3-on-3: Where did the Pistons offense go?

1. The Pistons offense has been absolutely offensive so far this season, what gives?

Dan Feldman: I’ll mostly blame a small sample, but before I do, here’s a scary indicator in the other direction. Excluding games against the Pistons, Detroit has faced opponents ranked No. 14 (Nuggets), No. 19 (Nets) and No. 23 (Timberwolves) in defensive rating. Hopefully playing the No. 27-ranked Knicks and getting a little regression to the mean puts the Pistons back on track, but it’s concerning Detroit has struggled against such pedestrian defenses.

Brady Fredericksen: The shots just won’t fall. The Pistons haven’t gotten bad looks – although their offense hasn’t exactly run crispy so far – but they just aren’t making shots. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Kyle Singler are missing a lot of open looks while Josh Smith is hoisting, and missing, a lot of bad looks. The offense as a whole looked a lot better with Greg Monroe against Brooklyn, so I lean toward thinking it’s something that will even out over time. It just looks a lot worse in the first three games rather than games 45-47.

Tim Thielke: Monroe missed two games, Meeks is out for a while, and, after a fantastic preseason, KCP’s shooting has been atrocious. That has left Jennings, Augustin, and Smith as the only Pistons who can create shots. That’s a problem in itself. Then throw in the fact that the only people they can really create for besides themselves and each other are Butler, Singler, and Jerebko — hardly a terrifying bunch. As if that’s not bad enough, Smith realizes that none of his teammates so far are any good at finishing. So he has been forced to carry the team thus far. You never want Josh Smith trying to carry a team on offense.

2. Is this the fault of Stan Van Gundy or the players on the floor? Or is it some of both?

Feldman: Both. Van Gundy inherited a team full of players who can’t make jumpers, and two of his offseason additions who were supposed to help in that area — Jodie Meeks and Cartier Martin — are hurt. Van Gundy can’t just run an offense that puts players in position to hit shots from outside the paint and hope that works. This team of limited players needs something a little different.

Fredericksen: The blood is on everyone’s hands. The players have to make shots and know what’s good and what’s bad, but at the same time Van Gundy needs to put them in better positions to score. The Pistons offense just doesn’t have a lot of secondary movement. There’s no cutting, there’s nothing going on outside the pick and roll that initiates everything. This team is a puzzle with about half the pieces missing (literally) so I get that Van Gundy is trying to figure out what works — I just hope he knows most of what he’s tried doesn’t work.

Thielke: Some of both for sure. I’m not sure that Meeks’ injury is anyone’s fault, but Monroe’s suspension is his own fault. Caldwell-Pope’s shooting woes may not be a matter of “fault”, hopefully they prove to be a matter of small sample size. But they should be attributed to KCP more than anyone else. It’s not like his teammates haven’t been getting him at least some good looks. Van Gundy’s system may also simply take some time, but so far, I can’t even see it. The Pistons have looked like a bunch of strangers playign together at a park against teams that have some more familiarity. After a rough start, the Pistons will have to start gelling fast to prevent this from being another wasted season.

3. What player needs to get on track and take control for the Pistons offense to stabilize?

Feldman: Brandon Jennings. Assuming Josh Smith can’t help himself, Jennings bears the largest responsibility. The Pistons need him to get players the ball in position to score. Otherwise, Smith is too eager to commandeer the process and hoist himself.

Fredericksen: Jennings. I thought it was so odd that the shoot-first guard wasn’t shooting early on. Jennings was by no means a great player during his days in Milwaukee, but he was a hell of a lot better than he’s been in Detroit this season. He needs to shoot and he needs to create shots for others off his own offensive aggressiveness. He’s not going to dribble around dishing assists, that’s not the kind of guard he is. He needs to be aggressive, make defenses focus on him and then use that to create for others.

Andre Drummond also deserves blame here. He needs to stay on the floor. His presence on the offensive glass is probably Detroit’s No. 1 strength on offense. If Drummond stays out of foul trouble and plays 35 minutes, he probably ends up with 17 points, 15 boards and the Pistons win. He’s the best player, so it’s no coincidence that his disappointing start coincides with the team’s start.

Thielke: All of them? Monroe looked good in his only game but he needs to keep that up. Drummond has to stay out of foul trouble. Meeks needs to heal up. Caldwell-Pope needs to start hitting shots. Smith needs to cut the long two out of his game even more than he needs to cut the three. He really just needs to shoot less which requires some of these other players to play better before he can afford to.