Another tough one. The Pistons played a good game… until a few minutes before the end of the third, after which the Cavaliers put together a 25-7 run in the space of five minutes against bad Pistons lineups and amidst very lacking efforts by the coaching staff to arrest the collapse.
Still, there were most certainly some positives here. So, without further ado:
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######What Worked
Cade Cunningham was back in control of the ball. After a game against the Knicks spent in large part operating off the ball, Cade Cunningham reverted back to primary handler – this time displaying the high IQ and passing acumen that we witnessed in his rookie season. Cade would finish with eleven assists against only one turnover (and that not of his making) against a top-ten defense, not least because of a resurgent connection with Jalen Duren on the pick-and-roll, better spacing and help thanks to the return of Bogdanovic, and a more adequately-planned offensive scheme that (unlike in his first 18 games) wasn’t requiring him to constantly attack the interior in simpleminded pick-and-roll sets while everyone aside from his center stood still.
As we saw in Cade’s rookie season (and particularly in the final quarter of it), he’s every bit intelligent and skilled enough to ably play floor general for his teammates, as he did last night.
The return of Bojan. The utility of Bogdanovic to this team shouldn’t be underestimated: he’s one of the league’s elite off-ball scorers, able to attack from off the ball at all three levels: by shooting an excellent percentage from the perimeter, attacking closeouts, and catching the ball in motion to find good opportunities on midrange pullups and at the basket. He’s a high-IQ player who knows where and when to move off the ball to garner open opportunities. He provides excellent spacing and elite play finishing, and he does this while spending very little actual time on the ball. He’s also a key veteran stabilizer for a young team to whom the front office saw fit to give very few veteran stabilizers. He did more or less all of these against the Cavaliers.
Remember that this is a player who averaged upwards of 20 points per game last season on elite efficiency.
Killian Hayes continues to attack into contact. One way in which Killian unambiguously undercut his effectiveness on the court over the last two seasons was in his perpetual allergy to contact: he suffered from a near-total unwillingness to drive into any possibility of contact, thus limiting his own options and curtailing his (admittedly still limited) ability to break down defenses while allowing defenses to rightly treat him as a non-threat. Killian’s newfound willingness to accept contact on the drive (perhaps motivated by a fear for his place in the rotation?) has opened up new options for him.
… though he still sometimes settles for stinkers instead of attacking the rim.
Whether or not Killian can build on his two-game streak of rotation-level play is anyone’s guess, but this is one area in which he can unequivocally help himself.
Jalen Duren made an impact on offense. It’s been a quiet time for Jalen Duren since a promising three-game start to the season. 17 points on 8/8 from the field is his best outing since game #3 (though one of six from the free throw line wasn’t ideal). His scoring came largely of transition play and a resurgent pick-and-roll collaboration with Cunningham, itself (as mentioned) largely the product of a more wisely-planned system overall and a lineup (particularly with Bojan in play) better able to space the floor.
When put into the proper situation, Jalen is a strong roll man who sets hard screens and is able to easily carve out space and effectively score through contact. He also surprises defenses with the occasional deft drive to the hoop.
Better offense from the starting lineup. Largely explained above: fewer bad sets, a more well-planned system, better spacing.
######What Didn’t Work
Bench lineups were a disaster. Monty Williams has done a terrible job of late with managing bench lineups, repeatedly fielding lineups which do not feature a single player capable of achieving penetration. It is extremely difficult for an offense with no such players to function effectively, and so this has often produced the predictable consequence of numerous possessions being wasted as the ball rotates around the perimeter with nobody able to actually beat the defense. This issue reared its head yet again last night, except in worse form than before, and to disastrous effect in a stretch that effectively lost the Pistons the game.
When Cade Cunningham checked out with 2:56 left in the 3rd quarter, leaving a full-bench lineup on the floor, the Pistons led 75-70. Over the intervening five minutes before he checked back in, the Cavaliers outscored the Pistons 25-7. Though this was in part due to terrible defense (more on that later), it was largely the product of an anemic offense that simply couldn’t score and generated ample transition opportunities for the opposition as well. This lineup began with Marcus Sasser running point (an innovation common lately but inexplicable given that he has very limited ability as a playmaker), and nobody capable of penetrating. When Ausar Thompson picked up his fifth foul, Ivey checked into the game. Predictably, Monty Williams refused to use him as a handler, so Sasser continued instead. Then Killian checked in. Though Killian has been much improved these last two games, he, too, cannot reliably penetrate from the perimeter; Ivey remained ignored. The results were, as noted, very predictable.
Williams mentioned after the game that he’d need to toy around with the bench lineups going forward. That is of dubious comfort; an NBA coach should know well enough that a bench unit which features no players capable of penetrating off the dribble is highly likely to fail, and not try it in the first place.
Monty Williams didn’t adjust. This issue has been as frustrating with Williams as it is common (it was, frustratingly, also a characteristic issue for the team’s last two coaches as well). The aforementioned 25-7 run for the Cavaliers across about five minutes between the last minutes of the third quarter and the early minutes of the fourth quarter featured no adjustments by the coaching staff, who effectively simply let it happen by means of fielding obviously deficient lineups and (in what’s been an ongoing thing) refusing to use Jaden Ivey.
There’s not much to say about this beyond that it simply cannot happen if the Pistons wish to have the best shot at winning on any given night (or, for now, winning a singular game). But it’s happening. Again, this is a known issue with Williams. Can it change? Hopefully. Will it? Meh.
Isaiah Stewart at power forward… still. This was covered in the last recap. Nothing has changed, nor will it change. Stewart is too slow and has too poor a handle to be anything but regular dead weight at power forward on offense. What’s more, his excellent defense at center is being wasted so that he can play exceptionally mediocre defense at power forward. Last night’s offense was the typical mix of stand-still-on-the-perimeter-and-can’t-handle. It’s regrettable that the front office did not see fit to grace this roster with even a single real power forward who has the size, mobility and general capability to play the position on both ends, instead choosing to both neglect depth and put all of its eggs into the very far-fetched basket of Stewart overcoming insurmountable athletic shortcomings at the position.
Jalen Duren struggled on defense. Duren is still fairly raw as a defensive decision-maker, and, regrettably, he endured more than his share of troubles against the Cavaliers.
Have a look at a contrast between the pick-and-roll defense of a Stewart, excellent PnR defender, and that of Duren.
There’s not much to be said here: he’s young, and needs to improve his decision-making.
Marvin Bagley just can’t defend the interior. Bagley has been putting in the effort on defense this season; to his credit, he’s actually improved quite a bit as a straight-on rim protector. His undermining struggles at making reads and decisions with the necessary alacrity, however, remain – and at this stage of his career, they aren’t likely to go away. Simply put, if Marvin is put into situations in which he’s required to make fast decisions on defense in a fast-moving situation, he’s liable to screw up. It happened repeatedly last night despite Marvin playing few minutes.
The first error was Bagley simply being a second late to rotate. In the NBA, being a second late is likely to result in the opposition getting a good opportunity. The latter three, two of which came in quick succession early in the aforementioned 25-7 run by the Cavaliers and resulted in open looks for a high-percentage shooter, were all errors in reading plays and making the proper decisions.
Bagley has been a very poor decision-maker on defense going back to his days at Duke. Meaningful improvement after five seasons is unlikely. His defense is not quite so poor at power forward, but that remains a moot question; so long as he can’t shoot, he can’t play there anyway.
######General Takeaways/Going Forward
No more zero-penetration bench lineups, please. These should not have happened in the first place.
More prompt adjustments, please. Please?!
The Jaden Ivey marginalization experiment continues. When will it end? It’s as if Monty Williams is going out of his way to marginalize Jaden – a solid handler, a capable scorer, and this roster’s one and only athletic penetrator – even as this team loses game after game.
The power forward situation. Williams has noted that lineups may be fluid, with Stewart starting against beefier opposition at the position and Bogdanovic starting there otherwise. That’s good in theory, but hopefully it’s more the latter and less the former. Yes, the defense will suffer, but less than you might think: Isaiah is just not all that good at defense at power forward (at center, yes). Play him at backup center; he’s good there!
######Top Performer
Cade Cunningham: 23 points, eight rebounds, 11 assists, only one turnover. Cade’s efficiency tailed off late in the game as the team endured its characteristic struggles, but he still had a reasonably efficient night.
######Honorable Mention
Bojan Bogdanovic: A highly efficient 22 points by his standard means.
######Struggled Most
Ausar Thompson: Four points and five fouls in 16 minutes, and his absence from the starting lineup has been notable in the degree to which it’s improved the offense.
Next up: Grizzlies.
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