bsilver wrote:Ausur Thompson was doing a good job on Brunson, and Detroit built up a lead. For some reason BVickerstaff replaced Thompson with Schroeder and Brunson started scoring. Totally changed the game. Bad move.
I don't think this narrative is accurate. Bickerstaff basically alternated Thompson and Schroder as the primary defender on Brunson.
Ausar Thompson's on/off was -7. Schroder's was +7.
Ausar was indeed better defensively than Schroder, but the issue is that he kills spacing at the other end. It's just tough to play Ausar and one of Duren/Reed at the same time. The lane gets too clogged. It's the classic case where the good things that Ausar does are clearly evident (defensive stops), but that bad things he causes just don't get noticed. Nobody blames Ausar when his defender is able to leave him and tag a roll man with no consequences.