Just HOW GOOD are the Detroit Pistons? | Small Ball with Kenny Beecham | NBA on NBC

Just HOW GOOD are the Detroit Pistons? | Small Ball with Kenny Beecham | NBA on NBC

meme because it’s been quite
some time since been true, but it might be true.
Nowadays, the NBA runs through the Central Division, the Bulls
are not awful than. I mean, they may not be great
but they not awful. The Pistons are one of the top
seeds, the Bucks still look pretty good.
Who am I the Cavs? The Cavs are like the favorite
to win the conference. The the NBA.
Run to the center. Don’t think about the Pacers.
The same thing here last year was their year, they may run
some sense. I want to go through the Pistons
because we are not that far removed away from them.
Losing twenty six, twenty seven, straight games.
In a row for them to be this good. This fast since then, is
without any like, super major changes is a recipe for, from
good coaching to star power, to people buying into roles, we
want to talk about all of that. I know we have talked about it
since the start of the season, but I still have so much to say
about the Dallas Mavericks. It’s not really about the Encore
product right now. Is more about front office
stuff. And after that we gonna jump around the league and then
lastly we will do your favorite segment. My favorite segment.
Ask a be where I answer your question should be a beggar.
All right, let’s start off with this Detroit Pistons team
because honestly, speaking, I was a little bit, a fearful for
them going into the season. This offseason wasn’t the
perfect one for them, right? Malik Beasley being gone down
the shooter being gone. They lost some key pieces.
Now, you can say that they replaced it with Duncan
Robinson. They replaced it with Jane. I have you.
Ooh, it’s also injured right now. So I was a little bit of a
skeptic when it came to the Detroit Pistons, going to the
season, I’ll be the first one to say it.
You know, this the year after the jump is always harder than
the jump year because now people recognize that hey Cunningham
was all of the a player. If they weren’t recognizing that
before they like they like late to the party but it’s cool.
We recognize this team as a playoff team.
So we need to get up for these games. Opposed to last year when
the Pistons came to town, you just kind of felt like you was
gonna win by 30. I’m like oh no this team is
better than we expect that there is no surprise the opponent.
So I thought that this You’re not, there’s going to be a bad
year. I didn’t think they were going to be outside of the
playoffs, but I definitely didn’t look at them and say,
hey, they could be one of the top two seeds in the conference.
Now, we’re talking about ten games in, we also talked about
them, not having a super difficult schedule.
I recognize all that, but I do want to give them their flowers,
where it’s due. I’m starting off with Jalen Dern
because jail enduring was one of those guys that you know, the
front office decide to elect to see him go into a restricted
free agency was tells you a lot in a little at the same time his
Market would have just been we’re On his last couple
Seasons, but sometimes he looks amazing and it’s sometimes, he
feels like he doesn’t really know what he’s doing as far as
the defensive side of the ball, but he has all the tools to be a
really good defensive player. So it was a lot of this, a lot
of that. And last year, the question was
like, who was the second best player on his team and people
had arguments, whether it be on Pistons, Twitter, or Outsiders
like me looking in and some people say, hey, our second-best
player was Malik Beasley last year, you asked that exact same
question, 10 games of the Season, there is no question.
Who is the second best player on the Detroit Pistons?
Because Jalen during is in the midst of a peek.
One of the stats, I think is one of the more telling ways to show
that a center player is hitting. The next spot, he is holding
opponents to a career-best 47% at the rim.
With last year, he allowed teams to shoot, 63 percent at The Rim.
So, that is a huge change between last year’s to this
year, him and Isaiah Stewart. Who we gonna talk about a
little, second them playing together has been really good
like, you know, they’ve been together on the same thing for a
few different years now. So I said, Is comes in boom,
beef stew. You and go to the bench, you
gonna be our backup center. But with two up Tobias, Harris,
been injured at the parts of the Season. You got to see this
double big lineup and we talked about double big a lot on this
channel and it’s just working wonders. Right now those minutes
to 80 minutes, they play together, they have a net rate
of a plus 15. They are holding the other
opposing team’s offense to basic, basically, not that, I
don’t get back to the jail enduring things, one thing, just
looking at the eye test, I don’t have any numbers to prove this.
I know I tried to get a little balance of analytics and I test
I love or the Kate and during pick a rose, like the number
one. Pick a role in basketball last year, so it’s no surprise
that. It’s still got this year, but one thing, at least the eye
test, is telling me that he’s getting the ball in the pickerel
a lot higher than before it felt as though, you know, K cunning
and put them in a situation. A lot last year where you didn’t
have to make a ton of decisions. You’re four feet away from the
basket, go up big fellow. Make that decision to score the
ball. Now, I feel like he’s getting it a lot higher.
I watch the game again this morning just to kind of refresh
myself and it was against the Brooklyn Nets, but I don’t care.
Brooklyn, Nets have at least two basketball players in the team.
So, you know, we can, we can look at it that way, and they
were sending they were hedging K Cunningham when he screams, and
it was a little pocket pass to jail enduring, and he’s getting
them at the free-throw line. Free throw line extended.
Now, this year, he’s not having a great passing year if you want
to just look at the raw numbers of it all.
But I trust him a lot more in this short road than previous
Seasons. It him getting that ball early kind of, is allowing
us to see him, get it to his offense of bag a little bit.
And listen, this dude had the shoulders of David Robinson, a
lot of times these dudes don’t have an offense of bag.
You know, one of the times he got, it had a little Lefty hook
that was early in the first quarter. The very next
possession, same thing. They had to pick a roll.
You get it to jail enduring and at about the free-throw line,
and guess what he did. He took two dribbles in Jesse.
Yeah, but I think it was Noah Clowney. So we’re getting to see
him. Get into that bag. Face up opportunities back down
opportunities, pick-and-roll, and even the passing out of it.
Again, it’s not equate into like, three, to four assists per
game. But I feel really good about this Jalen.
There are thinking His fans could probably relate to this
when you have a player that you’ve been hoping and hoping
and hoping takes a jump when they’re in the middle of that
job. Well what you think might be that job is hard to really
buy are completely I got like I experienced that with Josh Katie
for a year last year I was hoping that he was going to hit
a jump and he didn’t really hit a jump to the last 18 games but
you were hesitant to say it is a jump. I’m telling you pisses
fans is now outside, looking in, I’m looking at jail enduring,
the said, this is the leap that you want it.
This is the leap that you need. And the beef stew in jail during
thing, already talked about the numbers but just the, the best
part about it all is beef stew. Legitimately like, he doesn’t
get the amount of credit that I think he deserves defensively
because the last year, he came off the bench and you before
that they lost twenties plus games in a row.
So it’s like hard to really say like, hey I said, Stuart this
Isaiah Stewart is real life. One of the best defensive
players in the league at using, I don’t want to describe this
using his body as a stopgap. On drives used his body as a
stopgap when people are trying to go up and it’s hard to really
do that. But he’s got the, he’s got the
frame to do it. Where, you know, sometimes I
have really loved about the do. Big lineup is that he has been
late to get out on Shooters, but somebody seems they’re going
against. Don’t really have them and she was, I think Noah clown,
he hit four threes in the first quarter and a lot of that is
like beef stew being like this. But I don’t know if that’s a
piece to Thing versus a JB Bickerstaff tanks and that’s
they guys know of Claudia. That’s not j.j.
Redick, that’s not Duncan Robinson, so we good will let
him shoot those. But if you are trying to create
from perimeter, or create from the nail, or create from the
elbow, where we try to do and Isaiah stored is the got on your
backside guard, are you going to have a really tough time, so you
add that Jalen during defensive sleep and then a star Thompson
Y’all know I’m a times between love it.
Those are my guys, I have nothing but belief in them as
ballplayers and they continue to get better and better.
I’m just watching us our table such as blow up plays
defensively and it is so cool to watch because you know I think
his brother he deserves all the hype that he’s getting for sure
but a my mind in my mind I think that it’s our Thompson the
better defensive player I think that oftentimes the better
overall player at this point in my career but you have to
remember the Asar Thompson missed a year basically with the
blood. I’m an issue. So he’s basically six months to
a year behind in his development but I think that us are
Thompson’s probably the better twin on defensive side of the
ball. He’s like to pass has a head and a lot of cases and is
so crazy to watch him. Defend a guy that’s like not
supposed to be dribbling. It’s amazing.
We had this conversation on numbers on the board and I still
don’t know the answer to it, but I did want to bring it to you
all Pierre asked with this team, looking as good as they have
right now when if, if, at all Do you put the chips on the table?
They have Drive Capital, they got younger players that are
interesting. I mean he’ll Jane IV ain’t played.
Yeah but I’m sure the teams would be very interested in him
as a ballplayer. If somebody became available
when is the perfect time to put some of those or all of those
chips on the table, it’s not like the Cavaliers who are the
favorite, or the Knicks, who are one of the favorites.
And it’s not like they’re blowing the doors off.
The Barn at the Eastern Conference. So why can’t it be
us as currently constructed on think? It can’t be them or I
think they couldn’t can get to a couple rounds in the postseason
but it’s currently constructed. Don’t think they’re there just
yet. But if the right guy became available, should you do it?
And I’ve the incident but I think it’s a really good
conversation. I mean at the end, they we don’t know who’s going
to be available as of right now. But I’ve always said, I would
love to see Larry marketing end up in the air but also see Larry
Market on that team as not the last piece to get them over the
hump. But just a complementary piece. I don’t really know.
But I’ve been loving, Detroit Piston basketball and we
mentioned an NK Cunningham much, who has just been great this
season. I like he’s one of those guys that I feel like the the
analytics eyes. May not love that.
You’re shooting percentages the yo-yos, but I truly do trust him
with the ball. More than a lot of people, most
people in the league and that’s even with his high turnover
rate. That people are always talking about.
And I’ve always said, and I’ll say it again, I think those
turnovers go down, I think he becomes more efficient of a
ballplayer, the more ball handlers, they have on the team.
They still have a ton right now, which 890 being out last thing
before we take our first break, the minutes of us are Thompson
and Ron Holland are killing teams. It don’t you dare @k
Cunningham to that mix. When those three dudes on the
court, it does not make sense for them to have a good offense.
And I don’t even know if they really do.
Do I know they’re killing when it comes to the point
differential and that shows a lot about their future, right?
When we come back, we got to

Kenny Beecham dives into the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons in their 8-2 start and the leaps from Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart in tandem with Cade Cunningham’s stardom. #NBCSports #NBA #KennyBeecham
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Just HOW GOOD are the Detroit Pistons? | Small Ball with Kenny Beecham | NBA on NBC
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