After being ignored for the better part of a decade, the Detroit Pistons are finally getting some attention.
And they should, as what Detroit is doing is the best story in the NBA this season, a team going from utterly hopeless to a playoff contender in less than a calendar year.
The biggest reason for their unexpected renaissance is the improvement on defense, as the Pistons are currently 9th in the NBA in defensive rating after being at or near the bottom for years.
JB Bickerstaff has pushed all of the right buttons, but there has been plenty of individual improvement from everyone from Cade Cunningham to Jalen Duren.
Add in an elite defender like Ausar Thompson, a scrappy hustler like Ron Holland II and one of the best rim protectors in the league in Isaiah Stewart, and you have the makings of a solid defense that can hopefully carry them to the playoffs for many years.
Stewart gets plenty of attention for the wrong reasons, as social media would have you think all he does is get into scraps, but Beef Stew is now getting attention from a wider NBA audience for his defense, something Pistons fans have been talking about for a long time.
Isaiah Stewart is a top-20 defender in the NBA
On a recent episode of The Game Theory podcast with Sam Vecenie, the host and Bryce Simon of Motor City Hoops broke down some of their biggest surprises of the NBA this year.
The Pistons were at the top of the list and they should be after winning 14 games last season and having a resurgence that no one saw coming.
They specifically gave love to Isaiah Stewart, who Vecenie called a “Top-20 defender in the NBA,” adding that Stewart was “physical” that he “rotates all over the floor” and is strong at the rim.
The amazing thing is how Stewart is able to impact and help control games from the bench in just 20 minutes per night.
They also touched upon something I’ve been wondering about, which is whether Stewart will see more time than Duren in the playoffs if the Pistons get there.
Duren’s struggle to defend stretch fives is well documented and the Pistons are likely to be playing against one in the first round whether it is Karl-Anthony Towns, Brook Lopez or Myles Turner.
Stewart has been the better defender of the two, particularly in space, where his ability to effectively switch and guard the perimeter will be a weapon in the playoffs (pending).
It’s great to see Stewart get some attention for things other than fighting, as he’s been such an important part of the Pistons this season, something fans already know.
Stewart does need to chill on the technical fouls, as he is only three away from a suspension and the Pistons will need him in a home stretch that features 12 of 16 games against teams at least headed to the play-in tournament, including two with OKC and two with the Bucks.