Betrayer

This is where the mismanagement by Weaver (and SVG before him) is really going to hurt this team. We have no war chest of assets and now we need to build around our star. It's a tough spot. The only way to do it is to move one or two young assets, some vet contracts to match salary, and a future pick. But that could totally screw up the chemistry they have cooking right now. I'm curious to see how Trajan handles this.

Countdown to next injury in 5, 4, 3...

Sexton was going at him. He was not happy Collier didn't give him the ball.

If I'm collecting picks it's not for drafting, it's for trading. You need multiple firsts to bring in the type of star you'll need next to Cade for this thing to actually go anywhere.

The thing to remember is Cade just turned 23 this season. He'll get better. Shai's 4th season when he was 23 years old: .453 FG% .300 3P% .514 2PG% .496 eFG% .810 FT% 5.0 REB 5.9 AST 1.3 STL 0.8 BLK 2.8 TOV 24.5 PTS Cade's 4th (effectively 3rd) season at 23 years old: .457 FG% .376 3P% .497 2PG% .518 eFG% .792 FT% 6.6 REB 9.3 AST 0.9 STL 0.8 BLK 4.3 TOV 24.3 PTS Difference is that Shai's team had a real GM (and some assets to trade), so they've built something around Shai that can contend. The Pistons have Cade...

Please don't turn this into the Atlanta Hawks who went all-in too soon after Trey broke out and will seemingly be stuck in the 7-10 spot forever.

I don't think it was the back to back. There were two main issues: 1) Defense - Pistons looked lost trying to guard the Warriors constant movement and screening. They're just not a great off-ball rotation team and GS got a ton of wide open layups with our dudes staring at each other trying to figure out whose fault it was. The trapping scheme doesn't work well against a team that doesn't run a ton of primary ball handler pick-n-roll action and constantly moves off-ball. 2) Offense - The glaring problem that has existed for years reared it's head. The Pistons struggle against any team that presses up and overplays them on the perimeter. They don't have guys that can beat you off the dribble to force a collapse and kick-out and they don't move/screen/cut off ball enough. Sadly, that's how it will look in the playoffs as well when teams really D-up. That said, they showed the fight to bring it within striking distance near the end which was admirable after how terrible the offense looked for most of the game.

Ku breaking down the aggressive pick and roll blitzing defense that JB has had the Pistons using for the last month or so. Basically, they figured out that Duren can't handle drop coverage (or switching) so they're going to use his athleticism to trap. This scheme requires you to not let the ballhandler turn the corner (or you're cooked) and the rest of the team has to rotate well. You can wind up with some weird matchups, but it can also throw off the opponent's set play and cause disruption that results in turnovers. GS is a very good passing team that will probably pick it apart, but it's worked well for this win streak the Pistons have been on. SVG used to do this with Dre and I hated it because Dre was so lumbering that the ballhandler just went around him and it basically turned into Dre getting in the way and screening his own teammate. It's working better with the current roster of big men.

Yea, I get it from a second-scorer perspective, but it would be a short sighted move. Also, I'll restate my opinion that I want to see Cade as the smallest guy in this starting lineup.

Buckle up for trade season. This is the sports news world these days. Pistons have cap space so they "could be a potential suitor" for every made-up trade that will get these guys some clicks. And then the next "reporter" writes a story saying "there are rumors that the Pistons could be interested in [player previously named]", and so on.

.500! Who had that on their predictions at the beginning of the year? I was one of the more positive people on the signings this offseason in the face of so many on here saying, "it's the same team as last year", but I would never have guessed they'd be at .500 this deep into the season. Cade has taken a leap and the vet role players have been available, unlike the past few seasons. They've also taken turns stepping up. A lot of big Beasley games, but THJ has won a few games as well, and now Tobias has really stepped up since Ivey went down. JB deserves a lot of credit as well. He's not free from criticism, but he's doing exactly what I expected which is raising the floor of this team and getting them to punch above their weight. Not a championship coach, but such a huge improvement over Monty and Casey who always had their teams playing below their talent level rather than above it. Most of all, it's fun to watch this team again. And unlike the last time they were .500, this is a team on the rise rather than a 1 year push to get the 8th seed before everyone loses their jobs.

Fun game and a great wire to wire win. Ausar in the starting lineup where he should be. I don't care that he can't shoot. He was absolutely disruptive and such a difference maker. Loved the all-defense lineup with Stew and Holland in there as well. The future is bright if you can teach just one of those two to shoot at an average rate.

That was the only place he was ever going. His favorite team, the French connection with Parker, his camp wanted SAN the whole time. Everyone called it before the draft. Just a few grams lighter on those lottery balls.

Maybe the refs thought JB was disrespecting the game by starting a G League player in Moore Jr instead of the 4 other legitimate candidates on the roster.

Duren’s defense is terrible. Put Reed back in.

Before the game he said they’re going to keep that spot “fluid”. I guess they wanted to prove that point by playing a guy who has no business in the rotation let alone starting. Dumb. You have 2 guys who should’ve been starting regardless of Ivey’s health in Beasley and Ausar. Even Sasser or Holland would have been interesting options if you wanted to go a different way and try some things out. Starting Moore is idiotic.

Wow. They're starting Moore. This team just isn't serious.

Sam and Bryce were talking about this on Game Theory the other day. Basically they said that the draft is only stacked at the very top and the rest of it is so bad that they're having trouble making their draft boards beyond the early lottery. They have no idea who to put in the late first. Just something to keep in mind as the Pistons will probably not be in the top 5 unless they get crazy lottery luck. Too many teams like Wizards, Hornets, Raptors, Nets, Pelicans, and Jazz are tanking hard this year and a couple more (Miami, Chicago) might join them.

Broken bone is definitely the best case. Watching it live I thought his knee got blown out by that reckless dive. 3-6 months, which is better than the full year you usually see with ligament tears. Hopefully there was no damage to the surrounding structures. As for the team going forward, you're forced into a starting lineup change. When Ivey missed time previously JB started Beasley. Last night he closed with Ausar though. Maybe this opens up the door for more starting lineup changes to balance things out a bit. Start Beasley in place of Ivey and Ausar in place of THJ. You move THJ's spacing to the second unit since you're calling up Beasley to balance out the (theoretical) shooters and you can also have Holland backing up Ausar so you don't have two non-shooting wings on the bench sharing time on the court. As far as Ivey's contract, I think you basically punt that until next season now. Omari was saying the same thing on his podcast this morning. They'll want to make sure he makes a full recovery and all that. Ivey isn't a max guy, so they'll probably just deal with his contract in his final year instead of extending early this offseason.

Stop me if you've heard this one before: KD tries to lead a super-team and...

Curious to see how this plays out. Injured rental who going to want a huge new contract in the offseason.

Ausar for TJH is a good start and I think there's very little chance that Harris gets benched anyway. What you lose in perceived spacing from THJ you get back in many other ways on both ends with Ausar. Something has to be done about Duren though, because he's a real problem. His on/off point differential is staggering no matter which other center you put in there, and this starting unit can't keep digging a hole every game. If you factor in his turnover problem, I'm not sure you lose much offensively with him getting benched anyway. Dunks are nice, but it's not like he's giving you any spacing like Stew could. The org has to decide who the backup big man is - Stew or Duren. That guy stays on the bench in his future role and the other guy gets moved. Maybe they've already decided and that's why Duren is a starter until they move him...?

I probably would've brought Cade back when it got down to 7 pts. Take out Moore and let Cade run with Holland, Ausar, Reed, and Sasser so they can have a creator on the floor for the last 5 minutes. Starting lineup needs a change. Duren, THJ, and Harris - at least two of them need to be shifted to the bench for some combination of Ausar, Beasley, Stew (or even Reed). My guess is they're waiting for the trade deadline because those 3 starters are also the ones you're most likely to include in a deal.

Wow! That was a game! If you would've told me that they'd have a better win % in December than November when looking at the schedule a couple months ago I would've told you to lay off the drugs. Cade better be an All-Star lock. @Deleterious I'd call it 6 on 3 because Duren might as well be playing for the other team when he's on defense most nights. The defensive rating is 120 when he's on the floor and 111 when he's off the floor. That's an insane 9 point swing. It's not because Stew has turned into prime Ben Wallace either, because it's the same story when you put Reed in there. Pretty much any way you slice the numbers, they're better when JD is on the bench. And on the other end, his high turnover percentage isn't helping the offense either.

Del and I have been commenting about this starting lineup for a while, but it really needs to change regardless of these wins. Here are some interesting stats I heard today: Starting lineup allows 123 pts. That's 4 points worse than the worst defense in the NBA (Utah at 119). You can't have Duren, Ivey, and THJ together. Tobias is also a neutral to weak defender. It's great that Cade is becoming a better defender and taking on matchups like KD and Lebron, but that isn't going to cut it and his workload is too high on the other end already.