Sign of Things to Come? I Hope Not. Pistons fall in First Preseason Game of 2020-21 Season
First things first, it is great to have Pistons basketball
back. I know for all those, like myself, who watched all 48 minutes hoping for
a LiAngelo Ball appearance was disappointed but hearing Mason, George, and Special
K will always put a smile on my face. The end result, however, did not, as tonight’s
opening game of the 2020-21 preseason for Detroit is a defeat coming from the New
York Knicks, with a score of 90-84. I know it is the preseason, and this is far
from the way that Coach Casey will play his team, so take what this game showed
us very lightly. I definitely saw a few things that I liked, but at the same time,
a ton that I did not.
Let’s start with the negatives:
The Game Itself
This game was ugly, and that might be putting it nice. 46
combined turnovers, numerous airballs, and poor shooting. New York shot a
respectable 45.8% from the field, but Detroit shot 32.5, both teams were sub-30
from deep and the Knicks shot 47.8% from the free throw line. Play will only
improve as the season goes on, but this one was bad. You could definitely tell
this was preseason game number one.
Number 9
New Piston Jerami Grant wears 9, and this rubs me the wrong
way. I know probably no one but myself cares about this, but 9 is Langston’s
number and now every game when I see Grant, I will be disappointed that the
Pistons do not have Galloway anymore. Besides Jerami being an outstanding defender,
his offensive game was atrocious tonight. He shot 1-11 from the field, 0-5 from
deep, but I guess he was 4-4 from the FT line, so that’s good I guess
Killian Hayes
Since moving to Detroit, the Pistons have drafted five point
guards in the top ten of the NBA draft, and Hayes joins a stacked list of Bing
(66), Thomas (81), Hunter (93), and Knight (11). The young draftee who was only
able to start driving a car three years ago was given the keys to the offense
right away in game one. Although the line may not be terrible, but this may
have been a debut to forget. In 21 minutes, Hayes shot 2-7, 0-3 from deep for 5
points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, but also having 7 turnovers. Hayes was
overmatched on both sides of the ball. I still think Killian will be a really
good point guard for the Pistons for a long time, and the game will slow down
the more he plays, but this was a debut that Pistons fans did not want to see.
Josh Jackson
I did not like him at Kansas, and he did not give me a good
first impression tonight with the Pistons. Outside of his two made layups, he
was throwing up absolute garbage. Jackson did not play that well of defense,
which was what I thought was the strongest part of his game, picking up five fouls
in 14 minutes. I know it is the preseason, but I see why he has been in the G
League for years. I hope he makes me eat all of these words.
Open Shots
First game sure, but this team is not good enough to miss
open shots and win basketball games. This team is going to live and die by the long
ball all season, and because of that they will win some games that they should
not but will also lose games they should win, like the one tonight.
Delon Wright
This isn’t really a negative, but more of a wondering
question: What value does he bring to the starting five others than the fact we
need some bench scoring? Dude was just out there running. He didn’t really do a
whole lot and seemed nonexistent on both sides of the ball outside of a steal that
let to a trailing Blake three.
Now onto some positives:
Blake
There is no question that this team goes as Blake goes. After
only playing 18 games last season, Griffin looks healthy and ready to go. If
the Pistons want to have any success this season, it is crucial Blake needs to
stay healthy. Blake’s slow and methodical game gives him the ability to be the
best player on the court at any point against any team. What impressed me
tonight through was his passing game. His pass to Killian for his first bucket
was an incredible pass, but even more than that, he seemed to be looking for
his teammates more that before and that can elevate this Pistons team to a new
level.
New Bigs
Plumlee, Okafor, and Stewart all bring something different
to the Pistons team that I really like. Plumlee is a good starting center that does
not command too much but does all the little things. Getting boards, hustle
plays, and making easy shots is his game. Okafor was super active as he was scoring
and getting boards very efficiently. One thing that is not appreciated in the
NBA that I thought he did really well tonight was run the floor and get
position early. He is going to get a few easy layups each game by running his
lane and posting up smaller defenders. Now Stewart did not play all that much,
but he is a high energy guy for a big if I’ve ever seen one. He possesses a knack
for rebounding that is going to give him a long NBA career by just being able
to do that. When he gets his offensive game to an NBA level, he is going to be
really good.
Bey and Svi
Saddiq Bey really impressed me tonight with his scoring
abilities. This rookie is going to play a lot of minutes this season and if he
can continue to score like he did tonight, they will only continue to grow. Saddiq
had 14 points off the bench, while hitting 3 deep ones. I will say though, his
shot is so awkward that you get the “no no no” to “good shot” every time it
goes up. This was a saying that I received from Eric as a youngster (minus the
awkward looking shot of course). Also having 14 is Svi Mykhailiuk. Svi is an
elite shooter. Now he will not get the praise that he deserves, but he was
giving me some Fletcher Magee vibes tonight with his first two shots. He ended
4-8 from deep, but two of those were past half court. If these two can score at
this clip adding a few from the other guys like Ellington, Hayes, Blake, and
Grant, this team could be fun to watch.
This is probably going to be a frustrating season with a ton
of losses, but these young guys show a ton of promise for a rebuild that is still
years away form completion. Hopefully we can improve on the horrible defensive
showing tonight, get the offense going a little bit more, and maybe even get a
Ball sighting on Sunday in the rematch against the Knicks
Roll Stones
ZT
Follow the author of this article on Twitter @zachtuori
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