Is this the moment where the Pistons turnaround?

The Detroit Pistons have been hit with injuries, causing them to stoop out of the playoffs. Now with a healthy roster, can the Pistons reclaim a playoff spot?

The Detroit Pistons are already halfway through the 2018-19 NBA season and they are sitting at a 19-24 record, sitting 9th seed in the Eastern Conference.

For many Pistons fans this is just a regular disappointing season. Having a strong start only to be hit with a stretch of losing games has been the norm for the Pistons these past few years.

It’s the norm, but could this season be a turnaround one?

An Ish Smith and a Reggie Bullock injury brought the team to a 5-14 record.

So, two players that were sidelined and we stoop down to a bad record. Before their absences the team was at a solid 13-7 wins.

Smith just returned against the Utah Jazz and Orlando Magic. He had mediocre  performances, but it was clear that the Pistons were playing at a better pace; Smith is also +25 better than Reggie Jackson in the two games he has played.

If you look at Ku Khahil’s post about Ish Smith’s impact to the Pistons, you’d see that we are significantly better with Smith as the 2nd string point guard than Jose “dribble, dribble, dribble” Calderon.

With the bench unit, Calderon has been awful for our guys, lowering the team’s true shooting percentage by nearly 6 percent.

Smith plays at a pace that a lot of guys on our team have enjoyed. He works great with guys like Langston Galloway and Stanley Johnson. They put up great numbers in very short amounts of time.

That’s what Smith is, an energy guy. Someone we can put in to make sure our bench doesn’t blow up the game. A great upgrade from Calderon, who when in makes the entire lineup around him abysmal.

While Ish was away Johnson suffered big-time. True shooting percentage went down and his scoring numbers went down with it.

The team’s offense overall with Johnson isn’t pretty. Johnson’s offensive efficiency is a 96.6 compared to the teams usual (still bad) 105.9. Our defense with him is good, he actually makes us a great defensive team with a 103.3 defensive rating. But with Smith his numbers are better, scoring 7 points better in lineups with Smith. If we’re going to improve so does Johnson’s offensive consistency .

It’s time to focus on someone else, Bullock.

Since coming back from injury Bullock has been one of Detroit’s top minute getters, playing around 31 minutes per game. Shooting 7.5 three pointers game and hitting over 40 percent of them. Bullock has been a huge tool for us since he’s been back. He is always in our best lineups and for good reasons.

Bullock is one of the best spacers in the NBA. He might not be shooting as well as last year, but more than half of his points come from outside the three point line and he’s doing it still at an efficient clip.

The Pistons also have a 25 point per game scorer in Blake Griffin, and a rebounding menace with Andre Drummond. Mixing that with Smith, a player who pushes the pace and moves the ball to an open man, and Bullock, a spacer and a good three point shooter, the Pistons could be back on track.

Maybe a trade would help the Pistons get back on track, but this is based on how the Pistons could get better without making moves. If the Pistons can capitalize on plays, make their shots and move the ball, hopefully they’ll turnaround and make the playoffs.