The Pistons Pulse: Summer League Recap
Hello and welcome to your GoTo Detroit Pistons podcast, The Pistons Pulse, co-hosted by me, Bryce Simon of Motor City Hoops, a former D1 hooper and current teacher, husband, and father of three amazing kids. Nomari psycho for the second Pistons beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. And of course, we’re always blessed to be joined by our producer Wes Davenport. If you are not listening to Wes and Blake Silverman over on the pin down on the Detroit Bad Boys YouTube channel, you absolutely should be. You should obviously be subscribed to the Detroit Free Press, reading all of Amari Senko for the II’s work. And if you have it in you, because it’s completely free, should also subscribe to the Motor City Hoops substack. I have some video breakdowns over there talking and looking at the players that we’re about to talk about on today’s episode. I would really appreciate your support. Otu, I want to bring up something real quick though. As I’ve been doing these video breakdowns and as I’ve been watching back summer league games to talk on Game Theory podcast cuz we’re going to recap all of the rookies and sophomores and all of that, I found myself very annoyed with the broadcast doing the two box of the game when they were doing an interview. Like, do I need to see Scotty Barnes while they are interviewing him during the game or can you just put his name at the bottom so I know who the other person talking is? Yeah. Or you could just do like the picture and picture like just make it smaller in the corner. But it doesn’t necessarily have to be like side by side when they’re just sitting down uh on the sideline. Like it’s not that interesting of a visual. Uh I think you could trust that the person is actually there doing the interview based on the lower third and the voice. So yeah, they do that every single year and every year it’s like like I know it’s summer league, but I mean you’re making it half of the screen like like what’s going on here? It’s just like a weird UI annoyance for sure. Yeah. I mean I just they’re in person obviously you don’t recognize it and I don’t know what viewers who are only just watching the game think about it. But for me, I almost just fast forward through all of those minutes because whenever I’m trying to do a video breakdown, and this is like I shouldn’t be complaining about something like this, like I’m blessed that I have access to the film to do my video breakdowns, but I almost just fast forward through those minutes because I can’t show people what I want to show them because half the screen is taken up by like I love Trajan. I love JB. I don’t need him taking up half the screen when I’m trying to show what Dannis Jenin is doing with this ball screen navigation. I don’t I just found that very frustrating. I don’t know if anybody else noticed it or not too. Yeah, I’m not breaking down film the same way. So like actually watching the games at home. I was I was there for games one through three and no I was there for games one and two. You you miss those sideline interviews watching live obviously. So it’s interesting to hear what what guys have to say but it could just be in the background. Uh, like I feel like some of the broadcasts anyway for the NBA are like live podcasts, so you might as well just bring that same format back. Uh, I agree, but it’s probably worse for you since you’re actually clipping video and then have to figure out what to do in those moments. Yeah, to be clear, I have no issue with the actual interviews. I I I’m with you. I thought I think it was JB’s interview that I actually made notes of in my game breakdown, my raw notes game breakdown for the Substack. I thought he said some interesting things. I think it was JB. It may have been Traion, one or the other. But I have no issues with the interview. Like I I just don’t need to see them. Right. Like like you said, I will trust that they’re there. Oh, too. I don’t care if they’re not there. I don’t care if they called in and they’re on the phone for the interview. I’m cool with the broadcast with the interview. I understand that it’s not quite the same product as an NBA regular season game. Just give me the visual I need, which is the act. The Here’s the most annoying thing. O2. And it actually happens worse in some of the overseas basketball I watch is when I miss live action for replays. That stuff drives me absolutely insane. I don’t need the replay. I want to see what’s going on live. I can rewind if I want to rese it. Um, and I know people have complained about that a little bit with Pistons. I don’t know if that was the Valley broadcast or not, but it happens a lot with the Overseen film that I get as well. Yeah. And that’s again it’s like another issue. I feel like there are like a lot of issues in society that really just come down to like UI, you know, like user interface. There are things you can do to just make the experience Thank you for clarifying that cuz when you said UI, I had no idea what you were talking about. I was like, you just made something up and I don’t know what it is. But just Yeah, but they could update. Like I’m kind of hoping with, you know, with Amazon getting into the free and NBC, you know, getting in, they could like cuz the NBA does it too sometimes. Like you’ll miss like a dunk or uh or even on like the local broadcast like you watch on on TV and you could easily miss a play or two per game just because they don’t cut fast enough. But that’s I guess that’s not UI. That’s just that’s like that’s just broadcast decisions for sure. But yeah, I feel you. Okay, let’s get into it cuz even with these issues that we’re bringing up, very important ones, we got to see plenty of basketball. We got to see most of the minutes. We want to talk about some of these players and how they performed at summer league. And I I will quickly mention I already have video breakdowns on the substack of Dannis Jenkins, Chaz Laneir, and I believe Ron Holland the second dropped today. Bobby Clintman will drop on Tuesday and then to Smith will drop on Wednesday. I guys, I’m stopping at Tollu Smith. I I feel very I feel very good that Toulu Smith got a video breakdown. I’m cool not going into Miller Cop or Zakai Ziggler or Bryce Williams or Trevor Kills with all due respect to those guys. I’m stopping at five, but I think no Ryan Garcia. I I I’m good. I’m good. I think O2. But let let’s start with the rookie this season. Second round pick Chaz Laneir and his play. I will give the quick stats just the box score numbers and then I’ll let you talk. He played all five games, almost 24 minutes a game, little over 10 points on 3434. Didn’t attempt a single free throw in summer league. That’s kind of funny. A little under two rebounds, a little over two assists, 1.2 stocks, half a turnover. Your thoughts on Chaz Laneir? Yeah. Uh, you know, he could have had a better showing to say the the least. The main thing you want to see from him is just knocking down shots since that’s his calling card in college and he didn’t really do that. I think the last game he went three for five u you know which was probably his best performance from deep but beyond that uh you know shots just didn’t fall for him you know to the extent that you’d want him to and like I also recognized I think I mentioned it last week uh he’s playing in a system that’s new for him uh new teammates who don’t know his tendencies and the other four guys in that group uh you know had all played together so you know maybe there’s a little bit more of a learning curve for for Chaz but I think beyond that it’s just, you know, you kind of mentioned it with the free throws, but when shots aren’t aren’t falling, what else can you do? And I feel like I didn’t really notice him out there unless he was actually shooting the ball, which again, you probably wanted to see more from him as far as that. So, yeah, I would agree. I mean, I think this is part of who Chaz Laneir is as a player though, O2. Like, even whenever they drafted him, the scout kind of was shotmaker, right? And the elite shotmaking. And I will say that, you know, I’m not going to take a whole lot away from the three-point percentage. I mentioned this, I think, on one of the breakdowns I did. There’s some stats from different people out there that have looked at kind of the history of summer league box score numbers and their translation to the rookie seasons for those guys. And the shooting percentage is like one of the least uh what what’s what’s the word I’m looking for? I don’t want to say translatable, but um has the least impact. Like there’s no correlation. Correlation. Yes. Correct. Now, three-point attempts and assists and stuff like that were what some of the higher ones. So, I think one thing you would come away encouraged by is he got eight three-pointers a game. It’s obvious that Chaz and pretty quality looks, too. And that’s probably the main thing that stood out to me is just that he was getting good threes. They just weren’t falling. So, you know, again, yeah, like five summer league games doesn’t dissuade you from his entire body of work in college. And if nothing else, and you know, not to cut cut you off, but he did find those open shots repeatedly, which should help. Yeah. No, I I’m with you. Like, it’s the the one thing that came away interesting with his three-point shooting, and I think the eye test said this, and I think I know the numbers said this as well, and this was only a summer league thing, so take it with a grain of salt. I I hope I know we’re going to repeat this a lot. We we understand it’s summer league, small sample, all of that. He actually shot really well on unguarded catch and shoot threes and really bad on guarded catch and there was a 10% difference in those type of attempts. I kind of wonder if Chaz was just adjusting to the athleticism, the speed of recoveries, the level of contests in the NBA game, and that’s why he we saw him struggle on some of the contested shots and then shot really well and made the uncontested one. That’s probably my biggest takeaway from his three-point shooting in summer league was that was his first taste of that level of athleticism and recovery closeouts at the three-point line. Yeah. And again, it’s just, you know, the environment, right? Like, new team, new players, new gym. uh you know, it’s just a very like kind of informal environment, but also like if you can’t get into a shooting rhythm, then uh you know, like that’s going to take away for the rest of your game obviously. So, uh nothing that really dissuades me from like my opinion of him as a player long term. Uh like I I still think as long as he can knock down shots, he’s probably a guy that could make a difference for you. But I would just say more than that, Summer League probably didn’t do anything to dissuade me from that evaluation of him, right? Yeah, I I don’t think that I’m taking away anything crazy in regards to like, oh my gosh, I’m not sure if Chaz Laneir can shoot anymore. Wes brings up the low release point. I think that is fair. Um especially that taking longer to adjust whenever you have that level of defensive upgrade. And the other aspect of that like it gets off fast. He does have a quick release, but it is low. So that’s a really good point from Wes. I will say this, O2, I don’t expect a whole lot else from him on the offensive end. He’s a two-level scorer at best if he can mix in the mid-range jumper. I think he’ll be like a smart passer. Like maybe he eventually figures out some offensive rebounding stuff like that. I came away a little more okay with the defense than I thought I would. Like if you go watch my breakdown, it was like, okay, like he understood this. I think my biggest takeaway and the biggest positive was off the ball defensively. He knew where to be. He got to those spots. He made rotations. He was energetic on that end of the floor. He’s never going to be a positive defender. I don’t even know if Chaz Laneir gets to neutral defensively. The three-point shooting has to be the elite skill. But from that fivegame sample, I came away going like, okay, maybe there’s some foundational defensive stuff here that keeps him playable at the NBA level if he is that good as a floor spacer and shooter, right? Like if you can get as close to neutral as possible, correct? Obviously, that’s the best outcome. And like with that, he’s not a small guard. Like he’s about 6’4, but he’s got, you know, like his his his wingspan is fine. And like I mentioned it before, but like you know he’s got similar measurements at least physically as VJ Escom and uh Khan Kupa, which you know those guys are both like they’re all 6’4, but like they’re not small 6’4 guys. So uh yeah, I mean that’s the the the upside with him uh is that he knows where to be. you’re not giving up much size. And yeah, obviously if he’s knocking down shots, then uh that that that gets you close enough to 3 and D where you know, at least it’s not subtracted from either category. You know, it’s it’s funny like I hate to do this, but like Tim Hardaway Jr. continues to be the high-end comp for me, like in terms of the the size measurements are similar to your point. The quick release stuff, the two-level scoring where it’s like gravity at the three-point line, but maybe he can shot fake, attack a close out, get to the mid-range jumper, and then defensively, it’s going to be whatever impact there is on the defensive end, it’s going to look similar to what we got from Tim Hardaway Jr. You like maybe he learns to take charges as a rotational positional guy. I thought he had some good rotational box outs that I highlighted in the breakdown. It’s just it will be interesting. Ultimately, it’s all about the three-point shooting. He’s got to knock down those shots. Before we move to Bobby Clintman, any other thoughts on Chaz Laneir? No, nothing big. Uh just also, I think his game is probably a game that would pop in the NBA more as well, just because, you know, there are players with more gravity who could who can generate quality looks. like if he’s receiving passes from Kade or you know Jaden Ivy uh you know I’m sure that can help him as well. So that was the other thought I had watching him was I think in a more uh organized environment you know where you’re fully aware of everything uh you know those strengths for him are only going to shine a lot more. Yeah. Uh Wes brings up Reggie Bulock as a Pistons throwback name in terms of like an archetype archetypical archetype comp. I was trying to add something to the end of it. I decided I tried to I tried to stop I tried to cut it short. I was like, I don’t think this is going to work the way I thought. So, let’s cut that off there. Let’s just stay with archetype comp. Um, yeah. I I think that’s it. That’s a good point, too. He is the archetype of player that is going to be better in a structured situation where they run a set action for him after a timeout. I highlighted, I think, the Bobby Clintman one that comes out tomorrow. I highlighted a really cool set action that Detroit ran to start the game and it was like a double flare on the weak side, whatever. But like they run that for Chaz Laneir and it gets him a wideopen shot attempt and that looks pretty good. Or just his gravity, right? There was one that I showed as well where he runs in transition and Rob Dillingham stays attached to him and Tollu ran the middle of the floor gets a catch and a finish. Those are kind of the nonbox score advantages and value that Chaz Laneir can bring on the offensive end that don’t always show up and aren’t as appreciated in a summer league type of setting. Speaking of Bobby Clintman, let’s talk about him. I think he’s the most interesting one to talk about because I think the other three players we are going to talk about are going to be very very positive and as Aruna brings up Clintman was really frustrating. He can do anything on the court but he may make so many mistakes. What did you think of Bobby Clintman either end of the floor wherever you want to start? He did everything that we knew that he could do. uh just maybe not quite with the consistency that you would like to see it, but you know, I thought the passing was there for the most part. You know, I think he had a couple couple games where he has some turnovers, but you know, like you’re still seeing the reads. I think his three-point percentage ended up being fine uh by the end of it once you got through the five games. And he rebounded the ball well. Yes. Um you know, the the the rebounding was strong. And I like I do think that matters for a guy that’s 610 is that um you know you’re not giving up anything from the the rebounding side at least like at least for a guy who projects as a stretch big. Um you know I think the issues with him or the things that maybe make you uh you know wonder long term like one defensively uh like you know he’s just not the the quickest guy. So, um it’s like is that matchup dependent? Like, you know, or like maybe you could stick him on Brick Lopez, but you know, you may not want to stick him on a guy like, uh, you know, Pasco Siakum, you know, or somebody like that. And, um, yeah, and beyond the the defense aspect, it’s just knocking down shots and, you know, I don’t know if he’s going to be like a downhill type of guy. So, you know, for him, it’s like he’s just got to knock down threes and that’s really it. Yeah. I want to say on the defensive end, um, I’m kind of with you. I I have found that I think I evaluate Bobby Clintman and see him as a different archetype of player as others. I don’t kind of evaluate him as a big as much or like a center. I think like you can play him as a small ball five. Like I would consider him a small ball five more than a true center. I I evaluate him more as a forward is what I would call him. like a true foreman, but I feel like I’m in the minority of that O2 in regards to like the Pistons fan base and community. Watching Bobby Clinton, well, I do like I think positionally he’s got to be a four. Uh but sometimes watching him, I do wonder if you could play some small ball five and just, you know, it would probably protect him defensively a bit, but like the playmaking and but then the other aspect of that is like what’s his interior game like? And then is he and I guess in that case he’s just a a stretch five, right? Uh but it’s a unique fit. Like I would be curious to see if he could just do maybe like a little bit of what you get from like a Kelly Olen, right? Knock down shots, some secondary ball handling, playmaking, solid rebounder, uh you know, and the defense. You just want to make sure you have some good wing defenders around him and and hope for the best. But positionally, yeah, I I feel like he’s a little bit of a a tweener almost. So NBA wise, I’m curious how they would utilize him, especially on defense. Wes says he’s with me on that one. I would be curious like it may be a Twitter poll I have to put out in the next couple days just like where do fan base where does the fan base see the majority of his minutes? Right? Like if Bobby Clintman played 60 games next year with the Detroit Pistons or in general where do you think if I said you had to choose 51% would it be at the four or the five? is for me. I think he’s like 75% of his minutes at the four, 25% of his minutes at the five in specific lineup, specific matchups. I agree with you though defensively because even while I say that, I have concerns about his ability to move on the perimeter and take some of the necessary matchups that would require. Now, in general, you’re talking about second unit players where those matchups aren’t as daunting and as difficult, but in general, his defense, his defense has to be more consistent. Um, his offball defense in particular has to be more consistent. This is a guy with his size who has real potential to be an offball difference maker, a lowman rim protector, and those type of things. I’m I am glad you brought up the rebounding O2. that really stood out and we’ll talk about his offense after the break, but I thought on the defensive end that was very impactful and I think that could be a plus for him on the defensive end, especially if you’re playing him at the four and he’s able to bring down rebounds in that way. I’ll give his numbers real quick here. Six defensive rebounds per game. That’s just defensive rebounds. O2, that’s not rebounds overall. Yeah. And it’s the the rebounding really that makes me think, okay, maybe he can be a five like in spurts with the right matchup, you know, maybe against a team with a smaller lineup like a a Golden State for example, right? Sure. You know, can you put Bobby Clipman on Draymond? Probably. Uh, you know, I wouldn’t say no. And yeah, I mean, beyond that really for him, it’s just the shot. But, uh, and where are you with the the shot by the way? Because there are some games where it’s falling, there are some games where it wasn’t. We talked about it last week. I think he was around 30% in the G- League, even though he shot it decent in college. So, he’s kind of seesaw. Yeah. Uh let’s talk about that right after this. All right, back with segment two. Uh we’re going to continue here with Bobby Clintman. Uh let’s talk about the jumper because that’s probably that’s probably gonna going to be the swing skill for him offensively. Yeah, I’m a little nervous. 02. Listen, I’ve been tracking Bobby Clipman back to his time at Wake Forest and he had a stretch at the end of his season at Wake Forest where he shot the ball extremely well and I was like all in on him. I thought he could have been a late like riser first round pick in that draft and that that that he didn’t not only did that not happen he went to you know K’s Taipei uh Taipen whatever they are in the NBL and then he went into the draft and then obviously slipped to the second round for the Pistons and it’s like I don’t know that the jumper is broke. He has stretches where there’s enough makes that give you some hope. It’s just not consistent enough with Bobby Clintman. So, I was going to pull up just like the overall numbers here. Let me give you the offensive numbers for summer league in general. He played almost 27 minutes a game all five games for Bobby Clintman as well. Nine points for a secondyear player, 41% from the field. Because I want to talk about more with his scoring than just the three-point shooting. 29 Yeah, go ahead. Everything else, too. But yeah, 29% from three, 60% from the free throw line. We mentioned the rebounding over seven total. I don’t th this is one of those the assist to turnover numbers are a lie like in terms of his passing ability. He had a negative assist to turnover ratio. I do know he makes bad decisions at times but 2.4 assists per game do not tell the story on the level of passer he is. And then encouraging defensive numbers over two stocks per game in those 27 minutes. But I I am worried about the three-point shooting for Bobby Clintman overall. I was going to pull up um so right here, where are the G-League stats last season, 29% on four and a half attempts. He had the one year at Wake Forest where in totality he was 37% on 2.3. And then if you look at his one year in the MBL, 34% on three and a half attempts. So, so those aren’t exactly like crazy positive numbers to buy into. O2. Yeah. And it’s like if he could be like a 34% shooter like I kind of like my my my baseline for you know Bobby Clipman where you know you’re hoping he could probably be a rotational power forward like you’re probably not going to lean on him for more than 15 to 20 minutes is like a Trey LS right cuz Trey L could get you some rebounding uh like not the best defensively but he’s also going to knock down somewhere between 34 and 36% of his threes which you know makes him enough to be a spacing threat. Uh he he could attack down Hill a little bit off closeouts too, you know, and that’s something I don’t know if Bobby can do as well, but like do you think he could just be 34 35% like would that suffice for him or do you think he needs to be a true knockdown guy? No, no, no. I I I think with a little bit of growth defensively and then the other Here’s what’s frustrating with Bobby O2 and it kind of speaks to the comment we got earlier. He does offer a lot of really positive things. It’s just I think the things he does best doesn’t necessarily get him on the court in his role. I think his passing is awesome. Like I I don’t I don’t even necessarily want to talk about it in regards to like I don’t I I don’t think there’s a whole lot to discuss. It’s good. He makes really good decisions. He’s able to attack downhill. I have a clip in the breakdown where he has nuance in the ball screen where he like plays with a little bit of pace, breaks down the defense, drive and kick. Like that stuff is good. I think he’s an incredible offthe-ball cutter. O2. I had it in my pre Yeah, I agree with that. I had him in my in my pre-draft notes that he might be the best offball cutter in that draft. Now, Tristan Dilva probably is actually that guy, but he’s top three and he showed it in summer league. We talked about the potential to be a defensive disruptor. We talked about the rebounding, but ultimately, if you’re a four, five, like hybrid, whatever we want to call him, versatile forward, forward sl big, whatever, coming off the bench, you got to be able to score the ball, right? like and and right now I I don’t know that I trust him to score the ball at any level. Like we’re talking about the three-point shooting and so to your point, I do think if he was at 35% I’d be like, “Hey, I think I can buy into that.” I think he struggles to score at the rim as well for somebody his size. Those numbers aren’t exactly great either. Again, 41% from the field overall. Yeah, and that’s the thing where like I like I said with Chaz, like I do think if you put Bobby in a more organized scenario and like you know just just higher tier of play. Um you know you’ve you’ve got cutters like you’ve got more options to pass to. You’ve got some elite shooters that you don’t have in summer league or at the GLeague necessarily. Like I think Bobby I think there’s a scenario where Bobby’s strengths pop enough in that sort of environment that it does make up for the defensive weaknesses and that’s assuming that he can’t you know fix those too and even just get to a neutral. Like again I don’t know if you want to put him on a guy like a Pasco or you know some of the more athletic bigs but I like I do think positionally there are some matchups that you could probably trust him on uh you know especially for guys who aren’t the strongest shooter. So, I didn’t come like I wasn’t blown away by Bobby Clitman, but it reaffirmed a lot of what we already knew. And yeah, and I agree too like the the passing is just so legitimate and in the NBA like pop so much more just be a better environment for that type of skill set. Yeah. I mean, I I don’t want this is going to come off negative and I feel like people are going to yell at me us for it and and I don’t mean it to because one, we can’t take away too much from a fivegame sample, but I I think with Bobby shooting, we’re not just talking about the five game sample of summer league, right? Like, we’re using a bigger sample size than that. And ultimately, I’m just saying this I’m still on board. Like I would love for them to bring in Trey Lyles or Chris Bucher or somebody like that to round out the front court, you know, and we’ll talk about this the rest of the offseason going into camp, all of that, depending on what they do. I’m actually okay with Bobby Clintman being the the 10th man in the rotation, which is probably 10 minutes a night because Ron is going to play some minutes at the four, Assar is going to play some minutes at the four. You know, obviously Tobias Harris going to play 30 minutes a night. I’m okay starting this. I would rather start the season that way. I’ I’ve mentioned this before and then adjust as the season goes on. So, what I saw in summer league doesn’t discount that, but nothing I saw in summer league makes me go, “Oh, no. He is ready, right?” And and that’s maybe what you wanted to see, even though it’s still summer league. I I guess I was hoping for a little bit of like he looks fully ready to take on that tenth man rotation role. And I don’t know that I feel that way right now on July 21st O2. Yeah. And that’s the thing. It’s it’s just seesaw maybe a little bit too much from game to game. And I don’t know if there was one game where he kind of put everything together. So like yeah, I mean I think we’re both still high on Bobby. Uh it’s just yeah for any second year guy you probably want to see a performance closer to you know Ron who you know I think we’re going to get to soon. Um, yeah, it doesn’t explain my opinion too much, but no, he wasn’t quite on that same level. So, where I I know that, uh, you know, Wes has this for us at the end. I think the way this is going, it might be better if we just talk about it now. Like, where does that leave it for you in the rotation? Are you still with me? Where like would would you feel comfortable if he was the 10th guy? Like, let’s just say the starting lineup is K, Ji, Assar, Tobias, Duran. Backups are the combination of what? Levert, Robinson, Holland, Stew. If Bobby Clintman was the fifth guy of those guys, right? You’re staggering Ivy as the backup point guard. Levert’s doing a little bit whatever. Would you be okay if if Clint if they don’t add another four slash5? Are you still in that spot or after seeing this, would you be like, “Yeah, I would rather if he was like the 13th man that’s only playing in like extreme situations.” Yeah, probably probably closer to the latter. Uh like I still think you need a legitimate four to back up Tobias and I think Assar could play some four. I think Ron could play some four. Uh but you probably want just a guy with like a little bit more size and probably a little bit more proven as a shooter. And I just think you want certainty there. Like it’s really nothing against Bobby at all. I just think it’s more so like if a guy gets hurt and Bobby could get those opportunities to show what he could do then maybe you could carve out a role from there. But he’s got to like he’s just got to show more uh you know than what he’s shown so far. And granted he hasn’t really had those opportunities. Like he didn’t really play last season until like the last game and I think he had like six assists and zero turnovers. Like again like he showed some nice things. So to me it’s more so 13th man. But if you could get opportunities here and there to show what you could do, u you know, maybe you feel more comfortable with him eventually being that backup to Tobias. Yeah. And so we have a super chat here first. Thank you so much. We’ve had more and more of these coming through. Um this is from Slim Whopper. Um and he says or she Yeah, it looks like he is there a world where we can have Bullbull and Bobby Clintman? Like sure. I guess my answer to this, like sure, like if if that’s the road you want to go down with a Bull Bull, I think that’s a little bit more of a lottery ticket type of signing than a Trey Lyles or somebody like that where I think maybe there’s not as much upside with Trey Lyles, but you know exactly what you’re going to get with that situation. I’m I would be okay with that. I I would guess that Bull Bull isn’t signing up for that role and situation. I I don’t know what his opportunities are, so maybe he doesn’t have a choice. The other thing I would say is like Detroit went the bull bull path. Um I did a whole video breakdown on it before the uh trade was nullified um because of um not passing the physical or not clearing you know whatever however that works. I I just wonder what that would look like after that did not go through what would that be a few years ago. Um when if people don’t remember for um he got traded for Rodney Mcrder. So, um, and then that got nullified and he ended up not in Detroit. Yeah. Uh, like I love Bo Bo like just the concept like of Bo like I love like and I know he’s super popular on social media. Um, I don’t like I’d probably go a different direction with that spot. Like I think if you have Bobby like with the bigs they have and Bobby like just positionally I just like I just don’t know if I go with Bobo in that spot you know especially if you’re already signing another four uh like Bobo is so popular like I like there’s like Bobo muses and stuff like he like I love his popularity and like I’ve always loved the idea of his game come coming together but it just hasn’t he’s bounced around a little bit and for the Pistons I just like I just don’t know if the upside is there for that position when they could probably or or another guard. Wes says he would rather sign uh never mind. Wes says no. Um okay. He said he’d rather sign Trey Lyles or Chris Buché. You got to type faster, Wes. That’s my bad. Um Stephen Suggs says, “Do you really need another four in today’s NBA or only have having one four in Harris good enough?” This is from Steven Suggs. Um it’s interesting. Um, it’s an interesting thought, Stephen, because if Tobias is going to play all those minutes, are the backup minutes from Assar and Ron plenty? I think you can make that argument. I I think it’s fair. I think my worry is like, okay, well then what happens when Tobias is out now? Every minute for 48 has to come from Assar and Ron Holland. I think that’s where I’m not clamoring for them to go make a big swing at four. I I think that’s why I continue to bring up the name Trey Lyles. Aruna says he likes that. Sham says he likes that. Um I I just I think they need another body that they can go to in a situation like that, especially considering Tobias’s age. O2. Yeah, certainly. Like I think you said it like if Tobias were to miss any time like now you’re like then at the four and you pretty much have to either go double big with Duran or Stew for some time or or you know you’re relying on Bobby Clintman which you know again he might be ready for that moment but he just hasn’t had an opportunity to to show it which is why I said earlier he’s probably more 13th man. Uh there might be games where he can get 20 to 25 minutes and put on a pretty nice audition but you just need another body there. Like I just like you just need more depth behind Tobias. You need a guy that’s going to, you know, provide some of what he provides from a spacing standpoint. I think especially uh Ron shot the ball very well. We will get to Ron. Yeah, we will eventually. I don’t know if you you you want to trust him to get to like 37% or or wherever Tobias was last season. Okay. Before we get to Ron and Danis, like obviously guys, I think we’re saving I I think the guys that had the two best summer leagues for last and um there’s a reason for that. I think the the conversations around those two guys and their roles are interesting as well. Like Ron’s obviously because he’s in the rotation and I think Danis because he’s the most like people were already talking about Bobby Clintman being in the rotation next year like potentially. I don’t think any of us were clamoring for Dannis Jenkins to be on the 15-man roster before summer league. So we’ll get to Danis in a section second. But first I do want to talk about Tou Smith. like he is the fifth guy that I’m doing a breakdown on and I kind of had a lot of fun with it though too. Yeah, I I evaluated him a little differently. So to, you know, spoil some of that video breakdown, I did not evaluate Tou Smith on like what he could be as an NBA player. What I evaluated Tou on was like his value to an organization in the GLeague and I came away pretty encouraged by that. So let me give Toulu stats and then I’ll let you talk about what you saw from him in summer league. five games, 22 minutes a night, 13 points on 50% from the field. Obviously, not a three-point shooter. Almost seven free throw attempts a game and shot it at 68%. Eight rebounds, including almost four offensively, one and a half assists, two over two blocks, um, and a little under two turnovers. What did you think about Tou Smith? Yeah, he just brought it every single game and played really, really hard every single game. And every every minute he was on the court, you noticed him because he was either rebounding or uh you know finishing a post move or dunking or getting to the line. Like he’s just always doing something and like I like his game. He’s fun to watch. Like he’s coordinated. Like he’s got some bounce. Uh he basically does all the big man stuff you would want like pretty well. Uh like I compare him to maybe a guy like a Jonas Valenudis. He’s just like he’s just pretty proficient at all the traditional big man stuff whether it’s rebounding, setting screens, uh being, you know, a presence at the rim or, you know, like even like blocking shots. Like I thought he had some nice blocks. Uh he really stood out. Like I thought physically he’s he stood out like he was always one of the more athletic guys on the the floor and you know I don’t know what it means for him going forward but like after Ron like and Dennis like he arguably was you know their third best player like I would say I mean he was their third leading scorer which is kind of crazy like um Chaz was right below him at 10. Bobby wasn’t even in double figures. I think what Aruna says here was my biggest takeaway. Like this is essentially was the crux of my video breakdown that we’ll be dropping on Wednesday. Toulu does an amazing Duran impre impression for the G-League. That’s exactly what I said. He can operate in the middle of the floor. He can operate a DHO. He sets good screens. He can give you scheme versatility. So I think like offensively he gives you a little bit of the Duranish stuff. And then I think defensively he gives you a little bit of the Isaiah Stewartish stuff. Like obviously if he was actually those guys, we’d be talking about him in the rotation. I I don’t think he’s actually those guys. I think he’s a G-League version of those guys, which to me is important because on offense, you know what he does? He sets really good screens that now allow the offensive ball handler to make decisions in the ball screen. Okay, do I shoot it? Do I pass it? Do I attack? It allows them to read the defense with a big that is setting good screens and being in the right spot. And then defensively, he’s a great communicator and he has coverage versatility in ball screens, which yet again yet again allows a player like Chaz Laneir to go down to the G-League and have a big that’s going to allow him to learn how to guard ball screens because he’s going to communicate to him and it’s going to be, hey, we’re dropping this one now. We’re blitzing this one, now we’re switching that one. I I just think he’s very valuable to this organization is what I came away with. Yeah. And he had a good year in the G- League last season, too. And like, you know, watching him up close for five games, like again, like he just always popped. And there’s not really an aspect of the game that he can’t play. U you know, like like especially just from the the standpoint of him like being a pretty true five. You know, he’s about 610 61. uh you know like you do wonder if like if there’s ever a time where there’s you know injury or anything else if you know he could get a call up and and actually make a difference out there cuz this is all translatable stuff and you know it’s not like he’s giving up size or anything. Yeah. The the one thing I will say is I thought the same on the size. I actually looked up the measurements. He actually has a one inch shorter standing reach than Isaiah Stewart. Um which I think is a little bit of a limiting factor. Like Stu is awesome, but Stu finds a way to get it done at what most would consider undized for the five, right? Like most people would say that. And so like it takes a special defensive player to be able to make up for that. Steven brings up a great point. Like Tulu and Danis obviously have great chemistry from their time in the GLeague. Wes said he looked stronger and quicker, which is real hard to do. I agree. I thought at times he looked twitchy, like explosive off the court for some rim protection, for some lob finishes. Listen, I was not going into summer league like, oh, I’m going to be talking about Tou Smith, you know, like it’s it’s impressive. I like what he did. Aruna says we just have a stacked center rotation. I think when you talk about depth, I would agree. I think there’s arguments about the high-end aspect of that. That all comes down to Jaylen Duran and his growth and improvement and what he is. But Isaiah Stewart has to be one of the better backup centers in the league. I think Paul Reed is a very good third center in the NBA for that role. And I think Toulu Smith as your fourth center on a two-way is a really really nice spot to be in for the Pistons. So in general, I would agree. I think there could be arguments in terms of some versatility and variety of that room, hence my Maxim Renault love coming out of the draft, but I I do like the depth of that. And I like, again, I want to emphasize this. I really like what Tou provides the guys in the G-League. if people really want to um value that and what it can do in terms of development, having a center like Tou Smith that does what he does provides that opportunity to grow for young perimeter players. So, those are the first three guys. Again, guys, we’re we’re probably not getting into Zakai Ziggler, Bryce Williams, Kils, Brooks, Garcia, etc. But we do still have Danis Jenkins and Ron Hull in the second. We will get to those two guys right after this. All right, back here with segment three. Uh let’s talk about Dennis Jenkins because he was probably the player who like I don’t want to say surprised, but I think he probably was the player that took the most noticeable step forward. uh especially offensively was just you know the the shot making and that was probably the one knock on him last season is that he didn’t make shots as well and I mean just his leadership the fire he played with you noticed like kind of like to you absolutely noticed every single minute Dennis was on the floor defensively like I’ll give the floor to you but just what did you see from from Dennis? Yeah, I mean it starts with the shotmaking. So, looking at his numbers right here in college where he played at a few handful of schools actually career 33% three-point shooter. Um, not crazy volume, but I mean in terms of per game, but five seasons we have a 400 three-point attempt sample, 33%. But he was an 80% free throw shooter. Now, you go last year in the G-League, 33%. but on seven attempts per game, which is a high volume and a real uptick from what he did in college. And again, a 77% free throw shooter. Now, here in the G-League, 14, excuse me, in summer league, 14 points on 45% from the field, 42% from three, 78% from the free throw line. I thought it all started with Dannis Jenkins being able to knock down shots. I agree. I don’t know if surprised is the best word or if exceeded expectations is the better phrase based on what I thought coming in, but man, I I was really impressed. I I I want to get this off the dome. I will not sit here and like argue for him to be the backup point guard. I I think that is taking it too far, O2, for us to say Dennis Jenkins should be Cad’s backup. He should be the 10-man rotation. He should be the new Dennis Shruder role. One, I don’t think that role is available anyway between Ji and Caris Levert. But I I I think I’m okay if they moved him to the 15-man roster. If Danis Jenkins was the fifth guard in your 13th man, I I think I’m okay with that. And maybe I’m overreacting to summer league. I thought he was good last year defensively. If you want to watch how to navigate a ball screen O2, watch Dannis Jenkins film because he absolutely does that. Reed Shepard had Cox Pavilion on fire two nights before and Dannis Jenkins made him look like he did not want to be there. I will go on game theory Thursday night when we talk about the non rookie summer league and whenever Sam waxes poetically about how good Reed Shepard is. I’m going to remind him that Dannis Jenkins made him look like he would rather be anywhere else. And maybe Reed just would rather have been anywhere else. I thought Dannis Jenkins was really really good O2. Yeah. I mean, to me, he’s the absolutely perfect guy to have a two-way cuz he can get those shots during the season. Uh, you know, to show that he can be that in that type of row and he’s about 6’3. Like, he’s not like he’s to me that’s like the almost the cut off for like a point guard. You want to call him a smaller guard because he’s like not super well built, but it’s not like he’s he’s not like crazy. wiry, you know, like he could like, you know, like he’s big enough that you feel good about him against most other ones, especially a guy like Reed Shepard who’s like pretty well beat, like probably built, like has, you know, like probably a little bit of an overall size advantage, but just Dennis’s ability to maneuver. Uh, I’m not sure what his wingspan is. I would have to see that. But like to me, there’s no reason why you probably couldn’t feel pretty good about putting him on ones and twos if he’s going to continue to navigate screens as well as he did. And then you just combine that was just actual point guard stuff. Like assist to turnover ratio was fantastic. Uh I mean, yeah, like you you see why fans are getting excited and saying, “Well, maybe he could be, you know, 14 15 or whatever.” uh because he pretty much checked every box you would want in like a you know point guard who’s going to come in and run an offense for 15 to 20 minutes. But yeah, I think this is a perfect season to have him on a two-way and then if he dominates the GLeague like he shows he could do it in the NBA uh you know then you go into next summer and you have a decision to make about his future. Yeah. So Ersen Dimmer who I remember after summer league last year I found his article on Danis Jenkins. probably have a quote tweet somewhere because I mean Jenkins caught my eye last uh summer league as well, but he has him at 63 and a quarter. I don’t know if that’s with I assume that has to be with shoes cuz I mean that almost mean he was 6’4 with with shoes if that was without. Um but has his wingspan at 66 and a half. So like just in terms of length like it’s not crazy. Um, but it’s funny because the first part of his write up here over on Substack, um, this is e dmirba.substack.com. You can find it. Um, again, it’s a it’s a year old now, but is his pick and roll defense and what he did in regards to that. I just think it’s a very valuable skill. I think there are very specific matchups for Dannis Jenkins that I think he can really thrive in. There are some matchups he would struggle with. Like if he had to go out there and guard like let’s say a primary creator like Kate Cunningham, I think he would struggle with that. I thought Reed was a really good matchup for him. But I came away encouraged. Here’s the other thing I highlighted O2 in that breakdown. And this is one I really do encourage you guys to go check out. I think this is a a pretty one that I good one that I did and Danis was first of the five because I was so impressed with how he played. It’s not just the on ball stuff. If Danis was actually gonna play with the Pistons, he would have to play off the ball as well because the ball will be in Cade Cunningham’s hands or Jaden Ivy or Assar or Caris Levert. He had a possession where he sprints in transition and sprints right to the corner, right where he should be and spaces. Middle ball screen action happens. He lifts to the wing at the perfect time. He actually was wide open. The pass just wasn’t made. I think it was Laneir actually. But it’s like he understands off the ball movement as well. And that’s a very important aspect for a guy like Dannis Jenkins that’s not going to go into an NBA role and have the ball in his hands 100% of the time. Yeah. Like I came away thinking that, you know, this is a player that’s turned the corner as a shooter. And again, it’s summer league, you know, we’ve seen guys come into summer league and dominate and then it’s a different story later. But you mentioned the free throw percentage for him has always been very consistent. um like the attempts per game last season tells me that it’s something he’s put significant reps into and like just watching him shoot it’s like there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be able to sustain this. I mean like everything about it looked great. Uh so yeah, if he’s coming back next season and he’s knocking out anything north of 36 37% like you know you’ve got to feel a lot better about his his chances going forward. Wes says Jenkins looked too good for summer league. completely unexpected like he looked at the level we hoped Bobby Clinton would be at. I think that’s right. I think I take away a little bit more with these guys that are in their second year. I I would just give you the improvements from last year to this year. Just summer league numbers in less minutes. He scored four and a half more points per game. Bar only took one more shot. He went from 35% to 45% from the field. 33% from three to 42. Here’s a fun number. He actually shot 92% from the free throw line. So, there’s a track record in his history of being a very good free throw shooter, which I think speaks to your talk just like on his form and stuff. More assist. Um, his stock numbers were down a little bit, turnovers went down. Just a really impressive performance. Aruna asked a fun question. Is Danis ahead of Sasser for you right now? O2, I’ve I’ve seen Sasser have some really good solid games in the NBA. Uh, we’ve also seen Sasser dominate summer league and score 40. So, no, I can’t like I just have to see Dennis in real NBA action. Uh, like I think for me that kind of gets to the point to where you begin to run too far with summer league. Like I like Dennis’s chances uh, you know, a lot stronger of course after that type of performance, but I’ve got to see him in real NBA minutes first. um like we’ve seen what Sasser could do and like he could really really shoot the the ball and he’s had some like he’s had some some strong games and some strong performances. So yeah, I I’m with you. I I’m very excited about Danis. Like I said, I I am not in the camp of like, hey, Dannis Jenkins is the Pistons backup point guard. I I think that’s going a little too much if you’re putting Danis in the 10-man rotation, even the 11man rotation. Again, if we get to a certain point, he ends up on the 15-man roster. Sure. Um I love him being on a two-way right now. Now, I think that’s a perfect spot for him. I wouldn’t hate it if he ends up there. The only argument is Dennis’s play style is a little different than Sasser and if you just like valued that more. I still think Marcus Sasser could be a value to this team in the right role, which is an offthe-ball offensive role. I don’t think he’s a point guard. I think he’s an offthe-ball shotmaker. Um, and then find a way to be disruptive defensively. Like the one thing I will I think Danis is better than Marcus Sasser defensively. like I think the way he navigates screens and stuff like that, I I do think he’s better there. Um but I would not put him above Sasser because to your point, we’ve seen Sasser do it on an NBA court and I mean I think if Sasser was there, you know, we we we know what he would do to summer league situation as well. Last player here that we’re going to talk about um saved it for 50 minutes into the episode. That wasn’t entirely intentional. We were saving him for last, but um theoretically it was supposed to be around like 30 35 minutes. Um, Ron Holland II. Uh, again, shameless plug yet again. I just dropped his video breakdown today on Monday on the Substack that is absolutely free if anybody is curious. You don’t even have to subscribe to watch those video breakdowns. What were your thoughts on Ron Hollando, too? Uh, yeah, too good for summer league. I think the main thing for Ron was, you know, like you got 81 games last season. Uh, you surpassed expectations. Um he had the type of game where theoretically he could come in the summer league and just dominate because he’s just gonna play every aspect of it and outwill people and out athletic them and out maneuver and all the you know and all the things that he’s able to do and that’s what he did. Uh you know he was also I think seven to 15 from three. Um you know and the shot definitely looked more improved. I want to say he got to the line like eight or nine times a game or something like that. like his free throws are way up there which again I mean you know the first step the ability to get to the line we saw that last season so obviously that transferred four steals a game we saw how disruptive he was defensively last season and his ability to drive in transition long story short he just did everything you wanted to see him do uh you know I feel like he checked every box as a year two player um you wanted to walk away uh like yeah like this guy’s a bonafide NBA player and he doesn’t need to be here anymore and he got shut down after three games and like I think for most people that’s probably the overall takeaway. Yeah, I I think the shot making or the way the shot looked and the fluidity of it was my biggest takeaway. I’m glad you brought that up because I I do think that that’s where I would want to start. So, yet again, just to give the numbers, he averaged 22 points a game in 30 minutes. He played three games. He was 53% from the field, 47% from three on five attempts, 77% from the line on almost nine attempts, six rebounds, a little over two assists. He did have four turnovers. Um, when we get to the like some of those turnovers weren’t real turnovers, though. No, that’s fair. Um, but some of them were real turnovers. Steals a game. No, I I will say this. I think the decision-m in the passing was better. O2, I do. I I’m with you. Like we sat there that first game and we’re like he should have three assists already and he has none. Like as much love as we gave Too Smith the first one of the summer to standing out of bounds in the dunker spot and it should have been an assist for Ron and it’s not. I think the assist number should have been higher. Um the turnover should have been down a little bit. I will say I do think there’s still some room for growth with the decision making some consistency with that. And then on the defensive end I like the point of attack defense. Some of the offball defense has some consistency things as well, but in general, I agree with you. I thought he looked too good for summer league, which is exactly what you wanted to see from your secondyear player that was a former number five overall pick. Yeah, I mean, I really I really don’t have anything to knock him on at all. Uh like you mentioned the three-point shooting and like again, low volume, but it’s mostly like is this stuff he can replicate uh at a higher level? And it was uh yeah, he had I think it was game two uh he had like the first two assists and they were loss to Clintman and to to Louu and yeah, some of the interior passes he had in game one. Uh for me it was just for him like it just seemed very purposeful that he wanted to go out and set the tone as a playmaker. Uh, so yeah, it was like two assists and four turnovers a game, but like you know, I think with some different teammates or different environment, like I think it probably would would have been more even like 33, which uh at least is I mean that’s a lot better than two four. So yeah, I I really don’t have much to knock Ryan on at all. Uh he’s obviously coming into next season with some degree of hype. Uh you know, just given how young he was last season and uh yeah, I mean he just turned 20. uh like he’s still younger than some of the rookies in this year’s class and and I think he’s set up pretty nicely. What do you think this means for his role? Like was there something that came out of this that you were like because I had somebody throw this at me today like if Ron is like if Okay, so Ji comes back. You’re replacing Beasley with Duncan Robinson theoretically you’re replacing Levert with you know Shruder with LeVert I guess Ivy in the starting lineup with Tim Hardway Jr. Like we think Assar is going to take a little bit of a step forward. Maybe Jaylen Der like where where’s the room for Ron to grow? Like do you think there is room for Ron to grow? Do you think there’s more usage? Is it all in the second unit? Is he a guy they stagger in and let play more with Kade? Like what does this mean? Because I I kind of agree with everything you’ve said. I I just wonder where the room to like open his wings and go comes from Amari. Yeah. So, uh, what’s kind of funny, I noticed this the other day, like if you asked me without knowing like how many minutes per game did Ron average last season, like I would have guessed somewhere between 20 and 26. And he averaged 15.6 minutes. Like it was just under 16 minutes per game. 81 games, but 81 games, but you know, but like very much like ninth, 10th, man type scenario. Uh, you know, Fontekio’s out, so that vacates some minutes. And we talked about it earlier, just the approach to power forward, but you probably can get Ron closer to 24, 25 minutes, which uh, you know, I think after last season, you could say he’s he’s shown that he can handle a bigger role. And maybe that’s just where it comes from. Like maybe it’s not, you know, we could get you 28, 29, like a a starter role at this point, unless he forces the issue. But like assuming they don’t do anything drastic, you know, to reshape the four. Uh I mean he’s 68. Uh he could like you know I would got against a guy like an Aaron Gordon or you know Pasco Seakum. I don’t think he’s giving up too much size against those guys. So it could work and yeah and and I think with with Tech not being there uh that should open up at least five or six minutes for him at the power forward position. Yeah, I think it was the Knicks game is the game I used for the breakdown and I showed I think it was against Diwara who’s like 69, 225, like not a very skilled rookie, you know, whatever. But like Ron was not giving up like strength in that situation. Like Dawara tried to like bully him into the lane and Ron Holland gave no ground. And so I just showed that as like, hey, this is interesting. I realize it’s a rookie that doesn’t really know what he’s doing, but just from a physicality standpoint, he was able to hold up against this bigger player. Um, Wes says, uh, a lot of the usage comes from Tobias Harris. Ron has to steal the minutes and opportunities from him. Um, I think the force, uh, he has to force the issue. So, I I agree like I I want to see real growth whenever they do that. So, um, yeah, I’m just I’m interested to see I liked what we saw in summer league. I’m excited to see him in the regular season and the role that he has. Um, but it it was good. It was good to see the jumper. It was good to see him knock down catch and shoot. I know he had like in that Knicks game he had like a sick like between the head, legs, behind the back, like corner one that was just ridiculous. The more impressive one to me was he used a ball screen, set it up, defenders late, switched, and then he hit that one because that’s more of a play type that I think is realistic for Ron than going straight ISO in the corner. And he obviously had it going in that game, but very productive summer league for Ron Holland for Dannis Jenkins, Tou Smith, Bobby Clintman, Chaz Laneir, a little bit more h we’re not sure. Um, obviously summer league is a fivegame sample, very small sample size. Real quick before we get to a couple questions from the chat, were there any players that stood out to you otherwise? Like I know you got to see some other games maybe when you got back home and watch stuff on the TV. Was there was there anything that stood out to you? Yeah, you know, just that they had a few guys that could shoot the ball. Uh Miller Cop. Uh no, no, sorry. Sorry. Uh from the rest of the NBA. My bad. Oh, from the rest of the NBA. Yeah, like just in just in general. Any any other general thoughts from anybody or anything? Like nothing super illuminating. Uh, I would just say, and like people will debate other aspects, but like I like Derrick Queen a lot. Like I thought he had some really strong performances in summer league and he’s just a guy that can just hoop. Um, like I’ve compared him to to to Julius Randall. Uh, like I think that’s probably the closest comp I could have for a guy who uh is a little bit more groundbound but just is really coordinated and you know can can play make and handle the ball. Uh, and to me like that’s how he looked in summer league. So, uh, you know, he was a guy that, you know, I thought I I don’t think I did a draft with or anything this season, but like, you know, I had him like top seven, top eight, like I don’t know if there’s seven better players in this draft. Uh, he looked pretty good. Uh, you know, obviously Cooper Flag looked great in that second game as we all knew he probably would. Uh, like there’s some other guys that stood out to. I did like Hansen Yang. Like I kind of just like the like I always like the coats of personality that’s like emerged around him and you know he’s just got a fun game and you know he’s one of those guys where you wonder okay give them NBA caliber teammates and just how much does that open up his playmaking. So I didn’t get to watch as many games as I I wanted to but those guys definitely stood out for sure. Uh unfortunately Derek Queen be out 12 weeks with a wrist injury. We’ll see how that plays out for him. I will say uh Young Hansen, I watched a game where it was Blazers, whoever. Um not the Lakers or the Mavs or somebody like that. It was the last game of the night and if he was not playing, that gym would have been empty because the only person that the crowd was cheering for was Yong Hansen. Anytime anything happened. Uh Sloppy Sand says, “Bryce complained about interviews being half the screen.” Well, I hate all interviews during the game, even if the interviewee isn’t shown. Um, complete transparency, I probably only listen to the broadcast overall about 5% of the games I watch. Usually I just have it on mute and I’m listening to a random podcast whenever I’m watching film. So, uh, Wes says, “Is it fair to say I was disappointed in Reed Shepard?” I listen, the Pistons game, Wes, was the only game I really watched Reed. Um, I did not think he looked good and I thought his defense wasn’t any impressive at all. So, um I know me and Sam are going to have some fun talking about that because I know he will defend uh Reed Shepard to the to the death. So, Michael says, “Lakers wave Jordan Goodwin. This was a uh move so that they can bring in Marcus Smart. Uh thoughts on Detroit putting a waiver claim on him.” I’ll just read some quick notes I have from Goodwin. This is actually from two years ago when he was with the Suns. Backup point guard, good size, getting buckets early in the game. He’s aggressive and attacks the paint. Historically, the three-point shooting has not been good. Um, impactful defensive plays off the ball. Interesting. Big, strong, physical guard that I wish could shoot. That those are kind of my notes on him just to give some context. Career NBA 32% three-point shooter. He did shoot 38% last year in 29 games with the Lakers. Um, could be an interesting flyer. Not a guy I’m gonna pound the table on. O2. Any thoughts on Jordan Goodwin? I I don’t really have any strong thoughts. Uh, you know, if I’m sitting in the ZM chair, like, you know, the the two spots you would address probably are just backup for him. Like, I’d get a vet at point guard. You know, I think Goodwin’s more of a guy that’s looking, you know, for opportunities to show what he can do. And, uh, you know, I just don’t know if Detroit makes the most sense for him. Yeah. Interesting. Yeah. Interesting player. I hope he gets a chance. Uh, last thing here, Sports Time says, “Omari, you like some singer. Who is this? John, I’m like I’m familiar with him, but like I would take some song if you want to hit me on Twitter or Blue Sky or whatever. Uh like I need to listen to him more because he is definitely similar to some other people that I like or so I’ve been told. So I could use some Rex for sure. So once a day Omari tweets something out that I have no idea what he’s talking about. So um uh another one. Omari, what kind of bike is that behind you? Just asking I ride too. It is a REI. I forget the exact bottle, but it was like it’s like it was like somewhere between like the entry and midlevel just like road bike. Uh good bike. Got it like four years ago. It’s been good to me. So, I like riding obviously. Wes says, “Shout out to the re bike.” Um just another thing I don’t know what you guys are talking about. So, I I hate riding bike. Like I I I don’t like it. I don’t know what it is. Um so I tried for a little bit. We we like all bought like when the kids got old enough to start riding bikes. Me and Randy each bought one like oh we’ll go on family bike rides and I’m just like I’d rather just walk or jog to keep up if I had to. So um not a fan of the bike, man. Like I like bikes cuz you just cover so much more ground. Sure. And you know like you get like a nice little breeze. It’s just more fun. Like bike riding is a lot more fun. No, I’m with you. I like I like I do like going on walks too. Like I like I’ll give you that. What? One, I go on a walk every day. Like, I have to get it. It’s like a decompress thing. Wes did a 41 mile ride last week. And then said, “Great time.” When I was in high school, I did I’m not like I’m not trying to oneup Wes. I’m just saying like I did a 50 mile bike ride. Take that, West 50 miles. Yeah. I’m just saying like I like I don’t know if I could do a I don’t know if I could bust out a 41 mile right now, but I would love to get to that point. Y’all are crazy. I could like I could do a good 25 for sure. 50 was intense. That’s a Yeah, 50 is in intense. I think 25 is like the limit of like nice strong workout. You feel great about it. But it’s not going to take all day. You can do it in like three hours maybe. Uh sometimes on the road I jump on a Pelaton. Like if I’m traveling and that’s and they have a Pelaton in the hotel and when I’m getting a workout in, um that that’s the most bike riding I do. So um Aruna says Bryce might be too tall for regular bikes. Maybe that’s it. Maybe that’s it. Okay. Good stuff, guys. Uh, good episode here. Obviously, we had Summerly to talk about. Now, we are to the point of the season, the off season, where we have to get a little bit creative. We’ll figure it out. I’m actually going vacationing next week, which may put a little bit of a what are we going to do here? So, I don’t know if no episode is even an option, but if you don’t get an episode next week, that is why that we have made that decision or we may record something before that. But yeah, I also have some time coming off in August. So me and Bryce will uh commiserate and figure out which days we can still crank the pot out for you all. But we’re in like peak dog days of the season now. So So if you have any suggestions of topics or fun things to talk about, I know Wes has a list of things we can go to. Um but let us know because we are we are taking those as we speak. Otherwise, um please rate, review, subscribe, like, help us continue to grow. Um we know it’s the offseason, but we can still do that. Make sure you listen to Wes and Blake over on the pin down on the Detroit Bad Boys YouTube channel. Subscribe over there. Subscribe to the free press. Read Omari. Subscribe for free to the Motor City Hoop stack. Read and and listen to the stuff I put out over there. And O2, take it away, my guy. All right. Big thanks to our audio producer, Robin Chan, our editor-inchief, Dakota Avery Nichols, and a big shout out to us Davenport as always. And we will see you all potentially next week.
The Pistons Pulse is your go-to Detroit Pistons podcast for all the best news, analysis, insights and opinions on the team.
Hosted by Omari Sankofa of the Detroit Free Press and Bryce Simon of Motor City Hoops. Omari brings insider insights and analysis as a Pistons beat writer and Detroit native combined with Bryce’s in-depth on-court analysis as a former D1 player and current high school coach of 12 years.
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3 comments
Those interviews sucked.
Look at Chaz when he shoots. He has mechanic problems. He shoots from down low. that's why he hits open shots but anything contested he can't get it off. He needs to correct that or no NBA for him.
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl is another name for the back up 4 spot