Detroit Pistons: 4 things we don’t want to see against the Houston Rockets
The Detroit Pistons lost a winnable game against the Atlanta Hawks and didn’t do themselves any favors in the process.
Detroit’s young players were glued to the bench down the stretch while the veterans blew a 14-point lead in the 4th quarter with some uninspired defense and non-existent offense.
It’s one thing to lose “competitively” with young players, it’s another to suffer bad losses to terrible teams with your veterans playing huge minutes, which is what happened against the Hawks.
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It has led some to question Dwane Casey’s perceived double standard, as the young players have to “earn” minutes while veterans like Rose and Blake continue to get them even when they play poorly.
I’m not optimistic this will change anytime soon, so instead of writing about what I’d like to see this team do, I’ll focus on what I’d like them to avoid.
Here are four things we don’t want to see against the Houston Rockets.
Detroit Pistons: Blake Griffin and Derrick Rose should play less.
No. 1: Big Minutes for Blake Griffin and Derrick Rose
Blake Griffin and Derrick Rose played a combined 68 minutes in the overtime loss to the Hawks, while Saddiq Bey, Sekou Doumbouya and Isaiah Stewart played 29 minutes combined.
How is this helping the team? How is this helping them?
Neither Blake Griffin nor Derrick Rose has played well this season, and the Pistons aren’t winning anyway, so playing them this much makes no sense.
They don’t need to be benched but there is no way Blake Griffin should be playing 39 minutes at this point in his career. It’s not helping him or the Pistons.