Under the Hood - it’s time to see what’s really going on inside this Pistons team.
We’ll be starting a new article series this year to dive a little deeper into Pistons games to highlight the successes and struggles of your favorite team. By having a season-long series, we hope to build on our impressions of the players and coaching staff to give you a better viewing experience of the action on the court.
Firing on All Cylinders
I think the thing that has me most excited about this season is the ceiling of Ausar Thompson now that he officially has his first NBA offseason under his belt. We heard multiple players and staff jump on the Ausar Hype Train at Media Day, and last night was another game where we saw his Swiss Army Knife versatility.
These first two clips show Ausar playing good, clean defense. He’s capable of switching onto a point guard, sticks with Cole Anthony as he rejects the screen, and Ausar forces him into a tough layup attempt. He’s also willing to bump with power forwards in the post, and he gives Bobby Portis a great contest as he stands straight with his hands up.
Those two possessions won’t show up in the box score, but he’s certainly able to stuff the stat sheet as a defensive playmaker.
In the next clip, Ausar calls out the switch for Chaz Lanier, but as Ryan Rollins is dribbling to the corner, Ausar attacks Rollins’ blindside for a quick double-team that results in a steal. Saving the ball from going out-of-bounds was impressive, too.
It’s kind of scary how athletic Ausar is, and his help defense here was incredible. He notices the bigger Portis trying to post-up Duncan Robinson under the basket, but Ausar comes in from the weak-side to block the ball off the backboard to deny the close shot attempt.
Lastly, this is the possession that got me the most excited watching the game last night. We’ve seen how versatile Ausar is defensively already in his short career, and we know he has the most room to grow on the offensive side of the ball. Yet, if he’s going to get possessions like this with a spaced floor and a lane to drive, I have no doubts he’ll make huge strides as an on-ball playmaker this season. (Also - Stew’s shooting threes!)
Transmission Trouble
We’ve certainly seen an offensively aggressive Ausar Thompson so far this preseason. In fact, he led Detroit in free throw attempts at 10, beating out future MVP Cade Cunningham’s 8-for-8 from the line.
Ausar, however, did not beat the number of Cade’s made free throws. The Pistons missed 10 total free throws last night, and Ausar had half of those misses. If we throw in the other Vinson Brother, Ron Holland, they missed a combined seven attempts out of twelve.
In a game that the Pistons lost by six, Ausar and Ron left seven free points at the line.
Mechanic’s Note
So, uh, when does Cade get mentioned as an MVP candidate? Is it too early to start that now?
He’s played 38 minutes of preseason basketball and has produced the following total stats:
46 points
9 rebounds
10 assists
4 steals
+23
16-for-25 from the field (64%)
4-for-8 from three (50%)
To add onto the Cade MVP hype, three of his four made threes have been off-the-dribble.
From last night, a deep pull-up three after AJ Green goes under the Stew screen.
Another pull-up from last night, Cade realizes he has a big on him as a defender, and Bobby Portis gave Cunningham way too much space.
Lastly, from the Memphis game, Cade was even pulling out his step-back game as he drilled this left corner three.
If Cade’s off-the-dribble three-point shooting attempts increase, it’ll open up more spaces on his attempts to the rim - however, if he’s consistently making those increased attempts, he’ll be a top-five player in the league.