Lawrence Frank uses advanced stats – hooray (to show the Pistons’ defense has improved – hooray)
By Dan Feldman
Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press:
"Coach Lawrence Frank cited stats after practice Monday that say Detroit was 29th out of 30 teams defensively in January. The Pistons improved to 17th during February and were eighth during March."
When I read that, I worried Lawrence Frank wasn’t the progressive coach I thought he was and was using points per game – a misleading stat, especially considering Detroit’s slow pace – to describe the Pistons’ defensive ability. So, I checked the numbers.
Points allowed per game:
- January: 24th
- February: 12th
- March: 7th
With my hope renewed, I checked a more telling stat.
Defensive rating:
- January: 29th
- February: 17th
- March: 8th
Matches perfectly with what Frank said. It’s also very encouraging in a basketball sense, so that’s also pretty great all around.
Statistical support for this story from NBA.com.