SHOCK: Detroit Pistons Suffers TERRIBLE Loss In Season Opener Vs. Bulls | What Went Wrong?

SHOCK: Detroit Pistons Suffers TERRIBLE Loss In Season Opener Vs. Bulls | What Went Wrong?

The Pistons start off the 2526 NBA season with a terrible loss to the Chicago Bulls. Was this a bad night or a bad sign for the Pistons? 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 Locked On Pistons podcast. Per usual, I am your host Cougar Hill. I’ve been covering the Detroit Pistons for the last four years with the Lockdown Network, brand credential media member over the last three years, and I appreciate all of you guys who support the podcast and make Lockdown Pistons your first listen of every single day. We are free to develop on all your podcast platforms. If you haven’t already, head to the YouTube channel at Lockdown Pistons, hit that subscribe button, or leave us a fivestar review, whatever podcast platform you’re listening to this on. And before we get started with today’s podcast, I want to let you guys know we had a lot of fun with the live watch bar despite the loss. We had over a hundred people in the live watch party. If you want to join the live watch, I’ll put the link down below for the playback room. It was a lot of fun hanging out with all you guys. We’ll be back on Friday. But let’s go ahead and get into today’s game. Man, we’re going to start off with why this was such a terrible loss, how badly the Pistons played in this game. We’ll talk about the three bright spots I saw in this game, though. It was a bad game, but there were three bright spots, and then at the end of the podcast, we will answer the question, was this a bad night for the Detroit Pistons, or was this a bad sign for the Detroit Pistons? But let’s start off with how the Pistons lost this game. To start this game, like you could see from the get-go, the Pistons just weren’t ready to open this game up. The Pistons found themselves down by 20 plus to the Chicago Bulls. That’s something that just can’t happen. No disrespect to the Chicago Bulls. I actually think the Bulls could be better than people think this year, but there’s no way on God’s green earth the Pistons should find themselves down 20 plus points in the first three quarters against the Chicago Bulls. There’s no way that that that’s not something that should ever happen. The Bulls largest lead was 23 points. Putrid. Putrid. That’s unacceptable. Some of the main reasons why the Pistons found themselves down so much. Let’s just go down the list. One, this is one of the worst games I’ve seen Cade play in a very long time. Very long time. Now, he ended the game off strong in the fourth quarter. He had 13 points in the fourth. He woke up, tried to get the Pistons back. They were down by two points. He went for a pull-up three. Had a chance to really seal off the four quarter comeback and kind of get the first three quarters forgiven, but he ended up missing it. The Pistons lost the game. He shot eight of 24 in this game. One of six from deep. At one point he was five of 13. Five of 15 I should say, excuse me. Five of 15 in this or no, not five of 15, three of 15 in this game at one point. One of the worst games I’ve seen K play in a long time. and he ended the game with 23 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds. But I I we have I I recorded right after the game. I haven’t gotten the quotes from Kade after the game. I’m sure they’re going to talk with him. I’m I promise you Kade will tell you this is one of the worst games or he did not play a good game at all. Truly, this he played very very poorly in this game. Was inefficient throughout the entire night. Was missing bunnies throughout the night. Missed all almost all of his threes. Actually, he missed all of his threes in the first three quarters. just a very just like it wasn’t like he wasn’t trying anything. I’m not suggesting anything like he was just off. He was missing everything. Missing shots at the rim. At one point he missed four straight free throws like that. Like I he went six to 10 from the free throw line, missed four straight at one point in the second half. Like it just he played poorly. When your best player, your franchise player that plays that poorly, you’re going to be in a position like this. So Cade, we were hoping that he wouldn’t start off every year of his career so far, he starts off slow and then he picks it up after like a week and a half or so, but with the strong preseason, we were hoping that, you know, that wouldn’t be the case this year. The the way he played in the fourth quarter makes me believe this was just a bad night. He’ll be back, he’ll be fine on Friday. He’ll be, you know, looking like Kade as usual. But this is, you know, this is not, you know, nothing new. Every year of his career, the first game he, you know, the first few games he’s he has off games. So tough game from Cade. I’m telling you, one of the worst games I’ve seen him play in a while. Not worried about Kade. Cage’s going to be fine. He’s going to be great. But this was that’s how you lose a game like this is when your best player has a night like this. So that’s reason number one. The next reason for why the Pistons lost this game is that the defense from players named Duncan Robinson, Tobias Harris, Jaylen Duran, and Caris Levert were was horrible. All of them played terrible defense. Duncan especially played really bad defense in this game. game. He was a cone out there. He shot one of seven from the floor. The only stats that he put up in this game was two points, one turnover, and three fouls. He missed all of his threes. Wasn’t wasn’t impacting the game at all. Had some bad turnovers, bad passes. Just just looked just did not look comfortable on the floor at all. And wasn’t making any of his like he and on defense, he was just getting blown by every possession, putting everyone in a bad position. It just it was not a good game at all from Duncan R. He played a very I very poor game like very bad game in his first game with the Pistons. It was pretty putrid. Um Caris Levert was like a roller coaster throughout this game. He would have a nice drive and kick one possession, a nice drive and finish. Then he would have three straight possessions where you’re like, “What are you doing?” Then he’ll have another uh he’ll get a stop helping them get a stop run on transition. You think you’re about to get something going and then deliver a bad pass and then they don’t end up scoring in transition. He was just up and like at times you saw okay we see why they got him to give another creation on the floor or some more creation on the floor get to the paint and have someone else that can drive and kick. There were a few possessions that that happened and then there were some other possessions that were just really bad that ended up in some bad bad shots some really bad defense. He was a roller coaster throughout the night. Roller coaster throughout the night. Tobias did not have a good night. Four of 12 from the field. I thought he just wasn’t very good defensively either. And one of the things that we’ll talk about in the third segment, Tobias has to shoot threes, bro. Like when they’re when it’s open, Tobias has to let it go. Especially for this team, we’ll dive more further into that into the final segment, but when you’re open this team, especially for this team to when Tobias is open from three on a kickout, he has to shoot the ball. jab stepping and getting into an ISO is that will kill this team. They don’t have Malik Beasley. They don’t have THA. So now they need their better shooters when they are open to let it fly when they get a kick out. He has to shoot the ball. And there was too many times tonight he passed up an open three to try to ISO. And then look, probably the main reason like probably like top two reason Cade how bad he played was number one. Number two reason Duran the defense on Vhovic from Jaylen Duran is was I I don’t know how else to say but terrible. Vouch had 28 points in this game. 28 and 14. 11 of 18 from the floor. Duran didn’t have a single rebound in the first half. He had zero rebounds in the first half. Vuvich had his way throughout the night. He had 12 points in the first six minutes of the game. He was getting open three after open three after open three. He was getting open floater after open floater. Almost every shot V took in this game that he made was a wideopen shot. He Duran lost him when he was relocating on the three-point line. Give him open three. Trail threes was giving him an open three. Duran’s defense in this game left a lot to be desired. And there was a reason why Isaiah Stewart played 25 minutes in this game and Dur only played 20. Stu when he was on the floor in this game was a plus eight. When Durham was on the floor in this game he was a team worse minus nine. That matches the eye test. The defense on B was just this is this is a this has been throughout his career though when he goes against a stretch big a skillful stretch five. He just like it it’s just a recipe for disaster. And it was that way tonight. Vu looked like he was on Orlando again. Like he looked like prime VC in this game. Just murdered the Pistons. Murdered them. Killed them. absolutely killed them. Those that’s why the Pistons lost their best player didn’t have a good game offensively and they had about four or five guys just put up absolute terrible effort defensively. I I don’t want to say effort, just terrible, terrible defensive play. Four or five guys just terrible on the defensive end of the floor. Talk all that up together and that’s how you lose the Chicago Bulls. That’s how you as a team with expectations to be at towards the top of the conference, you lose a game like this to the Chicago Bulls. You allow VS to go 11 of 18 from the floor. You allow Montas Bazel to go seven of 12 from the floor. There was a possession, we’ll wrap it up here. There was, you want to talk about how bad the Pistons defense was by particular guys. There was a possession in the fourth quarter. Trey Jones runs a pick and roll with V rolling to his right. The Pistons decide to trap it with Duran. Duran’s coming up from guarding Vuch. She’s coming up to trap it. When you are, Here’s a rule right here for those of you guys that may not know. I I feel like a lot of people should know this, but in case you don’t, if you are coming up to trap at pick and roll, your number one job as the guy coming up the trap, your number one job, you cannot let them split and you cannot let them just get around you. The whole point of trying to trap is to get that ball handler to pick the ball up, right? You cannot it’s splitting is just a is would be really tough. It just more of a good move. But what you cannot do is coming up the trap and let them still get around you to the weak side and and get a four and three happen. And that’s exactly what happened on this possession. You want a possession that paints the the game for you guys. Dur comes up the trap. Trey Jones instead of just getting trapped, he just takes an extra dribble around Duran. Goes around Duran. And now that you’ve tried to trap and you’ve let someone just break contain that easily. Now the Pistons are four and three in the weak side. Guess who ends up with the easy floater? Vervich rolling to the rim because what was supposed to be a trap ended up in a four and three. Vu gets a wide openen eight foot floater and I believe Duran was subbed up right after that. I mean it was a it was a terrible defensive performance from the Pistons. Their offense wasn’t good either. Let don’t get that confused. The offense wasn’t good but the defense was unacceptable. A absolutely unacceptable. And this is a terrible loss. terrible loss with how the Pistons we just talked about how much they how they opened the first 10 games. There’s some tough games coming up and I said they had to win their Gimme games. Not to say that any I don’t really want to disrespect all the NBA teams by saying any game is a gimme game, but you guys get what I mean. The lesser competition that you’re supposed to beat, you have to win those. And to open up the season in a game that you lose by four, you were down by 23. You’re clearly the better team. You turn it around a little bit in the second half. You start playing a little bit more serious. You cut a 23 point deficit to four to two really and you end up losing in a game that you never should have been down that much from the begin to begin with just a terrible unacceptable loss from the Detroit Pistons. Coming up though, there were three bright spots and it’s the three best players from this game for the Detroit Pistons. And I’ll say already after one game, the three best players and the three bright spots should give the Pistons a little bit of an outlook into their future. I’ll tell you guys what I mean coming up. Today’s episode’s brought to you by Mint Mobile. If you’re still overpaying for wireless, it’s time to say yes to saying no. At Mint Mobile, their favorite word is no. 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Make Locked on Pistons your first listen of every single day. We are free to develop on all your podcast platforms. If you haven’t already, head to the YouTube channel at Locked On Pistons. Hit that subscribe button or leave us a fivestar review on whatever podcast platform you’re listening to us on. That’s another great way to support the podcast. Check out the links down below for the playback room and for the Substack. Substack currently has a 50% off deal. You can sub to the subst for all the film breakdowns, all the written content I have coming to you guys all the time for just $3 a month. So, make sure you guys click the link down below so you guys get the deal. And a terrible loss for the Detroit Pistons. I mean it. This was a terrible loss for the Pistons. There were three bright spots. There were three bright spots. There are three names. Isaiah Stewart, Ron Holland, and Assar Thompson. Those are your three best players for the Detroit Pistons tonight. I know Kade ended up with 23 10 and seven, but he shot what is that on August 24th from the field. Played terrible for the first three quarters. Kade himself would tell you play terrible. I can’t he’s not I’m not No, it’s not happening. The three best players for the Detroit Pistons was Isaiah Stewart, Ron Holland, and Assar Thompson. And Isaiah Stewart was the best player for the Detroit Pistons in this game. 20 points, 10 rebounds, two threes made, four blocks in this game. His defense in that fourth quarter is why the Pistons made a comeback. The defense I the the rim protection that Isaiah Stewart was displaying on the defensive end in the fourth quarter was the top tier of elite. He was shutting down Vu. He was taking away all dribble drives. He was taking away everything at the rim and letting the Pistons run, which is when they were at the best. letting them play faster, get early shots in the shot clock. That’s all because of Isaiah Stewart. Isaiah Stewart played absolutely fantastic in this game. And if they would have won this game, he would have been the player of the game. He was a plus eight, team high plus eight in this game. When he was on the floor, he was their only answer to Nola Vravich. Only answer. He was really their only answer to all the dribble drives. Well, not the only answer. The two other guys we’re going to bring up also were helping. But he was taking away everything inside the paint. only one constantly rotating, only one constantly ready to make a play defensively. He was fantastic in this game tonight. He was the Pistons best player. He was their best player. And the fact I’m I like I’m not going to go too like, you know, I’m not going to criticize this too much, but the fact that the Detroit Pistons where is what time was it? There’s a minute 31 to go in this game. All right. The Pistons were once down. Let me get I want to make sure I get this exactly right. They were down by eight points. They were down by eight points. At one point they were down 10, but eight points in the fourth quarter. Three and a half minutes to go. Or no, I’m excuse me, five minutes to go. They’re down by 8. 95 to 103. The lineup they have on the floor is Cade, Assar, Ron, Tobias, and Stu. I’ll say it again. It was Cade, Assar, Ron, Tobias, and Stu. That was their fiveman lineup. They were down by eight. Two minutes later, they’re down by They tie the game. Two minutes later, they tie the game at 109. They take a timeout. The Pistons go down by two. They end up taking a timeout with 1 minute and 30 seconds left. They’re down 109 111 after tying the game up. And then they sub in Jaylen Dur for Assar, Duncan Robinson, for Isaiah Stewart. The business in the Blues in the game. Now, I’m not saying they would have won the game if they kept those guys out there. I think they would have had a better chance, though. Those guys were the ones that got them back into the game. The only reason why they got back into the game because they were getting stops and Isaiah Stewart was flatly the best player on the team. I don’t understand tonight at least. I don’t see how he doesn’t he isn’t 100% to close the game. I I I don’t know how that was even second guessed. I I that that one’s confusing me, but Isaiah Stewart played absolutely fantastic. and his defense was off the charts. Then let’s go to Ryan Holland, who I thought actually started off the game a little rough. The first quarter stint for him was not the greatest, but he kept at it. He kept going. He kept being energetic. And in that third quarter, when the Pistons tried to cut the lead down that was spearheaded by Ron, Ron kept him in the game in the third quarter. Ron was the one getting the steals in the third quarter. Ron was the one getting the stops. Ron was the one getting the energy up, getting physical with guys, getting easy looks in the or not even easy looks, actually. He had a few tough finishes in the transition at the rim. But finishing at the rim, getting to the free throw line, he was fantastic in the third quarter and he continued to play well throughout the rest of the game. He He was a key reason why they were even close in this game. Why they didn’t just get flatly blown out. Ron had 19 in this game. Six attempts from the floor. One of four from deep. He did hit a three but missed three. But I like the fact he took four confidently. Made one and then made six of his free throws. He also had four rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a block. plus two in the game. He was fantastic. His drives were finished with very tough layups at the rim. He has such great touch at the rim. It’s crazy. He even had an incredible pick and roll bounce pass rep to Isaiah Stewart. Very good read, very clean read off a one-hand bounce pass. Got Steu an easy layup. That’s really good to see with his future um developing as a playmaker. And then defensively, he was like I just mentioned, he was really good. How many stacks did I say he had? He had five stocks, I think it was, or three stocks. He had three stocks. He was fantastic in this game. Again, plus two in the game. He was one of the only reasons why the Pistons didn’t just get straight up blown out throughout the entire game. So, Isaiah Stewart and Ron Holland, first two guys. And then Osar Thompson, 11 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, only one turnover that came at the end of the game along with one steal and one block. He was four 11, nine, and seven one on five of eight shooting from the floor. and he was the second in on the team with a plus six uh plus minus those three guys. Assaar, by the way, just to hit on Assar, thought he played really good in this game. He had a few mid-range jump shots. Looks really comfortable with that. He had a nice mid-range bank shot. So, really good touch. If there’s one criticism I have of Assar is that he’s going to the midi a little too much. Like, he hit them. That’s good. Like, it was an efficient night for him. He had a really good night. He played a really good damn near a triple double. But there were some times when he turned his back to the basket like he was getting ready to go to the post fade away or just elevate over guys where I think he’s doing it. He went to it a little too much where he just sort of overpower him and try to lay up lay it up at the rim. I’m sure he’ll start to learn that as it goes on. That’s my one critique of the game tonight for him. But outside of that, fantastic defensively as usual. Really good passing game tonight. Did a really good job getting the Pistons into action. He ran a lot of point guard reps. He didn’t turn the ball over. He handled the pressure well. He was able to get them in the early offense and then get off the ball. Was active on the glass. He was fantastic. Assar, Ron, and Stu were fantastic in this game. This and look, the Pistons, this is something that has been going on. This is not just a oneame sample size. This is something we’ve seen going all the way back to the beginning of last year. This team is built on defense and running. This team is built on defense and running and your best defenders consist. You are consist for 12 months now. You have consistently been better when your best defensive players are on the floor. And if Ron is going to take the step offensively like he showed in this game, an efficient 19 and be aggressive as a shooter. And if Stu is going to take two threes and make two threes and be aggressive and beyond the arc again, and if a sergeant play like he did tonight, you got to play those guys, man. You just do. You got to play them. Let me read you guys these stats for tonight. And by the way, I’m not saying they didn’t play. I saw played 33 minutes, which I loved. Iron, they found a way to game 27 minutes, which I love. Still played 25. I think he should have played more. So, it’s not that they didn’t play. I’m not saying that. But I think they should have played even more. But let me just give you guys an idea. You guys can take this for what you want. Make your own takeaways. Two stats. One, the Isaiah Stewart, Ron Holland, Assar Thompson trio played 12 minutes tonight. They won their minutes by 14 points. In the 12 minutes that those three guys shared the floor, they outscored the Bulls by 14 points. That’s stat number one. I could give you guys the the offensive and defensive rating, but in such a short sample size, I I whatever I just look at the plus 14. They outscored by 14 when they were on the floor. Next that stat, the Pistons played Ryan Holland and Assar Thompson for nearly 20 minutes in this game. In those minutes when they played together, they outscored the Bulls 48- 36. All I’m saying, this isn’t new. This is not new. I understand it’s October 22nd while I’m saying this. I feel comfortable saying this because again, this is not me going off a one game sample size. This has been the case now for over a for a year now. I say exactly a year. You have to play those guys. Like, they just got to. If you have to make some tough decisions with the rotation, some people’s ms get cut. I mean, it is what it is. But those guys are your best players. Stu is is one of your best players. Ron is going to be one of your better players this year. Assar is going to be one of those your better players this year. And when they’re on the floor together with Stu because he’s able to space the floor out and give you spacing, they are good. They are going to be they were good last year. They’re going to be good again this year because this team identity is defense. It’s defense. You got to play those guys. Those guys got to be played. You got you you just got to play them more. You got they got to play more than 12 minutes a game together. That’s your bet. That’s your future right there. That that that foundation that’s the future foundation. The lineup of Cade, Assar, Ron, Tobias, Stew accomplishes everything I’ve told you guys I’ve wanted to see with Kade for years, where he’s the smallest guy in the floor. You have two wings who are hyper athletic, able to get to the rim, maybe take some of the load off of him as creation, but are also crazy defenders. You have a guy at the five that can shoot that also is a great defender. And then you have an offensive heavy four. It’s not the most per It’s not the perfect guys at each spot. You can maybe do it better at the four spot, get a better super offensive heavy guy, but Tobias fills that role. And those minutes, they were great. They were great because you have size, you have defense, you’re getting actual stops, and you’re able to run. I mean, that’s again, that’s been the case for a year now. I I want to shout out Stu again, though. That’s how like I’m so impressed with how great Stu was tonight that I I can’t end this segment without saying shout out to Stu again. He was fantastic in this game. Absolutely fantastic. Coming up, was this a bad sign for the Pistons or just a bad night? I’ll tell you guys what I’m thinking after just one game coming up. When I found out Skins was making underwear for men, I was intrigued. I’ve heard so much about their quality from friends and family, so I had to give it a try. And let me tell you, it lives up to the hype. I’ve always had issues with underwear, fit, comfort, or just finding the right style for me. Skiims changed all of that. Their men’s line offers something for everyone, from boxer briefs to classic briefs, all designed with the perfect balance of comfort and style. And I obviously have myself my own pair of Skiims boxer briefs, and I’m absolutely hooked. These are perfect for my active lifestyle. 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Was this a bad night or a bad sign for the Detroit Pistons? It was a bad night for the Detroit Pistons. However, it was a bad night. It’s just one game. It’s just one game. Let’s not panic too much. Okay, let’s everyone calm down. I saw people panicking. I get it. It was a bad loss, but it’s one game. So, yes, it was just a bad night for the Detroit Pistons. However, there were there were little, you know, sprinkles of of pixie dust or actually not even pixie dust. I I I thought that actually is the exact opposite of what would you what was the opposite of sprinkling those pixie dust? You you sprinkle pixie dust for good luck, right? What’s the opposite? But you think like what what what would like coal or little you know pieces of coal whatever. I messed up the I God man. Damn it. I messed up the My point is is that they were they were signs of bad signs. They were they were little inklings of things that you need to look at that could potentially be bad signs is my point. Man, I messed it up, dude. It was supposed to be I thought I really had one with that. I’m not going to lie to you. But uh here are some of the things I want you guys need to watch for. Number one, I it is concerning for me that already in game one, we’re already seeing Duran struggle defensively against stretch fives again. That V like it didn’t not just struggle, V literally had maybe the best game he’s going to have all year. Like 28 and 14 on 11 of 18 shooting for Stu for V at this age like that might be the best game of the year for him. So Duran’s defense was already like seeing it not look very improved. I know it’s just one game, but that’s something just to keep an eye on. It was a bit concerning for me. Honestly, what should what should have been higher I I honestly should have mentioned this first because it feels this is honestly more important right now. There’s been a lot of noise made about the lack of Malik Beasley obviously on the roster and what losing his shooting is going to do. And I’ve said over and over, while they’ll miss his shooting, they should gain stuff in other areas of the floor that will offset it and make them a better team, like their size, their improved defense. with Caris, the the the improved playmaking that you’ll get from Duncan Robinson, stuff like that. And while Duncan had a bad game tonight, he played very bad tonight. I don’t I He’s not going to shoot 05 every game. He’s going to shoot. He’s going to be a better shooter. He’s been a shooter his whole life. I I’m not concerned about him eventually being able to shoot the ball. Um and I I’m not as high on Caris, but I thought Caris did some good things. Just it was a roller coaster. What you need to watch for though with the concern while I was not as heavily concerned about the Malik Beasley loss concerning that what you do need to watch for is that Malik was their one volume three-point shooter which means without him they need other people to shoot open threes when they are there. It puts an emphasis on the fact that everyone else when they do get an open three, they have to shoot it because you don’t have someone now that’s going to get 12 threes up a game, even when they’re contested, to make up that math problem. And I hate to say that. I know people are going to hate to hear, but that at the end of the day, that is what it is. You don’t have someone that’s going to make up the math problem not getting enough threes up because they’re going to take 12 and make five. Like that’s you’re going to need your other guys when they’re open to actually let it fly. And too too often, many possessions tonight, Tobias got an open three off a kick out and instead of shooting it, he jab, jabbed, and tried to go into an ISO post up. I understand that’s his game, but with this team this year, that could be a problem. That very well could be a for last year’s team. You can do that. For this year’s team, Tobias is one of their better shooters. He has to shoot threes. If he’s not going to shoot threes, they may run into a problem here. Same thing even with Kade. I know Kate took six in this game, but I feel like he even had more opportunities. He dribbled himself into some tough shots. Even Assar Assar had two attempts in this or two chances in this game to catch and shoot an open three. I know, look, a man shot 07. I know that’s been the talk in the piston to me. Oh, I man shot 0 of7. I know Assar is going to be even worse. B look again without Malik and THA as stationary volume three-point shooters. When they get open threes, they have to let it go. Assaar had two opportunities. Assaar taking two threes is not going to kill the game. And hopefully he makes one. Like that’s what you just got to live with. When he gets an open catch and shoot three, he has to let it go. Ron, I loved it from him tonight cuz Ron did this. Anytime Ron got the ball and they kicked out to an open three, he shot one of four. But it is what it is. He understands that, hey, if I’m out on the floor and they get the attention of the defense and they kick it out to me, I have to shoot this. I have to shoot. I have to have confidence. I have to let it go. And hopefully as the season goes on, Ron makes more than just 104 in a night. But Ron honestly, I feel like had the the the best um decision making when it came to that type of shot selection. He was the only one that understood, I got to let it go. This team needs me to let it go. Caris even had a few options to do it. Stu, I love from St. Ste realized he one of his threes was pretty contested and made it. He understands I have to get threes up. This is that is one of the areas again while I am not as high on the alert button when it comes to oh they lost Malik Beasley it’s time to press the the red button I think they have other thing like I’ve said all also I think they have other things that can fill it in that I’m confident will fill it in but those things won’t matter if the Pistons better shooters and even two of their nonshooters quote unquote are scared to shoot threes they have like when it’s open especially Tobias and Caris when they get an open three, they have to let it go, bro. You have to. The Pistons, just for example, they only made seven threes in this game. They only took 24. Seven of 24, shot 29% from threes, but only got 24 up. You’re just not going to win that way in today’s NBA. It’s not going to happen. It’s not going to happen. You’re not going to win many games making seven threes in a game. I like I just clicked a random game from tonight just to push this forward and then we’ll wrap it up. I picked the the Brooklyn Nets Charlotte game. Charlotte shot 17 of 36 from three. Brooklyn shot 40 14 of 40. Listen man, it’s 2025. I’m not saying the Pistons have to lead the lead in three-point attempts, but 24 attempts might be the the least amount you’ll see in the NBA tonight on opening night. And seven made threes probably will be the least amount you’ll see in the NBA tonight. Tobias, when you get a catch and shoot three, you have to let it go, man. They need you to do that. That’s your That’s going to be your role for this year’s team. They have you have to shoot more than three threes a game. And Duncan, guys, shoot better than 0 and five, man. They need you. But that’s the only thing I have. It was fun watching the game with you guys. It was hype. Everyone was excited. Tough finish. But look, man, they’re back on Friday and hopefully they correct some of the mistakes. It’s just one game. Don’t freak out too much. It was just a bad night. But like I said, there was a little sprinkling of that pixie dust I was talking about with some potential potential bad signs to watch for. Um, I’m I’m going to stick with the pixie dust until someone corrects me and tells me what it actually should have been. Um, that’s all I got for you guys today. Thank guys for making lockdown on piss your first listen every single day. Green available on all your podcast platforms. Hit that subscribe button to the YouTube channel. Leave us a fivestar review. Whatever podcast platform you’re listening to this on. And until next time, I will see you guys later. Stay safe out there and peace out everybody.

Pistons stumble in season opener. Is it time to panic or just growing pains?

Host Ku Khahil breaks down Detroit’s disappointing loss to the Chicago Bulls, highlighting Cade Cunningham’s struggles and defensive lapses. Despite the setback, bright spots emerge with Isaiah Stewart, Ron Holland, and Ausar Thompson shining. The analysis covers rotation adjustments, three-point shooting concerns, and Jalen Duren’s challenges against stretch bigs. Ku examines whether this loss signals deeper issues or if it’s simply a rough start for a young team with high expectations.

Tune in for expert insights on the Pistons’ path forward and potential lineup changes to watch for in upcoming games.

PLAYBACK: playback.tv/watchpistons

SUBSTACK: https://kukhahil.substack.com/SUBDEAL

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