Opponent Scouting: Portland Trailblazers (1-3)
Sorry about no recap of the last game. I got caught up in the Bally sports issues. i did eventually find a stream but it was later in the game and not the highest quality.
Tonight at 7:00pm EST the Detroit Pistons will be hosting the Trailblazers of Portland. Both teams are coming off of one day of rest with the Pistons having lost to the Thunder and the Blazers picking up their first win of the season against the Raptors.
The Them:
Its a new era in Portland, gone is Damian Lillard and the rebuild has begun in earnest. We will see exactly how bad but they are widely predicted to be among the worst teams in the league, one of the few genuinely trying to lose this season, and so far they have lived up to the billing.
Old friend Jerami Grant is keeping up from his time in Detroit by being overpaid to be a leading man for a bad team. He’s still capable of good defense, plays hard, a good shooter (though shot poorly so far) and can do some creation for himself. The real young core starts with rookie Scoot Henderson, the 3rd overall pick in the last draft has struggled out of the gate but he’s still got all the potential to be an incredible point guard. Fellow youngins include the remarkable Shaedon Sharpe, who is like a supercharged version of JR Smith with his combination of shameless gunner mentality with athleticism out of this world. Anfernee Simons is also a key future piece, if a bit older than the others, but he is now injured. DeAndre Ayton is trying to re-start his career after being included in the Lillard trade, he hasn’t stood out much as a scorer in Portland so far but he is rebounding the hell out of the ball, is capable of defending at a high level, and has excellent touch on offense. Malcolm Brogdon also ended up here and the president is still one of the league’s most efficient scorers, a capable shooter and sneaky athletic driving to the hoop, he isn’t quite as good as a facilitator or defender as someone of his reputation might suggest but he’s still capable in both areas.
Beyond that, Matisse Thybulle is a terror on defense who might have found just enough reliability in his shot to get major playing time, Rober Williams joined Brogdon from the Celtics, there are some other young guys at the back-end of the rotation but they probably don’t matter much.
There is still a world where this team isn’t awful, not good, but not awful. All three of Grant, Brogdon, and Ayton are proven as really good NBA players and even if they are young in the rest of the rotation there is talent. Basically there is a chance that if, say, things really click for Scoot Portland is suddenly a pesky 30-some-win team.
Matchups to watch:
Pistons defense without Jalen Duren: Duren is confirmed as being out for tonight with an ankle issue, most likely not serious since it seemed like he hurt it last game but kept playing. Regardless, I am of the opinion that Duren was by far the biggest reason the Pistons defense has looked capable so far, this will be something of a test for that.
Big rotation? Will they bump Stew down to center (Something I don’t think they have done at all so far this year) or just start Bagley? If they start Bagley does that mean its Wiseman’s chance?
Killian and Ausar vs. Hitting shots: We all love Ausar, we all know I have a soft spot for Killian. I’ve said awesome things about the defensive prowess of both and how valuable their passing and general hoops IQs are. They both also currently sport TS% of 38.9% and 40.2% respectively. As much as I can praise all the other stuff they do well, those are both untenable for a rotation player in the NBA.
Alec Burks vs. Not regressing too hard: Burks is shooting well over 50% from deep so far this year. He will not shoot that well all season, but if the regression comes in the form of him going cold for a few games, as opposed to coming down to more normal levels, it could get very ugly for the Pistons offense.
Cade vs. Making the right plays: This isn’t totally fair. The Pistons are asking Cade to do far more than is realistic on offense with the lineups they are putting on the floor with him, but some of the turnovers and missed shots are simply bad decisions even if there are not any good ones available. If nothing else, making passes to the open guys may highlight exactly how absurd it is to expect him to make plays with the congested spacing.
Jaden Ivey vs. Earning it: After a rough opener Ivey has played well off the bench. He needs to continue to put up good games to force Monty William’s hand. Even if Ivey remains a super-sub it is absurd that he is 7th on the team in minutes and 4th in shot attempts. (he’s taken just 2 more shots than Killian Hayes so far this year!) Keep proving it.
Pistons vs. Good vibes: The Blazers are bad, but after this the Pistons will be playing: The Pelicans, Suns, Warriors, Bucks, and 76ers all in a row. There is a very high chance they will lose all of those games, getting wins in the games were you have a chance will do a ton to help the team keep some positive morale.
So in conclusion…
Run for the hills if:
The Pistons are giving up a layup line without Duren at the rim.
Alec Burks is missing threes
The Pistons have 20 turnovers by halftime.
Wink knowingly at your friends if:
Duren was actually not the thing holding the defense together.
Cade is cooking whoever the Suns throw at him.
The Blazers actually look worse than the Pistons