Detroit Pistons: Dwane Casey is not the problem in this equation

The Detroit Pistons have a new low this season. There’s a lack of urgency and execution right now that’s plaguing this team. That’s not all on Dwane Casey.

The Detroit Pistons have been struggling mightily in the month of December. Friday night might have been the breaking point. They were dismantled by an Indiana Pacers team that was better in every facet of the game.

It caused head coach Dwane Casey to apologize to the fan base in his postgame press conference.

Is this rock bottom?

It certainly feels like it. They’re 4-10 in the month of December. It’s getting harder and harder to believe they were 13-7 through their first 20 games.

It’s becoming even harder to believe they are a playoff team.

During this rough stretch, I’ve noticed that many fans have taken to social media in bashing Casey.

Now, I understand that everyone needs a scapegoat when their favorite team is struggling. That doesn’t make it right to blame the wrong people.

Casey took the blame in the press conference for what happened against the Pacers which is fine. Head coaches take accountability for their team’s performance.

However, what’s happened to the Pistons is not all on Casey. It’s an incredibly careless take for a number of reasons.

The first one is because of the way this team is losing games. They’re turning the ball over at such a high rate and just playing a very careless brand of basketball.

When it comes down to it, players play and coaches coach.

That’s a phrase that I absolutely hate. The first time I heard that get used in a sentence was by former Detroit Tigers manager Brad Ausmus.

The problem was that Ausmus wasn’t good at his job. Dwane Casey has proven to be very good at his job. It’s a phrase that relates to what has been going on.

The players on the court just aren’t executing right now and that shouldn’t fall completely on a coach. Casey can only do so much.

This is a roster that has failed to make the postseason in the last two seasons, even with the addition of Blake Griffin.

Injuries have played into that but I think it’s fair to say that this just isn’t a good roster on paper.

It’s not bad but it’s not good enough to compete with the likes of the best in the eastern conference.

That’s not the fault of Casey. Blame that on Stan Van Gundy and Jeff Bower.

If you want to criticize Casey for the constant juggling of lineups, that’s fine. There’s times where you look at who’s on the floor together and scratch your head.

Is that Casey trying to do anything possible to make this work? You have to look at it from that angle as well.

Dwane Casey was the best head coaching candidate on the market as far as a proven track record goes. He was the right guy for this job.

However, there are circumstances that are out of his control.

Be upset about what’s going on right now. Be upset with the players who are just not getting it done.

Accountability falls much further down the line from the head coach.