FAST BREAKDOWN
Three quick observations from Wednesday night’s 97-91 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2018 preseason debut at Chesapeake Energy Arena
- THE CASEY IMPRINT – Didn’t take long to see Dwane Casey’s imprint show up on the Pistons. In the first half, 39 of their 41 shots were either triples (19) or in the paint. There were too many fouls (16 in the first half alone) and the usual assortment of first-preseason-game raggedness, but also signs of the Casey effect taking hold in the way the Pistons avoided holding the ball or overdribbling. There was one beautiful example of the “drive-kick-swing” mentality Casey is trying to instill that resulted in a Zaza Pachulia layup to end the first quarter. Andre Drummond – the only one of the Pistons big three to play – played regular-season minutes (33) and put up All-Star numbers with 31 points and 16 rebounds. His free-throw shooting was off (3 of 10) and he missed all three of his 3-point attempts but was active defensively and spent nearly all of his time against Thunder starter Steven Adams. Ish Smith’s triple – his first make after five misses – with 16 seconds left put the Pistons ahead by six points, the final margin.
- NO GRIFFIN, NO JACKSON – Dwane Casey said not to read anything into his starting lineup or rotation for the preseason opener and you can take him at his word. With Blake Griffin and Reggie Jackson sitting out, Henry Ellenson and Jose Calderon started in their place. Casey says by the end of next week – the Pistons conclude their five-game preseason vs. Cleveland at Michigan State Oct. 12 – he wants to have a starting unit and a second unit in place. He talked before the preseason opener about the “tightrope” of giving his eventual starters enough minutes together without pushing the minutes of Griffin and Jackson in preseason. Reggie Bullock, Stanley Johnson and Andre Drummond were the three other starters. The second unit – the first bench unit, at least – consisted of Glenn Robinson III, Luke Kennard, Ish Smith, Zaza Pachulia and Langston Galloway. Rookie Bruce Brown got some run at point guard in the first half when Smith got tagged with three quick fouls. Camp invitee Zach Lofton, destined for the Grand Rapids Drive, also played. Smith opened the second half at point guard for Calderon and Casey cut back on the rotation by bypassing Brown and Lofton after halftime until Brown’s late cameo.
- SOLID ALL AROUND – Dwane Casey is trying to put together a wing rotation from among a group of Stanley Johnson, Luke Kennard, Reggie Bullock and Glenn Robinson III and how he uses them probably will have more to do with how they fit with the starting core of Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson than anything else. All four flashed their strengths in the opener. Johnson was the most impressive, finishing with 14 points, five rebounds and three assists while making 3 of 7 from the 3-point arc in a game-high 37 minutes. Robinson added 11 points and four rebounds in 16 minutes, showing off a shooting stroke, transition speed and driving ability. Bullock turned in a typical Bullock performance with 10 points and five rebounds. Kennard had his best moments in a six-minute run in the first quarter and finished with five points, three assists and two rebounds.