Is the Detroit Pistons’ shooting really this bad? Who is to blame?
The Detroit Pistons’ bench shooting
It’s inexplicable that just about every guy on the team is cold at the same time but here we are.
Other than Kelly Olynyk (who is currently out with injury), the entire bench is shooting worse than they did last season. The numbers on the left are the player’s field goal percentage and 3-point percentage from last season, and the ones are the right are from this season:
- Cory Joseph 50/36–45/29
- Frank Jackson 45/40–40/30
- Josh Jackson 41/30–41/28
- Trey Lyles 47/35–41/27
- Hamidou Diallo 46/39–52/23
- Luka Garza 55/44–44/35
- Saben Lee 47/34–34/16
Literally every guy is worse.
And the rest of the NBA knows it too. We saw it last night, when the Clippers were sagging so far off the Pistons’ shooters, just daring them to take 3-point shots. Detroit obliged and launched 33 of them, hitting only 24 percent.
This is why it looked like Jerami Grant was running into a wall every time he drove the ball. The Clippers were just packing the lane and hoping the Pistons would shoot from just about anywhere other than the restricted area or the free-throw line.
When your collective shooting is so bad that other teams don’t defend the 3-point line, that is not a good sign.