Saddiq Bey had a promising start to his career with the Detroit Pistons as a 3-point shooter, knocking down 38 percent of his 6.6 attempts per game in his rookie season.
Although his overall numbers went up in year two, his 3-point shooting numbers dipped, dropping to 34 percent on 7.4 attempts per game.
There were many potential reasons for this, as Bey was trying to work on some things early in the season and his focus might have been away from where it needs to be. He had a horrible start and had to turn it around to even get back to his pedestrian season stats.
Saddiq Bey is not lightning fast and is not going to beat many people off the dribble, and although his post and mid-range game are improving, the Pistons need him to be a sharpshooter from long range.
At times last season he was, as Bey had some huge games from behind the arc, even notching 51 points against the Magic on an outstanding 10-of-14 shooting from long range. The problem is that he went just 1-of-4 from 3-point range in the next game, illustrating a problem he’s had dating back to the beginning of last season.
Detroit Pistons: All or nothing with Saddiq Bey
Bey didn’t get off to a great start again this season, going 1-of-8 against the Knicks in the preseason opener and missing all five of his 3-point shots.
I don’t want to overreact too much to a preseason game, but Bey’s shot looked flat and just plain off, which is something we saw way too many times last season, especially early on.
Last season, Bey had 28 games where he made zero or one 3-point shots, so in 34 percent of the Detroit Pistons’ games last year, Bey gave them pretty much nothing from long range.
But he also had 33 game where he hit at least three from long range on eight or fewer attempts, which is right where Detroit needs him to be.
In the rest he was somewhere in the middle, which you would expect over the course of the long season. Detroit would like 3-of-8 from long range (37.5 percent) to be the baseline of what Bey does each game with him hopefully splashing in a few where he hits more.
What he has to cut out are these games were he goes 0-of-5 or even 0-of-8 from the 3-point line. They are going to happen from time to time, but it can’t represent a huge portion of the season as it did last year.
Bey has a lot at stake this season, as he will be extension eligible after this year and his next contract may depend on him being more consistent from 3-point range and finishing the season closer to 40 percent.
Bey cannot continue to be so “all or nothing” as the Detroit Pistons need consistent 3-point shooting from their starting wing, not a guy who blows up one night and can’t hit the side of a barn the next.