The way way too early season stats.... We have a top 5 defense.

bstein14 · Post #1 » by **bstein14** » Sat Oct 28, 2023 4:18 am

Ok I know two games is way too early... but.

We have the fifth ranked defense with a defensive net rating of 99.5
Detroit's third in the league in opponent FG% inside 5 ft. Protecting the paint this year.

We lead the league in blocks per game.

We're fourth in the league in rebounding.

Jalen Duren leads the league in rebounds at 15.5 per game.

zeebneeb · Post #2 » by **zeebneeb** » Sat Oct 28, 2023 4:36 am

This is what happens when you start a massive lineup, have good defenders at every position, and its the coaches focal point.

I honestly don't give a **** if the offense sucks right now. The defense last year was almost historically bad. Fix that first, then start working the offense.

I love the rough and rumble nature of defense forward, amd tonight's game against the Hornets got me pumped. Crack some skulls Stew&Duren!

7r5ur · Post #3 » by **7r5ur** » Sat Oct 28, 2023 4:53 am

Would be insane if Duren led the league in rebounding while playing next to Stewart and Ausar, who will both be hovering up around 9-10 per game

vege · Post #4 » by **vege** » Sat Oct 28, 2023 4:59 am

We're probably 30th in TOs but defense and rebound are keeping us in the game, despite of bad offense.

7r5ur · Post #5 » by **7r5ur** » Sat Oct 28, 2023 5:02 am

vege wrote:We're probably 30th in TOs but defense and rebound are keeping us in the game, despite of bad offense.

Somehow Phoenix and New Orleans have more TO's per game than us.

keepitrealhomes · Post #6 » by **keepitrealhomes** » Sat Oct 28, 2023 5:13 am

vege wrote:We're probably 30th in TOs but defense and rebound are keeping us in the game, despite of bad offense.

Youngest starting lineup in the league is bound to have TO issues, but that can be corrected. It’s so goddamn encouraging to have a good defense for once

Moses ShamMoses · Post #7 » by **Moses ShamMoses** » Sat Oct 28, 2023 12:34 pm

well Killian has always been a good, strong defender for the pg position. I don't know if he'll be starting long if his offense doesn't pick up though. Ausar is a great addition, he has DPOY potential. The other guys seem to be buying into the defense first approach as well.

zeebneeb · Post #8 » by **zeebneeb** » Sat Oct 28, 2023 12:44 pm

keepitrealhomes wrote:
vege wrote:We're probably 30th in TOs but defense and rebound are keeping us in the game, despite of bad offense.

Youngest starting lineup in the league is bound to have TO issues, but that can be corrected. It’s so goddamn encouraging to have a good defense for once

If I remember correctly, it is one of the youngest starting lineups in NBA history (maybe the youngest) with Ivey instead of Hayes, but Hayes is only like 100 days older.

Smash mouth basketball is back!

Kalamazoo317 · Post #9 » by **Kalamazoo317** » Sat Oct 28, 2023 1:43 pm

It's way too early, but it matches the eye test. This is why I was excited about that third preseason starting lineup and have been really in favor of Ivey coming off the bench. Those five starters play defense on a string and work together really well. And we showed last night at least that we can sustain most of that when Burks (our clear sixth man right now) comes off the bench.

It breaks down a bit more after that once we start mixing in more of the poor defenders. It's nice to see guys like Ivey and Bagley starting to compete on defense, though.

The biggest two things that are holding us back defensively so far are 1. turnovers leading to fast break opportunities for the opponet and 2. our physical play is leading to too many fouls (I'm even fine with this one if we can just limit how many are on, you know, *Cade.*). I think both of these are parts of being a young team and Monty will help them improve on as we go.

I really like our playstyle and I'm buying into what Monty is doing here.

Moses ShamMoses wrote:well Killian has always been a good, strong defender for the pg position. I don't know if he'll be starting long if his offense doesn't pick up though. Ausar is a great addition, he has DPOY potential. The other guys seem to be buying into the defense first approach as well.

Last night had me wondering about the defensive/offensive potential for a starting lineup where we sub out Kill for Livers, once Livers is healthy. Similar quality of defender. You lose a bit of secondary ballhandling and playmaking, but you really improve the spacing without hurting the defense too badly, IMO. I think that'll be one to try for sure.

MrBigShot · Post #10 » by **MrBigShot** » Sat Oct 28, 2023 4:10 pm

Duren to start the year: 16/16/4 with 3 blocks on 79% shooting
Stewart: 15/10
Ausar: 10 rebounds and 3 blocks a game

This trio is a menace

keepitrealhomes · Post #11 » by **keepitrealhomes** » Sat Oct 28, 2023 6:55 pm

MrBigShot wrote:Duren to start the year: 16/16/4 with 3 blocks on 79% shooting
Stewart: 15/10
Ausar: 10 rebounds and 3 blocks a game

This trio is a menace

The Dawg Pound.

Post #12 » by **Snakebites** » Sat Oct 28, 2023 7:40 pm

Too early to tell, though I don’t believe we EVER strung together a pair of defensive performances like this last year.

Hopefully we can sustain the effort level and get the turnovers under control. It’s impressive we’ve been able to stay in games with so many plays being over before they start.

zeebneeb · Post #13 » by **zeebneeb** » Sat Oct 28, 2023 7:44 pm

Snakebites wrote:Too early to tell, though I don’t believe we EVER strung together a pair of defensive performances like this last year.

Hopefully we can sustain the effort level and get the turnovers under control. It’s impressive we’ve been able to stay in games with so many plays being over before they start.

Id also add that the Miami game the Pistons won 3 of the 4 quarters, and outrebounded the Heat.

Could have been looking at a 2-0 start if not for the crazy amount of turns. Alas, young teams pile em up fast.

As for the defense, oh your 100% correct. Last years team was a war crime.

Sort · Post #14 » by **Sort** » Sat Oct 28, 2023 9:05 pm

zeebneeb wrote:
Snakebites wrote:Too early to tell, though I don’t believe we EVER strung together a pair of defensive performances like this last year.

Hopefully we can sustain the effort level and get the turnovers under control. It’s impressive we’ve been able to stay in games with so many plays being over before they start.
Id also add that the Miami game the Pistons won 3 of the 4 quarters, and outrebounded the Heat.

Could have been looking at a 2-0 start if not for the crazy amount of turns. Alas, young teams pile em up fast.

As for the defense, oh your 100% correct. Last years team was a war crime.

In essence, last year I couldn't turn away in the manner one sees a car accident happen. This year I can't turn away because they're playing effing defense.

Hopefully, just hopefully, a sign of times to come.

Kalamazoo317 · Post #15 » by **Kalamazoo317** » Sun Oct 29, 2023 8:35 pm

Dog pound!!

vege · Post #16 » by **vege** » Sun Oct 29, 2023 9:35 pm

Alec Burks On-Off is + 52.4

The closest to that is Stew + 16.5

Sasser advanced stats are looking good.

Cade's TS% is 53.2 which I would say is acceptable for the kind of defense other teams have been throwing at him.

Cade is averaging 22.5/8/3 on 44/39/89 he's close to 50/40/90

Duren is averaging 18/15/4

Joe Harris TS% is lower than Ausar's TS%.

We're #7 in defensive rating and #4 in Net Rating

We're #1 in Offensive rebounds and #3 in Opponent FG%

Kalamazoo317 · Post #17 » by **Kalamazoo317** » Sun Oct 29, 2023 9:59 pm

You're allowed to be slightly less efficienty on offense if your offense game is driving the team's offense as a whole.