ClutchFans Game Thread: Pistons @ Rockets 1/1/2024

What is the name of the lady at the left....

This is probably Picture of the Night....

 

Players are saying: ‘Silas, this ime guy cannot win a single challenge. You were the best’

 

That is actually looking bad for the players because players are the first ones yelling to challenge it.......tells you Silas never trusted the players.

 

At halftime, I was actually worried.
A 4pt lead is nothing, and I was afraid we were going to let these guys hang close for too long.

But then, the 3rd qtr happened

 

Jalen played composed yesterday. Needs to figure out a few things about how to play in this offense. The blow-by speed doesn't work as much in half court sets, especially with Alpy "messing up" the spacing. They need a big who's a knockdown shooter (Lopez) to space the floor out more for those drives. Cam would benefit from this as well. Bench brigade with Jalen/Cam/FVV/Tari/Shooting Big could stretch leads when the starters sit.

Green/Sengun need a couple of things to not get in each others way. Alpy needs a more consistent 3 ball and Jalen needs to study SGA and how he gets his shots off in half court sets.

 

Bingo, but Lopez is also needed by Milwaukee so his money should have been about 35-36 million.....very costly.

 

I think I’m going to get on LP and watch the 3rd quarter again. It’s an entire game’s worth of thrills and spills, as well as several of Sengun’s dimes, crammed into one quarter. Happy New Year!

 

Can’t get enough of Sengun’s impossible shot. Amen bounces into the frame for the rebound, only there’s no rebound to be had. It’s wild seeing Wiseman’s jaw drop as the basketball finds nothing but net. A Sengun classic clip for the ages, @TimDuncanDonaut.

 

Its not just that, but defenses really clog the paint when Jalen has the ball. He hardly ever has a "clear path" to the rim. Then you watch bench players have wide open lanes, because the defense is more spread out.

Having Tate and Sengun in the starting lineup really amplifies the spacing and him being able to shoot these past few games from deep was key. Its important to his success and role on this offense to become at minimum an average or better shooter from 3.

With Sengun being our offensive hub with the starters, having 4 good shooters is ideal. Jabari is good, dillon has been great, FVV is good and Jalen is just streaky af and overall not good enough as a whole, but shows you the potential of this offense when hes "on".

I'd love Jalen to have more pace and spacing on the "Jalen led" bench units. Play more 5 out with Jeff or Jabari at the 5. But ultimately we dont have enough shooters for that. Amen is coming along great but doesnt have a shot from deep. Tate just cant make a bucket from deep at a good enough clip.

I'd like to move Tate and Jock at the deadline for a backup big and open up more playing time for Cam.

 

KPJ isn't there to throw him the soup though.

 

Solid win, man Duren and Wiseman in particular look big next to our scrawny little front court. My god...and Sengun still took both of them to school haha Nice to see Jalen finally making quick decisions, not turning it over though did have some errand passes that lead to them, and scoring it. Ime was saying Jalen needs to learn when to pass up a shot and when to just launch it, which we saw Jalen do way too much lately. Passing up open shots only to take a contested shot or dribbling into no mans land / double teams etc. Nice to see a change, at least for one game. That 3rd quarter was just a thing of beauty, especially with the circus shots going in. Best quarter of the year!

 

Other than Tate for the time being, the spacing was the same last year and Green had no issues. I think it's as simple as Jalen only shooting 14 FGs instead of the 18fgs last season and not hitting his shots. Also, not having the fast break opportunities because apparently we don't do that here. With how good of a PG we have and 5th in the league in defensive rebounds, we should average 17 pts in transition, 6 every night for Green. Instead, we pull back and set. Easy buckets could be had if he cut to the basket off the ball.
https://www.teamrankings.com/nba/stat/fastbreak-points-per-game

It was always going to take more than 30 games for Green to learn playing this offense. He will be more comfortable past all star break like he does every year.

 

Yet Amen was getting in the lane and finding the open man at will.

FVV is not a good transition PG. He is trying to get better, but he has always brought the ball up slowly and he is a terrible at finishing layups. That’s why I like the idea of an Amen, Jalen, Tari bench unit.

 

Did Silas cry when he saw his former players?

 

Honestly don't understand why the team doesn't do more Jalen/Bari pnr possessions.


Bari commands respect outside the paint due to him being a good confident shooter and Jalen commands respect in terms of driving lanes. That seems like a good fit for a pnr pair.

 

I think pace and usage is a part of it, but its also offensive philosophy right. we are a grinder team in the half court now, and that leads to a more congested offense by nature. Plus, i think the scouting report is out to sag off of Jalen and clog the paint when he has the ball, as we are seeing it a ton more this year.

i know people dont like to believe it but Jalen still gets a ton of defensive attention from teams. Obviously much more attention is being paid to Sengun now, but Jalen still gets game planned for and for the season that game plan has worked.

His FTs are down because his drives are down. Teams are keeping him from the rim, where he is terrible in the 3-10ft range. Its mostly either a low percentage shot or a sloppy handle. When he actually gets to the rim hes finishing at a very respectable clip.

I think that is the key to the film session he had with Udoka to go over how teams are defending him. We are seeing much more 3pt shots being taken because teams play under the screen or sage off because hes below average from deep.

Udoka preaches correct shot all the time, and i think its obvious these past few games they think this is the shot. Make or miss league tho, if hes 1 of 6 vs 5 of 6 is a huge difference in his production for this team. I do believe Udoka would be content with the misses if they were the correct read.

I just want more makes, because well, im just a dumb ass bug.

 

This is exactly what im referencing. Jalen has been getting defended a certain way for some time now where the paint is much more clogged. He doesnt have as many of those straight line attempts anymore.

I think this is what him and udoka had a session about, and thus why hes pulling up from 3 more these past few games.

 

Ya Green''s blow by speed by defenders still is elite. It's just getting past the initial defender does much with how defenses play Green... sag off and pack the paint.


When you see guys like Brooks or Jabari get to the rim on a dribble drive you can see how different that's defended vs with Green. Usually those guys just have to beat one defender and they get a clea straight line drive to the rim with just a single defender at the hip.

Green hardly has those type of looks.

 

until he becomes a consistent threat from deep, it will continue being that way unfortunately. Its gotta be part of his evolution. At least with the starters.

Him running a more 5-out bench lineup would be great. Holiday, Green, Eason, Jabari, (Smith or Brooks depending on needing to be big or small). Running the PnR-PnP with Jabari at the 5 should really be in the bench playbook.