2016 Summer League

nbaplatformservices

Pistons Playback: Pistons vs. Orlando White

pistons-playback-pistons-vs-orlando-white

trending-stanley-johnson-bob-beyer

#Trending: Stanley Johnson, Bob Beyer

pistons-playback-pistons-vs-heat

Pistons Playback: Pistons vs. Heat

Keith Langlois

A few quick impressions from game four of Summer League as the Pistons won a matchup of unbeaten teams by crushing Miami 71-58 after leading by 24 late in the third quarter to go to 4-0 and earn a berth in Friday’s Orlando Pro Summer League championship game.

another-strong-showing-for-lorenzo-brown-as-pistons-go-to-4-0-in-summer-league

Another strong showing for Lorenzo Brown as Pistons go to 4-0 in Summer League

ORLANDO – The evolution of the stretch four has put a premium on players who can do more than knock down shots from the 3-point arc. Defenses have already figured out those guys, switching smaller defenders on to them without fear they’ll be exploited by a bigger player who seizes on his size advantage to carry the play to the rim.

Stan Van Gundy sees in Henry Ellenson a player who fits that next generation of power forwards.

“You see the stretch fours who are basically just pick-and-pop guys. Not so much guys who can get their own shot and play off the dribble,” Van Gundy said Tuesday after watching Ellenson show flashes of an exciting offensive arsenal. “His shooting’s got to improve to be able to really stretch the floor, but what he has is that element of being able to put the ball on the floor and get a shot. He can face up in the mid-post area and jab step and create shots. He’s got a lot of really good things to work with.”

The Pistons will have the luxury of patience with Ellenson after augmenting their roster through free agency. They aren’t leaning on the 19-year-old who came to them unexpectedly with the 18th pick after an eye-opening freshman season at Marquette, where he averaged 17 points and nearly 10 rebounds a game.

Ellenson handles the ball confidently with either hand on the perimeter, facilitating dribble handoffs or maneuvering easily into pick-and-roll situations. He’s displayed a facility for drawing fouls, owing to his ability to put the ball on the floor and get defenders unaccustomed to guarding bigger players on the move of their feet. Through three games, Ellenson leads the Pistons in free-throw attempts with 17.

In Tuesday’s win over Indiana, the moment Ellenson provided Van Gundy with the most enticing view of his future came in the fourth quarter of a one-point game. With the shot clock winding down, Ellenson received the ball about 18 feet out on the right wing, dribbled and stepped back to launch a one-foot jump shot that eerily called to mind Dirk Nowitzki – especially as it swished cleanly through the net.

“Huge,” Van Gundy said. “That’s exactly what it was – Dirk-like step-back. Now, Dirk shoots a high percentage on that. So it’s one thing to be able to get the shot off; it’s another to knock it down on a consistent basis. We need some tweaks, nothing major, but some tweaks to his shooting mechanics and I think he can get there. But I’m really happy with his offensive approach and where I think he can get to.”

Ellenson has worked very briefly with Pistons shooting coach Dave Hopla, but will become intimately familiar with him in the weeks ahead.

“Have more balance – I think that’s probably a huge thing for me,” Ellenson said of the work ahead of him. “I fall back a little bit too much, but I think I have clean mechanics otherwise. Just sticking with my shot and not rushing anything will be huge for me.”

Those things, Van Gundy expects, will be relatively easy for Ellenson to learn over time. What comes naturally to him would be much more difficult for him to absorb.

“The stuff he does really well – creating shots on that step-back, both with his footwork and the dribble – that’s touch to teach. He can already do that. It’s just a matter of him really working on the consistency of that shooting stroke.”

Ellenson has shot 29 percent overall and 26 percent from the 3-point arc over his three games, many of the shots coming up short. That’s the norm for Summer League. The Pistons have played three games and held seven practices and three game-day shootarounds in the past eight days in compiling a 3-0 record. For Ellenson, that intense burst of activity came on the heels of the grinding process of draft workouts and travel from one NBA city to another.

On top of that, there’s the adjustment to the speed of the NBA game, the challenge of playing against more physically mature men in Summer League and the greater distance of the NBA 3-point line.

“It’s a combination. It’s the length closing out on you, it’s how quick you’ve got to get your shot off and not rushing it because it is your shot and you’ve got to take it at your speed and get your legs underneath each one,” Ellenson said. “I’ve got confidence in my shot. I’m going to hit it.”

Van Gundy wasn’t thoroughly familiar with Ellenson until draft night because he never expected the Pistons would get the chance to take him. It hasn’t taken him long to become enamored of Ellenson’s potential and impressed by his confidence and passion for improvement.

“I don’t think Henry has any problem being sure of himself. I really don’t,” Van Gundy said. “One of the things I’ve been really impressed with, I think he plays the game with great offensive confidence. He thinks he can score on anybody.

“He can do some things to get shots. He’s got a real high release, which allows him to get it off. He’s got a great follow through. The rotation on his shot is not real good and we’ll get that figured out and get him working on it. And he’s a total gym rat, so I don’t think it’ll take a lot of time.”

That’s one thing – one among many things – Henry Ellenson and the Pistons have on their side.

hes-got-a-lot-of-really-good-things-to-work-with-svg-on-pistons-no-1-pick-ellenson

‘He’s got a lot of really good things to work with’ – SVG on Pistons No. 1 pick Ellenson

trending-svg-stanley-johnson

#Trending: SVG, Stanley Johnson

ORLANDO – Stanley Johnson felt like he was all thumbs for the first 38 minutes, then put his thumbprints all over the game in the final two. It was a Summer League game, sure, but it’s exactly what the Pistons have come to expect with their budding second-year star.

“That’s just me being competitive,” he said after the 80-76 win over Indiana kept the Pistons unbeaten at 3-0 in the Summer League standings. “I’m going to play like that regardless whether it’s a Boys &amp; Girls Club or in Game 4 or Game 7 of the Finals.”

And by “like that” he means like this: After missing all five of his 3-point attempts to that point, and all but three of his 15 shots, Johnson drained two triples in two tries in the final two minutes. Both put the Pistons ahead by one point after a 10-0 Indiana run had wiped out the biggest Pistons lead of the game, eight points. After the Pacers regained the lead again, he ran a pick-and-roll play and found his former Arizona teammate, Kaleb Tarczewski, for a point-blank layup to again put the Pistons up by one point with 23 seconds to play.

In the remaining time, he came up with a steal and two clinching free throws and helped force an Indiana turnover with a five-second inbounding call by denying a pass to former Michigan star Glenn Robinson III.

“I really like the way he’s playing – I do,” Stan Van Gundy said after Johnson’s 16-point, five-rebound, four-steal, three-assist outing. “I like the things he’s working on. It’s hard to do that. You’re in a setting, it’s on TV, you want to play to your strengths and he’s consciously playing to work on things. I like it.”

Johnson is so determined to work on his left-hand dribble that he’s found defenders denying his ability to go that way.

“I almost need to start going back right so they can force me back left,” he said. “I guess I’m doing a good job of focusing on going left if guys are forcing me to go right now. It’s kind of ironic, I would say. But this is the stuff I wanted to get done here.”

Johnson spent a full three weeks with Pistons associate head coach Bob Beyer and a week with shooting coach Dave Hopla, both of whom came to his Orange County, Calif., home throughout June. Beyer is helping Johnson refine his footwork, utilizing his left-handed dribble and putting him in a greater array of shot situations. Hopla is working on his shot mechanics with a focus on attaining a higher release point. In drills, it’s relatively easy to stay on track, Johnson said, but a little more challenging in games.

“It’s the first time I’ve played five on five, so a lot of this stuff, in drills, is easier to come off pick and rolls and knock down shots when you know you’ve got extra shots and it’s just a drill. But in the game, bodies are flying, guys are flying, you’re also trying to make reads and passes because you’re trying to decide when to shoot. In a drill, you already know you’re shooting, so you’re focused on getting up, getting your elbow up and getting it through. In a game, it’s a little different. I think I finally got some comfortable attempts up, so now I can make it more natural in a game setting.”

Van Gundy, initially hesitant to allow Johnson to compete in Summer League for fear it would impede his progress in skills development, has now come around.

“I think he’s doing exactly what he should be doing here in the Summer League,” Van Gundy said. “Just what we talked about. He’s had a lot of chances where he could’ve just driven the ball to his right hand and scored, but you can see him almost consciously trying to get to his left hand right now, which is probably taking him a little out of his rhythm. But it’s good stuff for him to work on. Then he made a great pass to Kaleb to win the game. I like his approach and how he’s trying to play. When he looks at film, it’ll just be another learning experience and a chance for him to move forward.”