Cade Cunningham wants to get even better at handling the physical defense

Jumping, he thought he could more easily find Auzar Thompson cutting to the rim in transition. Besides that Derrick White read his intent perfectlyand put himself in opposition as a net volleyball player. Cade Cunningham thus lost his skin for the fifth time in this game against the Celtics.

In his team’s victory, the Pistons leader once again showed solid production with 25 points (8/18 shooting, including 2/5 three-pointers) and 8 assists. But also lost 6 balls due to the opponent’s defensive pressure and the physical density shown by the Celtics.

On his sixth turnover, he first had to deal with Derrick White but couldn’t resist Josh Minott’s aerial shots. Enough to push him to say two words to the judge. The Celtics defended him most of the time in the full court, and the point guard had to face a lot of double shots.

This defensive pressure? ” This is something I expected. I don’t think I did it the way I wanted to. I will continue to watch the video and try to be better for it. I feel like we had a lot of offensive possessions that didn’t work because I didn’t handle those situations very well. I don’t drop the ball cleanly. I will learn from this and continue to do better », he shows.

The third biggest spender in the league

After three games, he is the third most wasteful player in the league – with nearly 6 turnovers per game – behind Stephon Castle and Devin Booker. “ It’s frustrating to be in his shoes. The level of physical contact that defenders can allow against him, simply because he’s a tall point guard, is different. And of course, it can be frustrating », notes JB Bickerstaff in his defense.

The coach describes the player, at the end of this game, as ” with a swollen face, with bruises on his hips and knees, because he has to play with a lot of contact. But it’s important that he understands how important he is to us, and that he stays calm, that he stays mentally strong, because we need him. He has already proven it several times: even when frustration rises, he always recovers very quickly. »

At the same time, JB Bickerstaff advises his team to play a quicker throw-in so the opposing defense doesn’t have time to set up, including pressing all over the field. Overall, even if this complicates the lives of his Pistons and his leader, the coach also sees this pressure in a positive light.

« The level of respect the league has for this team today, compared to when we started last year, is completely different. », notes the coach who contributed to this change in status by returning Detroit to the playoffs.

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How to read statistics? MJ = matches played; Min = Minute; Shots = Shots Successful / Shots Attempted; 3 points = 3 points / attempt 3 points; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive jump; Tot = Total number of jumps; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal mistakes; Int = intercepts; Bp = lost balls; Ct: Against; Points = Points.