Detroit Pistons need to get more defensive

2. No tangible reward for Pistons to play well defensively while losing all the time

Playing truly outstanding defense takes a lot of effort. With the Pistons losing most of their games at the start of the season, there was little reward for fine defensive play. The offense struggled mightily at the beginning, leaving the defense not as high a priority. When you are shooing 25-percent and scoring 14 points in a quarter, defense is not the immediate concern.

And when you are 5-28, and see even if you play good defense, you are still losing, can get in players heads after a while. Detroit has been much better in the win-loss column in 2022, so one would hope the defensive intensity will increase.

1. Hey, Where did everybody go?

The bottom line is, the Pistons top defensive players have rarely been healthy and available at the same time.

In the perfect world, Casey could roll out a lineup of Cunningham, Hayes, Diallo, Grant and Olynyk which would be very strong on the defensive end (how they would do on offense is another question).

Cunningham missed the start of the season with an ankle injury, then when he came back Olynyk was soon gone with a knee sprain, followed shortly thereafter by Grant with an injured thumb. Hayes has also missed time with various injuries and Diallo played little at the start of the year.

And everyone (except Diallo) has missed significant time due to COVID-19 protocols.

Chemistry is very important on defense. Someone might be a great 1-on-1 defender, but if no one calls out a pick, it does not matter, thay guy gets squashed and the player he was guarding is free.

Knowing your teammates tendencies on defense is crucial to a successful defense. The No. 1 defense in the NBA is the Warriors, where most of the key players have been together for years.