Defense has RETURNED to Detroit | Woodward Pistons

Defense has RETURNED to Detroit | Woodward Pistons

Detroit it is wake up Woodward thank you all for starting your day off with us we we we appreciate it all the time all of the support all of the interaction all the engagement all the laughs all of that man need you guys to get those mailbag questions in there please smash

That like button as always encourage your friend to do so as well the phone lines are open 31355 26322 shout out shift God in the chat shout out Mike G big conon 51 Chef talks NFL grommet 237 we got some OG’s in here we got some great new members of the

Chat thank you all for being here thank you I just want to remind you guys I know the Pistons have been having a difficult season but we are lucky enough to be joined by Woodward Sports networks Woodward Sports Network credential beat writer and reporter Kool-Aid who has some exclusive access to this team

You’ve seen them over the last two years you’ve seen some struggles but you’ve seen them start to do some things recently also um that maybe give you a little bit of Hope talk to me a little bit just about the the the Vibe the aura as the kids are saying these days that

Practice yesterday yeah listen man being able to kind of talk to Monty Williams who seems to be at a little bit more ease with this current construction of the roster and it’s only been eight games since the trade deadline but he seems to really really like kind of the

Fit of these guys and more so the hustle in the defense and it’s just by the eye test you look at this team and you could tell they’re hustling a little bit more they’re doing things that look a little bit more like the identity of detroiters and that’s what you want to see

Obviously wins is what you want to see most importantly but as it relates to being able to get this team there there are steps in that man and I have noticed some things here I was able to kind of talk to Isaiah Stewart about that as

Well I’m exced about what the new guys have kind of brought to the table and if it has reinvigorated them and I got some stats that prove this not just from the team overall but even Kade Cunningham you want to talk about a reinvigoration of a player this guy and I’ll tease one

Of the stats has jumped from offensive his offensive efficiency before the trade deadline fast forward right he was in the bottom 350 350 now he’s in the top 50 since the trade deadline that’s crazy but we’re going to talk about it but first let’s uh let’s get this question in to Isaiah

Stewart know you guys got a lot of new players at the trade deadline but with that it seemed like an improvement in Hustle and defense what’s been your thoughts on uh what the new guys have brought as well as uh some type of reinvigoration for you all oh yeah um

It’s been great um you know like I said I feel like the new guys uh you know they’re all playing hard um you know they cheering for one another which is important and you know having everybody um you know be happy for one another and just hooping you know um just going out

There playing defense you know I love how um the new guys you got are um you know trying to hang their hats on the defensive end and you know obviously with you know offense that will come but uh you know I feel like defensively you know the guys we got um you know

Definitely sticking their nose in there and getting dir love that that question Cool Aiden and while while some people might think why why do you have to ask professional athletes about hustle and and you know doing the little things the things that maybe don’t show up in a stat book to me

As as a a more casual fan this year you’re you got the exclusive look what I noticed from a young team earlier in the season when they couldn’t they couldn’t buy a win was they they weren’t hustling they weren’t out hustling the other team I should say they weren’t winning those

5050 balls and those you can be a bad team but you can’t let that happen if you’re younger more energized all this team had too much hope to be the the the less uh energized team so I love to hear that what was your take away from what

Beu had to say back to you I think one of the most key statements or phrases in that is I love how the new guys when you hear that he’s already talking about and putting a differentiation between the players that were here before and the players that are here now and what was

The biggest difference the veterans you look at what Boon’s doing you look at what Alec Burks is doing New York Knicks fans they’re like yo do these guys play any type of Defense right now are they pissed they’re pissed wow they think that they got a little bit fleec man

Because you know you’re paying boan bonovich not just this year but next year $20 million he’s still in the books for next season Alec barks was a player that they thought hey he was here before maybe we can resign him I don’t think that that’s going to be the case he’s

Averaging under 10 points per game and the defense is looking very very shouty they got rid of a lot of the veterans a lot of the people that Monty Williams in a lineup would love to be able to rely on and now they brought in guys like Simone fio who’s played fabulous you

Want to talk about swapping out a Knox swapping out a boan bonovich swapping out of Alec Burks and really giving those minutes to Samone fio he’s just been way more efficient he’s played a lot better defense and he’s shot the ball he shot the lights out the ball man

From behind the arc uh and those are the types of things when you look at Beef St there there were other questions asked to him as well about do you kind of like the way that the NBA is being called right now he’s like you know what if

They’re going to let us play physical of course I do and he believes it has a lot to do with the players that they have right now now that makes him more confident in that and look to take a page out of Mr Sam flannel Reynolds

Books here I do got some stats to back up that the Detroit Pistons that the Detroit Pistons are taking a step forward man steals per game is up from 5.8 to 7.1 per game that’s last in the NBA to number 22 in the NBA since the trade deadline since the trade deadline

Versus the beginning of the Season up until February 8th the rebounds for G were 43.2 up to 45.8 that’s number 16 in the league up to number five in the NBA nice the defensive rating and I wrote an article about this what’s the difference between where the Orlando Magic are

Right now with their rebuild relying on young players in the Detroit Pistons their offensive ratings are largely the same but the defensive rating the Pistons were dead last in defensive uh rating at 122 uh per game do you guys know where they are right now or where you think

They ranking NBA since the trade deadline probably like 24th 25th they ranked 16th in the NBA right now since the trade deadline in defensive rating they’re down to 11 14.8 which is similar to what the Orlando Magic have if they started the year like this you’re

Looking at a much better team yeah um their field goal percentage their field goal is attempted they’ve gone from 17th in the NBA to five in the NBA which means they’re getting up a few more shots per game which is increasing their pace and what I really liked is these

New players not only did they help to improve what Detroit’s doing on on the defensive end hustling getting the steals getting out on fast breaks they look to be a faster team they look to be more just fundamentally sound defensively not only did that help uh the defense overall but Kade Cunningham

Talk to me since the trade deadline and I’m telling you guys Kade is him his offensive rating has gone from 107.8 which was number 385 in the league to um to now 12.2 offensive rating which is number 47th in the NBA this man has had

Over 30 in almost 40 Point 340 spot jump in his offensive rating since they’ve given this man a little bit better Shooters a little bit better Defenders he doesn’t have to do as much his his usage rate we kept saying he cannot be at a 30 uh 30.0 usage rate you need to

Get that down really to like 23 to 25 it is coming down now he’s at 28 it’s dropped a couple points field goal percentage from 44 points per uh 44% per game up to 55% per game since the trade deadline three-point percentage 33.9 up to 46.2 and his rebounds jumped up about 1

And a half as well you’re looking at a absolute kind of Renaissance as it relates to how this team is playing and when you look at the record over the last eight it stinks that they’re two and six in the last eight because two of those losses could have easily been wins

When you look at the New York Knicks game and when you look at uh the Orlando Magic game they could be 500 and you know who they’ve largely played playoff teams the Phoenix Suns the LA Lakers the LA Clippers the New York Knicks the Orlando magic the Portland Trailblazers

These are the teams that they’ve played over this stretch of games in which realistically if things were called the right way you’re looking at a team that’s been 500 since the trade deadline and all of the numbers are trending towards the Detroit Pistons realistically finally at least at a

Foundational basis doing the things that have always been the underpinings for a successful Detroit Pistons team it should give you a little bit more hope as it relates to where this thing is going I get it people want to see a little bit better out of the rot from

Willams want to see better out of Troy Weaver he’s not resolved from criticism here you waited this to be able to bring in the right types of players to surround these guys this should have been from the beginning of the season that’s just point blank period it’s

Still not complete yeah what what you talking about it’s still not complete yeah it’s not it’s not you they got some steps to take they have some serious steps to take and I don’t believe it’s on the players any longer when you see kind of your your star your leader in K

Cunningham respond very favorably to the moves that have happened it’s not not because now all of a sudden you say okay let me play no his usage was up to 30 yeah he was playing he had the ball in his hands but when the whole entire

Defense says we we can crash on this guy because we don’t trust anybody else on this roster then that’s a that’s a problem that front office has to fix and they have to solve and going into the next season don’t r on your laurels we want to see these players take a step

Forward in their development but go out there and grab a couple players that you know can contribute on both ends of the floor the guys that they traded out you look at their defic their defensive efficiency it is trash compared to what they have right now I don’t know what

They were looking at prior because all the stuff all the stuff you can easily look up you can easily look up I don’t know if they just thought hey in the offensive League we’re going to go out there and have a better offense than other teams well we’ll get boan Alec

Burks get some of these guys that can shoot some threes this is Detroit baby that has never been how it’s done and you look at this they made a move to improve the defense and their offensive efficiency improved as well isn’t that a weird concept it’s a weird concept and

Like you said this isn’t the finishing prop the the finished product this isn’t the team that’s going to be in the playoffs one day but this is the foundation some of these players they brought in are just resetting almost the floor where they’re they’re they’re building that culture it’s not I’m not

Going to compare it to the Lions quite yet like that takes some time but just in terms of developing that type of culture that gritty mentality that going to work Pistons mentality even if they’re not on your roster next year you at least need those guys uh like

Fetuccini like Simone fio um who can play three and D not just three you got to have a d and Simone is Fast Forward boy Simone fio and quinon Grimes these are two guys that are highly confident you see them kind of walking around the gym and you can

Tell These Guys these guys want to help bring this team to winning they feel like they’re wanted now uh the New York Knicks kind of sheld Quinton Grimes the Utah Jazz with in his RFA year his restrictive free agency year just said hey we’re not bringing you back he’s

Saying he wants to put down Roots here and that’s what you want to hear that’s what you want to hear about the guys that are here not only do they want to be here but they want to do it the way that Detroit does it as well uh a couple

Other things um I think we got the video of assar Thompson we could play as well to see that he’s trying to expand this game right now I believe and I’ve been saying this since the beginning of the year if you want to get the best out of

Assar Thompson your number five draft pick you got to get him busy in the midrange earlier in the season his shot did not look as good it looked a lot more line drive it he has a little bit more Arc to it now he’s a lot more

Consistent even in practice as well and honestly I’m telling you guys in the beginning of the season was all three-point shooting three-point shooting three-point shooting three-point shooting now they’re getting them out and doing a little bit more dribble drive moves midrange moves you know his pet move is when he kind of

Puts his back to the basket in the mid-range and he does a little turnaround he seems to be really really comfortable with that but these are types of things that he was going through yesterday uh and it’s really honestly a good thing to see yeah I I love seeing him develop the mid-range

And and of course over time in the long run we want to see him improve his three-point shooting but in this year one let’s just see him get comfortable making some basket seeing the ball go through the hoop we talked about or we’ve been talking football for so long

Uh over the last couple months but you think about the difference in the the levels that having a guy like Aman Ross Aman Rin Brown and Sam leapor in the middle needing that deep threat from Jameson Williams or any deep threat you know just to spread out the field it

Keeps them honest in the middle if you you need the same thing in basketball too you need need someone to control the mid-range or at least to be a threat especially someone like assar Thompson who’s such a good cutter he’s so athletic if he can cut if you if he’s

Just going to go to the hole every single time you can prepare for that you you know what’s coming but if you have to worry about him catching and shooting just from the free throw line that’s one extra Split Second that you got to take to think maybe that’s a a Flinch forward

From a Defender that allows him to get to the basket or he starts making that uh that shot at the elbow I’d love to see it yeah because what it does is especially if if you can be efficient with that shot and the trust me the mid-range shot is probably the least

Efficient shot to take in all basetball a start man yeah but but it’s a start for him especially if that’s where he’s comfortable at and when you get him into the middle I think his eyes actually get more big about getting to the rack and one thing that I’ve heard make a return

Uh kind of to the media availability from Monty Williams is now he’s talking more and more about the 05 second offense it was more difficult for them to do that with guys like boan banovich Alec Burks Kevin kn is pretty decent at it but now that you can rely on these

Young players who actually have the athleticism they have the speed they have the desire they have the legs they can actually run this offense a lot better and we’re seeing that Improvement explain cuz cuz we touch on all the sports and some people are are uh basketball experts in the chat some

Maybe this is new to them explain briefly what what is that offense you’re talking about or or Monty Williams philosophy yeah the point 5sec offense was supposed to be an offense where you make up your mind or your decision even before you get the ball cuz you know the

Play you know that you’re going to pass dribble or shoot decide to do one of those things within 0.5 seconds and get into it but you have to have kind of Highly efficient players you have to have players that have the skill set you have to have players that are fast you

Have to have players that can dribble the ball you have to have players that are athletic and when you look at kind of the previous iteration of the Pistons they just were not skilled enough now they have guys on this roster that have been drafted within the last one to four

Years that’s about it all the veterans are gone off this team one to four one to five years that’s this entire team and these guys are hungry this is what we wanted to see to start the season and I do believe that the veterans on this squad actually crippled them to start

This year especially with Monty Williams when you know that’s what he wants to play but it didn’t necessarily mesh with the sty of offense when he brought the point5 second offense to uh the Phoenix Suns it actually dropped Devin Booker’s usage rate but it improved all of his

Other stats similar to what we’re seeing out of K Cunningham now that they have the right types of players to fit that offensive system I’d love to hear it I love to hear it did you have any other Clips to play or or anything to talk or

Or uh since you were just talking about oh is it you in five5 seconds you want to pass shoot or dribble what’s that called in basketball triple oh Triple Threat Triple Threat see it up there bro man real talko Triple Threat literally in basketball means when you get the

Ball you want in position where you one move you can either dribble you can shoot or you can pass so you want to catch it put it right here in some say your pocket some say your elbow what everyone has their philosophy but it allows you to do one of the three things

So yeah that’s kind of a lead into our next segment which is a brand new segment from Mr kg in the S I got high hopes for this segment this is fun we have no pre like we have no idea what he’s about to throw at us except for one

Hint of one question so we’ll see kg’s going to introduce it next but until then I’m going to tell you about dispo I’m going to tell you about dispo if you’re hungry you want some munchies you go to dispo

Rod Beard (Detroit News) and Brandon @DetroitKoolAid Dent (Woodward Sports Network) join WAKE UP WOODWARD to discuss the Detroit Pistons at the NBA Trade Deadline. Like , Subscribe and leave your comment below!

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Woodward Sports Pistons beat reporter Brandon @detroitkoolaid1585 Dent and Detroit News assistant sports editor Rod Beard.

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