FanPost

The Real Pistons Concern: Offensive Stagnation

Two things before I start. 1. It’s been way too long since I have participated in any fashion on this website. I have been reading but writing out responses or posts has been too much a task for me. Granted, most of that time has been spent unproductively. 2. I am not an NBA coach, and I could very well be asking too much from Pistons players.

I do not think the Pistons recent struggles have to do with Blake and Dre’s issues with making shots, nor do I think it’s because Ish is the starting point guard and Reggie is still hurt. Those do not help, but most of that has to do with a few things: poor off-ball movement leading to inefficient shots, overreliance on Blake’s shooting abilities, and lack of point-center (yeah, I said it) usage from Dre.

It's almost as if... they forgot about Dre.

A lot of Dre support has accumulated on DBB, and rightfully so. He has been having an outstanding year! His best of all time statistically. He looks like he no longer struggles with the ball, and the inefficient post-up game was thought to have been gone. Unfortunately, it has returned, and so has his previous season woes. He cannot post up. He’s shown flashes, but that’s unreliable, as it’s always been. What type of offense he played prior to the Griffin trade disappeared for apparently no reason.

I am not a huge fan of placing the blame, mainly because I do not have all the materials a coach has or otherwise. But for these to improve (or really, to have stayed since Reggie’s injury) he needs to produce different offensive sets and plays. I was excited for the trade, not because we got the inefficiency of Avery Bradley off the grid, and Boban’s contract off the books, but because of how it would open our offense. Don’t get me wrong, I like Ish, but what I thought was going to develop never did.

I am going to separate this article into three parts: History prior to Blake Trade and Reggie Injury (team history and Dre history), Blake Trade issues, potential solutions.

Historical Evidence of Initiator-Drummond

I know a few of you refuse to use the term point-center for Drummond. I don’t necessarily enjoy it either, but he has a gift for passing that needs to be continually developed to exceed his two-dimensional (rebounding and rolling) style. I thought that this would continue, however, I was wrong.

I handpicked key wins and losses versus quality teams at differing parts in the season prior to the Reggie injury. It’s no secret Andre feels more comfortable with his friend on the court, and whether that has to do with his assist totals and his teams success is left to speculation. His year has been spectacular comparatively to his previous ones. His TS% is the highest it’s been since his lowest USG% since 2013-2014. His Ast% is at 17.2, it’s highest percent ever by 11 points. His turnover% is the highest it has been, at 17%, but I believe that’s only because this is the first year he has been a play initiator. There is a learning curve, and if that leads to 5.4 AST per 100, then I’ll take it. Anyway, I’ll move on to this year’s handpicked games.

I am going to start with the stellar game versus Golden State. The game versus the reigning champions, and thus, a major opponent. Andre went a rough 4-17 but contributed 5 Assists and 5 Steals. The play-by-play (since I cannot find video) gives us insight into what shots are made off those assists. His team also shot 44.0% from three. The assist +/- was -7

Avery Bradley makes three pointer/Tobias makes driving layup/Stanley makes two-pointer/Avery makes three/Ish makes layup.

Through each game, pay attention to the patterns. For those of you who watch consistently and break down film, you may have already seen what I am talking about.

The second game in this set is loss versus Milwaukee. Andre recorded 4 Assists on 4-9 shooting but committed 4 turnovers. The team shot 40.5% from three. Overall, however, the Bucks out-assisted the Pistons by 1.

Reggie Jackson Layup/Avery Bradley 3/Stanley layup/Avery 3

The third game prior to Reggie’s injury is the second Sixers loss. Andre went 4-8 (and 0-1 from 3…) with 6 assists, 5 steals, and one turnover. His team shot 29% from three and contributed a team total of a measly 20 assists. The Sixers had 27 assists. The first loss the +/- for assists was -11

Avery Bradley makes two/Reggie 10-foot pullup/Avery 1-foot layup/Kennard 4-footer/Tobias 9-footer/Reggie 19-foot shot (ugh)

That sixers loss was extremely inefficient, resulting in a seven-point victory for the Sixers. They out assisted the Pistons, partially because been Simmons had 10, but even if he had half of that they would have still won that battle.

The final game prior to Reggies Injury was the Boston win. The most quality win at the time, and possibly the Pistons best win this season. Andre recorded 6 assists on 10-12 shooting and 22 rebounds. His numbers could not have been better. His team recorded another 44.0% from three, and an assist +/- of -1.

Driving floater Avery/Avery driving layup/Reggie dunk/Galloway 14-foot floater/Tobias Three/Tobias 4-foot floater.

Through these four games, several trends show up. I took two key wins, and two key losses. The pistons can obviously win if they shoot well, but that doesn’t always hold true. When they do shoot well, and Andre does not pass the ball a lot, it results in a loss more often than a win. When Andre has above three assists, his team is an above .500 team with consistency. Inefficiency plagued the Pistons in key games, like the Sixer’s losses. Through the same research that brought you this, when Andre had 4 or more assists, the Pistons won more often than not. When

As stated, with the injury, the Pistons got caught in more inefficiency issues. Ish became the initiator (and Galloway/Bradley) and thus, mid-range became a severe problem. The next season of the Pistons play becomes the Reggie Injury Season

Reggie Injury Era

Andre was the only statistical consistency. Through three wins and losses (handpicked, or cherrypicked for those that like that word, also mostly losses) his game continued.

The loss I am going to examine comes from Orlando. Andre had five assists, on 7-15 shooting. The team had 39.1% from beyond the arc. That would dictate that the Pistons (based on prior examples) would win most of the time. In this case, the Pistons were outrebounded, outassisted and their FG% was 40.2%. A team cannot thrive shooting that kind of percentage from the field, and the play-by-play shows the increase in inefficient shots. We know Stan recognized this, and made the move for those reasons specifically (on top of contract issues and whatnot)

Here are Andre’s assists. Tobias Harris makes layup/Bullock makes 17-foot pullup/Bullock makes 3-foot layup/Ish makes 20-foot jumper/Luke makes 18-foot jumper.

I am not going to write out the win as much as the previous choices, but it makes sense. Andre had 5 assists on 9-15, and his team shot 47.6% against the Nets. He’s good folks, but you know that.

Differing looks, most of which are not efficient shots. Still, his abilities as a play-initiator resemble one who understands his teammates. I understand my point earlier was that inefficiency leads to losses, and that was a tendency for the Pistons and their losing woes, but better writers than myself and the coaching staff knew that, which is why they did what they did. Nobody liked Bradley’s jumpers. No one. The issue is what the coaching staff did after the trade.

A Bowl of Frosted Blakes

In case my point hasn’t been made yet, I liked the Griffin Trade. I liked everything about it. We got Boban off the books, Avery out of our system, and Tobias for Blake Griffin, a backup center (which I thought would be beneficial at the time) and a backup center. Blake Griffin was supposed to open up our offense and take us to the next level. I believed Stan could evolve his game-plan passed rotating Andre’s responsibilities for Blake. I was wrong. The offense has been more stagnate than its ever been since the Portland game. Andre is averaging 1-2 assists since his 5-assist win against the Trailblazers, his team has been shooting an average of 32.7% from three, and less than 50% from the field.

I implore you to re-watch the games against Charlotte, Boston, and the Hawks. *I know that may be a cop out answer given I don’t have any film posted, and I wish I did. For some reason, I cannot seem to break down and record the videos that I need. I’m sorry.*

I know you’re going to hate them, but please take note on how much Bullock and other shooters stand around right now. Stan has been relying too much on teams moving to help defense, and if Blake doesn’t shoot well (which he hasn’t) then it won’t work. The only time the Pistons have managed to perform at their peak with Blake has been, shockingly, when Andre has more than 3 assists per game.

Let me explain what I thought was going to happen, since I have been dragging on. Van Gundy had the perfect opportunity to run a completely flowing pick-pop-and roll offense that develops through Blake and Andre sharing the ball rather equally. The possibilities from this type of offense with our current roster could be endless.

For starters, what I mean by pick-pop-and roll is a constantly developing style consisting of several initiation possibilities:

1. Dre receives the ball at the top of the key, much like he did prior to the Griffin trade.

a. Blake would be posting up like he is able to, drawing defenders to his abilities.

b. Blake would be setting backside picks, causing shooters like Bullock, Kennard, Galloway to get open off backside screens.

c. Blake would be at the top(s) of the key on either side of Dre, setting a pick-and-pop situation for Stanley, Ish to break towards the basket after he stays at the three-point line. There he can have an open look or receive the ball.

d. Dre can handoff to a shooter (Bullock, Kennard, Galloway, Tolliver, Ennis) or a driver (Stanley, Ish, Ennis, Kennard, Bullock)

2. (as a continuation from 1A) Blake receives the ball from Dre in the post.

a. He can dish it out to open shooters. (see 3)

b. He can score.

c. Dre is breaking towards the basket.

d. Ish is cutting under him on the opposite side of Dre for a quick score. (see 6)

3. (as a continuation from 1B)

a. Shooter gets open from a backside screen, shoots, makes it.

b. Shooter gets covered after a backside screen, passes in from pick and rolling Dre or posting up Griffin (see 2)

4. (as a continuation from 1C)

a. Blake receives the ball from Dre, shoots.

b. Dre passes it to drivers, leading to efficient score.

c. Blake receives the ball. (I’ll go into this soon)

5. (as a continuation from 1D)

a. If the shooter is open, they shoot.

b. If the shooter is not, they can pass to Dre or the potentially pick-&-popping Blake (see 4)

c. If the shooter is not open, they can pass to driver coming off a screen. (see 6)

6. (as a continuation from 1D and 2D)

a. This case is only if Ish/Reggie gets the ball, as per his Assist percentages. He can score.

b. Pass to an open shooter.

c. Swing back around to set back up. (see 1)

7. (as a continuation from 4C)

a. Blake now is the play initiator. He can now shoot

b. Pass the ball down to a rolling Dre

c. Pass the ball to a cutting driver (SF/PG)

d. Pass the ball to an open shooter

e. Drive and go back to the top of 7.

I would like to continue, but I feel like that would be redundant. These are already a lot of options, and a lot to implement as a coach if one were to specifically look to it as a game plan. What I proposed is not necessarily a group of plays, but the potential outcomes based on team ability, basketball IQ and general meshing of the players. I thought, after watching the Miami game in person, that the team would have this. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Players have been standing around, Blake can’t make a shot, and we’re relying heavily on "Well, when Reggie gets back…"

I don’t think Stan Van Gundy is right for this job, and I wish that wasn’t the case. We can’t fire a coach mid-season, it’s almost March. We can’t tank and get a top 4 pick. It’s another era of purgatory for the Detroit Pistons. In this case, Purgatory is worse than Hell.

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