John Collins has been struggling over the last six games, and a lot of his issues trace back to the injury to starting center Jalen Duren.
After enjoying a red-hot start to his career as a Piston, averaging 15 ppg in his first three games and shooting the lights out, Collins has cooled off and completely changed his approach.
In the first three games, Collins averaged nearly five 3-point attempts per game and hit half of them, which is precisely the type of floor spreading the Pistons were hoping for when they acquired him and let Tobias Harris walk.
But in the past six games, Collins has taken just 1.5 attempts from 3-point range per game and hit just 11 percent of them.
Collins has always been a streaky player who has the tendency to disappear at times, but part of this is that he’s playing way too much at center.
Jalen Duren injury update and the Pistons' upcoming schedule
The Pistons did give an update on Duren’s injury, and it was a positive one, as he’s been cleared for basketball activities, though head coach JB Bickerstaff did say that they would be careful with Duren and not rush him back.
His absence has left Paul Reed as the center, and as good as Reed has been at times, there are diminishing returns on his style of play. Reed offers more versatility on offense than Duren, but he’s not as good on the glass and doesn’t get as many of the easy, high percentage buckets that JD provides.
It also forced Collins into the de facto backup center, which is a position he has played in the past, but not one he should be playing full time. A few minutes of small ball per game would be great, but if Collins has to play there too much, the Pistons get exposed on the boards.
Collins grabbed just four rebounds in 32 minutes last night, and the Pistons couldn’t keep Walker Kessler or Jarred Vanderbilt off the glass, as the two combined for 26 rebounds, nine of them offensive.
The Pistons’ offensive rebounding as taken a huge dip with Duren out and that’s even with Ausar Thompson stepping and having some monster nights on the boards.
When Collins isn’t taking 3-point shots, he offers little else, as he’s not a creator, and without Duren in there, there is no one to draw defenses in so Collins can be effective as a cutter or weak side offensive rebounder, which are areas where he usually excels.
It’s easy to get down on Collins early, but most of his struggles come down to Jalen Duren not being in the lineup. It’s not going to get any easier, as the Pistons have Anthony Davis tonight and Thursday before facing Bam and Giannis and then Wembanyama.
The sky is not falling, but the Pistons may have to make some adjustments to survive this stretch with Jalen Duren out.
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