The single biggest X-factor for the Detroit Pistons next season could be Jalen Duren’s defense, which has to get better for the team to improve.
Duren is an excellent rebounder who is dominant around the rim on offense. He’s also shown some passing ability, which makes you believe in him as an offensive player, especially when you consider he’s barely old enough to buy a beer.
But one harsh truth remains: The Pistons were actually better defensively in both the regular season and playoffs when Duren was off the floor and that cannot be the case for a guy whose offensive game is also a work in progress.
A team needs the center to be the defensive anchor and Duren wasn’t last season, though he did flash some signs of it in the playoffs.
It’s easy to say, “get better on defense!” but what does that specifically mean for Duren?
Jalen Duren’s defensive improvement starts at the rim and moves outward
There are several areas of Duren’s defense that need to improve, but it starts with becoming a dominant rim protector, which he started to do in the latter parts of last season.
It’s not all about blocking shots, and Duren’s teammate Isaiah Stewart is proof of that. Stewart doesn’t always get his hands on the ball, but he uses his strength to stop scorers from going through him and uses his long arms to affect shots even when he doesn’t block them.
Duren often goes for the highlight reel block rather than use his considerable strength to “build a ******* wall,” as Stan Van Gundy famously said.
He has to quit biting on every pump fake, stay at home and trust his positioning, strength and length to help him affect shots, and he has to do it without fouling so much.
Duren’s defensive improvement starts at the rim but needs to extend to the perimeter, where he is below average at just about everything. The Pistons had to switch Tobias Harris onto Karl Anthony-Towns in the playoffs because Duren was incapable of chasing him around the 3-point line and defending the pick-and-roll.
Harris held his own and has far less athletic ability than Duren, so this is more about positioning and footwork than quickness and athleticism. Duren does not move his feet well laterally and gets caught out of position on the pick and roll.
As quick as he is, he should be able to hedge more screens and disrupt the ballhandler, but right now he doesn’t have the footwork to recover and can’t be trusted not to foul.
The good news is that Duren is still so young and has all of the tools to be a good defender. It often takes longer for big men, as they are used to just standing in the lane and trying to block shots and NBA defense is far more nuanced.
He has to be smarter and more patient on defense, use his body better and move his feet more. These are all basics of defense that Duren never had to learn, as he could just rely on his physical advantages.
Duren doesn’t have to become Ben Wallace overnight, but he has to be more than a below-average defender whose team’s defense is better when he’s on the bench.