Can the Detroit Pistons really bring Dwane Casey back?

One of the biggest and most contentious issues hanging over the Detroit Pistons this offseason is the future of head coach Dwane Casey.

In the never-nuanced world of social media, Casey is often the biggest scapegoat for this team’s horrible season, and I probably see the phrase “fire Casey” more than just about any other when it comes to the Pistons.

Of course, nothing is ever that simple, as coach Casey was saddled with a young, injury-riddled roster whose construction was questionable at best.  He lost his best player for the season and was forced to try and squeeze two big men who can’t shoot into the starting lineup by a GM who is trying to time travel back to the 90’s.

You can’t blame Casey for how this season has turned out, as he was never given a roster that had a chance to win. But given the culture of losing that is now around this team, can they really bring Casey back?

Detroit Pistons: It will be hard for coach Dwane Casey to come back from this

The Detroit Pistons aren’t just bad this season, they are the worst team in the league and on the cusp of tying the worst record in franchise history.

They weren’t likely to be good this season anyway given their mismatched roster construction, but that was guaranteed when Cade Cunningham went out. I don’t blame Dwane Casey for that.

However, there are things you can point to that deserve criticism. The Pistons’ offense is not very dynamic by any measure. They are the worst shooting team in the NBA (again) and lately have been so stagnant in the half court as they try to force-feed post plays with very little movement.

You can blame injuries for some of this, but this team is just boring to watch offensively and some of that has to fall on the coach.

But the real disappointment is the defense, as they are going to be the worst defense in team history for the second time in as many years. The team defense hasn’t improved as the season has progressed and few players have made noticeable individual strides.

Again, you can blame some of this on the personnel Casey was given, as he doesn’t have a single plus defender on the wing. No one can coach a team with Saddiq Bey and Bojan Bogdanovic as the forwards into magically having a good defense, but the Detroit Pistons continue to make the same mistakes, often with the basic fundamentals of the game.

I wouldn’t say that Casey has lost the team, but there has been some negative body language of late and last night they really just went through the motions. Casey noticed and said as much after the game:

"“This was the first time in a long time I didn’t feel like the guys were locked in,” said Pistons coach Dwane Casey. “The focus was not there. For whatever reason the execution, the sharpness was not there.”"

The season is a grind, especially when you are losing this much, so I commend coach Casey for keeping a positive locker room for the most part. He’s clearly well-respected by his players and the organization, but this much losing will take its toll and you can see that the players are ready for it to be over.

There’s not much positive momentum going into the offseason, although that can change quickly with a little lottery luck. It’s also possible that things would have gone much differently this season without all of the injuries.

But it’s also very possible that coach Casey’s message and approach have gotten a little stale and that it’s time for a new voice and that this season is going to be hard to shake off with him at the helm.

The Detroit Pistons have stayed mute about their intentions and have always publicly supported their coach, but it’s hard to see the team coming back from this mess without some changes.