Detroit Pistons replay center: Why Langston Galloway should start

In this piece, we examine the case where Langston Galloway getting the starting job brings more balance to the Detroit Pistons rotation.

Langston Galloway is not as bad as you think. He’s mediocre.

I don’t think Galloway is better than Luke Kennard and I don’t think he should play more than him. I do think he is more well-rounded than Bruce Brown Jr, which isn’t hard to do, but I don’t think he should necessarily play more than him either.

I know most of the fans want him gone but I seriously think he brings things to the table at the shooting guard position that the other two options don’t. If Kennard was a proven starter this wouldn’t even be a conversation. But he’s not. While he’s talented enough to start, he needs the ball in his hands to get going. He was much more comfortable coming off the bench as everybody and their mama says.

Galloway has on offense what Kennard lacks. He just fires away and that’s really important. He may not always make them but he never fears away from getting up shots. He shot 10.4 three-pointers per 100 possessions, in line with Reggie Bullock‘s volume, shooting them exactly at league-average percentage, 35.5.

On the other hand, Kennard shot 9.2 threes, which is less than Reggie Jackson and Blake Griffin, making 39.4 percent.

Granted, Kennard’s volume went up after the All-Star Break, a trend I hope continues, but it seems like he needed to take some pull-ups first to get him going. Of Kennard’s 3-point shots, 28.9 percent (a third after the All-Star break) were pull-ups, while he had more pull-ups overall than catch-and-shoot attempts.

In contrast, 0.08 percent of Galloway’s 3-point shots were pull-ups, while he had four times more catch-and-shoot than pull-up shots overall. Kennard had more attempts when he shot pull-ups. That’s where, for the most part, the difference comes from in Kennard’s Pre- and Post- All-Star break numbers.

He likes to have the ball in his hands, probe a little bit, make some passes and fire some pull-ups. When he does that, he has more confidence to shoot all kinds of 3-pointers too, making them at an even higher rate. At least that’s what happened last season. And that’s what he’s used to do in his career.

Galloway, on the other hand, is primarily a catch-and-shoot shooter. He got more spot-ups than Kennard in fewer minutes, scoring almost 0.2 more points per possession, turning it over less, getting fouled more often. He ranked in the 87th percentile compared to Kennard’s 44th. That’s what the tracking data tells us. Galloway is a more significant spot-up threat than Kennard, despite them hitting a similar field goal percentage.

That completes the picture telling us that Galloway when spotting up, which is what he usually does, will fire away 3-pointers making them with good efficiency. Rarely does he pump fake, leaving no room for error, given his limited abilities. Kennard will often fake and get into some dibble pull-ups, lowering his efficiency, even though he’s shooting it better from three overall.

That makes Galloway a better fit with the first unit where he can stay below 15 percent usage. He would mostly spot up and he would benefit coming off the screens that Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond set. The Pistons big men have so much gravity that they open up shots for shooters. He would rely on others to create shots for him allowing him to hide the limitations of his game.

Kennard can enjoy a higher usage in the second unit where Derrick Rose will be the only other option as a ball handler. He’ll run more pick-and-rolls where he scores 0.85 points per possession and he’s above average. The hope is he’ll raise his efficiency there and be more of a creator too. Bringing Kennard off the bench highlights his strengths as Dwane Casey said on media day.

Kennard will also benefit from the added pace playing next to Rose. Kennard, Ish Smith and Jackson were at the bottom of the list of guards with more than 20 minutes in pace.

Rose plays with much more pace and Kennard can find more transition opportunities where he thrives, scoring 1.46 points per possession. Opportunities where he can find his spots before the defense sets with smart positioning.

Galloway runs way less pick-and-rolls and is way worse at it. He is more efficient coming off dribble handoffs. His handle is not that great for a guy his size but he can move without the ball and he can benefit from Griffin’s gravity to find space for himself. Most importantly he likes to shoot it as soon as he gets it.

The same can’t be said for Brown, who’s severely hindered on offense by his total lack of range. While he may prove better as a slasher (highly inefficient last year), he has a long way to go as a shooter.

The worst thing is that everybody knows it, leaving him no space to drive on those kinds of actions. He had 10 dribble handoff possessions this season, last on the team while Galloway was first. His spot-up and pick-and-roll numbers are horrible. It’s hard to do anything when defenders just ignore you outside.

In any case, any of the three options will start beside Tony Snell on the wing, so they might as well synergize. Snell is a good defender but not so good that he can cover for Kennard and Jackson on defense.

Sending Kennard to the bench means better perimeter defense for the Pistons. Brown is obviously better and whatever your thoughts on Galloway’s defense, he’s better than Kennard.

Galloway may lack size and positioning off the ball but he tries.

Kennard may be a smarter defender but he doesn’t have Galloway’s on-ball defense and screen-dodging ability. Kennard just dies on screens while Galloway mostly keeps his opponent in check. He can run around screens and contest shots as best he can.

He also recovers more quickly on pick-and-rolls doing his best to contest even if it’s not always enough. In contrast to Kennard, who is one of the worst shot contesters in the NBA, Galloway can quickly move his feet and stay low, allowing him to stay in balance for the late contest.

On offense, Snell is a low volume guy, close to 12 percent usage. With Griffin, Jackson and Drummond taking 73 percent of the usage, that leaves 15 percent for Galloway, exactly the role he’s comfortable with. Kennard may seek a higher usage role with the bench, above 20 percent, where he can create for himself and others.

Snell has done fairly well in dribble handoffs and maybe he can keep his efficiency with more volume. But there’s no world where he can provide Bullock’s or Wayne Ellington‘s production on offense.

Snell shot 7.2 3-point attempts per 100 possessions, four more than Brown but he shot two less than Kennard and over three less than Galloway and Bullock and of course way less than Ellington who was near the top of the league in rate.

Putting Brown beside him on the wing would mean at least a 30 percent deficit in 3-pointers from the wings at a time where the team is trying to raise 3-point attempts. That’s without even accounting Ellington’s volume.

The difference from Brown to Galloway is huge and that difference would have to fall on Jackson and Griffin. While those two should raise their 3-point attempts anyways, they shouldn’t be trying to make up for the lack of wing shooting.

Galloway beside Snell just fit more of the 3-and-D role that Jackson, Griffin and Drummond need beside them to optimize the lineup. They are both above the 85th percentile in spot-up attempts. They’ll shoot a lot of open threes and make simple plays. They’ll benefit from having Griffin, Jackson and Drummond beside them.

And they can both be good defenders. I’m more confident in Snell being good on defense but I expect Galloway to at least be feisty. He can navigate through screens and stay with his man. He stays active on the ball, always moving his feet, trying to recover.

He’ll put his body into the fire. He’ll challenge bigger guys and make hustle plays.

Galloway in the starting lineup is the best of both worlds. He’s a mediocre defender that can guard the opposing teams fastest guard while Jackson guards the bigger one. Kennard can do neither. And on offense, he can run some actions with Griffin and Drummond to find open shots and make simple plays. Brown can do none of that.

He can run dribble handoffs, rely on screens to get open and he’ll find the open man if the pass is simple enough and he has space to read the defense. He’ll benefit greatly from playing with the starters and he’ll be able to hide his weaknesses.

And even though he starts, he doesn’t have to finish. The flow of the game can decide if Kennard is needed for his shooting, passing and ball-handling if Brown is needed for his defensive stops or even if Rose is having a great game.

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Galloway is the likeliest of the four to shy on critical occasions against great competition. While in starting the game he might play against elite competition, he’ll rely on others to make his life easy, playing to his limited strengths. But he doesn’t have to be in the game in critical situations. He can have a 20-minute role as a starter.

And Kennard can have a 30-minute role coming off the bench where he’ll find shots to get into a rhythm and finish games hot. Brown can have a 20-minute role where he mostly comes in to stop opposing guards. And he’ll cover for Rose and Kennard on defense with the bench unit.  The rotation seems to have more balance that way.

It’s logical to believe that Galloway is the one that brings the best balance to the starting lineup even though most fans hate him because Stan Van Gundy gave him $7 million for no apparent reason.

Here is some more video analysis for the ones interested. Now the season is finally upon us, I’ll try to do replay video analysis of the games as often as possible too.