3 Most Effective Detroit Pistons Playtypes
By Sham Mohile
The Detroit Pistons’ three most effective scoring opportunities make up fifty percent of the Pistons’ offense. Let’s examine how effective those three playtypes are and how they stack up in the NBA.
Coming off of an impressive win against the Boston Celtics, the Detroit Pistons have firmly placed themselves in the national spotlight.
Writers from around the NBA have been commenting on the Pistons, and most notably, the improvements key members of their core has made – namely Tobias Harris, Reggie Jackson, and Andre Drummond.
However, I’ve noticed some trends towards specific playtypes that are different than in years past as the core has developed.
Pistons fans are well aware of the reliance on the pick-and-roll in Stan Van Gundy’s system, and how important Reggie Jackson was to that equation after experiencing a frustratingly poor season from the Pistons a year ago.
After watching possession after possession of mind-numbing Andre Drummond post-ups or cringe-worthy Marcus Morris isolations, it’s finally time to acknowledge that those days are long gone.
It’s time to move forward into the new Pistons era and examine the playtypes that this new Pistons squad deploys on a nightly basis.
Spot-up Shooting
The Pistons’ most common playtype so far this season comes from spot-up shooting.
21.2 percent of the Pistons’ possessions end in a spot-up shooting opportunity, and the Pistons have made the majority of those possessions count.
The Pistons currently rank as the number one spot-up shooting team, scoring 1.078 points per possession.
After watching Tobias Harris shoot the lights out at TD Garden last night in Boston it may be tempting to attribute most of the success to Mr. Harris, but credit should also be given to Avery Bradley, Reggie Jackson, and Anthony Tolliver – all of which are rated as “Excellent” in the spot-up shooting category per Synergy.
For what it’s worth, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors have ranked in the top two spots in this category each year they went to the Finals.
Transition
“Defense wins championships”
The Pistons have always had a proud tradition of playing stellar defense and the quote above has been somewhat of a literal mantra for the city of Detroit and Detroit Basketball. T
The addition of Avery Bradley and a much improved Stanley Johnson has fueled a modern-day version of the Pistons of past.
The Pistons currently force turnovers in 16.2 percent of their opponent’s possessions, good for 7th in the NBA.
Those turnovers, in addition to forcing misses from their opponents and having a literal vacuum as a Center, have many created transition opportunities on 15.3 percent of their possessions.
The Pistons have converted those opportunities at a high rate as well. Scoring an average of 1.153 points per possession, the Pistons have managed to rank 5th in the NBA in transition.
Andre Drummond’s improved passing has also aided with transition success. When Drummond corrals the rebound, he has been quick to pass it up the court and find the open man for the easy transition score.
Pick-and-Roll
The Pistons offense, ever since Stan Van Gundy took the reigns of the storied franchise, has been mainly predicated around the pick-and-roll. During Van Gundy’s first few seasons, he ran the pick-and-roll most often and selected pieces that fit around that mantra.
When Reggie Jackson went down with an injury last season, the Pistons did a very poor job of finding other sources of offense – which ultimately led to regressions from both Reggie Jackson and Andre Drummond.
This season, the Pistons have shifted away from the pick-and-roll a bit. Approximately 13.5 percent of offensive possessions have ended in the hands of the ball handler in the pick-and-roll.
If there’s any further indication that Reggie Jackson is healthy and returned to form, it’s that the ball handler in the pick-and-roll is averaging 0.96 points per possession. That is currently NUMBER 1 in the NBA and rated as Excellent per Synergy.
Maybe Detroit Basketball isn’t fully back, but Detroit Basketball is certainly different than it was a year ago.