The Detroit Pistons struggled last season against teams with multiple rim protectors, as they didn’t have a Plan B if they couldn’t score points in the paint.
Tonight’s opponent, the Miami Heat, happen to have two very good ones in Giannis and Bam Adebayo, so the Pistons’ front court will have its hands full and this will be a great test of their reconfigured roster.
Last year, the game plan against the Pistons would have been simple: Allow the perimeter defenders to swarm and help on Cade, and any of the mistakes would be cleaned up by their two shot blockers.
But the Pistons have a new look this season that should neutralize some of Miami’s biggest strength.
The Pistons must force the Heat into tough decisions
The Pistons added shooting in the offseason so that teams couldn’t help on Cade Cunningham with impunity as they did for most of last season when he faced constant double teams.
Now JB Bickerstaff has the option of putting three or even four shooters around Cunningham and forcing teams like the Heat to choose between protecting the paint and respecting the 3-point line.
The Pistons need to punish the Heat if they want to help on Cunningham, who should have a one-on-one advantage against any of their guards.
If they want to help off Ausar Thompson with a wing player, the Pistons have to keep the ball moving, find the shooters and make them pay. This is a game the Pistons may have to play from the outside in, using their shooters to draw out the defense and eventually open up the paint for Cunningham and Duren.
The Pistons will need John Collins and Javonte Green to pull one of Miami's bigs away from the hoop by knocking down some early shots. They need Duncan Robinson to put the defense in motion and make Miami scramble on the perimeter.
We’ve talked endlessly about the Pistons’ need for a second creator, but another way to take the burden off Cade is keeping the ball moving until they find an open shooter, and this season, they have the personnel to make that work.
After finishing 29th in the league in 3-point attempts last season, the Pistons launched 40 in their first game and hit 38 percent of them. I don’t know if the Pistons will or should take 40 a game, but an increase into the mid-30's should be enough to keep teams honest on defense, especially if Detroit continues to hit them at a high clip.
The Pistons didn’t have many answers last season for teams that had two big rim protectors, but now they can put shooting lineups on the floor to give the offense more balance and force teams to respect the perimeter.
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