Detroit Pistons replay center: Explaining Detroit’s defensive woes

The Detroit Pistons don’t seem able to stop anybody on defense. So, let’s dive into the tape to figure out how much we should worry.

The season has not started well for the Detroit Pistons. The injury bug has struck them and taken away two of the top three players in minutes played last season, Reggie Jackson and Blake Griffin. That fact alone means they have to play a lot of new lineups.

Continuity is a big factor in team play, especially at the beginning of the season, and the Pistons have completely lost that. The players haven’t been able to set into their roles as their roles change with every different lineup Dwane Casey has to put on the floor.

Not only is a big part of the current rotation consisted of new players but those players have been thrown straight into the fire, given roles that they weren’t cast for. Then even more health problems arose with Derrick Rose and Tim Frazier missing some games.

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Griffin and Jackson are not defensive stoppers but the sole fact that they’ve played together before, in Casey’s defensive scheme, makes them better options than what they have now. Familiarity has a great impact on defense.

So, why exactly have the Pistons struggled so far?

The Pistons are 22nd in defensive rating, which is pretty bad. While they’re fifth in the league in true shooting percentage, they’re 13th in offensive rating. At first glance, their defense has been the main problem and they’re doing ok on offense.

But they’re elite shooting not translating to an elite offense which is kind of a puzzle. Well, until you realize that they’re 29th in field goal attempts, with 82.8 per game. That’s almost six attempts less than the opposition (88.6 per game). You can’t win games with that kind of difference.

The Pistons are grabbing almost three more rebounds than their opponents and shooting four free throws more than their opponent. The most important difference comes from turnovers.

The Pistons have been turning it over too much and are 24th in turnover percentage. They average 17.4 turnovers per game while forcing only 14.6 on their opponents. The gap was much bigger earlier in the season but they’ve been doing a better job lately.

However, that difference has resulted in being 39th in fastbreak point percentage. They’re also 24th in limiting opponents points off turnovers. Letting your opponent control the transition game is a recipe for disaster. It’s also pretty hard to do when you have a player like Andre Drummond who can impact transition like few others in the league.

The Pistons have long been able to hold their own just by not turning it over and not allowing second-chance points while Drummond got them enough offensive boards to create a big lead in field goal attempts. That hasn’t been there so far and it’s really perplexing.

Their transition defense has been bad but they haven’t fared much better in the half-court either.  They’re only giving up few 3-point attempts but they’re near the top of the league in giving up points in the paint. Looking at contested 2-pointers you easily see that their bigs, except Thon Maker, are keeping opponents below their averages while guards, except Bruce Brown are getting torched out there.

There is a big difference on defense and the glass when Drummond goes to the bench and is replaced by Maker.  There’s also a 12.1 drop off in net rating, according to basketball reference, when Brown goes to the bench.

Tony Snell has been a huge negative as well. The team’s net rating raises by 17.4 when he gets off the floor. That probably has to do with the fact that he’s been guarding the opponents best wing scorers, which the Pistons haven’t found answers for.

So, let’s dive into the tape to explain the team’s defensive woes.