Detroit Pistons: Revisiting preseason questions with James Edwards III

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Detroit Pistons?

The weaknesses

James’ answer then:

"“I think turnovers are going to be an issue. They struggled with turnovers for most of the preseason and that was without their two young backcourt guys playing together. The history of the NBA says young guards struggle with turnovers. and I think Cade and Killian are going to struggle with turnovers.”"

The reality:

Nailed it. The Pistons are 24th in the NBA in turnovers and Cunningham leads all rookies.

James’ answer then:

"“Rebounding is going to be interesting. Are they going to get enough from the wing guys to help Isaiah Stewart, like Jerami Grant? Casey said on Sunday he wants Grant to have five or six rebounds, at least, a game. Frank Jackson had some really good rebounding games, can he keep that up? Same with Josh Jackson, can he keep that up? They’re going to need a group effort to rebound well.”"

The reality:

James was spot-on once again, as the Pistons are 28th in team rebounding and have a roster that is probably too small right now. This is one of the biggest needs to address in the offseason.

The strengths

James’ answer then:

"“It’s the fight that they have. This team is made up of guys who compete at a very high level, who compete throughout the course of a game. I think they’re going to stay in a lot of games and make games very annoying for better opponents because of that, similar to last year. It’s going to be a continuation of that. It’s a team that’s going to play hard night-in and night-out and I don’t think that’s going away.”"

The reality:

This has been a big problem, as the Detroit Pistons just haven’t consistently had the effort they had last season, though they have shown it at times.

I do think the is the product of not having enough veterans, as it is hard for young players to consistently stay focused when the losses are piling up. I still think James was right about this, but the Pistons just don’t have as much talent as last season, which has led to more blowouts.

While their lows have been lower than last season, I do think their highs have been higher, so even though they haven’t been as “scrappy” as last season, the fight is still there and I think the Pistons have identified players who care, which is a good sign.