Yahoo Sports Daily hosts Caroline Fenton and Jason Fitz discuss why the Detroit Pistons’ lack of success from the three-point arc will hurt their chances at winning the Eastern Conference. Watch the full episode of Yahoo Sports Daily on YouTube or YahooSports.TV.
View more
Advertisement
Video Transcript
If you’re a Pistons fan, I am terrified of this team’s ability to shoot the three.
They were l- nine to 24 from three last night.
When you have Cade Cunningham, going Excuse me, nine to 24 from three last night.
Cade Cunningham oh for three from beyond the arc.
And you look at the rest of the teams in the East, let’s just look at Cleveland last night, Jalen Tyson five of 12 from three.
This team as a whole, 17 of 46.
Even though the threes weren’t falling, they were still taking that sheer number of threes.
Jalen Tyson almost shoo- shooting almost 50% from three this season.
And then you look at Boston, we know that Boston wants to shoot the three.
Advertisement
You look at New York, you know the, how they are able to shoot the three.
That if you look at the landscape of this East, I don’t know if even with all of the physicality, even with Cade Cunningham looking like the league MVP, even though Detroit can play a level of defense that has been wildly impressive, if Detroit can’t figure out a way to more consistently shoot and make threes, this Pistons team will not come out of the East.
That, I think, revealed itself last night, that, you know, the ultimate fatal flaw of this team is their ability to shoot from beyond the arc.
I am terrified of that if I’m a Pistons fan.
Advertisement
Well, I’m also, for the Pistons, terrified of who the other guy is gonna be that steps up, right?
Like, I think to, to have a, a long playoff run, you’ve gotta have somebody else that can pop off on a night where somebody’s just cold, ’cause that’s gonna happen throughout the course of the playoffs.
Mm-hmm.
And like, if we’re giving a little bit of credit here to the Cavs, by the way, like, that’s one thing I do love about the Cavs, Donovan Mitchell, Harden, Garland, these are all guys that can go off any given night, they can have a massive night.
So if you shut everything else down or somebody’s cold- Mm-hmm there is a path to victory that doesn’t involve one superstar.
Advertisement
What concerns me about the Pistons is I don’t see somebody that I think can reliably take over three, four, five games over the course of a long playoff run.
That’s part of why I constantly, I think, champion the depth of teams like Oklahoma City.
It’s part of why I like a team like Denver.
It’s part of why I, I respect, you know, what- whatever the Celtics are gonna be whenever Tatum comes back, ’cause it gives them a secondary option that can take over on any given night.
The Pistons lack that to me.
So, you know- Mm-hmm as much as, yes, Cade Cunningham has been absolutely great, I, I’m not looking at, at Tobias Harris or Jalen Duren as a guy that I think night in and night out is gonna turn around and win you big games that you need won.
So I’m concerned.