Will Monty Williams make good on his promise to the Pistons?

Monty Williams has taken plenty of heat during his first year as head coach of the Detroit Pistons and most of it is his own doing.

Fans could accept losing (maybe not this much) if there was clear direction, but this team has been all over the place, culminating with turning over half of their roster before the trade deadline.

You can't put this all on Williams, who was given a bad, ill-fitting team that suddenly has seven new players.

But Monty has been asked about his rotations since the beginning of the season and keeps saying one thing, and then doing another.

He's talked the talk about shortening his rotation all season and now is the time to make good on those words.

Monty Williams and the Detroit Pistons' rotation

Monty once again paid lip service to tightening his rotation, which featured 13 players in the final game before the All-Star break.

He needs to follow through this time, as players like Evan Fournier, Shake Milton, James Wiseman and Malachi Flynn are not likely to be on the team next season, and don't need to be getting minutes.

He has to focus his efforts on the Core Four and choose the four or five bench players that best complement them.

He has to cut out the all-bench minutes early in the game, as the other team usually runs Detroit out of the gym and seals the game while the starters are all on the bench.

He has to be consistent with minutes and quit yanking players in and out of the lineup. Let them take their lumps, coach them up when they make mistakes, then get them back out there.

There are only a precious 28 games remaining in this season and it's time to stop experimenting with combinations of players who aren't likely to see the floor together past this season.

It's time for Monty Williams to do what he keeps saying he's going to do and narrow his focus on the future of the team, as that is all they have at this point.