Pistons' biggest struggle should inspire confidence...for now

The Detroit Pistons shot just 13 percent from 3-point range last night, but were still able to handily defeat the Orlando Magic, which has been a theme of late. 

The Pistons are shooting just 26 percent from long range in their last five games AS A TEAM but have still managed to win four of those games, only dropping one to the red-hot Spurs. 

The 3-point shooting is a talking point and will continue to be for the rest of the season, as there are those who understandably have doubts about the Pistons' ability to win in the playoffs with such a 3-point disparity. 

I get the concerns and share them, but for now, winning like this should give the team some amount of confidence. 

What if the Pistons start making shots? 

The scary thing about the Pistons if you are an opponent is that they are this good without being able to make 3-point shots. For all of the moaning and complaining, the Pistons still have the best record in the NBA, even though they are 26th in 3-point percentage and 28th in 3-point makes per game. 

I’ve seen a lot of people talking about what might happen if the Pistons run into a hot 3-point shooting teams in the playoffs, and I do get that concern, but what if the Pistons get hot? 

Detroit isn’t going to magically transform into a great shooting team, but they aren’t going to shoot 25 percent for the rest of the season either. They are still winning even with the poor shooting, so if a couple of guys get hot, this team is going to be nearly impossible to beat, as they are very good at everything else. 

I try to stay positive, so I am envisioning Daniss Jenkins, Ron Holland and Caris LeVert getting hot in the playoffs and turning some of these close wins into blowouts. But it also might require some adjustments. 

JB Bickerstaff has to try some other players 

Both Kevin Huerter and Marcus Sasser were glued to the bench watching their teammates brick 3’s all night, but it didn’t matter, as the Magic’s offense is even worse. 

That won’t always be the case, so it’s about time coach Bickerstaff tries to get some of these other guys going. I thought he had started to waver on Caris LeVert, but that was a pipe dream, as he still played 20 minutes last night even though Ausar Thompson was freaking unbelievable. 

Coach Bickerstaff is stubborn, I’ll give him that, but at this point it can’t hurt to try and get Sasser or Huerter going a little. 

The Pistons need to quit making 3-point shots an afterthought 

Very few of the Pistons’ 3-point attempts actually come in rhythm or out of a designed play. They take a lot of desperation 3-point shots late in the shot clock, or when Cade Cunningham or Daniss Jenkins gets in trouble and takes a step back. 

You rarely see them come as a result of ball movement or designed plays, so Detroit needs to take more in-rhythm 3’s and fewer step back and desperation heaves. It seems as though the only player who ever gets them in rhythm is Ron Holland, who has been left wide open lately for good reason.

As bad as the Pistons’ shooting has been, they are still winning, so it should give them confidence that they can beat anyone on the nights when their shots actually are falling. 

But it’s not going to happen magically, coach Bickerstaff either needs to shake things up or figure out ways to get better looks in the flow of the offense.