#53 - Pistons-Hornets - 1pm ET

[pistonsbball]

These are the wins you need to get. Great job to pull it out.

[Canadafan]

This is the only positive of Ivey getting hurt. Ausar starts and gets more playing time. I think he is still on a minutes restriction, right?

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As far as I know, yes. I heard/read somewhere 28mpg.

In any event, watching Ausar initiate the offense, allowing Cade to come to a simple ball hand-off, and easily score is exciting as hell.

The bench with Schroder running it, looked really damn good.

Just the internal growth of this exact group of players is starting to get super exciting. Adding key pieces around d the edges, has been astounding, in terms of results.

I honestly wonder what this team will look like towards the end of the year. Could be something that surprises us all.

Ya i think we're gonna all have some fun here the next few months. Coming together nicely.
Now this summer we have one goal-improve our PF position. Even if it's just a guy to split time with Tobias

[Moses ShamMoses]

Simone Fontecchio has been awful this year. He's shooting 38% from the field and 32% from three. I remember him being pretty good last season, which makes me wonder what happened. Any ideas? I'm hoping getting the second unit a real point guard will invigorate his game because this guy shoots like he's hot and misses seemingly every stinkin' time.

[Cowology]

Simone Fontecchio has been awful this year. He's shooting 38% from the field and 32% from three. I remember him being pretty good last season, which makes me wonder what happened. Any ideas? I'm hoping getting the second unit a real point guard will invigorate his game because this guy shoots like he's hot and misses seemingly every stinkin' time.

Some guys are able to play better with a larger role. Being able to come in cold, have no feel and then catch & shoot is challenging for him and he hasn't gotten comfortable in his role.

It's possible he bounces back in a different situation, but feels like Utah came to the same conclusion. Good on bad team, bad on good team.

[bstein14]

Simone Fontecchio has been awful this year. He's shooting 38% from the field and 32% from three. I remember him being pretty good last season, which makes me wonder what happened. Any ideas? I'm hoping getting the second unit a real point guard will invigorate his game because this guy shoots like he's hot and misses seemingly every stinkin' time.

Some guys are able to play better with a larger role. Being able to come in cold, have no feel and then catch & shoot is challenging for him and he hasn't gotten comfortable in his role.

It's possible he bounces back in a different situation, but feels like Utah came to the same conclusion. Good on bad team, bad on good team.

Yes, if Cade went out for a few weeks and if Ivey was also out, I think Font gets 10+ FGAs per game for a a few weeks and he's able to get in a rhythm and make it happen. It is a different mindset for sure when you get in for 12 to 16 MPG most nights and on average you might get up 2-5 shots a night. Same thing goes for Sasser to a degree.

[NYPiston]

Ausar learning to handle the ball effectively and allowing Cade to play off ball more can be a ceiling raiser for this team this season and especially beyond.
Need to see it against better teams to be confident in it working but it's an intriguing option to look out for going forward that could unlock this team's potential.

[zeebneeb]

Welp, it seems Duren got it, something Andre never really did.

https://www.si.com/nba/pistons/news/detroit-pistons-big-man-gets-honest-on-recent-surge-01jkqxss0c94

Over the Past 13 games, Durens averages;

27.8MPG
14.6PPG
12.1RPG
2.7APG
1.1BPG
.848FT%
.711FG%

This is exactly what the team needs.

[bstein14]

After Duren put up 13.8 and 11.6 last year I thought that 16 and 13 was possible this year but Stew also has been good so Duren hasn't been getting 30 MPG like I thought he might. It does feel like Duren should be top 3 in rebounding every year.

[tmorgan]

Ausar learning to handle the ball effectively and allowing Cade to play off ball more can be a ceiling raiser for this team this season and especially beyond.
Need to see it against better teams to be confident in it working but it's an intriguing option to look out for going forward that could unlock this team's potential.

That’s going to need a LOT of off-season work, but I think it’s a good idea. This “one of” when Cade sat out doesn’t count, because he wasn’t planned for by the defense.

His handle needs a ton of work. Decision-making less so, but still a lot. But he has natural gifts you can’t teach, and we already know someone that’s nearly identical that can do it, so…. yeah. invest.