URGENT: Detroit Pistons LOCKED IN for NBA Cup Showdown Against Rival Orlando Magic!

URGENT: Detroit Pistons LOCKED IN for NBA Cup Showdown Against Rival Orlando Magic!

In today’s episode, we team up with Locked On Magic to discuss the Pistons Friday night game for the NBA Cup. If the Pistons win, they move on. We’ll break down and preview today’s episode, Locked On Pistons podcast. You are Locked on Pistons, your daily Detroit Pistons podcast, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. What’s the deal? Welcome back to another episode of the lockdown on Pistons podcast. Per usual. I am your host Cuckah Hill. You can find me over on Twitter, Cuckah Hill. Been covering the Detroit Pistons for the last four years. Ban Contention media member over the last three years. Appreciate all of you guys making locked on Pistons your first listener every single day and helping make locked on podcast network the number one sports podcast network in America. And today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and your bet wer bet wins, excuse me. You’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. head to fandle.com to get started. Today I’m recording this the day of Thanksgiving. I hope you guys are having a great Thanksgiving. If you guys are listening to this after, I hope you guys have had a great one. Just giving you guys a quick preview. The rest of today’s episode will be uh pre-recorded. We recorded this on Wednesday. We’ll be previewing the Pistons game against the Orlando Magic on Friday night with locked on Magic host Philip Rosman Reich. Um it was a fun episode, but I’m not going to hold you guys any longer. I want to get back to with my wife. So, hope you guys enjoy this one. Have a great Thanksgiving and hopefully the Pistons pulled this one out on Friday. Till next time, I’ll see you guys later. And this is Philip Rossmanright, the host of Locked On Magic, joined today by our good friend, arch rival, Nemesis, future playoff rival. I We’re friends, we like each other. It’s Cuckahill of Locked on Pistons. Um, sorry for your loss. We’re recording this on Wednesday night. Um, but still a fantastic season for the Pistons and we are looking forward today to a huge NBA Cup game. Like whether you we are both cup respectors. We we established that before we start recording. Um, but a huge NBA Cup game, the group B, the East group B Championship game Friday night at 7:30 at the New Palace, Little Caesars Arena. Um, coup before we dive in, uh, again, sorry for your loss today. I know it’s a strange feeling. you’ll you know it it’s going to happen during the course of a season. How you doing? How you doing this this this Thanksgiving and holiday? I I I think 28 losses in a row got me prepped up for what a loss was like. It’s been 13 in a row. It it tried but it hasn’t completely wiped away the feeling of what a loss was like during that losing streak. So, um definitely a tough loss, but we’re good. I think I think that’s important to remember like like we we have been we have we have seen things. The fact that we’re sitting here talking about a game with actual stakes that that we should we are both legitimately angry is not on national TV. Although Nick Knicks Bucks will will have some stakes to it. We’re recording this while the the well both teams are playing. It’ll have some stakes to it. It’ll have some meaning, but not quite as big as this game on Friday um between the Magic and the Pistons. and and and we’ve talked before like we’ve kind of viewed this these two teams as growing rivals as as teams that are going to be established in the Eastern Conference, but when we talked over the summer to preview this very game, which we did talk about back in August, um did you think the Pistons would be this like like I I think that’s the story around the league is how did the Detroit Pistons go from a team that everyone thought was going to be very good, don’t get me wrong, but to be this good. A 13game winning streak, which of course started against the Magic. We’ll take some credit for that. Um, started against the Magic in late October, about a month ago. What What is different about this Pistons team that has allowed them to play the way that they’re playing right now? Yeah. So, I’d start off with saying I’m definitely shocked that they are playing this well, that they are, you know, there’s a teams play really well and it doesn’t always translate to 13 straight game win streaks. like you can you can have you can be playing maybe just as good as the Pistons have played and be a 12 and five team and still feel like oh yeah we’re playing great. Um so the fact that the Pistons went on 13 gamer is very surprising to me. Um I would say what’s the biggest difference with the Pistons this year would be Assar is healthy from the beginning of the year. So you have Assar from start to finish instead of just changing it the midway through the point of the year like they did last year. So I think that’s pretty big to have your best defender out there from the start. Um, I think Cade has taken another step this year. Uh, and he’s just he’s gotten even better this year. Um, I think Jaylen Dur obviously he’s taken a leap as an offensive creator and as an offensive scoreer that really has helped them and thin the half court offense. It didn’t help him so much tonight against Boston. Um, but throughout the win streak he’s been incredible and they’ve had, I believe, the fourth best half court offense during the streak and that was one of their biggest areas of weaknesses heading into the year. So I think that has a lot to do with Jaylen Duran uh discovering himself as a as a shot creator. Um and then Tan Langden kind of swip swapped out some guys like Caris Levert with Dennis Shruder has been a really good swap out because Caris brings more size, length, and defense. So it kind of buys into their culture. Um but yeah, I think they’re just playing together. They’re a deeper team than they were last year. Even when they had injuries, they have guys that can come in and play well. Jonte Green, Danis Jenkins has been a great story. Um so they’re a deeper team. They have more talent on this team. Their best players are available at the beginning of the year. Um and and and they’ve been more focused game to game than I’ve ever seen. I mean, obviously the Pistons have been bad for a minute, but they their game their gametoame focus has been crazy. Um which is why again I’m sorry to reference tonight again why tonight was so uncharacteristic, but yeah, I mean that’s why I’m pretty shocked by it, but it’s very impressive obviously. Yeah. And and and I think it goes without saying like the Magic in 36 years have never had a 10ame win streak. They’ve gotten to nine a few times, but like it’s for real. For real. Like they got they got they’ve been they’ve got the they got nine with Dwight like immediately after the Gilbert Arenas trade of all things. So little fair warning, just because you go on a long win streak doesn’t mean everything’s in the clear. The Magic 12 of 13 last year and finished at 500. It’s very very early, but yeah. Yeah. No, the M like like random stuff happens in the NBA like I mean even even something like the the game against the Wizards where a lot of guys were were out and hurt and you needed this super heroic game from Cade like random stuff happens. It doesn’t matter who the opponent is. Winning 10 plus games in a row is extremely impressive. And again and I I I I’m I’m jo I’m joking about some of those things but only really good teams do that. Only teams that really have their stuff together. And so I I I believe we talked a little bit about this when we chatted in August. Um and I I I shared that I thought that the Magic going to the playoffs um brought a like renewed sense of purpose to the beginning of last season before they really got hit with injuries. And I I was curious how the Pistons would respond to that. Do do you feel like a lot of the confidence that they’ve gained and and just again like even like something like institutional knowledge like we know what what JBer staff wants from us. seen it success be successful. How much how much do you sense that there’s that I guess added layer of maturity of we’ve been here before and we’re hungry for more to to how they started the season? Yeah, I think the the playoff birth really has played out really helped him a lot this year. I mean, within the first week of the season, Assar Thompson had an a letter that he wrote to the Pistons fans, uh, I believe with the Players Tribune, where he basically talks about how getting to the playoffs was like the greatest thing he’s ever done and he’s never felt something like that before. and all he thinks about now is wanting to win for Detroit fans. And that hearing the fans go crazy in the playoffs just gave him a special feeling of like I forget what the exact words were, but it was like an open letter to Pistons fans about how special it was to play in the playoffs and how everyone feels that and wants to get back there and wants to focus in every day just to have that feeling again. Um, we’ve heard Kay talk about how important this year is and how now they set their sights not just on making the playoffs, but being a legit contender and we’re seeing how well they’re playing and hopefully they can continue that. But yeah, I think seeing the physicality of the playoffs, seeing them have some level, I understand they lost in the first round, but them having some level of success against the Knicks as a young team in their first playoff series gave them, okay, we might be on to the right things here. Our defense, having that be what we hang our hat on, we that really carried us. If we can just continue to be that throughout the entire year, teams don’t really want to mess with us. Teams don’t really want to deal with that night tonight. And we’ve heard JB talk about that. We’ve heard Assar and Duran talk about that. Isaiah Stewart talk about that. So, I think having that experience in the playoffs and seeing you be able to get to the playoffs be like, “Hey, we’re hanging with the Knicks because we’re holding them to whatever points a game like they can’t score against us. This is legit.” I think it kind of has resulted in even more buyin by from everyone, even some of the bad defenders into, hey, if we really play this way and buy into this identity, we know we can be great and we just need to improve along the margins offensively and we can be great. So, I think the playoffs are playing a huge part in what they are doing right now. Um, and I think that’s probably the case for a lot of teams that are able to get their first playoff experience and taste what it’s like. Um, obviously we see some teams get to the playoffs one year and then maybe not get back. But like I feel like for a lot of teams it usually trends in the right direction. Um, and the Pistons are definitely using that experience to their to their help uh this year. Yeah. And it definitely definitely feels that way like you know uh we we could talk maybe a little bit later on about that first match up between the Magic and the Pistons. It that feels like a lifetime ago for both teams. Um honestly, but it really felt like, you know, Detroit got off to like a two and two start like it was a little bit of a shaky start and and I remember getting into that game thinking this is a turning point for both the Magic and the Pistons. The Magic were one and three at the time. And it felt like that’s a matchup between two teams, both with kind of the same ambitions. And the team that’s gonna that that’s more together and and has a little maybe a little bit more maturity. The team that has more stuff figured out is going to use that win and a big win against a rival opponent to to kind of leap leaprog their season. And and boy, you know, did did Detroit do that uh in in that instance with with that game being the first of of this win streak. Before we move on to the Magic side of things, you mentioned like all the different pieces that have come together, but but what’s been the most surprising aspect of the Pistons start this season that that maybe you didn’t quite expect to work that that has or or has come out of nowhere to to work. It’s by far Jaylen Durren’s uh development as a self-creator in their half court offense coming into the season. I I wrote about this over on my substack. I heard throughout the offseason non-stop and it’s why you heard them interested in names like Nas Reed, Miles Turner, Santi Alama. There were legit questions in Detroit about look, we have a great defense. We think it’s good, but we there are some long-term questions about whether this tandem can be a good half court offense, which in the playoffs, the Pistons had the worst half court offense in the entire playoff. So, there were legit questions about whether they could have this core be functional uh and and be good enough within the half court offense. And Assar becoming more aggressive. He he’s been more aggressive as a driver. I think that’s helped even on some of his misses. Simply getting to the rim and forcing a rotation at the rim. That leads to the Pistons who are one of the best put back teams, second chance teams getting easy put back to the rim. So, that’s helped. But the biggest by far impact has been Jaylen Duran scoring like LeBron on drives. Like, this dude is scoring 1.3 points per possession on drives. It’s in it’s insane what he was doing um before this game tonight. So, I don’t suspect for him to continue to score at a higher rate than Jokic and and Giannis and guys like that on drives. I don’t think that’s going to keep up. But him being like this legit impactful driver within the half court has completely changed how teams have to guard the Pistons and and really has taken advantage of the way teams like to guard Cade within the half court. It’s made it harder for them to just send two guys out and willingly switch guys onto Jaylen Durren. So that’s by far the biggest surprise. I I had I did not see that coming at all and it’s taken us all by surprise. Yeah, I Jaylen Durant Duran’s been so impressive. Like you you like the basics of what he did because he’s just such a great rebounder and a big body. Like again sometimes it’s just size and he’s like he’s like honestly he’s the reason the Pistons are an Eastern Conference contender right now. just that that leap was so surprising. Again, still early, but but it’s certainly looking very very good for him. The Pistons have been one of the good surprises in the NBA for a positive reason. The Magic still kind of figuring things out, but getting a lot better. We’ll talk about the Magic side of things coming up here in just a moment. But first, a quick word from our friends over at Door Dash. The NBA season is heating up. NBA Cup action is coming to a close here in group play and Door Dash has found the perfect way to keep fans in their bag all season long. Whether you’re watching for the highlights, your fantasy team, or just your favorite player, Door Dash makes every game night even better. Door Dash is the official on demand delivery platform of the NBA. And they are celebrating with something called the Bagdrop. 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If you’re not subscribed to one of our shows, if you’re not subscribed to both of our shows yet, go ahead and do that because we truly appreciate and we want to thank you again for making the Locked on Podcast Network the number one sports podcast network. Obviously, um, we mentioned we mentioned a little bit Magic Pistons have played each other already and a lot has happened since that day for both of our teams. So, I don’t know how much we’re going to learn. Um, we’re sitting here on Wednesday night. Uh, Paulo Ben Carroll hasn’t played in two weeks. Um, there is a little inkling he might be ready to go for this game Friday. I am skeptical. I would bet he he’s more likely to return next week when the Magic are at home, but that that obviously changes the complexion of this team a little bit. Paulo had, I thought, a really strong first half in that first game, not so much the second half. And and I think we we could put the Kade versus Paulo debates to rest. Kate is Kate is much further ahead than Paulo Paulo at this point. Um not that not that we’re trying to compare too much uh too much here, but I know that was a talking point in the summer, but what are you interested about with this Magic team? Um, again, a lot’s changed since since we first saw them. They feel like a very different team over the last two, three weeks now. Um, what what has you curious about this Magic team and what questions do you have for me? So, I I I think the first question I this is somewhere I think Magic fans know I’m going to go to here. Yeah. Yeah. Look, man, I’ve So, I’ve said this to you before, Philip, and I I genuinely have been watching a lot of Magic basketball because I like a lot of the Magic players. I really like Fron. I like Anthony Black. I very much am a fan of Jaylen Suggs play. Um, so I watch the Magic play as much as I can. Um, and I I just have to ask you, do you feel like they’ve been playing better over the last few weeks? Because I feel like they’ve looked like a better team over the last two weeks. And yeah, that’s not that’s not up for debate. That’s not up for debate. They’re they’re six-2 over the last eight games. I don’t want to just And I know I’ve been the guy that’s been saying like, I think the team’s better without Paulo on the floor. Um, and I don’t want to make it seem like I’m just saying, “Oh, Pal left and now immediately the team’s just amazing.” I I’m not trying to put it all on him, but I from the outsiders’s point of view, a non-Magic fan watching the team without him versus with him. It just feels like the team plays differently. I feel like the offense runs a lot more smoothly, a lot more free flowing. The ball moves more. I really like how Fran looks in in the offense without him on the floor. Again, I’m not trying to cause a ruckus, but I feel like it’s kind of I don’t know, from an outsiders’s point of view, it just feels like it’s kind of hard to ignore that, like you said, they are six and two over the last eight games, and they just the offense just looks much more free flowing to me. So, am I off base here? Am I still just, you know, reaching at the at the or You’re definitely not off base. Like it’s and and you know I I am of the opinion that the the kind of free flowing nature we’re seeing offensively like look when you lose a heliocentric star player you’re going to have to change the way you play a little bit. You know you know Jamal Mosley talks a lot you know we’re a by committee team but when you’re down a player you have to do your role just better. Like whatever your role is you just you you have to do that better. You have to kind of elevate your role. You’re not changing what you’re trying to do. You just throw out like the the pal, you know, some of the ISO possessions or some of those plays that you run to get Paulo going. You throw those out and Fran is not a I’m going to break you down off the dribble type of guy. Like he’s a I’m going to run you off a pick. I’m going to get you on my back. I’m going to like cut, you know, pass the ball, cut and move a little bit. I’m going to get out in transition. Like the way Fron likes to score is very different than the way that Paulo likes to score. And you know, certainly, you know, without Paulo on the floor, like the ball’s going to move a little bit quicker. It’s gota it’s got to touch a few more hands because there is no one guy that you’re trying to kind of feed and keep in rhythm and keep going and you don’t even have like a you know I think the Magic still view Paulo as this like hub in the offense where if they get him the ball if he gets anywhere near the paint he’s going to drag two three guys to him and he’s going to be able to pass to open players and and keep the ball keep the ball moving. So, um I think I think I’m I’m of the opinion that this offense is working really really well right now. And some of that is they’re facing some bad opponents. They they face the Clippers who couldn’t defend a chair right now. You know, they they’ve they like they they’re facing some they’re facing some teams that are struggling a little bit like, you know, don’t like dealing with the size the Magic have. Um the Knicks are kind of notorious right now for not being super tough. And again, I’m not I am throwing shade at the Knicks. Sorry, Knicks. I I I like you guys. But um like the Knicks said after both games, they punked us. Like you know, even the Philadelphia game, like super kind of a small team, they were able to kind of bully him around a little bit and and do do what they want do that do what they wanted. So I think that the Magic offense will get better when Paulo return or will readjust but will be more stable when Paulo gets back because you mentioned the Pistons being one of the top teams in half court offense. Even with how strong the Magic offenses look, they’re seventh in the league in offensive rating, which is a very weird sentence for me to say, um, they’re seventh in the league in offensive rating, they’re still in the bottom 10 and half court offense. And so they’re doing a lot of things that are working and I think a lot of things that they’re doing now, they were going to come anyway. Like the biggest problem for the Magic early in the season was just learning how to play together. Um, they’re playing a lot faster. They’re trying to get out in transition a lot more. And they just needed to learn to trust each other a little bit more. And that trust is started to develop now with reps, they they found their groove. And so I think what they’re doing is working. And I think if Paulo plays the way that he played was playing before his injury and and if you look at like his last six games before his injury, he was averaging 23 points per game, something like five five and a half assists per game, nine rebounds per game. He looked like that first half against Detroit more often, which was probably his best half of basketball in the season. Um he’s starting to he was starting to do that a lot more before the injury. And so I think he’s going to slide in pretty pretty seamlessly and help stabilize the team in other ways because, you know, we’ll talk about the matchup here, but I I do think this is a really big test for Fran Vagner going up uh against against Assar Thompson after he struggled with Amen Thompson against the Rockets the other the other a few weeks ago. So my question to follow up on that is how do how do you think the Magic incorporate Paulo back into the offense while keep while keeping some of the elements that have looked really good to me with him out while trying to do what Po likes to do? Uh how are they able to do that and how are they going to make that really generate that half court offense while keeping like I said some of the elements like my biggest question with Paulo has been his shot selection. I do give him credit. His diet has changed a little bit this year. He is taking more shots to the rim. He’s not taking as many um uh long twos this year. He’s changing his shot diet a little bit this year. So, I do give him credit with that. But I I go back to like that Pistons game that they played and I host a live watch party. So, those people who are listening to this who did can back me up in the comments here is that during that game, the Pistons were doubling a ton when he got to the paint and when he went to the post up, they were doubling him a ton in the first half. I believe he had like seven assists in the first half. Yeah. I remember that crazy crazy first half. Yeah, he was playing really well and he they were doubling. He was making the right pass out of it and I was like, “Look, you got to stop doubling Paulo. If Paulo is going to kill you one-on-one, then let him kill you one-on-one. I don’t think he’s going to stop doubling him because he’s going to be able to make it out and you’re giving better, you’re giving better shooters, I should say, not better players, better shooters, clean looks when you should just live with the one-on-one.” And then the second half, that’s exactly what the Pistons did. They stopped doubling him. They just played him one-on-one with Tobias, and he very much struggled in that second half. My concern with the with the Magic is the theoretically is Paulo’s supposed to help that half court offense, but if teams start playing him straight up, he hasn’t been very good in isolation this year. I know I mean other years he’s been better, but this year he’s in the 25th percentile in isolation. My question is just I feel like Paulo, if he was used as like a screener, as a DHO guy, as a guy that’s getting downhill, then I think that really helps within the half court offense. Do you think that’s something that you may see Magic try to lean more into once he comes back with how everyone else is playing with like more free flowing? Yeah. Or do you think you’ll still see a lot of those isolation possessions like get soaked up? Because I don’t think that helps the Magic. No, I don’t I don’t think so either. And and and I think I think what Paulo deals with and what he struggles with is like kind of the same thing that a lot of like young like starring players struggle with and and I’m sure you can relate to this. I think so this is where Kade was at like two, three years ago maybe. You you you grow up your entire life thinking to be a star, you got to be like Kobe. You gotta be like Carmelo and do jab steps to death. And like it’s all about the the mono emano. And look, you need that in your game. You’re going to have to make a few of those shots in the playoffs. And the difference between winning a game five and being up 3-2 and losing a game five and being down 3-2 is your ability to make those kinds of shots. So that that needs to be in your arsenal. I’m not like deemphasizing that. But I feel like a lot of young stars and I think Paulo is still at this stage where he’s learning to be a star like I I I think I use this actually analogy on on on my podcast when I was talking about this. It’s it’s the Jamie Tar total football from Ted Lasso. If if if I’m not spoiling anything, you got to play through him, not to him. Like he can’t be the kind of end result. And so I think with Paulo, the biggest challenge for him for the rest of the season is getting him into a mindset of attacking quicker, like not holding the ball, waiting for the defensive set, and then attacking. It’s catch and rip. Like if he catches the ball at the like the Magic really good when the Magic have been really good offensively early in the season, they’d run a pick and roll for Paulo as the roll man, he’d slip to the he’d slip to the free throw line and he’d just sit at the free throw line and just have loads of options. and the defense is recovering to figure out what to do with him. And it was just about him making that read. If he catches the ball and immediately immediately drives to the middle or immediately drives like he’s averaging nine free throw attempts per game, he’s going to get to the foul line a lot. He’s going to put a lot of pressure on defenses. And so I think a lot of the stuff with him is making quicker decisions and and and I think again early in the season the Magic are trying to play faster. like that was a stated goal and I don’t think they quite understood the what pace meant yet. Like I think early in the season they thought pace meant we’re gonna play as fast as humanly possible. We’re going to take quick shots. We’re going to, you know, force the way to the basket when something’s not there. And that’s what pace meant. And it put their defense in a bad spot. It put them in really bad spots. And I think that’s one of the reasons Detroit was able to kind of win that game. And on top of that, you’re adding Desmond Bane, who’s still trying to fit in and figure his spot out on the team. And he didn’t he didn’t start the season off well at all. No, he was terrible to start. I mean, not terrible, but he was not they they didn’t know how to use him. They couldn’t figure it out. They’re better about it now. I think it’ll still evolve. Yeah. Um Jaylen Suggs was coming back from injury. He was on these like short four to five minute spurts. Um which he’s not on anymore. Like he’s playing regular minutes now. Um, and so he was just going like all out a million miles a second because he knew he was coming out in three in three minutes only playing 20. So it was just like why hold anything back? And so I think I think now the Magic kind of found a tempo that they’re comfortable playing at. Um Paulo is surpris like not surprisingly but when Paulo went out with the injury he was actually leading the team in points per possession in transition over France. Now, that’s changed in the last two weeks, but the Magic’s real like kind of bread and butter to their offense is their transition plays, their ability to get out on the break um because their half court offense is still iffy to is still iffy. Getting better, but iffy. Um for me, for Paulo, when he comes back, and it could be Friday, could be Monday, could be Wednesday, who knows? Um, it’s really still about making quicker decisions, not letting the defense set up against you, and only holding kind of those Kobe shots. And, um, you know, I I I joke about Kobe assists a little bit, but, holding those kind of like ISO superstar type shots for when they’re absolutely necessary, not not leaning on those and trusting your teammates better. And, you know, again, that comes with reps. And I felt like a lot of the mistakes Paulo was making early were just like he didn’t realize Desmond Bane was in the corner. He didn’t think Desmond Bane was in the corner. And you know, the Magic have been such a bad shooting team. And they’re not the greatest shooting team right now, but they’ve been such a bad shooting team. It’s a little bit of breaking a habit of thinking like me taking this shots better than me passing to an open shooter in the corner because he’s just going to miss anyway. So, it’s like there’s there’s a lot of relearning that I think had to happen for this this Magic offense to kind of start to click. and and again it started to click but we’ll see what happens when Paulo returns. So before we move on just want to ask you I’ve really liked obviously I’m a huge Fron guy. I I love Fron. Um have you liked what you’ve seen from France this year? And also Anthony Black has really been impressing me too. I really like what we see from him. So just your quick two thoughts on them before we move on. I just want to know how you’re feeling with them. Yeah, just just quickly um Fron looks like Fron. Like he’s you know he he I think feels really comfortable with the pace that they’re they’re playing at. Like that was like Paulo early in the season like not so subtly but like wasn’t super comfortable with how fast they were playing and thought they needed to slow it down and you know like a lot of the kind of like hubbhub about where the Magic were at when they were one and four was just like Paulo didn’t seem super enthusiastic in post games like when we asked like what needs to change to the offense he he’d like literally say like no we need to change some things offensively these changes not so expressly but these changes aren’t working for for us. Whereas Fran was always like, “No, no, this is going to be really good for us.” Like, I this is gonna, you know, it played more to his strengths. And so, he’s I think he’s really thrived in this offense. Um, I think he will be very thankful to have Paulo back. I I just personally think like Fron doesn’t like the attention. like he doesn’t he he likes having he liked having Dennis Shruder be the MVP for team Germany at Euro Basket because you know yes teams were still loading up against him but he had another guy to kind of dump the ball off to you and take some of the hero shots that I don’t like the Fron can take it’s not like he can’t take hero shots but I don’t think he feels that that’s his game like I I say a lot of times like kind of the difference between Paulo and Fran is Fran is an unselfish player you have to teach to be selfish and Paulo is a selfish player you have to teach to be unselfish And I generally think for building a team, it’s easier to do the latter and teach a selfish player to be unselfish and kind of figure the secret out. Getting a guy to have a killer instinct and just be like, “Oh, no. I’m I’m taking over this game.” That’s a little bit trickier. And I think that’s that’s that’s where Fron needs to continue to develop. But again, he’s made steps. I’m not saying otherwise. Anthony Black has always been kind of the the the the secret key to this whole project because um you know with all the trades the Magic made, like Anthony Black was pushed to the front. And you know, there’s there’s no stat that correlates more to the Magic winning than Anthony Black’s three-point shooting. Um at least entering Tuesday’s games, I don’t have the numbers I don’t have the numbers memorized. Before Tuesday’s game, he was three for four from three on on Tuesday, so it check it still tracks. entering Tuesday’s game, he shot he shoots 37% from three in Magic wins. He shoots 25% in Magic losses. And so, again, it’s just a correlation, but I I I think it speaks a lot to the the aggression that he plays with and how fast he wants to play and how how much he is confident on the ball. And for two years, all anybody on the team would talk about when they talk about Anthony Black is be aggressive. Don’t don’t be shy. Don’t, you know, don’t pass the ball. Don’t don’t be hesitant. Be aggressive. We’ll live with mistakes because you’re just so talented. And it’s taken Anthony Black a little bit of time to really feel that himself. And he talked about it after, you know, scored 20 or 31 points in the second quarter on Tuesday. He talked about after Tuesday’s game, I’m willing to make mistakes. I’m willing to take risks this year. And and that mindset change, I think, has really unlocked him on that end. Um, all right. We’re here game. It’s it’s it’s game time. Let’s talk about the keys to the game and who’s going to win group and how each of these teams can win group B and advance in the NBA Cup. We’ll get to that coming up here in just a moment. But first, today’s episode of Lockdown Magic is brought to our friends over at FanDuel. The NBA is back and there is no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you missed the start of the game or want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your team is making that latest push. Now, we are recording this on a Wednesday. The line is out for Friday’s game. Coup, what do you think the line is for Friday’s game? I I would say I think the Pistons are favored by three and a half. Three and a half would be a good guess. It is Pistons by five and a half over the Orlando Magic on and Friday’s big big NBA cup matchup over under of 232 and a half. If you’re looking to get in on um NBA Cup futures, I don’t even think they have it anymore. I don’t I don’t see it on here yet. So, I’m sorry I even I even mentioned it, but we are at the at the tail end of the NBA Cup. The Pistons are the favorites now to win East Group B. So, we’ll see. Right now, if you want to get in on that action, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So, head to FanDuel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. All right, this is Philip Rossman Reich again, the host of Locked on Magic, joined by Cukahill of Locked on Pistons. We just mentioned the line to the game, Pistons by 5 and a half as we’re recording here on Wednesday after on Wednesday evening. Maybe that’s changed with the injury report that comes out and Paulo Ben Carroll being listed as doubtful or questionable and and putting that little seedling in there. Who knows? Um, and again, we’re we’re we’re both publishing this at at about 7 7:30 on Thursday night. So, you know, you know, information we don’t, but Coup, what is your big key to this game? What do the Pistons need to do to make that loss to Boston a blip and come out and advance in the NBA Cup? I think they have to come out and play who they are and be who they are, I should say. I I said this on the podcast after this loss over and over. It felt a very much like an uncharacteristic loss by the Pistons. They didn’t lose because they played great great defense and maybe their offense just fell apart. They just didn’t hit shots. You know, sometimes that just happens. Yeah. They let a 12, right? They let a 122 offensive rating against the the the Boston Celtics. They had way too many defensive miscues. Their worst defensive players were picked on and didn’t give as much effort. I thought Jaylen Durn had his worst, excuse me, my goodness. I I thought Jaylen Dur had his worst defensive game of the season. I thought Duncan Robbins had his worst defensive game of the season. I know Jane Ivy just got back and I thought Ivy was really bad defensively, but third game back you kind of give him a pass for that. Um, a lot of miscues and a lot of easy shots given up, a lot of dribble penetration given up. Um, and that’s not something you really see from the Pistons, especially during this win streak. They they are one of the best defensive teams in the entire NBA. You just don’t see that very often and that was on display against the Celtics. So, you want to see them get right back to being that caliber of defensive team that we all know that they are and does not let that go into two games, three games, four games. So, I think that’s the big thing with the Pistons. Obviously, you’d like to see Kade get a little bit more help offensively. Um, but I don’t I I think that’s kind of like you’re not Jaylen’s not going to go four of 10. Like, he’s not going to shoot 40%. Like, that stuff’s going to turn around. Duncan Robinson’s going to hit more open threes. Like, that stuff’s going to turn around. The big thing is is that know what your identity is. Your identity is defense. stick to that. And I I I I gave him a lot of stuff for this on the podcast. I’m gonna do it again here. JB Biggerf, you cannot come out and publicly say that this team’s identity is defense every single day throughout the offseason during the regular season. You’re completely right in saying that. And then sub Assar Thompson out so you can bring in Duncan Robinson while he’s getting his teeth kicked in on the defensive end. Like that’s not And then sub Duncan Robinson back out a minute and 30 later once you realize, oh god, they’re attacking Duncan Rob. Let’s get Assar back in. And now you’ve done wasted four possessions. So, like that’s I I don’t want to see that happen again. It happened in the playoffs last year is one of the reasons why the Pistons lost. I don’t want to see that no more, but that that’s what I’m focusing on. Yeah. That this is this is the time to learn those lessons for those more important games in March and April. And and and I’ll I’ll I’ll come in and play a little devil’s advocate and calm the Pistons fans down. Orlando saw Boston on Sunday. They were the ones that inje got injured in that game. Boston went super small. And things just get weird when teams don’t have a center and and like Detroit got a lot of offensive rebounds in that game. Big reason why they stayed in the game despite some of these struggles they had. Um things get weird when you don’t play a center. And so Orlando like Orlando is big. Like they’re not they don’t hide from being big. They’re going to play a center. Wendo Carter’s going to play. Goataz is going to play. Um I think I think some of the things that Detroit faced were just the weirdness of Boston and Boston who has not been making three-pointers. They made threes on Sunday against Orlando. They made threes. They made threes against Detroit on Wednesday. So again, some three-point variance. I think that’s that I think you would agree and both teams would agree. Three-point shooting is still a little shaky for both the Magic and the Pistons. And and so I’ll go ahead and say this, the winner of this game is going to be the one that actually makes threes and generates those threes. I think for I think I I have to agree that like Orlando’s constant battle throughout the course of the season has been to remember their identity and remember that defense is what powers everything and if they don’t defend well things get really really tough for them. Um, I remember after the game against the Pistons, I literally sat here and said, “Who is this team?” Like, like what are you about? Because the one thing that we thought we could all like the Magic played all of last season unable to make a three to save their lives. Like it they were 32% from three. Like unable to make a 31% from three, unable to make a three to save their lives. And they were still able to win games because their defense was so good. And what’s been kind of shocking about the early part of the season is that yes, there have been good defensive games. like they just gave up 96 points per 100 sessions against the Sixers on Tuesday. Like they they can defend really well. They’ve defended well against the Knicks. They they they’ve been physical. They’ve had these moments where it’s just like that’s magic defense. But it hasn’t been consistent enough. Like if I told you the Magic were seventh in offensive rating and 14th in defense rating or 13th in defensive rating in the NBA, you’d be like, “What’s going on with the Magic?” Because both those things don’t make sense um for this team. Um maybe the Magic are more selective about how physical they are and and and again scoring around the league is up. So you know you kind of have to reccalibrate what successful defense is. It’s again at the end of the day defense successful defense is you keep the other team from scoring as many points as you score. Like that’s a successful defense. Um, but again, it’s about consistency and I don’t think the Magic have been super consistent on offense, but the big reason why they’re they’re or on defense, I don’t but the big reason why their offense has been so successful is they’re number four or three in the league in transition possession uh transition points per possession and number two in the league, number two in the league in fast break points and like number two or three in the league in transition possessions per game. You only get that if you get stops, if you create turnovers, if you if you get rebounds and get out and run. And especially against this Pistons team that has been so good on offense that has such great offensive rebounders and and is a pretty big team themselves. To me, that’s where this game is going to be won is is which team can control the glass, get stops, and and then kind of get into their favored offensive systems or or or their favored offensive situations. For the Magic, that’s getting out and running and getting out in transition. Yeah, I I completely agree. It sounds like the Atlanta the way you described the Magic sounds literally exactly like how the Pistons were last year. They were not half court good half court offensive team, but they were like the best transition team in the league. They were the best team in on fast breaks simply because they were had the third best defense in the NBA. So, they feasted on that and their offense ended up being top 10 after January when SAR came back because their defense translates to all of it. So, seems like that’s I mean I I know that the Magic have invested a little bit more in their offense than the Pistons have by going after Desmond Bane. Um, and I I know I I know I always go after Paulo and everything, but I do like this Orlando team. I very I like I said earlier, I very much like Fron. I really have liked what I’ve seen from Anthony Black. Obviously, Death Bane’s really good as well. Um, I suspect that the Magic will continue to turn things around. Um, I don’t think Where are they at right now? 10 and eight. Is that They’re Let me Let me Let me Let me pull my standings page up real fast. I know they just got above 500, correct? Keep keep stalling. Yeah, they’re they’re above 500 now. Keep keep stalling while I while I while I pull up the standings. I believe they were like nine and eight or something. Orlando is now 11 and eight. They are They’re playing pretty well. Yeah. So, I I expect them to continue to work their way up the stand and continue to play well. Um I I like the pieces that they have over there. They their defense should continue to be good. They have a lot of size. I think they’ll figure it out. Um I just hope that the Pistons on Friday night, I’d like to see them win so they can be in the cup. Uh honestly, the Magics should go ahead and just give us this game because, you know, you guys will stay. But we can’t we can’t we can’t we can’t give it away too much. We need a close loss here. Like like the stand like like I mean the Magic have a 28 point cushion, but like it’ll be like that um it’ll be like that game. I forget who it was the NFL game a few years ago where it was week 17. It was like, “Oh, if we just take a tie here, we’ll both get in.” And then one of the coaches was like, “You know what? Screw you. We’re kicking a field goal.” And everyone was mad. Like let’s go ahead and just take the one-point loss and then we’ll both away. I mean, I like I want a home cup game. Like, I’m a cup I I I I’m a Cup guy. I mean, Miami isn’t gonna be good enough to to get to the top seed, so that’s not an easy tra game for me to travel. Um I don’t want to see that ugly yellow court anyway. Um nobody wants to see that ugly yellow court. Please, please, Miami, as I I think they I think they beat Milwaukee. So, as I look over my shoulder at the at the game, um but no, like it it like there there are real stakes here. Um, you know, and and and we’re joking a little bit about it, but like the Magic have had some heartbreak on the last night of cup of cup of cup action. They were they had I think a 32-point lead on Boston um on the last day and they were idle and Boston ended up beating Chicago by like 34 35 points. Last year they had like a 30 another 30-point lead. All they had to do was not lose to the Knicks by like 32 and they ended up trailing by as much as 35 and losing that game by 20. And it was just like, “God, good god, guys.” Like, like really making a sweat, really making a sweat and disappointing a lot of people around the league. Um, I’m hoping that like a a close loss isn’t the end of the world. Losing on the road to Detroit, no shame in that. Um, but I know the Magic really care about this this thing. Um, like they’ve they’ve had some cup like like quietly the Magic have had a lot of cup success. They’ve they have only one they’ve only lost once in group play each year. Um, they’ve been to the final day. They’ve never been eliminated. They’ve never been eliminated on the final day. Players talked about it like, you know, you don’t go out and beat a team by 40 by 41 and lead by 46 if you’re not if you don’t actually care about this thing, you know? Sorry. Sorry, Philadelphia, for that. Um, but Matt the Magic players all say like, “We’re motivated by this. We want to win this thing.” Do do the Pistons care about this at all? Like Like I mean I I think I think cup fever like varies depending on who you talk to around the league. Yeah. Do the Pistons Do the Pistons view this as something worth pursuing? I They have not spoken much about the Cup games. They’ve mostly been talking about just getting far in the playoffs every day. So, okay. Don’t know if they’re Cup C cup uh fanatics like us. So, maybe that ends up not working in my favor here. I I I say this to everybody all the time. um especially two cup skeptics and I’m just like look you put the most competitive people in a room and give them a trophy to fight for they’re gonna fight for it and the teams that care about it care deeply about it and and I think the Magikar cup believers and I’m sure now that we’re here and and certainly coming off a loss but now that we’re here and you have a chance to advance and a chance to win something I I think we’re going to have a playofflike at I’m hoping we’ll have a playoff like atmosphere. Black Friday is always it’s a holiday. It’s always a holiday. Like the Magic had a Black Friday game two years ago against Boston Matinea and it was wild. It was a wild afternoon for the Magic. Um I think it’s gonna be a really fun game. I think it’s gonna be a really close game and and I think as we’ve previewed as we’ve had conversations over the last few years. Magic and Pistons are not going anywhere. This is going to be a little a little rivalry. Um there’s certainly a little bit of bad blood. I’m sure it’s it’s in my comments already with with Jane Ivy back and Kathy is not on our team anymore. So don’t worry about it. You’re gonna hate Jaylen. You’re gonna You’re gonna hate Jaylen Suggs plenty. Um Isaiah Stewart get Isaiah Stewart is still pretty hated in Orlando. Killian Hayes is still hated in Orlando. Um for for a lot of reasons. Um but like like this is going to be a scrap. Like I like honestly like I’m kind of expecting both teams to to really dig in defensively and this will I I I have a feeling this will be like any game that we’ve seen before because I because so much is at stake and it’s gonna it’s gonna feel a little bit more like a playoff game. Not they’re not obviously like playoff rhythm yet, but I think this is going to be a really intense game. Yeah, I think so, too. Especially like you mentioned, the Pistons coming off this loss. Kade did was obviously not happy at all after this loss, especially with how it ended up ending. So, I do think they’ll have something on their shoulder wanting to go out and prove uh Friday. So, it should be a fun game. It should be a good one. And hopefully, it is not the last meaningful game this season between the Magic and the Pistons. No matter what happens, we’ll still be friends afterward. I promise. Um, save some leftovers. Save save save some leftovers for me and and hopefully hopefully c I will see you in the Eastern Conference Finals as always. Um, for Lockdown Magic, this has been Philip Rossenrike for Lockdown Pistons. That is Cuckahill. Follow us wherever you follow us. Subscribe to us wherever you subscribe to us. We truly appreciate you and enjoy the game everyone. We will be back, I am sure, after the game to recap it and give you our perspectives on it. Until then, for Locked on Magic and Locked on Pistons, we will see you next time.

The Detroit Pistons and Orlando Magic clash in an NBA Cup playoff showdown. Can Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren extend Detroit’s hot streak, or will Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero reclaim momentum for Orlando? Insights fly as the two Locked On hosts spotlight key matchups, including Jalen Duren’s impressive leap as a self-creator and how the Magic have shifted offensively amid Banchero’s absence.

Ku Khahil and Philip Rosman Reich break down defensive identities, half-court struggles, and the evolution of cornerstone players on both squads. Discussion heats over the NBA Cup’s significance, JB Bickerstaff’s coaching adjustments, and the looming rivalry as both young teams rise in the Eastern Conference. Will Orlando’s aggressive transition game or Detroit’s grind-it-out defense tip the scales? Don’t miss this high-stakes NBA analysis and heated debate on two of the league’s most intriguing up-and-coming franchises.

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