Pistons news: Dwane Casey recognizes big problem in Detroit

Detroit Pistons center James Wiseman Credit: Allison Farrand-USA TODAY Sports
Detroit Pistons center James Wiseman Credit: Allison Farrand-USA TODAY Sports

The Detroit Pistons fell apart in the 4th quarter and lost a winnable game at home to the Miami Heat.

The Pistons have now lost 14-of15 games to maintain their hold on the worst record in the league. There are now 2.5 games between Detroit and Houston, so the Pistons are safe when it comes to getting one of the bottom three spots and maximum chances at Victor Wembanyama.

There were some bright spots in the game, as James Wiseman had one of his best games as a Piston and Killian Hayes dropped another double-double.

Detroit was winning by seven heading into the 4th before Tyler Herro went into action and helped the Heat double up the Pistons in the final quarter.

The game featured plenty of the two-big experiment the Pistons have been working with lately, and after the game, coach Dwane Casey recognized some of the limitations.

Detroit Pistons: Marvin Bagley III and James Wiseman

Jalen Duren had to leave the game in the 3rd quarter with a head injury, so most of the two-big lineups we saw featured Marvin Bagley III and James Wiseman. We didn’t get to see any of the Duren/Wiseman duo that Detroit tried briefly against the Nuggets.

The two are not a good fit together, though they had some of their best run last night. Wiseman knocked down a couple of mid-range jumpers and even a 3-point shot, but there were times when the spacing issues were obvious.

But the biggest problem with these two on the floor is on defense, which coach Casey recognized after the game. After talking about the transition defense being a problem, Casey mentioned the bigs defending on the perimeter:

"“It’s tough for our bigs to get into the habit of matching up on the perimeter,” said Casey, who has said the team needs to dominate the boards when the big lineup is on the floor."

This was obvious when MBIII was trying to defend Jimmy Butler and when he was trying to close out on shooters like Caleb Martin, who ended with three from long range. Detroit also lost the rebounding battle, which is unacceptable if you are going to run two centers for a large portion of the game. Marvin Bagley III had just three boards, half as many as Tyler Herro (6) and Kyle Lowry (6).

The Pistons now have a 131.2 defensive rating when Bagley III and Wiseman are on the floor together. You wonder if this experiment has somewhat been forced on Casey after his comments last night, as he seemed to acknowledge the very obvious limitations of playing two bigs who aren’t good at switching on the perimeter.