You know what I love? Basketball.
Yes, even Detroit Pistons basketball.
But you know what I kind of hate? Summer pick-up basketball highlights.
I know, I know, this is a desolate time for most hoops, so, we have to consume something. I just hate the reactions — the hot takes, the cold takes, the weird takes, all the takes — and feel like it’s not an accurate representation of what the guys will do come NBA season.
HOWEVER, there are a few runs that I’ll pay attention to. When Cade Cunningham was slicing and dicing the U.S. Men’s National Team in practice for the World Cup, I was very interested. The same can be said, albeit to a lesser degree, when it comes to the Rico Hines Private Runs.
These summer scrimmages are held at UCLA by longtime NBA assistant coach Rico Hines. I like it because you see guys from the same teams playing together, doing things that will actually help them improve chemistry come training camp and the NBA regular season.
Well, the Detroit Pistons were featured in today’s Rico Hines’ video on YouTube.
It’s a fun little watch. Cade does some Cade stuff. Ausar Thompson does what I can only describe as Ausar stuff — play defense, cause chaos, etc. — and Isaiah Stewart bangs a few triples in this one. Hopefully, we can include “swishing threes” as Stew stuff this year.
Admittedly, this is also the open runs where folks over on Twitter, errr, X, were clowning Jaden Ivey for not being able to shake off Markquis Nowell’s cornerback-style defense… so again, it’s summer pick-up, just take it all with a grain of salt.
Anyway, video is below. Enjoy. Let us know who caught your eye in the comments!