In the first two games of the season for the Detroit Pistons, Christian Wood has played a total of four minutes while Thon Maker has played 35. We’ll dive into why that’s the case and if the coach’s decision was warranted.
Christian Wood was the belle of the preseason ball for the Detroit Pistons. He averaged 13.2 points and 7.2 rebounds in 17 minutes per game. In comparison, Thon Maker had 5.2 points and 5.6 rebounds in 17.8 minutes per game. Wood was also significantly better in terms of efficiency with a true shooting percentage of 65.3 compared to Maker’s 54.8.
However, he hasn’t been as impressive on defense. He’s a capable defender at times, with mobility and length but his lack of strength and most importantly effort, hold him back. On the other hand, Maker gives all he has, all the time but, most of the time, all he has is not good enough.
Dwane Casey, in contrast to the fans, seems to value Maker’s effort over Wood’s skill. Even in the absence of Blake Griffin, the Pistons head coach hasn’t found many minutes for the 24-year-old. Against the Atlanta Hawks, the team struggled mightily to score on a back to back game but Casey didn’t refrain from giving him a DNP, a decision he later regretted.
So, why was that? Was Maker that good?
As you heard Casey say, defense is what’s keeping Wood out of the game. Is Wood that bad of a defender?
The first thing I did was to go back to last night’s tape and figure out why the coach kept Maker in the game for so long. My impression watching live was that Maker was mostly horrendous, except for a couple of plays.