Detroit Pistons: Will Dwane Casey feature more two-point guard lineups in year two?

With the addition of Derrick Rose to the Detroit Pistons roster, will we see more two-point guard lineups in year two of Dwane Casey at the helm in Detroit?

When Dwane Casey accepted the job as head coach of the Detroit Pistons in 2018, many fans set lofty expectations for the then-reigning NBA Coach of the Year.

This was not surprising given Casey’s pedigree. In his seven years as head coach of the Toronto Raptors, Casey showed a keen ability to maximize his roster’s potential, develop young talent, and consistently field a competitive team.

The 62-year-old head coach helped resurrect a struggling franchise throughout the better half of the past decade, transforming the Toronto Raptors into a perennial Eastern Conference powerhouse. Many within the Raptors organization credit Casey with building the foundation that led the franchise to its first NBA championship in 2019, a year after he was fired.

While Casey has been primarily recognized for his ability to connect with players and develop talent, his teams in Toronto also consistently ranked in the top 10 in Offensive Rating, showcasing a coaching acumen extending far beyond player development and relations alone.

This offensive proficiency was due, at least in part, to his personnel decisions and the rotations he constructed.

In particular, Dwane Casey favored small-ball lineups featuring two (and sometimes three) point guards.

With a bevy of talented guards at his disposal in Toronto, Casey often utilized a combination of Kyle Lowry, Delon Wright, and Fred VanVleet to attack opposing defenses. These combinations proved to be effective during the 2017-2018 season, as lineups featuring Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet posted a plus/minus of +6.5 on the court, and the two-man combination of Delon Wright and VanVleet recorded a staggering +15.1.

What made these lineups work? Let’s take a look at some footage.

One of the most effective aspects of these two-point guard lineups were their ability to create constant penetration against opposing defenses.

Cutting from the left wing, VanVleet finds himself with a clear lane to the basket. However, when Giannis Antetokounmpo rotates over to help, VanVleet dishes the ball back out to Lowry on the perimeter. With the defense still adjusting after it was forced to collapse on VanVleet, Lowry finds himself in a one-on-one situation with Khris Middleton. Instead of spotting up for a three, Lowry drives to the basket where he is able to create an easy look for himself.

For a team lacking elite perimeter shooters, creating these sorts of looks for solid finishers like Reggie Jackson and Derrick Rose may offset Detroit’s 3-point shooting woes by playing to the team’s strengths.

Here again we see the two-point guard lineup’s ability to poke holes in the defense through penetration. A high screen forces center Aron Baynes into a mismatch with VanVleet, who responds by attacking the basket. When the defense collapses to counter VanVleet’s drive, he is able to drop off the pass to a cutting Wright for an easy finish, rather than having to kick the ball out to the perimeter.

Because these lineups forced defenses to prioritize paint protection, many times one of the two point guards was left alone on the perimeter.

Seeing the mismatch against Marcin Gortat, Otto Porter Jr. rushes over to prevent Lowry from getting to the basket. However, Porter is forced to abandon his assignment, allowing Wright to float back to the perimeter for a clean look.

Although Detroit did not feature many of these lineups last season, this may have been due to personnel.

In addition to the Pistons’ lack of point guard depth, former backup point guard Ish Smith has never been known for his scoring ability, causing a two-point guard lineup of him and Jackson to make little sense. With the addition of Rose and Tim Frazier, however, Detroit has not only bolstered its depth but has given itself two, legitimate scoring options at the position.

Coming off a resurgent season in 2018-19, Rose averaged 18.0 PPG and re-established himself as a true scoring threat. Along with Jackson, who averaged 15.4 PPG in 2018-2019, the Pistons now have two point guards whose main strengths lie in their ability to get to the basket and score.

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It is very likely that Dwane Casey will once again utilize two-point guard lineups in his rotations this upcoming season. If Rose continues to play well during the 2019-20 season he will command more minutes, making a Jackson-Rose pairing inevitable at certain points during games.

The clear issue with this lineup, however, is spacing. While Rose’s 37 percent from 3-point range last season looks more like an exception rather than the norm at this point, it is clear that Jackson has become a semi-reliable 3-point shooter. Over the past three seasons, Jackson has shot a respectable 35.4 percent from behind the arc on 4.6 attempts per game.

If Jackson and Rose can continue to be effective inside scorers and knock down three’s at a league-average rate, pairing the two should yield good results for Detroit.

With two solid point guards now at his disposal, expect Dwane Casey to utilize two-point guard lineups much more frequently in his second year as head coach in Detroit.

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