The Detroit Pistons only won 17 games last season, so to say they need to improve is a obvious understatement.
Cade Cunningham’s return will help, but he’s not going to fix all of their problems, and there will have to be improvement across the board in many areas for Detroit to finally be competitive in the Eastern Conference.
We’ve only seen one preseason game, but there are already signs of some disturbing trends that date back to last season or even earlier, things that have to change.
Head coach Monty Williams has a big task in front of him and plenty of work to do with his young roster.
The Detroit Pistons have to avoid early injuries
The Detroit Pistons had myriad injuries last season and ended it with guys like Eugue Omoruyi and RJ Hampton in the starting lineup.
While injuries are not something that can be “fixed” per se, they are reason for concern, as Isaiah Livers is already out for 6-8 weeks, Bojan Bogdanovic and Monte Morris missed the first preseason game with minor injuries and Jalen Duren had to leave the game after tweaking his ankle.
It’s hard not to have that “here we go again” feeling and fans have already started to use the “if healthy” disclaimer.
The Pistons have to toe the line between getting their young guys as many reps as possible, but also keeping them healthy. They can’t start this season in a huge hole and expect to climb out of it, so having a healthy roster is crucial.
The Pistons have to avoid letting up big runs
The Detroit Pistons had the bad habit of falling into defensive lapses and allowing the other team to go on runs. To their credit, the Pistons battled last season, but it doesn’t make much difference when you allow yourself to get down big.
The same exact thing happened in the first preseason game, as the Suns were able to use big runs in the first and third quarters to bury Detroit. The Pistons played well otherwise and the game would have been closer had it not been for these big defensive lapses.
They aren’t good enough yet to come back from 15-20 down every game, so Monty Williams will have to use his timeouts and bench wisely to avoid letting the other team to have these big offensive spurts.
Detroit has to avoid the halfcourt lulls
The same happens to the Detroit Pistons in the halfcourt offense at times. They go into these lulls where the ball isn’t moving and they just aren’t getting good looks.
Bad shot selection leads to fast breaks, leads to big scoring runs for the other team, so these two issues are connected.
The Pistons would like to play fast and avoid this altogether, as they are a much better offense if the defense doesn’t have time to set, so the best way to avoid these halfcourt lulls is to get stops.
But they also have to get better at moving the ball (there was some improvement in that area in the first preseason game), not backing down in the post or relying too much on one guy to make a play.
Monty Williams’ offense stresses these points, but we still saw the Pistons struggle in the half court in the first preseason game.
The Detroit Pistons have to avoid boneheaded turnovers
Turnovers are part of the game, but the Pistons make more stupid ones than just about any team I’ve ever watched. You can accept turnovers when they are a result of aggression or a player trying to make a difficult play, but what is unacceptable is when they just hand the ball over to the other team, which happens 3-4 times every game.
Cade Cunningham is sometimes guilty of making lazy passes, especially just after crossing halfcourt. He only had two turnovers vs. the Suns, but he also only played 23 minutes and one of the turnovers was of the boneheaded variety.
You can’t throw lazy passes in the NBA, the players are too fast and skilled on defense, so the Pistons have to avoid these mental lapses.
The Pistons can’t be mediocre from 3-point range
The Detroit Pistons have the personnel to be a good 3-point shooting team, and they need to be, as their young guards and bigs need space to work.
The Pistons were 21st in 3-point percentage last season, shooting a mediocre 35 percent as a team. They were still launching plenty of them, and plan to again this season, but for their offense to be effective, they have to be better than just mediocre.
The Pistons hit 31.5 percent of their 3-point attempts in the first preseason game, and it didn’t help that two of their best shooters were on the bench in street clothes. But even with Bojan Bogdanovic and Monte Morris out, Detroit still had shooters and they just weren’t hitting them consistently.
The offense won’t work without space and that space won’t be there until Detroit shows they can bury a team with shooting.
This one doesn’t concern me as much, as they have some proven 3-point shooters, but it’s a number to watch as the season progresses.