Driving to the Basket: A Detroit Pistons Podcast - Episode 218: Pistons Omnibus (with Bryce Simon of Motor City Hoops)

Episode Date: November 15, 2024

This episode, featuring guest Bryce Simon of Motor City Hoops, takes on a variety of Pistons-related topics. 

Welcome back, everybody. You're listening to another episode of Drive into the Baskets. I'm Mike. Hope you're all doing great today. Recording this right after the loss, the Milwaukee Bucks, here with probably my favorite guest of all time. He's one half of the Pistons Paul's podcast, one half of the game theory podcast. This is Bryce Simon and Motor City Hoops.

Welcome back to the show, Bryce. Great to have you on again. What's up, Mike, man? Listen, sometimes I get some pretty good intros, but being called somebody's favorite guest of all time is about, that's got to take the cake. So hopefully I can live up to expectations here. Absolutely, man. It's always a pleasure to have you on. It's been a while.

So, oh, man, there's really a lot to say about what we just watched. So, I mean, what first comes to mind of just what I want to lead off with is, yeah, it's suck to see Ron Holland step to the line and miss two game-winning free throws. But I believe it's worth keeping in minds that, and I feel like this is very, very probably the case, that the front office when they drafted him did not even anticipate him playing minutes at all right now. let alone playing 28 of them and closing a game. Yeah, I mean, listen, I put in my postgame notes. If people want to read them, if you haven't, I will quickly plug the Motor City Hoops substack.

Go over there. I always provide sometimes too many notes, probably, for people to read. But I love that Ron Holland was in that situation, Mike. Like, I love, like, is there any greater motivation for Ron Holland to continue to work on his shot than that moment and that experience right there? And so, like, I don't love it for him. he's going to, you know, I already saw, I got annoyed on Twitter. Like, people who don't even watch the Pistons all of a sudden want to have an opinion

on Ron Holland missing two free throws in his rookie season on the road against the bucks when Yonis is dropping 50. Like the best coach in the NBA, didn't it just cost his a team a game the night before whenever, you know, he called a timeout they didn't have. Like my point being people make mistakes in those moments, let alone a rookie in his, what, 14th game, 13th game. And I'm with you. That's a great point. I don't think they anticipated him playing these minutes. He probably only is because Asar hasn't stepped on the floor yet, and I won't be surprised if that changes when Asar is ready to go.

Yeah, I agree. I think, I mean, he's a project, and I know that there was a certain amount of frustration about the Pistons picking another project, especially another if he learns to shoot project. Tragum Langdon said, you know, we're set it very directly. You know, we are banking on, I'm paraphrasing. but we're banking on Fred Vinson, you know, we're banking on basically being able to teach Ron Holland how to shoot. And it's a tough moment for any rookie, you know, to go on the floor at the end of a, literally the game is on the line. And I mean, you're not going to lose the game if you miss,

but you're in front of a hostile crowd in a last-minute scenario, last-second scenario, really. And he's not the only guy who's missed two free throws in that kind of situation. I mean, it happens to the best players, and he is a very, very raw player. I remember, to remember this game, I mean, this was like 2015, but it was the calves against the rockets and LeBron completely bricked two free throws, like with four seconds left and they lost.

I mean, it happens. I mean, it happens. It happens to much better players than Ron Holland. Yeah. I mean, that's like I realize we live in a world, especially with social media, where everybody reacts in the moment to it and all of that. I just, again, to me, I don't wish that kind of situation on anybody, but I know the type of growth that comes from a situation like that, Mike, or can come from a situation like that

if you use the right way. And I think that it applies to what I feel about this season as a whole as we continue to see this team in late game situations and overtime situations. Now, some of it's starting to get very frustrating, right? Because we're seeing the same thing. You know, they had an 18 point. But here's the thing, Mike. They had an 18 point lead on the bucks. They blew it. They got down by seven. You know what they didn't do? They didn't cave. They actually came back. And that was actually a really nice.

I actually think that sideline out of bounds play was a better drawn-up action than what J.B. drew up the night before. I think the heat just screwed up the defensive act, you know, coverage on Tuesday night. I thought what J.B. drew up tonight was actually really nice. So my point is this team is five and eight, probably a better start than I would have guessed or as good.

And they're getting all of these great experiences. and they're being led by the two guys. I know one of them didn't play tonight that you want to see them led by, even if they haven't been perfect. Yeah, I agree. I mean, the fact that they have been able to generate these big leads, and sure, they blow them, and that sucks.

But the fact that they're even able to get ahead, of course, is a huge, I don't like to compare things to last season because it was the season, the worst season, literally than any Pistons fan in existence of, you know, has ever lived through. And probably most NBA fans will never live through them like that. but the fact that they're in a position to win these games and the fact that they are ending up with weeds that sure they do thereupon blow a lot of the time you know there is some inherent positive in that so one thing just the last thing i want to bring up about this game and maybe i mean you've always got some positive insights that i feel like that i do not i don't feel like i'm a negative an ante by any means but there are some things that really frustrate me like players who don't work hard and i feel like we saw that again from jay one it's been very very mixed season but i don't feel like i'm a negative nancy by any means but But Jalen Duren tonight, just, you know, he made his usual bevy of mistakes,

but I feel like Jalen Duren, you know, working hard and making mistakes is very different from Jalen Duren floating and making mistakes. And like that last, like second or last defensive possession over time, when he just decided not he wasn't going to try, even try and get in Yannis's way. I mean, how have you felt about Duren and how are you feeling about him looking forward? Yeah, tonight was so weird because, so when I saw the matchups, I was shocked. I did not anticipate that being the matchup where they went with their centers on Yonan, and their four-man Tobias on, you know, Lopez for most of the game,

which, you know, was kind of interesting. And I also want to point out, like, Lopez hasn't been a good three-point shooter all season. I know he historically has been. And then tonight was hitting, like, 35-foot bombs. But, you know, credit to him. He had a throwback game for him because he hasn't looked like that this season in the games I've watched anyway. But so Duren comes out, I was like, he's going to get in foul trouble.

Sure enough, two fouls right off the bat. You know what hurt tonight, Mike? Stu has to stop doing this silly stuff. Like, he has to. I love that Stu is this enforcer and physical presence and all of that. He can't get ejected from a game where he's the best matchup for the other team's best player. And so Stu has to learn to control that. So where I was going was Janice is having himself a night.

I thought there was times like, okay, Jalen, like, that's not bad. And then there was other times where I'm like, you know. And then I looked at the. box score, he didn't have that many rebounds. It was just kind of a weird. I find myself not really knowing how to feel about JD, but trying not to get too negative or feel like I'm trying to be, like I'm too biased and swinging that way. But I understand some of the frustrations with his play. Yeah. At this point, would you concede, I'm like, I see the merits of possibly like keeping in the starting line. I've been just hoping it works out. For you, you know, if you are making the choice here,

would you be continuing to start him over Isaiah Stewart, who is just, I feel, like been quite a bit better. Would you continue to, you know, to give him some run? When would you pull the plug, basically, if things continue as they are? Yeah, I would continue to start him for a couple reasons, Mike. I came into the season saying that I thought the two most important things this organization needed to learn is, you need to learn as much as you can about who Jaden Ivy is, and you need to learn as much as you can about Jalen, who Jalen Duren is.

And I thought that the best, you start them, you play them with your best lineups, and you figure out what they are and what they are not. The second thing is, I love Isaiah Stewart. I've always been a supporter. I've spent up pretty late into some evening sometimes with people, you know, arguing and debating with me, Isaiah Stewart and whether he's a good basketball player at all or not, I think he's finally in the role where he can be appreciated and be successful. And I think if you end up starting him, I don't think that that's as much the case.

I love the role he's in coming off the bench, and I would like for him to continue to stay in that role. I agree. It's the ideal role. I don't think he would ever be an ideal starting center for all that sort of maybe a warrior's sort of roster where they didn't really need to do him to do anything on offense, but set screens, roll the basket, you know, grab offensive rebounds and shoot trees, yeah, which seems like a lot of things. But, the combination of undersized and, you know, not very athletic, not great touch around the basket, et cetera. he ever really does limit things for him. So, yeah, I mean, I see where you're coming from. I just, for me, it's just, like, this team, I'd like to see, you know, like win games,

you know, like, see some success. And, yeah, I'm just, I find myself increasingly, I know it's early in the season. I find myself increasingly less confident that J.1 Duren just has it in him in the mental sense, just both in terms of his work ethic and his acumen. And I agree, his ceiling is quite a bit higher than Isaiah's. But, I mean, yeah, so I can see. I agree. I think it makes sense to continue starting him. But for me, like, if it's like this 20 games from now, I'd like to see them pull the plug and put Stewart in just to get in better minutes. How would you feel about that?

Yeah, I mean, I could see a legit sample size. The one thing I'll say, I think where I'm at right now, and this is kind of how I feel about a few different things, they're on a 30-win pace, even with tonight's loss, you know? And so it's like, I guess I came into this season thinking if they won 30 games, that is it, insane success. You know, like my two things where you can't win 14 games again, 16 games and when, you know, can you get to 25 to 28 and can it be led by Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivy? You know, if you win 28 games led by Tobias Harris, then that feels a little bit different, right?

And the way he's shooting right now, that's not going to happen. So it doesn't matter. But I guess I'm cool continuing to learn lessons, I guess, Mike. Because they're lessons, these guys didn't get to learn over the last. It was taken from them because this team was so bad the last few years. They didn't get to naturally learn the lessons they should have because it was just so bad, so dysfunctional, all of that. Like this is finally what I've wanted to see where they're competitive, they're competent,

they steal some games here, they lose some games there, but they're experiencing all the things that a young player should experience. experience to garner that motivation, garner that, whatever you want to say, to learn and grow and move forward and improve their game. Gotcha. Okay. But I think that's a way of looking at it I hadn't thought of. So let's move to a bit of the larger picture sense.

Like, I know I asked this, talked about the same thing last week for those of you to listen to that episode. But curious about your insights. Like, what have been your takeaways? maybe in particular the takeaways that have surprised you about the season, beyond what you've already said, that they're on pace to do quite a bit. Well, 30 wins. I think they could hit 35.

That's what I felt going into this season, that they probably had about a 35 win ceiling. But aside from that, you know, what have really, your big takeaway has been from, you know, this has only been 12 games, but what surprised you, basically? My very, very long-winded way of asking that. Mike, it's the defense, right? I don't know that there can be another answer because,

I thought if anything, this team with the floor spacing might be a top 15 offense, right? Like, okay, offensively, things are going to improve. They're really going to shoot the ball. Cade and J.I. will thrive. Blah, blah, blah. But defensively, it's still a bunch of guys that you wouldn't say are positive defenders. You know, I mean, outside of Isaiah Stewart, Ron Holland plays really, really hard, but he's still a rookie. And Assar Thompson isn't even starting the season healthy.

So how can I expect the defense to be better? And then all of a sudden it's a top 15 defense. So kudos to J.B. Kudos to the staff. I think the scheme and the execution of the scheme is much more competent in general. You know, obviously we're coming off a game where we watched a single player score 59 points, even if he is one of the five best players in the NBA. That's not a ringing indictment of your defense.

But individual improvement from a Cade Cunningham, from a Jaden Ivy, even just the mentality. of a Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr. And, you know, thoughts to him that hopefully he's, you know, okay and improving after that nasty fall. But leading the NBA in charges drawn, it's really impressive. It really is. I would never have guessed the defense would be this competent this early in the season. Yeah, it's been a surprise to me as well. I felt the same as you did heading into this season that, you know, Trajan Langdon is prioritizing the pistons being able to run a functional offense.

defense may be pretty poor, but, you know, for me, that felt like the right priority. Yeah. Just letting one of these young players grow up inside of a functional offense, which none of them had had to this point. Thanks to Troy Weaver. Well, the coaching last season didn't help, but Troy Weaver, yeah, never even made the effort to put together a functional offensive lineup. So, yeah, that's definitely been a major surprise for me as well. That does bring me to another question. Now, people, and I'll just segue into this briefly.

then we can, you know, go back talking about general takeaways. So long-time listeners know that I talk a lot about coaching, and it's generally not very positive. And last season, one listener described my podcast as people listening to me going gradually more and more insane over the coaching, which seems reasonably accurate. So you, of course, and really ardent Warner of the game, you do some coaching yourself.

and so I find a lot to criticize about his offensive coaching, about bigger staffs, excuse me, offensive coaching. And granted, I have very, very low tolerance and patience at this point for what I feel like are obvious mistakes being made. So what do you feel that bigger staff is doing well, like in particular? And just about the job that he's doing so far. This is not a loaded question. I'm sure you have more positive things to say than I do

because I tend to focus only on the mistakes. No, I mean, I think, I think, it's kind of been what his reputation has always been, right? He's come in and he's done a good job with the defense. And I tend to, I probably tend to put things on the players more than the coaching, whether that's positive or negative. So I tend to give like Cade and J.I credit for their defensive improvement over necessarily the coaching. But I still think that you can just tell the scheme is different, the players understanding, even just the energy level that they play with on most nights, in general, it's just different than what we saw last year. And, you know, I don't overly critique

things a lot, but I mean, man, it's night and day, right? The vibes with the team, the energy with the team, the coaching of the team, the rotations of the team. It's not even close. And whatever the reason was that Monty didn't do a good job is, is what it is at this point. That's a Tom Gore's issue, right? He's the one paying the man not to coach. We only had to watch it for a year. But so positives. The defense, I in general like that he has a nine-man rotation, has stuck to it. I like that Cade Cunningham and J.I.

have been on the floor for 98% of the minutes in the games they've played this year. Like, I realize it should seem simple because we all said it. But I guess it's not always that simple. But staggering those two makes so much sense. Who knew? Who knew? Who knew? I like their secondary transition action where they have an empty side action and you'll see like

Cade and J.I. do some stuff or Cade and Beasley, whatever. I think outside of that, the offense is pretty stagnant. I actually looked this up today for some other reason. I don't remember what it was. Pistons are bottom six and passes per game, which means it's a very stagnant offense, can get very ISO. I'm not necessarily here for Tobias Harris mid-post isolations unless it's a mismatch. So I think I'm with you, actually, Mike, that I have some issues offensively. I don't mind the rotations. And I think the defense has been really good. Yeah. Yeah. Do you think at this point, this just probably is what we're going to see from him for the rest of the season? Do you get the sense? And I mean, I know we both have an equal amount

of information about this. But, or do you think that as the season goes on, we might see, you know, things develop a bit, things change a bit. Something I've been consistently harping on is the usage of Isaiah Stewart, you know, is a, you know, undersized traditional bagu scores beneath the rim and not as a stretch five at all. Oh. Yeah.

I wrote multiple sentences about that today in the substack, Mike. So we're on the same page here. We're screaming the same message. It makes no sense to me. Zero sense. There was a play tonight where, you. Yonis is like at 12 feet and they're running pick and roll or ball screen. And Stu, the obvious play is to pop and shoot it.

And he had already made one at this point in the night. Instead, he rolls into the lane into 6'10 Yonis, very good defender, and forces up some like little floater push shot thing that barely hits the rim. And, you know, God love him. That's, Stu's not going to score that. I mean, it's just, it doesn't make sense to me. I don't understand why. I don't.

So to answer your initial question, I don't have a lot of faith that we see a whole lot of creativity. I don't see him all of a sudden letting Stu or asking Stu to shoot four threes a game. Like, I think the, let me ask you this. I think what's most frustrating is we live through the growth of that. Like we had to live through the 0 for 18 stretches of Stu from three to get to a point where it's like, okay, this may be competent and workable. And then it just gets thrown out the window.

So I think that's what's frustrating. They run a lot of this flex action after timeouts. I'm like, okay, we've got to be a little more creative than just doing what a normal high school team would do with this. So I would like to think so, but I'm not super hopeful, Mike. Yeah, I agree. And I'm kind of reaching the acceptance phase, like really what I've wanted for, I mean, since Stan Van Gundy was a, you know, maybe like a first-time coach who's a good offensive mind, because you've got to have that, you know, in today's NBA.

Also, I'm just tired of watching coaches make avoidable mistakes. No exactly the player you're talking about. I took a clip of it. It's like, in my head, it's like, okay, you're Isaiah Stewart. Do you shoot the open three? Or do you attempt a bad hook shot over one of the best defenders in the world? Hmm. I wonder what the analytics would say about that one.

They would say, bigger staff, you're going to analytics jail. is that is a crime against NBA analytics. Yes. Yeah. So, yeah, that's been frustrating for me. Like, the lack of emphasis on spacing, like the center is being way too much in the dunker spot and just clogging the lane. And like you said, the lack of creativity, like plays tonight when Kade came out of a timeout.

It was basically just take the ball and score, please. Well, and I'll tell you, one of those, and this rushes reached me with all NBA coaches, one of those, the bucks had gone zone, and then there was a time out. And so the Pistons came out with a zone action. And the only reason I recognized it was because it was a zone action they had ran against the heat. And it actually worked. It got Tobias Harris-A-Lay-up.

Well, because Milwaukee had been in zone going into the timeout, the Pistons drew up a zone action. These dudes are NBA players. You should be able to draw up a man action and a zone action every timeout. It should be mandatory. Because what a lot of NBA coaches do, if they're playing man and there's a timeout call, they'll go zone for a possession, knowing the other coach is drawing a man action.

Every single time out should have a man action and a zone action coming out of the huddle. That way you don't find yourself in those situations. Can I ask you a question? I brought up the rotations. How do you, I'm curious how you feel about the rotations, Mike, in terms of starting lineup, the staggering of Ivy, the nine guys that are currently playing,

when everybody's healthy, of course, and, you know, excluding a SAR because we haven't seen him yet. Have you been okay with the rotation, line-up decisions for the most part, or do you have some quibbles there? So at first I was a little unhappy that Tim Hardaway Jr. was starting. Same. Same, yeah. Turned out to make perfect sense. He's been very good so far. I have no complaints of any kind outside of like the very rare, you know, dribble and pull-up turnarounds long, you know, long two through coverage. But there only been a few of those. The Tim Hardaway Jr. experience, Mike. You got to live with it. Yeah, I mean, so I'm told. I actually didn't watch the guy.

in college, or very little, but I'm told it was much worse back then and during his years with the Knicks and the Hawks. So I think the starting lineup has made sense. I think, I mean, bigger stuff I feel like has not been too agile with his rotations in terms of making adjustments. But the biggest bone I have to pick is playing, you know, Braun Holland with Isaiah Stewart, and the play there is obvious. You know, like use Ron more in a screening and rolling roll and utilize stew's perimeter shooting. Instead, he uses Stewart as a paint clogger in Holland as a spacing liability. And I think you could, I believe, make the strong case that that lost them a game against the rockets.

Because Udoca was exploiting him, you know, we're just not going to guard you. We're going to pack the paints and we're going to let you shoot. And Pickerstaff basically said, okay, hurt me. Yeah. Yeah, he shot it, what, like four times in a row or something like that? I mean, so it's interesting you bring that up because I think, I think Ron Holland probably loses his minutes when Asar comes back. I think initially that seems like the thing that makes the most sense,

depending on who's healthy and who's not, I guess. But I was going to bring up, I think Asar will be the ultimate test of J.B. and his staff's creativity on the offensive end. Because if they're not using a SAR in creative ways, it will stand out like a sore thumb. And all you have to do is watch a Houston Rockets game and the way that a men is used as a pick and roll guy,

lob catcher, things like that, and know that it can be used and it can work. And if they don't use a SAR in that way, one, I don't think it's going to be very successful. And it will tell you kind of the level of creativity that they're kind of working with. Yeah, I think it strikes me as less a level of creativity and more a matter of willingness. Sure. Because I feel like, yeah, I feel like what to do in that situation with Holland and how to handle Holland in the first place because, yeah, the guy can't shoot, which is known is just just NBA coaching 101, basically, and what Udoka did to the Pistons with Holland, you know, making,

basically making them play 4B5, that was NBA coaching 101 too. Yeah. So, I think 101 also, not 101 the number two. So, yeah, I think it's more in that case a matter of willingness. And like the kind of stubbornness with how Bigger Staff is doing some things on offense, like stubbornly sticking to pretty poor shots election in some cases. not really emphasizing spacing. I mean, the guy knows better.

It's just kind of bringing me in mind of three coaches ago. Yeah. Where he's just very rigid. So you mentioned Asar. Let's move on to, you know, hopefully he'll be back in a couple of weeks, which is exciting. And a relief. I mean, I, well, for my completely useless, you know, non-medically versed opinion was that he would be back. I'm relieved for the pistons, but also for, you know, for Assar himself.

I mean, imagine having to having to go through this. the possibility that you might never play again and so on. So what impact do you think he has in the team? I mean, I think it will be a jolt of energy, if nothing else. I do like, listen, Ron Hollins had some fun moments. You know, he was really good in transition tonight. But at the end of the day, Assar is a better defender than Ron Holland. He's a better rebounder than Ron Holland.

And he's, I mean, he's got to be better offensively. I know Asar has his shooting woes of his own and all of that. Hopefully some things have improved on the offense of end. Just, you know, the other thing, Assar's like three years older than Ron Holland for guys that were picked in back-to-back draft, which is kind of funny. So even if it's just you just trade those guys out one for one, those minutes,

how many ever minutes Ron is playing right now going into tonight that was, oh, 14 and a half. So 15, you know, even just the, even if it's just 15. minutes. It's going to be a better 15 minutes you get from a Sarr Thompson. I assume he'll have a bigger role than that as he really gets into it and gets into shape. I'm interested in the rest of seat. Can he knock down open shots? Has the handle tightened up? How elite can the defense be? Can it be elite? And adding that level of defender to what is already a pretty good defense that we've talked about, can you become a top 10 defense? You know, is that realistic? Is that possible with adding

somebody like that. So I'm really interested and intrigued to see someone like him added to the roster. Yeah, I agree that he's an upgrade on offense, even if he can't shoot. I mean, Asar is a much more refined basketball mind at this point. And he was as a rookie as well. Sure. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. He's a year. He was a year and a half older than Rom when he came into the league. So with Ron, it's basically like, okay, you get the ball. Hopefully you can score with it. You know, Asar can be relied upon to, I believe, make the right decision, you know, like the, the optimal decision in the vast majority of cases. And also his athleticism is just a lot more functional.

Ron's athletic. Yeah. Yeah. Assar is a different. And, you know, everybody said this going in. It's like he's a different level of athlete than just about anybody in the league. So that alone impacts offensive rebounding and defense, you know, all of those things. Yeah.

That was just going to make a joke about there being another athlete in the league. You know, they came from the same. you know, originally the same embryo, which split, you know, I'm just kidding. I also just realized I couldn't exactly remember how identical twins work. So, anyway, I don't want to sound stupid. So, yeah, I think it'll be, it'll be a boost. I mean, I think it's, you know, with all the swagger the Ron has, which is great and all the confidence, which he certainly is by no means any shortage of and isn't his great motor. I mean, the guy's incredibly raw. And I think, I completely agree with what you said.

they probably would not have been getting minutes at all, if not for a SARS absence. So I think there's certainly things to be positive about Holland. I think what we've seen from him in transition kind of portends a bit how he could, hopefully in the future, create off the dribble in the half court. I think the shot isn't busted, you know, somewhere in the middle. Hopefully that can be fixed. He's a, you know, solid defender with an excellent motor. So notwithstanding, missing out in the opportunity to win tonight, you know, I don't feel bad

from what we've seen from him. Yeah, it's kind of interesting. I agree with you 100% as I watched some of the stuff he did in transition tonight. I like, man, if he ever figures out how to do that in the half court, he's going to be tough. And from day one, I'm like, the jumper doesn't look, what is it, 15% from three bad. You know what I mean? Like it doesn't look like he should be a 15% three point shooter. You know, last year watching a star, it's like, yeah, it kind of makes sense that he's an 18% three point shooter or whatever.

I don't think Ron's looks that bad. And it's not a confidence thing because he'll keep. shooting and he'll keep being aggressive and all of that. He just, he's not able to put the ball in the basket. So, um, I am interested a little bit. Like, what does his role end up being? Ultimately, how much time does he spend with the G league? Is that beneficial to him at all? Like, will that help him grow his game at all? Um, I always have kind of mixed feelings on the G league and, you know, the way it's used and how useful it is, um, with certain guys. Um, so I think that will be interesting as well. As much as I'm,

decided to have Asar back and watch him fit into this team. It will also be interesting to see what Ron's role then becomes because you're adding another non-shooter. And we've mentioned multiple times floor spacing, you know, in 29 minutes here. Yeah, for sure. So the final question, do you see any scenario in which Assar Thompson comes back and starts like over? I'm sure it won't be over Ivy. So it would have to be over Tim Hardaway, Jr. do you think that there's any benefit in making that change if he comes back and still can't shoot,

but is, you know, but is maybe otherwise a somewhat upgraded version of what he was last season? I wouldn't. I didn't have a star in the starting lineup when I thought he was going to be healthy, to be honest. I actually had Fontechio, which that's a whole other conversation with. Oh, man, that's been ugly. Yeah, the lack of production there. But, I mean, J.I. has been good enough on his catch and shoot. I guess you could talk me into it because I guess the thing is if Stu's not going to shoot

three is what's the difference between having a SAR on the floor with Stu and having him on the floor with Duren right so I don't know I I still think in a SAR and what we thought Isaiah Stewart was going to be is just a great pairing I love the idea of those guys playing together but I just don't know that we're going to get that version of stew that we thought we were going to so I probably won't I think this starting lineup as you mentioned has been fine, assuming Tim Hardaway Jr. is able to recover fully and healthy and all of that, I think I would initially slide Asar into Ron Holland's kind of minutes and roll and then, you know, reevaluate 15, 20 games down the road and see if changes needed to be made.

Yeah, I agree. I think you can't lose what's been really elite play finishing from Tim Hardaway Jr. So far, it's been very helpful in replacing that with a non-shooter. It's going to make life that much more difficult for Cade and for Ivy on the drive. All right. So that's at the end of our time. Do you have any closing thoughts? No, I mean, again, I guess I think I'm a little more positive than some. Even I think the one thing I want to kind of remind people, I guess, and I'm not here to tell people how to fan, fan how you want. But I think it's good to look at these games with a microscope and critique blowing an 18 point lead and the missing of two free throws and decisions here and turnovers and all of that. But then also make sure the next day you wake up and you look from the, you know, the mile high view and

and see where the team is as a whole and the growth and the progress of the individuals and the team. And I think sometimes we lose sight of that overall growth that the team is on a 30 win pace, even after a heartbreaking loss in Overheim to the bucks on the road. And so I think that's where my positivity and good energy comes from is right now at least, you know, five and eight, 30 plus win pace led by Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivy. Assar coming back, defensive improvement. I like a lot of the vibes right now, but also understanding there's plenty of improvement

individually and collectively. Yeah, I completely agree. Yeah, there are things to be happy about. There are things to be less happy about. That's the beauty of things not needing to be black and white. Yeah, yeah. I mean, you know, taking a nuanced look at things. So completely agree.

All right. So that'll be it for today's episode, folks. Bryce, thanks so much for coming on the show. It was great talking basketball with you again. Yeah. Thank you, Mike. I appreciate it. Be glad to come back anytime.

Awesome. So, yeah, be sure to check Bryce out. He's Motor City Hoops on Twitter. Throw us your substack link. Oh, yeah. So I don't know what it is. Motorcityhoops. Dot substack.

Yeah, Motorcityhoops. Substack.com. If you follow me on Twitter, you can find it. I guess if you're not on Twitter, whatever. Yeah, Motorcityhoops. Dot substack.com. I appreciate that. Game notes and analysis after all 8.

82 games. Awesome. Great. All right, folks. So that'll be for this episode. As I always, want to thank you all for listening. Hope we're doing great. Catch you in next week's episode.