The Detroit Pistons made the splashy hire of Monty Williams in order to take their young roster to the next level and pivot towards being competitive.
The Pistons were equally bad on both sides of the ball this past season, so Monty Williams is going to have his work cut out for him.
We talked about some of the ways Williams could help the Pistons’ offense, but the defensive side of the ball is just as important, if not more. Detroit was near the bottom of the league in defensive efficiency, opponent’s points allowed and defensive rebounds per game, which didn’t help an offense that often struggled to get good looks in the half court.
Better defense leads to better offense, and Monty Williams has a history of improving teams on both ends.
Detroit Pistons: How Monty Williams will fix the defense
The Numbers
Monty Williams took over a Suns team in 2019 that was fresh off a 19-win season and was 29th in defensive efficiency. That’s not far off the Detroit Pistons, who managed just 17 wins this season and ranked 27th in defensive efficiency.
Williams quickly turned things around in Phoenix, getting the Suns up to 16th in his first season. That type of progress would be great for the Pistons, who will need improvement from their young core as well as additions from the outside.
In 2020-21, the Suns were up to 7th in defensive efficiency and 5th the year after that in which they made the NBA Finals. They dropped to 10th this season but Williams had the Suns as a top-10 defense in all but one season in Phoenix.
Williams isn’t finished filling out his staff, but after hiring offensive-minded Stephen Silas, he could look for an assistant who has a focus on defense.
Can he have similar success in Detroit? If so, here’s how he will do it.