The Detroit Pistons have split their first two preseason games, looking great against the Spurs and then getting blown out by the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Memphis game exposed some offensive weaknesses, but in both games there was a big problem that could plague the Pistons this entire season: rebounding.
The Pistons were out rebounded 57-41 in the win over the Spurs and 54-37 in the loss to the Grizzlies.
In the game against the Spurs, San Antonio had 21 offensive rebounds that led to an extra 15 field goal attempts, while the Grizzlies grabbed 13 offensive boards which led to them having 16 more shots than the Detroit Pistons.
In the first game it didn’t matter, as the Spurs couldn’t make a shot and the Pistons got out to a huge lead. But in the second game, when the Pistons’ shooting was poor, it mattered a great deal, as the Grizzlies were able to turn those extra shot attempts into points.
Detroit Pistons: Why is rebounding going to be an issue?
The Pistons have a lot of lanky, athletic wings, but they are short on bigs. Currently their depth chart at center is Isaiah Stewart, Kelly Olynyk and Luka Garza.
Stewart and Olynyk are not “traditional” centers and Garza is a rookie who could start the season in the G-League.
In addition, Stewart has a hard time staying out of foul trouble, so with him on the bench, the Pistons really only have Garza as a rebounder, as Olynyk spends a lot of his time on the perimeter.
Big teams are going to kill the Detroit Pistons on the boards, as we saw with the Grizzlies, who pretty much man-handled all of the Pistons’ bigs.
So what are the Pistons going to do about it?
How to fix the rebounding problem? Throw a team at it
Without the bruisers on the interior, the Detroit Pistons are going to have to rely on a team effort to not get killed on the boards.
They may be small at center, but they are big just about everywhere else, and guys like Hamidou Diallo, Josh Jackson, Saddiq Bey and eventually Cade Cunningham and Killian Hayes, are going to have to rebound their positions well and give the Pistons a boost in that area.
The Pistons are going to use a lot of small-ball lineups without a traditional center, so all of their guards and wings are going to have to step up.
This is especially true on the defensive end, where rebounds are the final step to closing out a possession and stopping team from getting extra chances.
The Pistons aren’t going to win many games where they shoot 15-20 fewer shots than their opponents, so everyone is going to have to crash the defensive boards this season and try to create mismatches on the other end that negate their rebounding disadvantage.