No need to overreact to Pistons’ poor start

The Pistons are off to a rocky start at 0-3. Instead of piling on the negativity, as there’s already plenty of that, we’re going to look at why this 0-3 record is not representative of how the rest of the Pistons’ season will go and why there’s no need to overreact.

We all know how poorly the Pistons have shot this season, especially from downtown. They’re 14-64 (21.9%) from 3-point range. Even though Jodie Meeks and Cartier  Martin are hurt, the Pistons should be shooting better than what they are, especially considering over 55% of their 3s have been with the closest defender over 5 feet away.

One of the consequences of all of these missed shots, besides the empty scoreboard, is opponents scoring more easily off of misses than makes. Made shots give a defense a chance to set. When some of these open shots start dropping for the Pistons, their league-average defense has a good possibility of turning into a top-10 defense, which is incredible for a team that has a new coach and that was down-right abysmal defensively last season.

Another positive is that Detroit has been in every game::

Down two vs. the Nuggets with three minutes left.

Down one vs. the T-Wolves with two and a half minutes left.

Up one vs. the Nets with nine minutes left.

These close games combined with an inability to hit shots, Detroit’s losses seem to indicate fatigue and bad luck more than Detroit being another bottom feeder or not being able to close out games. Martin is supposed to be back sometime this week, and that will really help bolster the shooting guard position, even if he’s is more of a natural small forward.

With Martin’s return, Caldwell-Pope will finally be able to get some breaks during games. We’ve seen Singler fail to guard guards both last season and this season, and that comes to an end when Martin gets back. Also, Caldwell-Pope missed the final two weeks of preseason, and has been forced to play around 40 minutes a game immediately upon return. He’s young and has tons of energy, but by the ends of these games, it’s obvious that he’s gassed. It’s hard to knock down shots when you don’t have your legs under you.

One final positive is that the Pistons are 6^th lowest in turnovers per 100 possessions. Even though they haven’t, to steal an NBA Jam phrase, hit the broad side of a barn, they haven’t started forcing passes or tried forcing their way to the rim. This is a sign of a well-coached team.

It’s not fun being 0-3, but it’s better to see something that will probably revert to the norm like proven shooters missing open shots than a team not getting back on defense or a team with offensive possessions filled to the brim with turnovers. Hopefully these three, early losses will be a reminder that overreacting to tiny sample sizes is madness. By the end of the season, these three losses will be as indicative of Detroit’s season as the 76ers’ 3-0 start last year was to theirs.