[Highlight] The Eastern Conference No. 1 Pistons and Western Conference No. 2 Spurs matchup tonight for the first time this season. Both teams rank in the top 3 in Team Defensive Rating.
Not having Beef Stew to guard Wemby is a problem for us, Duren has always been bad at guarding screeners who can shoot.
I just want the Spurs to put Wemby on Ausar tho at least some tho, we’ll see that in the playoffs I want us to see it before hand to be ready for it
Luckily for you guys Wemby aint much of a screener lol.
This might also be the first time Ive seen an opponent wish for Spurs to employ a strategy thats likely to be detrimental to them but makes sense.
Even if he just slips out without actually setting the screen, Duren has improved a lot defensively but he’s still a bit all or nothing when he guards a shooter.
And yeah I just want both Ausar and Duren to be ready for what they’ll see in the playoffs, I’d rather lose the game and collect data on that then just win with the Spurs having a completly vanilla scheme.
I feel like a lot of the game might be dictated by how physical the refs let them play. Both teams play with a lot of contact but Wemby might be the most affected by they allow a lot of bumping pushing.
I would take a bullet for Victor Wembanyama but that man hasn’t set a single legitimate screen in his entire life. I literally don’t think he physically can lol
It’s gonna be a great game and I’m more excited to see if we can contain Cade.
By screener I just meant in pick and roll/pop actions, even if he just slips out of there
Nah he sets a real screen once or twice a game. Vast majority he slips though
Funny because I’m worried Duren is gonna give Wemby a hard time and you’re here wishing Beef Stew would be the one guarding him
Duren can bully Wemby on the boards offensively, defensively if Wemby tries to go one on one vs him I think he’ll be fine, worst then Stew, but fine, he’s just not that good at guarding a shooter tho,he either overhelps or do the complete opposite and doesn’t provide any help and he just can’t guard a pick and pop.
That’s what lost us the Knicks series last year : any time Tobias was on KAT we won the minutes, anytime Jalen had to guard him we got fried
Not gonna lie, it would be a nice surprise if the Finals are a 2005 rematch. That said, it would also be a big surprise.
85-79 final score
Inshallah
The world is healing
2005 is back in a big way
Inject it into my veins
Need more defense-first highlights. “IF YOU DON’T LIKE THAT, YOU DON’T LIKE NBA BASKETBALL!”
That was super satisfying to look at. Although I was waiting for Castle clamping KD down to 1 second on the clock and Wemby coming to swat the desperation chuck
73-9 Warrior and 67-15 Spurs playing lockdown defence against each other at the end of 2015⁄16 regular season.
2005 finals
Winner gets the MVP if Shai and Jokic don’t hit 65 games!
Jokic not winning it anyway
Yuh huh
Super excited for Castle/Harper vs Cade.
2005 Finals returning like an elder god
first wemby vs cade matchup also. I’m so excited!!
Good litmus test for the Spurs! No team I respect more than Detroit right now, happy these two franchises are back to where they are.
This is going to be a really fun game.
The Pistons take it to the basket better than any team I’ve seen this year. Having to go against Wembanyama is going to be tricky though - the guy is a monster. Just not a lot of space to work with when he’s out there.
And the Spurs are probably the 2nd best team at the rim I’ve seen; but their slashers are going to have a lot on their plates with the physicality of the Pistons defense - they play hard without fouling better than basically any team I’ve seen this year, as well.
But I do wish Stewart was around for this, for sure - because I see shorter, stronger guys like him giving Wembanyama the most difficult time (relatively, of course). I think due to this, Spurs have a slight edge; but who knows really…
The return of dead ball.
For me personally, this kind of defensive effort is more exciting than offense
For me, the action IS the juice.
Regardless of the outcome, this has some serious game of the year potential.
It could devolve into a full blown rock fight, but I expext it to be very entertaining regardless.
My boner is strong for this one.
Is that first Wemby play considered a block or a steal?
We call those Abductions!
Yes.
Block+rebound
Usually on interception:
shot attempt = block
pass or dribble = steal
Now that’s a must-watch.
I think the Spurs win this, if your big man can’t shoot threes you’re usually in for a rough night against Wemby.
they got 2 non shooters. If our offense can figure out their defense, it should go our way. I trust us to slow down Cade a bit
Good point about Ausar, it could be a repeat of what happened with his brother when the Spurs put Wemby on Amen and the Rockets offense just fell apart.
Is Ausar more willing and able to take those free throw line jumpers? Castle gets a lot of the same concerns about shooting that those two do, but his willingness to shoot mid-range shots and threes, I think, makes him a bit more dangerous in certain situations.
Ausar is an even worse shooter than Amen
This is going to be a game! One of the best this season
Best part is that its not a back to back for either team
Nice, maybe I’ll watch the highlights
this would be an entertaining finals matchup
Put
This game is going to be epic.
Need some Wemby “aww hell nah” in there too.
Run back the ‘05 finals y’all 😤
Castle gonna be on the floor after every drive, lol
Hey Pistons/Spurs game, we’re good bro. You can go. Jazz/Rockets is here.
really excited, love piston basketball
Bummer Stew isn’t playing. Was really interested seeing how Wemby’s been improving in that area. Was a bummer he didn’t get that experience against Brooks either. Should be a fun game either way.
Uncle Harrison Barnes? Life comes at you fast…
San Antonio on the road, Detroit at home. Book implies 52.6% but model has Detroit at 71.4% — that’s a clean +18.8% gap that’s hard to ignore. Lighter play than Memphis tonight but still a solid edge. Detroit ML!
Lowkey expecting a Spurs blowout win or a narrow Pistons win. No in between.
Our 3 point shooting is so erratic. When we are decent, we look like legit contenders. When its off? Its a brickfest
I haven’t watched a whole lot of Spurs basketball this season. As much as I should. But they’re balanced on both ends of the floor. Sure, off-nights are to be expected, and I think it’s possible both the Spurs and Pistons are a year ahead of schedule.
But, Detroit’s game-plan is almost entirely predicated on mucking the game up; forcing turnovers, crashing the offensive glass, and chasing shooters off of the line into contested middies. If they’re unable to do this reliably, then they’re relying on Cade and Tobias to generate points in isolation.
The Spurs don’t turn the ball over much. Wemby will be a deterrent in the paint. The Spurs inherently play a style of basketball that somewhat defangs Detroit’s POA-heavy defense quite heavily. I look to how they’ve dominated OKC this season. I have a feeling this game could have a similar outcome.
Spurs fan here but I have a feeling this would be a close, brickfest, playoff kinda game. Low scoring and lots of fouls. I just hope we have a fun game and no injuries 👌
Hype