Opponent Scouting: Golden State Warriors (20-18)
For any of you who either do not follow my Twitter or just missed it, my absence for the last weekish was due to me and my wife getting hit by a truck while we were out walking. My wife got it worse than me but both of us are on the mend and going to be okay. So yeah, I figured that’s a valid excuse to take a few nights off. I have kept up and watched most of the game time that I missed so I’m up to speed.
Anyways. Tonight at 10:00pm EST the Detroit Pistons will continue their west-coast trip with a game against the Golden State Warriors. Both teams are on one day of rest after the Warriors beat the Hawks and the Pistons lost to the TrailBlazers.
The Them:
The Warriors are a bit beat up and remain without Stephen Curry. Initially after Curry got hurt it appeared the Warriors were entering a free-fall but they have stabilized by winning their last 5 in a row. Former #1 pick Andrew Wiggins is sick and missed their last game and as of this writing there hasn’t been an update for his status tonight, same for Jonathan Kuminga although he has a foot issue.
If Wiggins does play, he has an important role has really come into his own with the Warriors. He is a rangy defender, a good three-point shooter (shooting 45% from deep on huge volume!) and brings some isolation scoring chops that they need. Kuminga is athletic on the wing but still pretty raw.
With Curry out they are still led by guards. Klay Thompson slowly but surely looks more and more like himself and scored 54 points last time out. Thompson does not dribble much but has a quick release and is one of the game’s most deadly shooters, Jordan Poole is also capable of scoring in bunches and has taken on a larger role with Curry out. Draymond Green pretty much still does his thing, not scoring but being the defensive anchor while also averaging nearly 7 assists per game. Kevon Looney doesn’t do anything that really stands out but he is pretty good at everything, I’m not sure he even counts as a jack of all trades but maybe like… a ten of all trades. Donte DiVincenzo can shoot. The bench is made up of young guys and journeyman. Anthony Lamb is a wing who can shoot a bit but doesn’t stand out, ditto for Ty Jerome. Moody is in that same vein but is athletic and generally far more talented and at times does stand out even if he also is sometimes pretty bad.
The iteration of the Warriors that the Pistons will be facing is not the same team that won the title last season, but as Klay heats up and Poole finds his stride they are still deadly. If Wiggins is available as well they present a real issue. Without Curry there is the chance that they lack the offensive umph needed on any given night, but short of that this is trouble.
Matchups to watch:
Jalen Duren vs. Soft interior: Kevon Looney is good and knows his role, he should struggle to compete physically with Duren and the Warriors don’t have any other bigs that fit the bill. The Pistons will be totally outmatched on the perimeter so they need to get some plus play on the interior.
Stewart vs. Green: Odds of a fight breaking out are…. high
Pistons vs. Responding: Always important with a young team to make sure they come out swinging after getting obliterated. The Pistons are not likely to win tonight, but if they could look like they actually wanted to be there it would be great.
Pistons bench vs. Taking some ground: Depending on exactly who does and doesn’t play, the Pistons bench should have a genuine advantage over Golden State. Once again, the starting lineup is likely overmatched so they will need the bench to cover for them
Saddiq Bey vs. Anything: Getting genuinely sad and he even got to start the last three games. Bey had a good night against Chicago but that is basically his only good game in like a month. The trend here is concerning and he needs to start to right the ship now.
So in conclusion…
Run for the hills if:
Klay starts hitting threes
Draymond and Stew start exchanging words
The Pistons look anemic again
Wink knowingly at your friends if:
The bench goes on a quick run
Jaden is penetrating the defense without worrying about a strong rim protector
Duren has 8 offensive rebounds by halftime.
I did miss the update. Glad to hear you and your wife are recovering!