Under the Hood - it’s time to see what’s really going on inside this Pistons team.
Ron Holland had several quality defensive possessions to start last night’s game. Some of these plays are ones that won’t show up in the box score for him, but he’s making a defensive impact on the court.
His lateral quickness is what was most impressive. Watch as he’s able to beat Isaac Okoro to the spot as he slides to the right to stop Okoro in transition, and it then gives enough time for BBall Paul to make a play on the ball.
Again, he’s able to beat Okoro to his spot - this is elite perimeter defense. He also has to avoid the Vucevic screen beforehand, but Ron does a great job staying in front of Okoro on this possession.
I found a good off-ball defensive possession, too. It’s really good overall defense by Detroit, but I think Ron does a great job of spending enough time helping in the lane to try to take away the pass to the rolling Vucevic while also knowing when to get out. He saw the good defense in the paint and anticipated the drive-and-kick which made Tre Jones panic on his pass to the wing.
Lastly, this is one of those defensive possessions that you will see in the box score. He once again beats a Bulls player to the spot as he forces Ayo Dosunmu into the quick turnover as he gets credited with a steal. Do you notice which player on the bench immediately stood up to cheer for him?
There’s still some up-and-down to Ron Holland’s offensive play, but that’s to be expected for the sophomore-year NBA forward that just turned 20 this past summer. There are still times where he gets tunnel vision while driving to the lane, forcing up a shot that wasn’t necessary.
With a late lead last night, I think I yelled “no, no, no!” at my TV when I saw him take this layup attempt way early in the shotclock.
He’s shown the ability to get to draw fouls and get to the line, so I don’t think this take is as bad, and this is good defense by Vucevic. Daniss Jenkins cuts at the same time that Ron is coming around the screen so the lane gets a little clogged. He still gets the attempt to fall, but this could be one of those possessions where having a floater in his offensive bag could’ve been useful.
Given his talent and ability, he should want to get to the rim. He’ll get better over time on these possessions as he learns when to drive and when to kick. You can’t really blame him for wanting to test his limits when he makes some drives to the rim look this easy:
I had to make sure to give a shoutout and highlight reel for Paul Reed for the best NBA game of his career. Reed had 28 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, four steals, and a block in 31 minutes while shooting 11-for-13 from the field.
Is there a third-string center in the league that’s better than BBall Paul?