Detroit Pistons: 2 offensive keys vs. the Memphis Grizzlies

Detroit Pistons: Josh Jackson and Hamidou Diallo need to keep pushing the pace

Much like off-ball movement was a key to Detroit’s offensive success against the Spurs, transition offense and aggressively attacking the basket was an important piece of Detroit’s scoring. Two of the primary leaders of the Detroit Pistons transition offense were Josh Jackson and Hamidou Diallo.

Jackson and Diallo both raced down the court in transition, they forced the issue. In transition, they attacked the basket and got easy buckets by taking advantage of their speed and athleticism.

Another noticeable result from the high-energy play of Jackson and Diallo is the resulting uplift of energy from the rest of the Pistons on the court. Jackson and Diallo were fast to get into transition, and the rest of Detroit’s team began picking up the pace as well.

The team was able to feed off of the energy of Jackson and Diallo and start getting back into an aggressive offense. The quick transition resulted in Detroit having open looks from three, Trey Lyles benefitted from this in the second half.

With a young team continuing to grow and develop, it is without question that Detroit will falter and have a stagnant offense from time to time. In these moments, having players like Jackson and Diallo will be key to helping the team pick up the pace and crawl out of those offensive lulls.

Against the Grizzlies look to see Jackson and Diallo continuing to be high-energy players in transition. Also, look to see who else is able to step into that kind of role as well.

If Hayes is cleared to play against Memphis he could be the pick-up-the-pace transition guy for the group of starters. Hayes’ skill as a passer would keep everyone engaged in transition offense as Hayes can thread the needle to his teammates from almost anywhere on the court.

Obviously, Pistons head coach Dwane Casey does not run a pace and space offense but being strong in transition will be key to a healthy offense for Detroit.