebound (including giving up a key offensive board late in the game) isn’t a deterrent at the rim (Sharpe repeatedly attacked without any concern of Stewart waiting late in the game) and is one of the least effective screeners you will see. Maybe when Duren returns it will be okay, but this game is an emphatic reminder that it would be working because Duren is incredible, not because Stewart is somehow uniquely capable.

Marvin Bagley:

Another guy where it’s more about the lack of Duren that’s the problem. I’ve liked how Bagley has looked as a low-minutes bench guy, but he just can’t really hack it against starters and in high minutes. 10 points on 3-10 shooting (4-5 from the line) with 6 boards and 3 assists with 5 turnovers just isn’t good enough, especially for a guy who is a net negative on defense.

As a credit to him, and to continue some positivity when he returns to the bench, even if he is a net negative on defense I really think he has tightened up his game a bit on that end and he made a genuinely good pass for one of his assists. Those are not huge deals but it is nice to see.

Marcus Sasser:

Played well. In 23 minutes he scored 8 points on 4-6 shooting. had 6 assists and 4(!!) steals. His lack of size has proven to be problematic and did indeed in this game, but he really looks like a guy who can play. I’m not sure he will ever be capable of more than a nice bench guy but that’s a perfectly acceptable outcome for a late first-round pick, especially when they are ready out of the box as a rookie. Even if he is just a 20mpg backup, 4 years of cheap 20 minutes per game is nice. He’s pretty much the one bright spot.

James Wiseman:

in 6 minutes he scored 4 points, committed 4 fouls, and went -14. I never thought much of Saddiq Bey, but hard to view that deal as anything other than a colossal loss for the Pistons.

Joe Harris:

11 points on 4-7 shooting. For some reason he closed the game out, but he did everything you can realistically ask of him.

Stanley Umude:

Got 12 minutes tonight. Nothing to really report.

Jaden Ivey:

Yeah man you can’t tell me Jaden Ivey isn’t playing because defense and then close out a close game with him on the bench and Joe Harris on the floor. Simply not gonna fly. In just 22 minutes Ivey had 10 points on 3-7 shooting with a pair of assists against 1 turnover. He had a couple of really nice defensive plays (reflected with a block and a steal on the night) and generally looked good. Either coaching malpractice is happening, or there is something bigger than “We like this role”. The offense imploded in the second half, Cade was clearly gassed, bench savior and two additional guys who normally would close the game were out with Burks and Duren. Ivey should’ve been in the game and until we hear that there is some larger issue around him it is unacceptable.

General:

The games get much harder from here so it will probably hurt extra to let this game get away in a couple of weeks. This game was, as much as anything, a reality check. The Pistons are still a bad team, even if they are not terrible, and if they are not playing the right way and with the right intensity and focus they will lose to anyone. Hopefully this game can be a teaching moment, both to the players to stay focused even when you getup by nearly 20, and for the coaches/front office that you cannot play these lineups and expect Cade to make lemonade out of horse shit.