The Detroit Pistons have not performed well in the last two months. Has Dwane Casey carried his weight or has he under-performed as the head coach?
The Detroit Pistons brought in reigning coach of the year Dwane Casey to bring the winning mentality to Detroit. After 2 years in a row of not making the playoffs; Pistons owner Tom Gores wanted change. He fired Stan Van Gundy in hopes the Pistons could make a run for the playoffs this season. That hasn’t been the case so far this season.
The Pistons have had a tough 2 month stretch this season. With injuries, a tough schedule, and players not performing to the level they can; the team has suffered from devastating losses.
After starting the season with a loud 13 wins to 7 losses record, they muffled down to a disappointing 8 wins to 21 losses record since. A depressing 21 wins to 28 losses have left fans to fault the team in many aspects.
Many fans have pointed fingers at players for under performing. As some of this may be true, this is only a symptom of the larger issue. Think of it as an infection. The infection causes many problematic symptoms – stuffy nose, sore throat, etc. but until the host bacteria is dealt with, the symptoms will remain.
Now I’m not saying the Pistons should fire Casey. That would be extremely silly, especially after signing him to a large coaching deal just this past off-season, but as the head coach Casey has put himself in a position where he’s the main problem or the bacteria causing the symptoms of failure. Until the Pistons address the bacteria, the symptoms will persist.
The Infection’s Symptoms
Dwane Casey is one of the reasons the Pistons have under-performed this season. His offense has become simplistic and very easy for teams to defend. For the most part, there has been zero creativity. And as games go on, it has become very apparent that the Pistons need some creativity in their offense.
Lets start off with one of the symptoms the Pistons are dealing with; a sore throat. If you think of the Pistons offense so far this season; the first thing that should come to mind is Blake Griffin post up. Although it has been the team’s best offense this season; it has arguably been the team’s worst offense as well. The Pistons are currently 5th in the entire league in post ups per game. They shoot 42.9 percent on post up attempts this season; which ranks them the 7th worst shooting percentage wise in the league. Their assist percentage in post up possessions also ranks them as the 5th worst in the entire league. And to make things even worse, they also turnover the ball the 4th most in post up possessions. I’ve yelled at my television screen hoping Casey would hear me about constantly using this as a source of offense; hence why the symptom is a sore throat.
The ball becomes stagnant in Blake post ups. Just like the oxygen when trying to breathe through the nose; a stuffy nose. The Pistons players stand around at the 3 point like waiting for Blake to pass out of the post. These possessions usually eat up a lot of the shot clock. And as of late, they have led to bad offensive possessions that teams have caught onto.
This leads to another symptom; a cough in the offense. Nothing is more annoying than coughing. Well for Andre Drummond, nothing is more annoying than just watching on Blake post ups. Drummond has become almost a non-factor in Blake post ups because Blake usually passes out in the post to a 3 point shooter. The only thing Drummond can do is clear space for Blake to operate and be ready to grab an offensive rebound on a missed shot. It’s one of the few reasons Drummond’s rebounding numbers have taken a hit in the last two months.
One of the biggest symptoms the Pistons are dealing with is stomach pains. Because surely it has made me want to throw up watching the team on offense. The offense has totally struggled to create shots early in the shot clock. In fact, the Pistons attempt 11.5 shots per game with the shot clock under 5 seconds. That is the most in the league. They are also 23rd in the league percentage wise in those types of possessions. This usually happens when a team’s offense becomes stagnant; or not having creative offensive plays, and the defense is reading it perfectly.
Casey’s decision-making has also been a problem. Think of these as headaches. Get it? Because it gives the fans headaches. His substations, rotations, and timeout calls have all been questionable. Here is a recent clip of Casey deciding not to use a timeout when the Pistons were struggling to get a shot airborne.
Although he made the right call not to call a timeout on the rebound; he should have immediately called a timeout at the 11 second mark when the Pistons were being smothered by the defense.
There has been many games where Casey’s rotations have been questionable. Some players would get inconsistent minutes after performing well. Others would consistently get minutes after awful performances. Andre Drummond once sat an entire fourth quarter because Casey wanted to roll with the guys that helped bring the game back. In the Pistons most recent loss, The Pistons saw Buddy Hield hit a game winner against the Pistons. He had scored 15 points in the last three minutes to win the game. Stanley Johnson, the Pistons best defender, did not see any action in the last three minutes.
The Antibiotics?
There has no question Casey has brought some of his own medicine to the team. It’s not like Casey didn’t help the Toronto Raptors to a franchise record 59 wins last season. Casey played a huge part in it. That’s why he was award the coach of the year.
I think Blake Griffin can thank Casey for helping with the resurgence of his career. Blake is having the best year of his career in a Pistons’ uniform. And Blake is certainly on his way to the 2019 NBA All Star Game.
Reggie Jackson could also thank Casey for helping him have an easier return from injury. Most of Reggie’s shots come from spot up three-point shooting. With his previous injuries, there is no way Reggie could perform and play the way he used to. So just being able to get unguarded shots up really has helped him.
We have seen as the season goes on the trust Casey has for the young players. Bruce Brown is actually a starter for the Pistons. Who would have imagined that? Luke Kennard‘s minutes continue to rise. And Khyri Thomas gets his minutes here and there. It has been awesome not having the young players get the dog house treatment after playing poorly.