The Detroit Pistons were a lousy defensive team last season, and that’s why they weren’t able to win even as many as 30 games. A new coach could be just the thing to shake this team up and improve it.
What Went Wrong Last Season?
The Pistons had serious problems on defense. The team averaged just over 101 points per game but allowed an average of almost 105, the fourth-worst average in the Association. The defensive stats for this team were relentlessly bad: 25th in made field goals allowed, 27th in field goal percentage defense, 23rd in made threes allowed and three-point attempts allowed, 29th in two-point percentage defense, 27th in assists allowed. The Pistons were better than 15th in only three defensive categories – two-point attempts allowed, free throw percentage (which really has little to do with a team’s own defensive quality), and turnovers forced.
The team wasn’t one of the 11 best in the NBA in a single defensive category of note. That’s a grim statistic for a team to face, so it’s no wonder that this club finished with a 29-53 record, nine games behind the final playoff team in the Eastern Conference, the 38-44 Atlanta Hawks. The Pistons had some size and length near the rim in Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond, but in terms of shutting people down on the perimeter and generally preventing opponents from getting quality shots on most possessions, the Pistons failed a great deal.
On the offensive side of things, Detroit was not that bad in terms of creating a lot of attempts. The Pistons were fourth in the league in the number of shots they attempted. However, this team did not have good shooters from any spot on the court. The Pistons were only 20th in overall field goal percentage, and that’s because their rating of 13th in two-point percentage was counterbalanced by a placement of 29th in the league on three-point shots. Then, the killer: Detroit was dead last in the NBA in free throw shooting percentage despite earning the sixth-highest number of attempts in the league. Detroit hit only 67 percent of its foul shots as a team, which is staggeringly bad. If Detroit can bump that percentage up to 75 this season, that should be worth a few games.
Offseason Changes
The Pistons are going into battle this season with some veterans who could make them even better on offense and might be able to shoot the ball with more accuracy. D.J. Augustin and Caron Butler are two such players. Rookie Spencer Dinwiddie, if healed from injuries that dogged him in his final college season at Colorado, could help in that regard as well. The biggest change, though, is that Stan Van Gundy has arrived as the new head coach and director of basketball operations. General manager Joe Dumars is gone, giving the organization a completely new orientation and focus. If Van Gundy performs well, the franchise performs well. That’s going to be the biggest source of drama with the Pistons this next season.
Projected Finish
The Pistons could make a better run at the playoffs this season. They should be better, probably enough to win 35 games. Enough to win 40, though? The team might not be ready to do that just yet. This team will barely miss out on the playoffs, but it will move up and not down in the standings.
Pick: 10th In The Eastern Conference
