Resident in Beverly Hills, Tom Gores had the opportunity to see his Pistons at work at the Crypto.com Arena to challenge the Clippers and then the Lakers. Two meetings ended in two short setbacks but which allowed him to appreciate the potential of the workforce of Dwane Casey, who is also still deprived of Cade Cunningham.
These two games are a bit like the start of the Pistons season, with the best in the game and diversity in the offensive options, but too few wins, only five after twenty games. Before the two surprise successes in Denver and Utah, Detroit had a worse record compared to last season at the same stage. For Tom Gores, the team is however more talented.
“We are growing. Right now we have an incredible base and a lot of confidence. We are better than our track record shows. We are much better than that and I like how this team shows a lot of heart. I feel good about it. Dwane is doing a good job. Troy (Weaver, the GM) keeps thinking about growth and everything. So I’m really comfortable on this subject ”, did he declare.
The veterans, one more asset in the sleeve of coach Casey
Beyond the “post-training center” aspect, which brings together many young players with high potential, Tom Gores assessed the progress of his team in relation to the arrival of veterans such as Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks (best scorers during the two games in LA), who came to oversee this project for the future.
“We would be a different team without these veterans. The thing is, veterans bring a lot of experience, but these two guys know how to play, too. You can’t teach young people if you don’t know how to play yourself.” he added before returning to the level displayed by Bojan Bogdanovic since the start of the season. ” He’s implicated. He has an enormous capacity to inculcate an identity (…). Everyone thinks he’s just a great 3-point shooter. He is much more than that. He’s a great teammate, and he’s also great at mid-range shooting. He does so many things.”
As for the balance sheet, it must be said that the injuries did not help Dwane Casey to maintain a level of excellence and freshness among his troops. Only three players have so far played all the matches (Hamidou Diallo, Killian Hayes and Bojan Bogdanovic), and the sudden absences of Cade Cunningham, Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart have weighed recently. But Tom Gores refuses to take refuge behind this excuse
“I just think injuries are part of this game and you have to adapt. What’s great is that it’s up to the next player to show up. Everyone must do their job. We are a team, and injuries are part of the game, so we have to know how to deal with them. Luck or not, it’s up to us to create our own opportunity.”he concluded.
His players obviously listened to him since they managed to surprise Utah on his field last night despite a reduced workforce, with the added bonus of a still precious Burks-Bogdanovic pair.
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Bojan Bogdanovic | 19 | 31.9 | 50.8 | 40.2 | 87.2 | 0.5 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 2.4 | 2.2 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 1.9 | 20.6 |
| Cade Cunningham | 12 | 33.4 | 41.5 | 27.9 | 83.7 | 1.0 | 5.2 | 6.2 | 6.0 | 3.3 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 2.8 | 19.9 |
| Alec Burks | 6 | 21.6 | 45.9 | 39.3 | 79.5 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 2.5 | 16.3 |
| Jaden Ivey | 18 | 31.7 | 42.3 | 32.6 | 72.7 | 1.2 | 3.7 | 4.9 | 4.2 | 2.7 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 3.1 | 16.2 |
| Saddiq Bey | 17 | 31.0 | 40.8 | 29.0 | 91.8 | 1.2 | 3.6 | 4.8 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 14.7 |
| Isaiah Stewart II | 15 | 27.0 | 47.5 | 33.3 | 73.8 | 2.9 | 6.5 | 9.3 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 3.0 | 12.0 |
| Marvin Bagley III | 6 | 22.6 | 54.2 | 14.3 | 91.7 | 1.8 | 3.0 | 4.8 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 2.7 | 10.7 |
| Jalen Duren | 16 | 22.1 | 59.3 | 0.0 | 42.4 | 3.1 | 4.3 | 7.4 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 2.3 | 6.9 |
| Killian Hayes | 19 | 22.7 | 31.9 | 30.6 | 82.4 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 2.4 | 4.1 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 2.7 | 6.4 |
| Hamidou Diallo | 19 | 14.7 | 45.3 | 9.1 | 66.7 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 2.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 2.1 | 6.1 |
| Isaiah Livers | 17 | 19.0 | 37.5 | 34.9 | 76.5 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 2.5 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 1.9 | 5.6 |
| Cory Joseph | 14 | 13.1 | 39.2 | 43.5 | 81.8 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 2.7 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 4.2 |
| Kevin Knox | 12 | 10.5 | 40.4 | 24.1 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 3.8 |
| Nerlens Noel | 5 | 11.9 | 33.3 | 0.0 | 75.0 | 0.4 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 2.2 |
| Braxton Key | 2 | 3.5 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| Rodney McGruder | 5 | 4.2 | 14.3 | 25.0 | 100.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.0 |
| Buddy Boeheim | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
