10 takeaways from the Detroit Pistons first half of the season

8. Casey’s coaching

Dwane Casey has gotten a lot of heat from Pistons fans on social media, and he’s probably better off not knowing. Some of his in-game decisions have been questionable, but that’s bound to happen over the course of an 82-game season.

Early on, Casey was criticized for his rotations, which was interesting given Jackson and Griffin’s injuries. As it turns out, he was fairly criticized for Wood not seeing playing time early on but he’s grown into a rotational role.

Even in Toronto, the Raptors didn’t become a perennial playoff threat overnight. They also didn’t have to reset in the second year of his tenure, which is apparent with the trade rumors and cap space opening up this summer.

Toronto was 57-91 in his first two seasons before building up to five straight winning seasons, including a franchise-record 59 wins. That landed him the NBA’s Coach of the Year award.

He’s a long way from enjoying that success in Detroit, though he’s off to a better start, so far, with a 55-68 record. That’s also better than his 53-69 interim years with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

There’s hope for the Pistons moving forward, as shown by player’s improvements so far this season.