The good and bad through 5 games for the Detroit Pistons

Losses bring the Detroit Pistons down to Earth

In retrospect, the winless preseason may have been a sign of things to come.

If you add in those games the Detroit Pistons have only seen one win in the entire month of October. To make matters worse two of the regular season losses have been blow-outs and the Pacers game being under 10 gives me zero consolation.

The team is underperforming in several areas and it’s becoming more and more clear that the team is not yet finished remodeling the basement, tearing down the shed and finishing the attic.

One issue that immediately jumps off the page is that the Pistons are grossly undersized. The need for a capable big down low, i.e.Marvin Bagley, is evident.

Opposing teams have had a field day down low when it comes to blocking shots, and scoring in the paint. On the reverse side the Detroit bigs haven’t so much as swatted a fly let  alone blocked a shot outside of Jalen Duren. The Pistons are currently 29th in blocked shots per game.

That stat along with the lack of success scoring in the paint make it hard to win games, especially for a team with one good shooter, and two average to slightly above average shooters, which transitions into my next point. The Pistons have had an abysmal season shooting the ball and are currently 27th in the NBA in overall percentage.

This may be an even bigger concern than the lack of rim protection and post scoring. A team that can’t shoot can’t space the floor, and that clogs the lanes, and wreaks havoc on your offense.

The Pistons did knock down 43 percent of their long-range shots last night, so hopefully that is a sign of things to come, but they were once again outscored by 14 on points in the paint.