8 hours ago
I was hugely unimpressed by Ausar Thompson last night. He got roughly 30 mil per extension in the summer, but he is a complete non factor on offense other than fast breaks and his defense wasn't really sticking out. His non shooting allowed Lakers to play Kessler on him and he was able to just stay around the paint all the time. Obviously I didn't watch his other games, although his stats from the start of the season don't differ much from what I saw yesterday. I don't think that contract will age nicely, if he doesn't improve offensively. I think DJJ for example is a better overall player and he is playing for roughly 10 per. Very difficult to build a team around such a non shooter, unless you have a center who can stretch the floor. Detroit doesn't have one.
Detroit as a whole probably had an uncharacteristically bad game yesterday. But I do wonder, if this was caused by their weaknesses in the roster build. Having offensively limited players allowed Lakers to focus on Cade and stop him. Detroit added shooting in the summer, Huerter had a great game. But LA on the other hand attacked Huerter and Robinson the whole game and had great success doing it. They constantly have in the game a couple of non threats offensively and a couple of weak defenders on the other side. I am not convinced such a roster construction can get them to the top. If opponents are able to slow down the game and control turnovers, Detroit will imho have problems.
Detroit as a whole probably had an uncharacteristically bad game yesterday. But I do wonder, if this was caused by their weaknesses in the roster build. Having offensively limited players allowed Lakers to focus on Cade and stop him. Detroit added shooting in the summer, Huerter had a great game. But LA on the other hand attacked Huerter and Robinson the whole game and had great success doing it. They constantly have in the game a couple of non threats offensively and a couple of weak defenders on the other side. I am not convinced such a roster construction can get them to the top. If opponents are able to slow down the game and control turnovers, Detroit will imho have problems.