Opponent Scouting: Golden State Warriors (13-2)
Tonight at 7:00pm EST the Pistons will be facing off against the Golden State Warriors. The Pistons are on one day of rest after beating the Pacers while the Warriors are on the second night of a back to back after beating the Cavs last night.
The Them:
I waited to put this up till late because the Warriors played last night. I’m glad I did because it was announced that not only are the injured Klay Thompson and James Wiseman are out, but also Andre Igoudala, Otto Porter, Draymond Green, and Steph Curry are all resting tonight. Very glad I didn’t spend 2 paragraphs gushing over how cool it will be to see the Warriors back at bum-slayer capacity only to have a comment “actually they are all resting”.
The Warriors have been awesome this season but all their good players are out.
Andrew Wiggins remains way overpaid but he’s slipped into a nice role here as a fairly efficient 2-way guy who is scoring 18 per game. Jordan Poole is a fearless maniac shooting the ball. Kevon Looney is a center.
I have no idea who will move into the starting lineup or what rotations will be so rapid fire here. Gary Payton is super athletic and a terror defensively, Nemanja Bjelica can shoot from the 4 spot. Juan Toscano-Anderson is gritty and makes winning plays, Jonothan Kuminga is very young and athletic.
Really kind of a bummer. While at work I was thinking about the cool stuff to talk about this team because they’ve been so much fun.
Matchups to watch:
Warriors vs. Energy: My guess is that the Warriors will be real frisky. Poole and Wiggins will embrace the green light and the role guys will go hard. That said, second night of a back-to-back where the team is clearly waiving the white flag by resting so many guys is a good recipe for a team to simply not show up.
Pistons vs. Poole/Wiggins: As mentioned above. These are the only two real dudes that are going to be playing tonight. Both guys are capable of going wild for a night, the Pistons need to keep that from happening.
Pistons vs. Hitting shots: Pretty straightforward. They miss a bunch of shots.
Killian Hayes vs. His Thumb: Given how engaged he’s remained defensively I think its fair to assume that Hayes passive offensive play is due to his thumb. It’d be nice if that started feeling better.
Beef Stew vs. Taking advantage: Like the Raptors, the Warriors do not have the sort of size and athleticism up front to give Stewart trouble. He needs to take advantage and have another big night.
Pistons vs. Just Chugging away: The Pistons are clearly not very good. But recently they show signs that they are at least good enough to get teams when they show up not ready to play. Let’s keep that going.
So in conclusion…
Run for the hills if:
“My god is that Steph Curry’s music???”
Andrew Wiggins gets confused and thinks he’s playing in OKC
The Pistons are bricking away from deep more.
Wink knowingly at your friends if:
Cade Cunningham is the best player on the floor.
The Warriors look tired.
Stew is getting free dunks.
Opportunities for me to look stupid:
The Pistons win.
What do you think? Can they avoid a big game by Wiggins? Can they win back to back games?