The Detroit Pistons made the leap to a top 10 defense last season with old-fashioned physicality. Now they just need to do it without fouling so much.
There was a lot of talk about the Pistons’ physicality, especially in the series against the Knicks, as both teams played a tough, physical style that made for one of the best series in the entire playoffs.
It was something the Pistons did all season, but they got their share of whistles in the process. Detroit was 28th in the NBA in opponent’s free throw attempts per game and 27th in opponent’s made free throws per game.
Detroit gave up a whopping 24.2 free-throw attempts per game last season, one of the unfortunate side effects of playing such a physical style. While the overall results were positive, you can see how this could be an issue when the best team in this stat (Miami) gave up just 18 free-throw attempts per game last season.
That’s not a small gap and could easily be the difference between winning or losing a close game. While the Pistons have some clear culprits, there are several players who need to be better at defending without fouling.
The Detroit Pistons have some of the top foulers in the league
Jalen Duren led the Pistons in fouling last season and was 4th in the NBA overall in fouls per game, which is not shocking considering he’s a young big man still learning how to play defense effectively.
He’s not the only one though, as Ausar Thompson was 13th in the league in fouls per game, Cade Cunningham was 18th, and Isaiah Stewart came in 33rd even though he only played 20 minutes a game.
Stewart committed 4.6 fouls per 36 minutes, which was the worst on the team, with Ausar Thompson (4.4) and Jalen Duren (4.4) not far behind.
You will live with fouls from your big men, though Duren certainly has to be better in this regard, especially in when it comes to leaving his feet on pump fakes. Duren has to learn that you can affect shots without blocking them and to get better at using his strength instead of reaching for steals and blocks.
You don’t want Ausar Thompson to lose his aggressiveness on defense, but he needs to cut out the fouls in the backcourt, the silly ones that don’t affect the play.
A lot of Cade Cunningham’s fouls come in two situations: He’s fatigued and reaches, which he can help by being in better shape this season, and also after he thinks he got fouled on the other end. Cunningham picks up a lot of silly spite fouls after he fails to get a whistle of his own, something that will hopefully improve as he starts to get more calls.
The Pistons play aggressive and physical defense, which is what coach JB Bickerstaff wants, but they need to cut down the number of easy points they are giving their opponents at the free-throw line.