After watching the Detroit Pistons score 39 points in the first half against the Nets last night, I sent out this Tweet:
These scores are making me nostalgic for 2004.
— PistonPowered (@PistonPowered) November 6, 2021
The Goin’ to Work era of the mid-2000’s was known for its historic defense which many consider to be one of the best in NBA history.
If the 2021-22 Detroit Pistons were replicating that era’s defense then we’d have something to be excited about, but instead they are imitating the offense.
It’s almost like the Pistons have invented a time machine and went back to the days when scoring 90 points could win an NBA game.
Unfortunately, we are still in the present and the current Pistons’ offense is just not getting it done at a level that will win consistently in the modern NBA.
Detroit Pistons: The current offense would be best in 2004
The 2003-4 Detroit Pistons won a title with an elite defense and an offense that averaged 90.1 points per game, which was 24th in the league that season, something we may never see again.
The current Pistons are averaging 94.9 points, which is by far the worst in the NBA. The best offenses in the NBA are averaging upwards of 114 points per game and there are only three teams in the entire league averaging fewer than 100 points (Orlando, OKC and Detroit).
The Pistons have failed to score 100 points in all but three games so far and have not hit 110 points once this season.
There are many reasons for the anemic scoring numbers, and some would love to blame Dwane Casey’s offense, which is admittedly not that dynamic.
But the truth is that the Pistons are simply not making shots. Casey’s offense is creating wide-open 3-pointers but the Pistons haven’t hit them, putting up numbers in that category that will blow your mind and not in a good way.
This offense would have been bad by the standards of 20 years ago, and it looks even worse now, as the Detroit Pistons don’t have an elite defense to fall back on.
We are all hoping to regain the sustained success of the Goin’ to Work era, but it won’t happen by imitating the offense.