Opponent Scouting: Charlotte Hornets. (15-38)
Tonight at 7:00pm EST the Detroit Pistons are back at home to face the Hornets. The Pistons are on several days rest after losing to Dallas and having their game against the Wizards postponed due to getting stuck in the Dallas airport, while the Hornets are on the second night of a back-to-back after losing to Chicago last night.
The them:
The Hornets are very bad. They are basically the Pistons if Cade had only missed a good chunk of the year instead of basically the entire year as LeMelo Ball did miss a good chunk of the season. They come into this game with the league’s worst offensive rating and the 27th-ranked defensive rating. A miserable season with a combination of off the court issues (see Miles Bridges), injuries and disappointment have them firmly in the year from hell but they still have some guys who can play.
LaMelo Ball is the headliner here, he’s averaging 23 points, 6 rebounds, and 8.2 assists per game. He takes a ton of threes, many of which are absurd shots, but he hits 35.5% of them, he’s also an awesome passer with his only real offensive issue being that he doesn’t really drive to the hoop as much as he probably should which results in disappointing scoring efficiency. He’s also very bad on defense. Terry Rozier is a good shooter who shoots a large volume of threes (although he hasn’t shot great from three this season) and a tough defender, like LaMelo he doesn’t get inside and draw fouls enough which hampers his scoring efficiency. Gordon Hayward has been in and out with injuries and looks like a shell of his former “queen of all trades” self most of the time he has played. Pistons legend Mason Plumlee is actually having a career year. He’s shooting left-handed now and since mid-December, he’s gotten more involved in the offense to the tune of averaging, and I’m not making this up, 16 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game in just under 30 minutes per game. This is a 23-game stretch. Plumlee is adding that while still being absurdly efficient and doing all of the little stuff with effective screens and boxing out diligently. His sudden growth is one of the more interesting things to happen to a totally off-the-radar team this season. PJ Washington rounds out the starting lineup, he is yet another player who is a good shooter who takes a ton of threes but doesn’t get to the hoop enough to be all that efficient.
Jalen McDaniels is a big wing type off the bench who has shot better from deep in the past but is struggling this season. Pistons legend Dennis Smith Jr has somewhat revived his career as an off-the-bench spark-plug but his scoring efficiency still sucks. Mark Williams was the 15th pick this past Summer and he is a legit 7 footer who doesn’t do a ton to stand out but he looks fine when he’s played. JT Thor is a tall power forward who has not really found anything he does well.
This team has players who would be useful to good teams, a number of them actually. But the fact that across the board this team has scoring efficiency issues (they have the worst TS% as a team in the NBA) combined with inability to get the whole crew playing defense together is a recipe for disaster. The good news is that LaMelo has continued to develop well and still looks like he can be a real cornerstone for the future.
Matchups to watch:
Ivey vs. LaMelo: I don’t know exactly how much they will actually go against each other. The Hornets will probably prefer to stick Rozier on Ivey, but two young guards who are potentially exciting to watch and Ivey is now running the point. This is the marquee matchup in a game that is really not a marquee matchup.
Duren vs. Plumlee: This is not a joke or ironic, Plumlee has been outstanding for the Hornets and Duren figuring out how to defend him is a huge part of whether or not the Pistons can win this game. A good test for a young guy against a really smart veteran like Plumlee.
Bench vs. Bench: One more case where the dropoff from the Hornets starters to their bench is significant. The most obvious outline for a Pistons victory features the starters playing close and the bench running it up.
Getting a win: Another shot at a team that is similarly as awful. Just win, get some good vibes going.
Beef Stew? Maybe he’s still got a nagging injury, maybe the brief time of effective shooting was a mirage (it was almost certainly a mirage), either way he is on an UGLY trend for some time now and it is worth being concerned about.