I was listening to Jason Timpf's playoff previews. He did one on the Knicks vs Pistons.
* He noted that the Knicks used Mikal Bridges as their main defender on Cade during the regular season. That was surprising. I figured it would be OG Anunoby because he is the better defender against phsyical wings. That is a change NY could make that changes how effective Cade is in this series vs the regular season matchups against the Knicks.
* He also mentioned Ausar Thompson as possibly being the main defender on Brunson. Then I thought about Ron Holland as being the secondary defender. Brunson struggled a lot with big wings covering him in the playoffs last year. Ausar Thompson could cause him a lot of problems. Holland I believe is being overlooked here. His on-ball pressure defense is elite. He has phenomenal lateral quickness and agility. All in a 6-6 215lb frame. He is quicker, taller, longer than Brunson and has a good amount of strength himself. So Detroit got 2 excellent defensive options to throw on Brunson. Then other guys like Sasser as well. Those are big defensive weapons to have against NY's biggest offensive threat.
* Towns appears to be a problem that DET struggle with. Duren doesn't defend well away from the basket. Towns got a lot of joy against him in the regular season. I am surprised I Stewart did not have more success slowing Towns down. He usually does defend perimeter bigs well. But according to Timpf, I Stewart struggled with Towns on the perimeter as well.
* I liked Timpf's idea of having Mikal as the primary defender on Beasley. It reminds me of the 2009 playoff series for Boston against Orlando. They used JJ Redick to chase Ray Allen. Then Courtney Lee off the bench to take out Eddie House. Shadowed him all series. JJ did great on Ray as well. Mikal is a similar type of defender. Great against quick dribble drive threats & off ball movement players. Mikal could make life miserable for Beasley and DET lack alternative scoring options.
