Exploring three big reasons why the Detroit Pistons have been historically bad this season.
On Saturday, October 28th, the Detroit Pistons beat the Chicago Bulls 118-102 at home, making their record 2-1 on the season. With a close loss to the Miami Heat in the season opener and two consecutive victories against the Charlotte Hornets and the aforementioned Bulls, it looked like the Pistons might have what it takes to be a decent team.
Unfortunately, the train went off the rails pretty quickly as the Pistons have lost an NBA record 28 consecutive games, including a 118-112 loss vs. the Brooklyn Nets which gave them the infamous record. Now it seems that the Pistons have hit rock bottom with no clear direction to go moving forward. Let’s dive and see why the Pistons have played so poorly this season.
1. The Pistons are an incredibly weak shooting team
It’s safe to say that the Detroit Pistons are by far the worst three-point shooting team in the NBA this season. Through around thirty games, the team ranks dead last in nearly every single three-point shooting metric, including three-point attempt rate, three-point attempts per game, and three-point makes per game. They don’t rank last in three-point percentage, but they do rank 29th just ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies.
To be fair, teams don’t have to be good at shooting threes to have an efficient offense. However, if a team struggles to be effective in this area, they need to make up for it somewhere else, whether it be shooting at the rim or shooting from mid-range. Unfortunately, the Pistons shoot just 60 percent at the rim and 43 percent from mid-range. Their field goal percentage from mid-range is actually above average, but it would need to be exponentially higher for them to have an efficient offense.
The fact that the Pistons have so many non-shooters is a huge problem because they are a very young team led by Cade Cunningham who is just 23 years old and is trying to develop into an offensive engine. It’s obvious that Cunningham is extremely talented as he has averaged around 19 points, five rebounds, and six assists per game through his first three seasons. He has also had some electric performances, including a game vs. the Nets on December 26th in which he dropped 41 points, six rebounds, and nine assists while shooting 71.4 percent from the field.
Unfortunately, he has been far from perfect, struggling to develop into an efficient scorer and committing turnovers at a very high rate. He certainly deserves some blame for his issues as a player, but the Pistons’ front offense hasn’t exactly surrounded him with the best-supporting cast to help him develop into the best possible player he can be.
Considering the horrendous floor spacing he has to play with on a nightly basis, it’s not shocking that his development hasn’t been picture-perfect. Young players with huge offensive loads are going to have rough patches when they don’t have a supporting cast that can take the pressure off of them.
A lack of shooting isn’t the only thing plaguing the Pistons’ offense, though. They also have a huge issue when it comes to protecting the basketball as they have a league-worst turnover rate of 14.4 percent. They’re pretty decent when it comes to offensive rebounding and getting to the free-throw line, but they are extremely inefficient and turnover-prone. They’re also pretty average in terms of their efficiency in certain play types, like isolations and pick-and-rolls.
This is why they rank 28th in points per 100 possessions. They do some things at a decent level on this end of the floor, but it’s not enough to keep their offense from being at the bottom of the barrel.
2. The Pistons have serious weaknesses on defense
Another major issue with the Detroit Pistons is their defense, which is one of the worst in the NBA right now. To be fair, they are not a complete dumpster fire on this end of the floor as they are pretty good at defending the rim and grabbing defensive rebounds, ranking top ten in field goal percentage allowed on shots at the rim, and defensive rebound rate.
Unfortunately, they struggle in just about every other area. They don’t force many turnovers, they give up too many free throws, and they struggle to defend in transition and in the halfcourt. These aren’t their only issues, though. They are also one of the worst teams in the league when it comes to defending key play types like isolations and pick-and-rolls. Here is where their defense ranks in points allowed per possession vs. these play types:
- Isolation: 1.14 PPP (0th percentile)
- Pick-and-roll ball handler: 0.95 PPP (14th percentile)
- Pick-and-roll roll man: 1.24 PPP (14th percentile)
That’s tough to stomach because these are a few of the most used play types in the modern NBA, and the Pistons can’t seem to stop them whatsoever.
On a more positive note, the Pistons’ defense has been extremely unlucky as their opponents have been remarkably good at shooting from the perimeter, hitting 46.9 percent of their mid-range attempts and 38.2 percent of their three-point attempts. If this changes, we could see the Pistons’ defense improve from being 26th in points allowed per 100 possessions. However, it’s hard to see them getting much better than that because of how many problems their defense has.
3. Monty Williams needs to fix his lineups
When the Detroit Pistons signed former Phoenix Suns head coach Monty Williams in the offseason, it was clear that they thought they were getting one of the best coaches in the league. The six-year, $78.5 million contract they gave Williams made that pretty obvious. Unfortunately, Williams’ time in Detroit hasn’t lived up to his contract and that statement has nothing to do with his record. It’s all about his lineups and the way he manages the teams’ rotations.
One of the biggest issues with Monty Williams’ rotations this season has been how little he plays second-year guard Jaden Ivey. To be fair, Ivey hasn’t been amazing averaging just 13 points, three rebounds, and three assists on modest efficiency. However, he ranks fourth on the team in estimated plus-minus and he has been decent as a passer, sporting an assist rate of 18 percent.
Also, lineups with Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, and Jalen Duren, three of the Pistons’ best young players, have been pretty good, sporting a net rating of +2.2. This is the only three-man combination the Pistons have used that has a positive net rating this year. Unfortunately, the Pistons don’t use these three players together often, as this combination has only logged around 178 minutes this year. That makes this the 15th most used three-man combination on the entire team.
Another issue is that Monty Williams loves to play non-shooters next to Cade Cunningham. Here are Williams’ three most used three-man combinations along with their net ratings:
- 475 minutes | Cade Cunningham, Isaiah Stewart, and Ausuar Thompson | -9.8 Net Rating
- 363 minutes | Cade Cunningham, Killian Hayes, and Isaiah Stewart | -8.6 Net Rating
- 308 minutes | Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, and Isaiah Stewart | -1.1 Net Rating
For whatever reason, Williams loves to run lineups with Cade Cunningham as the primary initiator surrounded by non-shooters. This shows up in all of their lineup combinations and it doesn’t make much sense. The Pistons aren’t a great team and they would struggle no matter what, but relying on so many non-shooters and not giving minutes to their better players is holding them back in a major way. This needs to change if they want to end their losing streak.
One last issue with their lineups is how little rookie guard Marcus Sasser plays. Sasser averages just 16 minutes per game, but he’s been pretty good when he gets on the floor, averaging 5.2 assists per 36 minutes compared to just 1.9 turnovers and shooting 41.5 percent from three on 6.3 attempts per 36 minutes.
Also, his impact metrics are pretty good as he has the second-best box plus-minus on the team among players getting serious minutes. This doesn’t mean he’s been their second-best player, but it does mean he’s been good enough to warrant more playing time. I’m begging Monty Williams to realize that he has a young guard on his bench who can shoot and pass. Sasser would help with their lack of shooting and he would give them some more playmaking which they desperately need.