Opponent Scouting: Cleveland Cavaliers (7-5)
The Pistons hit the road again to face another high draft pick in Cleveland
Sorry for missing the last game, had some stuff come up.
Tonight at 7:30pm EST the Pistons are on the road to face the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Pistons are on one night of rest after beating the Rockets, the Cavs are also on one night of rest after losing to the Bullets.
The Them:
The Cavaliers are a surprise team that has been pretty good out of the gates. Colin Sexton will be out for an extended period with an injury, both Lauri Markkanen and Kevin Love are in health and safety protocols.
3rd overall pick Evan Mobley has been incredible, 15 points, 8 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game is rock solid for a guy so young but he is so advanced on the defensive end with the dream tool-belt of being able to play inside and outside on defense. Fellow big-man Jarrett Allen continues to be a rock-solid two-way player. Darius Garland is finding himself as a honest to god point-gaurd.
Isaac Okoro missed some time but he’s large and athletic on the wing. Dean Wade is a theoretical stretch 4. Cedi Osman never panned out as all that good but he can still do a bit of everything on the wing. Ricky Rubio is living his best life as a high-minutes bench guy. Dylan Windler can shoot.
This team does not lean too far to either end of the court, they are just slightly above average both offensively and defensively, a solid mix of young talent and some veteran know-how. The loss of Colin Sexton will hurt long-term, and short-term missing both Markkanen and Love is definitely lessening their threat a bit.
The Cavs may drop off a bit as the season goes along but they should stay towards the back end of the playoff race. Many of their younger players are coming into their own and are ready to win.
Matchups to watch:
Pistons Big rotation: Olynyk is out for an extended period, how the Pistons move forward with that will be interesting, I’m not sure if they will just slot in Garza or maybe toss in some Grant as a small-ball 5. Will be interesting though.
Cade vs. Building: Continued the trend of looking more comfortable every game and seems to finally have found his long-gun. Just keep building positive games together young man.
Killian Hayes vs. Refinding himself: It’s possibly just a result of his thumb injury, but after making some promising strides he seemed to return to not being involved in the offense last time out. It’d be nice if he could get into it more.
Allen vs. Stew: Stewart might have a tough time with this one. Allen is bigger and more athletic than Stewart is, and will not be disuaded by tenacity. Should be a good battle.
So in conclusion…
Wink Knowingly at your friends if:
The Cavs look lost with the injuries.
Cade keeps banging in threes.
Olynyk was actually an anchor on the Pistons.
Run for the hills if:
Allen’s athleticism is too much for Stewart.
Evan Mobley way outplays Cade so we all get to hear about that for the next few days.
The big rotation is a mess.
Opportunities for me to look stupid:
Cade scores 20+ again
The Piston bench is even worse without Olynyk
Killian still looks passive on offense due to his thumb.
Pistons win because that’s what I want to believe.
What do you think? Can Cade build off the shooting? Will Jerami Grant stay hot?