I know this might be a bad take, but from watching a lot of the pistons this year, it seems like often on offense if they are not on the fastbreak the plan is to give it to Cade and let him initiate the offense. While I think this could work if he develops his skillset a little more to a higher level, a lot of plays where he gets double teamed he often looses the ball or shoots a shot that no offense he should not be shooting. I think the team would look a lot better if they played with more ball movement, I know that’s easier said than done considering the lack of shooters on the team, I think often time the best the team looks is when they are all sharing the ball. Rather than when Cade has an Iso or a pick and roll with Duren, but maybe I am being a bit to reactionary to the losing streak I’m not really sure.
Luka doesn’t have the athleticism or speed to be a primary ball handler by conventional wisdom. He’s just a better player with a more refined skill set since he was playing with grown ass men at like age 16 lol. Whenever a new archetype comes into the league, teams spend the next decade trying to draft that guy. We thought we were getting luka 2.0 with Cade and it turns out Luka is actually a unicorn. Cade is Cade. He will be in better shape by the end of this calendar year and you’ll see less tired legs in the fourth quarter. He probably needs to get off that goofy vegan diet and start eating some lean meats lol. Cade still has one of the best midrange games in the league and he’s strong. Monty is trying to use him like he’s Chris Paul or something. He isn’t that player either. His strengths as far as I can tell involve him coming off ball to get a handoff followed by a hard screen and roll to the hoop where he can decide to shoot a midrange, drop a pass to duren, kick out for 3, or get to the rim. He’s incredibly indecisive at the hoop. I’d like to see him just go up strong and use his body to shield shot blockers. He gets his shot blocked far too often and it’s because he tries to fínese opposing centers. Just go up strong and force contact. Those who watch the games know that he seems to get a poor whistle. I’m not sure why that is. I think the foul calls will come eventually, but he has to continue to welcome contact and go to strong. I count at least 2 times a game where he gets blatantly fouled and finishes an and one. He should probably be getting 8 free throw attempts a game. I can’t really think of someone to compare him to. Healthy Brandon Roy was a dog defensively. He also had some athleticism and speed prior to the Injuries. If his comp is Brandon post-knee disintegration then we’re fucked lol. I’ll give Cade this season to figure it out. If next season he hasn’t refined his game, then I think it’s safe to say he’s not that guy and I don’t know what to do with him. Treat this season like he’s a rookie. Pull him when he fucks up repeatedly and hold him accountable. Make him engage defensively. Many nba players turned analysts say that being a good defender mostly comes down to effort and engagement. He may not be an all nba defender, but his defense has got to be better and that needs to happen pretty much immediately. That’s just effort. He should be able to defend a teams 2nd option pretty well. Ausar is the best defender and that should give Cade help in that regard. His rookie season they were sticking him out the other teams best player and his defense looked much better in his rookie year.
100% agree with you. European school of basketball is different, these dudes have been drilling fundamentals and playing scrimmages against grown ass men since they were toddlers.
For some reason I have the feeling that the FO thinks since they drafted him first they have to turn him into some archetypical primary ball handler/Luka type. They’re fucking up his development because to them a number one lottery player can’t be an off ball player.
I mention Roy because he also had an unstoppable midrange shot with a high ass release. I think drawing contact will come with time, but I really wish Cade would get more efficient from the midrange this season.
Yeah I think a lot of the American kids in basketball today don’t have to deal with a lot of adversity on the court. They get propped up from the age of 8 because they’re taller than everyone in their grade and show a proclivity for basketball. They now have mixtapes for 6 year olds. We’ve seen mock drafts ten years from now lmao. The nba does show us who has it and who doesn’t. I do worry that Cade, a guy who has probably been treated as a golden goose since middle school, might be dealing with real adversity for the first time in his life (starting from his injury). Having listened to him talk from draft night until just a couple days ago with his “this team is bad. We are bad” I feel as though he can come out of this and be a better player because of it. He’s obviously not a Jordan Poole type or a Jalen Green type. I think this season will be good for him in the long run. I’m hoping that’s the case anyways because it doesn’t look like this group will win much more than 20 games.