Previewing Pistons Media Day and Training Camp! – From Half Court Episode 159

1 Comment

1. @LeeSohlden 2 days ago

   They brought in Harris to start at power forward. They brought in Reed to back up Duren at center. Thompson needs minutes at backup power forward, and Klintman might play there too. Stewart is no longer needed.

   You call Stewart a floor spacer, but actually, 90% of the time, the other team played off Stewart and double teamed the ball.

   Stewart gives zero helpside protection at the hoop. Sure, he can stay in front of guards well, for a big – but fails as a big in several ways. He is no lob threat. He has poor post up skills, with zero ability to score from the post when receiving the ball outside the paint. He is too short, without enough athleticism to compensate, to do well guarding opposing bigs – especially not centers. While his rebounding is not horrible, since he has strength to hold his ground, it is certainly lacking. Too many rebounds go right over his head, for his lack of being able to time his jump.

   One of the biggest areas of improvement needed for Stewart is to shoot the ball much more when it is passed to him. He too often decides to drive on a last minute closer, but can't dribble well enough, nor is skilled enough to make anything of resulting post up situations, to make anything out of such drives. If not driving the closeout guy, he often just passes the ball, to no advantage for us.

   To sum it up, don't call Stewart a floor spacer. You can say he has potential to be one; but so far it is only potential. Also, pretty much anybody on the team can drive the ball in better than Stewart; so not only is he not a floor spacer from his 3 point shooting, he goes unguarded regardless of where he is – pretty much always causing problems for Cade, or whoever is handling the ball.