Detroit Pistons: How Monty Williams will fix the defense
The Philosophy
Williams talked a lot about keeping things simple in Phoenix when he took over a young team. He’ll likely take a similar approach in Detroit, and the foundation of his defense includes areas where the Pistons must improve.
Here’s a brief description according to NBA.com:
"“Williams installed a few basic principles when he arrived: know the gameplan, don’t foul, grab rebounds, protect the paint. Keeping things simple was practical for a young team, but it also speaks to the coaching staff’s overall philosophy on offense… By the end of Williams’ first season, the Suns identified their defensive core: Mikal Bridges on the perimeter and Deandre Ayton inside. From there, it was a matter of building habits and developing additional schemes and adjustments to their defensive repertoire.”"
Of course there is a lot more when it comes to specific X’s and O’s, but the foundation of Williams’ gameplan are areas of weakness for the Pistons:
- Fouls: 29th in the NBA
- Defensive rebounds per game: 25th in the NBA
- Opponent’s points in the paint: 28th in the NBA
The Detroit Pistons fouled too much, didn’t close out possessions with defensive rebounds and allowed 54 points in the paint per game, a nine point difference from the league-leading New York Knicks.
Williams needs to get the most out of the big men, who were actually decent on the offensive glass (10th overall in the NBA) but were not as effective on the defensive end, something Coach Williams will emphasize.
It’s not as if Dwane Casey didn’t coach these things, but Williams will have more leeway to bench guys who aren’t cutting it defensively now that the Pistons are out of tank mode and hopefully finished trying out busts.
But this isn’t all on the bigs, as the Pistons’ perimeter defense was terrible and was the big reason for a lot of those points in the paint. Williams will have to get the most defensively from Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey, as well as improvements from the young big men.
The second part will be identifying the defensive core as he did in Phoenix with Mikal Bridges and Deandre Ayton. Jalen Duren is the obvious choice for the big-man role, but the Pistons currently lack a lockdown defender like Bridges on the wing. Ivey and Cunningham both have potential, but there will also have to be more talent added in that area.
Williams has a track record in areas where the Detroit Pistons need to improve on defense, so his basic philosophy should be beneficial. But the Pistons will need more than internal improvement to turn things around.