The Detroit Pistons are amidst the toughest part of their schedule and may need to make some adjustments to beat the best teams in the NBA.
To be clear, the Pistons don’t need to overreact to one loss to the Spurs, who present unique problems Detroit isn’t going to face against any other team, namely the presence of a seven-foot-five destroyer of half-court offenses.
The Pistons have had success with what they are doing and don’t need to re-invent themselves because of one loss to a good team. Detroit has a chance to redeem themselves against a shorthanded Thunder team tonight, and if they do, no one will be screaming for major changes.
I’m not either, but there are tweaks JB Bickerstaff needs to consider.
The Pistons need more Ausar Thompson
This talking point has been ubiquitous on Pistons social media the last few days, so I won’t belabor a point that I’ve already discussed.
But there is no way Thompson should be playing 18 minutes in a game. Even the 25 he is averaging on the season are too few, as every metric points to the Pistons being better on both ends when he’s on the floor.
I get that coach Bickerstaff is trying to get Caris LeVert going. I also get that he was trying to inject shooting on a night when the Pistons were struggling mightily to score, but it wasn’t working offensively and defensively the Spurs were treated to a steady diet of uncontested corner threes.
This isn’t a one-off, as coach JB Bickerstaff has yanked Thompson many times this season and even inexplicably benched him for most of a playoff game last year. Thompson is the Pistons’ third-most important player (at worst) and needs to be out there.
The Pistons need to get Jalen Duren more looks
It took most of the game against the Spurs for the Pistons to figure out they could use Jalen Duren to attack Wembanyama, and still, he finished with 25 points on just 13 shots.
The Spurs were barely paying attention to Duren any time he got the ball outside the paint, which is something he could have attacked. He’s a handful for anyone to stop around the rim without fouling and I thought the Pistons should have been more aggressively using him, especially with Cade Cunningham struggling to find any room to operate.
The mythical “second scorer” isn’t walking through the door, but the Pistons may already have it in Duren, who needs to get more touches and aggressively look to get his own shot.
A dash of Kevin Huerter couldn’t hurt
It’s become clear that Huerter wasn’t the biggest factor in the Pistons’ decision to trade Jaden Ivey, as he’s not been part of the rotation.
JB Bickerstaff is tightening things up as the playoffs get closer, so has stuck with Javonte Green and Caris LeVert as he has all season. Bickerstaff believes in continuity and clear roles as part of his coaching ethos, and it has worked so far.
Huerter has also struggled from long range, but he does offer something that Green and LeVert have not, which is a guy who can make plays with the ball, get his own shot and connect the offense with passing.
LeVert has been a bit of a black hole this season and has stalled the offense with overdribbling and turnovers, something Huerter won’t do. He looks to either make a quick move or keep it moving, and the Pistons could use more of that even if the 3-points shots aren’t falling.
It’s not like LeVert is making them either, so coach Bickerstaff may have to tinker with ways to inject more offense into the second unit.