Dennis Schroder, 3-Point Contest, and Hubie Brown | The Weekly Drive
The Pistons have a new backup point guard, a representative in the 3-Point Contest, and the NBA is saying goodbye to a legend.
Hey there Pistons fans, and welcome back to the Weekly Drive. It was an eventful week in The Association, but Detroit stayed mostly on the sidelines - which is a good thing. The Pistons added a point guard at the trade deadline and are back over .500. Let’s get into it.
Game Recaps
Game 50: Atlanta 132, Detroit 130
Rapid Detail: In what would be a trend this week, the Pistons had their hearts broken by a last-second shot - this at the hands of Trae Young. Frustratingly, Detroit was unable to get a shot off on their last possession with a chance to tie or win it.
Game 51: Cleveland 118, Detroit 115
Rapid Detail: For the second game in a row, the Pistons lost on a last-second shot - this time Darius Garland as the assassin. The Pistons climbed back into the game and tied it on three free throws with five seconds left, but an errant swipe attempt by Ausar Thompson gave Garland enough daylight to hoist a logo-three.
Game 52: Philadelphia 112, Detroit 125
Rapid Detail: Domination is one way of putting it. Detroit led by as many as 34 points and were paced by Malik Beasley’s 36 points. Joel Embiid had three points in the first half and looked generally fatigued the entire time. It was an especially demoralizing loss for the Sixers, who didn't have to contend with Cunningham who sat out with a sprained ankle.
Game 53: Charlotte 102, Detroit 112
Rapid Detail: Boy, that was closer than it needed to be. The Pistons had a 28-point lead at one point, but nearly blew it in the fourth quarter as they allowed the undermanned Hornets to go on a 17-2 run and get within a handful of points. But Detroit held on, never let Charlotte get a lead at any point, and got back to over .500 in the process.
Did you know the Palace of Pistons crew watched this game live on Playback? Join our room here and come hang out with us the next time we go live.
A new point guard
In case you haven’t heard, the Pistons added a point guard at the trade deadline in former Golden State Warriors ball handler Dennis Schroder. It was a convoluted trade, but the result solves the Pistons’ biggest need - a true backup point guard.
Schroder is not a world-beater, but he doesn’t have to be. Detroit simply needed somebody off the bench who could quarterback an offense with the second unit and take playing pressure off of Cunningham. The Pistons offense craters without Cade on the floor, and Schroder should help fix that a little bit. Even in his debut against the Hornets, the offense looked much more organized when Cunningham sat.
Hubie Brown’s Last Game
It would be insincere to not acknowledge the retirement of the legendary Hubie Brown, who called his last game Sunday afternoon. Brown, 91, started his broadcasting career in the 1980s but coached up until 2004 with the Memphis Grizzlies. Brown was also part of the Pistons local broadcasting staff in the early 1990s before joining TNT.
One crazy stat from Hubie’s incredible basketball journey? He coached, coached against, or covered games of 80% of all players in NBA history.
Brown shared his experience, expertise, and love of the game on every telecast and was a true basketball teacher to fans everywhere. As Mike Breen put it on ESPN yesterday, Hubie Brown has the most remarkable career in sports broadcasting history.
News and Notes
Malik Beasley asked the front office not to trade him. They happily obliged.
Former head coach and current front office advisor Dwane Casey hosted 40 youths from the Pure Heart Foundation. The children participated in numerous activities including meeting players and shooting around at the Pistons practice facility.
In addition to being named an All-Star, Cade Cunningham will participate in the Starry 3-Point Contest. He will face reigning champ Damian Lillard, Jalen Brunson, Darius Garland, Tyler Herro, Buddy Hield, Cam Johnson, and Norman Powell.
Games will run through Friday of this week before giving way to All-Star weekend but expect our normal content drops on Wednesday and Friday. And make sure to check us out on Playback, yet another way to interact with the Palace of Pistons guys. Thanks for reading and see you next week.
- Mike