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Zach Lowe on the Detroit Pistons’ bad bench

By Brady Fredricksen

Nov 20, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Zach LaVine (8) fouls Detroit Pistons guard Spencer Dinwiddie (8) late in the first quarter at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 20, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Zach LaVine (8) fouls Detroit Pistons guard Spencer Dinwiddie (8) late in the first quarter at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Detroit Pistons have been outscored by 17 points per 100 possessions when Reggie Jackson sits per ESPN’s Zach Lowe:

"The Pistons are one player away from being really interesting, but as things stand now, their bench is gagging up leads almost every night. Stan Van Gundy has been diligent about keeping one starter on the floor at all times — often Marcus Morris — but even that hasn’t been enough to prop up this group.The backup point guard position has been especially troublesome; teams are outscoring Detroit by 17 points per 100 possessions — not a typo — when Reggie Jackson sits, per NBA.com research. Van Gundy promoted Spencer Dinwiddie over Steve Blake last week, but the team’s all-bench lineup with Dinwiddie at the helm has been a disaster so far. There are reasons for hope. Anthony Tolliver finally hit some shots Monday against Milwaukee and even a recovering Brandon Jennings might be better than the Blake/Dinwiddie combination. Stanley Johnson will be a good two-way player with some off-the-dribble chops.But it feels as if this may be a season-long problem, barring a trade."

Does any of this really surprise any of you? Steve Blake and Spencer Dindwiddie have taken turns leading the Pistons’ bench with some good and mostly bad results thrown in. I think it’s smart to play Dinwiddie now because of his age and potential future with the team, but he’s an extremely streaky guard who has run into the same issues as Blake.

Nobody ever thinks he’s going shoot.

The Pistons have two healthy creators off the bench, and both are point guards. So, when Dinwiddie and/or Blake are out there, they’re trying to handle the entire offense just like Reggie Jackson does when the starters are out there. The difference is Jackson is pretty good and the other two, uh, aren’t that good.

I know people are excited for Brandon Jennings to return. I am too. But I don’t think he’ll be close to playing as fast and confident as you’d hope for until at least February. I also didn’t think the Pistons would miss Jodie Meeks as much as they have, but his shooting (and the simple threat of it) combined with his elementary ability to work a pick and roll would be huge for this offensively-challenged bench right now.

I’ve written this before, but the Pistons need a shot maker off the bench. Maybe that guy ends up being Jennings. Maybe the Pistons trade for somebody like Nick Young and just accept his defense in exchange for desperately-needed scoring?

All we know now is this bench is bad, period.

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