The Detroit Pistons will struggle in this area in the 2021-22 season

The Detroit Pistons will tip off their preseason this week and excitement around the team couldn’t be higher.

Fans are anxious to see number one pick Cade Cunningham in action, and also want to see the improvements guys like Killian Hayes, Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart have made this offseason.

Heading into year two of the restoration I think we can count on the Pistons to be a fun and scrappy team that does not lay down for anyone and makes games difficult for their opponents.

I think there is an off chance that this effort and the improvements they’ve made to the roster will be enough to sniff the play-in tournament, but fans will be happy if individual players develop and the team takes the next realistic step towards contention.

There is one area where they struggled mightily last season and I expect them to have similar problems again this year and that’s closing out games.

Detroit Pistons: Two young playmakers means more close losses

The Detroit Pistons lost 32 games by 10 or fewer points last season, which is a testament to coach Casey and how hard they played, as they were often overmatched.

They have more talent this season but will be relying heavily on two 20-year-old playmakers in Cade Cunningham and Killian Hayes, who have high-ceiling talent but do not yet have the experience to make winning plays in the final minutes of games.

The two averaged 7.2 turnovers per game between them last season, and I expect we’ll see some questionable decision making again this season, especially late in games.

This is something that most young players struggle with, as even LeBron James had the knock of “not being able to finish” early in his career.

Expect some frustrating losses this season when the Pistons cough up leads or make bad plays late in games, which is just something that comes with being such a young team.

Hopefully guys like Jerami Grant and Kelly Olynyk will help in this area, but their two young guards are going to have the ball in their hands a lot of the time and will be counted on to make plays late in games, which I am sure they will from time to time.

But other times they are going to make mistakes and fail to close games, which is part of the growing pains of a young team. Hopefully the Pistons can turn some of those close losses into wins but don’t be surprised if their late-game expectation costs them some games.