Pistons Playbook: Week 5
By Matthew Way
Each week, we look at some of the important plays, schemes, and sets that have been successes and failures for the Detroit Pistons.
It was a rough beginning to the week for the Detroit Pistons, losing games to the Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers.
They had their chances: they lost a close one to the Bucks and blew a 22-point lead to the Indiana Pacers.
Closing the week on the road in Minnesota, Detroit completed yet another fourth quarter comeback to steal a game against the Timberwolves.
And while the team is showing much more fight than they did a year ago, there are still concerns.
Spacing Problems
The Pistons’ three-point shooting has been much improved so far this season, but they occasionally get themselves into difficult situations by how they are organizing plays.
In the loss to the Bucks, Stan Van Gundy opted to close the game with part of his bench. Reggie Jackson struggled throughout the game, so the Pistons’ head coach stuck with Ish Smith in the waning moments. Unfortunately, Ish Smith’s presence proved to be a fatal flaw.
Down just three with a little over three minutes left, Avery Bradley drew a double team off a hand-off from Andre Drummond. Smith was left wide open in the corner but Bradley, knowing of Smith’s shooting woes, completely ignored him and took a contested jumper instead. If this was Reggie Jackson sitting in the corner, Bradley either gets more space to operate or Jackson ends up with a wide open corner three.
On the next offensive possession, the Bucks again helped off Smith in the corner. This time, Tobias Harris got the ball to the backup point guard, who passed up a wide open corner three attempt. Instead, he dribbled the ball to the middle of the floor and shot a well-contested mid-range jumper.
By contrast, Bradley got a pass as the open corner man, allowed the close out to run past him, and attempted and nailed an open corner shot. Without Smith in the corner, the spacing worked as it should.
Luke Kennard‘s Defense
Despite the tough week, there have undoubtedly been many positives to take from Detroit’s beginning of the season. One of the more subtle yet significant developments has been the defense of rookie Luke Kennard.
Rookies are notoriously bad at defense and the sense going into the draft was that Kennard would struggle to defend at the NBA level. He lacks some athleticism and the twitch that you would hope for a high-level NBA defender, but Kennard has shown a great understanding of how to play defense while he has been on the court.
The Pistons ranked fifth-worst last year in transition defense. The main reason for that poor ranking was Detroit’s inability to stop the ball in transition. In the second quarter against the Bucks, Kennard showed an understanding of the importance of stopping the ball handler.
With Malcolm Brogdon leading the break, Kennard abandoned his normal assignment and got in front of Brogdon, slowing him down. Brogdon crossed over on the Pistons rookie, but he was slowed down enough to allow Anthony Tolliver to help which ultimately ended in an errant pass.
Later in the same game, Kennard abandoned his man in the corner after he recognized that John Henson had a clear path to the basket as the roll man. We discussed Detroit’s defensive issues on corner threes last week, but this is a case where it makes sense. Henson would have had a layup if not for Kennard rotating and the Pistons were able to prevent any sort of skip pass because of his positioning.
Where Brogdon tried to expose Kennard’s lack of quickness, Lance Stephenson drove into Kennard’s body and tried to take advantage of the strength advantage he has. The Pistons rookie wing got bodied on the drive, but his quick hands created a turnover for Detroit.
Next: Pistons rally to win nail-biter in Minnesota
Luke Kennard will never possess the physical tools to be a great defender, but if he can continue to be a competent defender by playing smart basketball, he’ll find himself on the court long enough to capitalize on his great shooting on the other end.