The starting backup: Reviewing Ish Smith’s season with the Detroit Pistons

A game-changer and not always in a good way; Ish Smith almost always made an impact for the Detroit Pistons, for better or worse.

Detroit Pistons backup point guard Ish Smith is through the final year of his contract with the team. After spending much of his tenure filling in for an injured Reggie Jackson, the 2018-19 season showcased the true potential for Smith going forward.

Jackson played and started all 82 games for the first time in his career. Ish Smith started 32 and 35 games the previous two seasons due to Jackson’s injuries.

Despite the reduced role, Smith still had an impact on most games as the first person to replace Jackson off the bench.

The Basics

The 30-year-old journeyman lost about two minutes per game with Jackson’s resurgence in the 2018-19 season. Smith averaged 8.9 points, 3.6 assists, and 2.6 rebounds in about 22 minutes per game.

His step back in the Pistons lineup saw Smith’s shooting percentage drop off from a year ago:

2017-2018:

FG: 48.6% on 9.8 attempts per game

3P: 34.7% on 1.2 attempts per game

FT: 69.8% on 1.4 attempts per game

2018-2019:

FG: 41.9% on 8.7 attempts per game

3P: 32.6% on 2.4 attempts per game

FT: 75.8% on 1.1 attempts per game

Not every backup point guard has to shoot the ball at 50-40-90 marks, but this team needs more offense. Smith shows spectacular flashes with his ability to push the pace and he can get hot in the midrange game.

Unfortunately, the midrange is not desirable in today’s NBA.

Pace and… pace

Ish Smith’s greatest quality since coming to Detroit — besides being what looks to be a great teammate and a likable guy for fans — is his ability to push the pace of a game.

Smith’s game changes the speed of the game when he replaces Reggie Jackson who tends to perform more in the half-court offense.

Here against the Memphis Grizzlies, Smith pushes the ball right into the heart of the defense and makes a tough layup — and gets fouled in the process:

His ability to sneak in-and-out of the paint helps open up space for shooters as it did here for Luke Kennard against the Charlotte Hornets:

Though he has his shooting flaws, the Pistons missed Smith dearly when he was injured in the middle of the season. He missed 26 games due to a torn abductor muscle.

The team went 8-18 without him — dragging them down to the bottom of the playoff race.

Trust Issues

Ish Smith’s low points in the 2018-19  season were always some combination of his own flaws as a player and his place in the rotation.

The Pistons seemed to determine early on in the season that playing Smith and Reggie Jackson together was not going to work very often.

The two-man combo of Smith and Jackson had a net rating of -7.3 during the regular season while on the court at the same time.

Smith’s time with Jackson on the court is too strange a mix of styles that to run a functioning offense on a team without shooters. Jackson is a much better shooter off the ball so when the opposite is the case, Smith’s lack of shooting skill rears its head:

Casey often tried to ride the hot hand between Smith and Jackson down the stretch of close games. Smith is less of a threat as a shooter late in those games — something Casey took a chance on and had it backfire on more than one occasion.

However, any option is better than playing Jose Calderon.

Playoff Woes

As important as Ish Smith was in the regular season, the Detroit Pistons could have used “good Ish” in their playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Instead, they got “bad Ish.”

Smith averaged six points, 3.5 assists, and 2.8 rebounds in 20 minutes per game. His low point total was not for a lack of playing time or shots in the four-game sweep.

Smith shot just 26 percent from the floor on 9.5 shots per game — and 14 percent from three-point range on about two attempts per game.

The offense — lacking Blake Griffin for the first two games — felt forced with Smith running the show.

The midrange jump shot is a dying art in the NBA. Taking and missing the midrange jump shot over and over in the playoffs against the best team in the league might as well be a death sentence:

The Detroit Pistons were hopelessly outmatched in their first playoff series since 2016. Smith’s poor play only added to the inevitable results.

Ish Smith’s season is incomplete at best after missing a bulk of the season which all-but tanked the Detroit Pistons chance at a higher playoff seed.

With all his flaws, his absence during that stretch of the season was detrimental to their season’s potential. Fans will be split on whether or not they want to bring Smith in free agency this summer.