It can all started so promising for the Detroit pistons after the trade for Blake Griffin. The first five games were all won, but then it was three defeats at a time. Which trends can be identified with the new Franchise Player?
That’s how fast the honeymoon can be over. Anthony Davis scored 38 points for the pistons in their home arena (he now holds the record in the Palace of Auburn Hills and in the new Little Caesars Arena), the pistons collected 118 points for the second time in a row. But not even a week before, there was something like a rare euphoria in Motown. Blake Griffin, the new franchise player, was finally there and the team won the first five games with him – even if he didn’t even play at the first one, but was already there as a spectator.
However, there followed home defeats against the Clippers and the Pelicans as well as an embarrassing defeat against the currently worst team of the Eastern Conference, the Atlanta Hawks, for which one could return the favor a few days later, albeit with little glory.
“We didn’t deserve to win these games”, coach Stan Van Gundy was angry after the rubdown against the Pelicans,”We didn’t follow the Loose Balls and were caught in transition several times. That’s inexcusable.”
A new superstar has arrived, but the problems remain the same. The pistons presented themselves too inconsistently after the strong start to the season, especially the Defense and especially the bank remain problem children. Among other things, Detroit approves an opponent’s threesome rate of 37.3 percent (27th place) with a whopping 11 hits per game (23rd place). Although the potential for good defense is certainly there.
On some evenings, such as against Portland (111:91), the SVG men show that they can do it. Ish Smith may not be a good defender on one, but on the wing the pistons are well equipped with Reggie Bullock and Stanley Johnson, an important asset in the NBA. In addition, the combo with Griffin and Andre Drummond performs surprisingly well (99.2 defensive rating if they stand together in the field). The problem is more likely to arise when there is a need for rotation.
In principle, SVG has only one usable big player in Anthony Tolliver, since Eric Moreland hasn’t reached NBA level yet and has collected some DNPs lately. So far Griffin has acted as a small ball-five with the reservists, which is actually a good strategy.
If Drummond is not on the field, Griffin can play his strengths better and act more in the post office. Although his athleticism is not as pronounced as it was a few years ago, his good footwork and aggressiveness often enable Griffin to create for himself or to throw free throws. His passing remains perhaps the greatest strength in his game.
Griffin has played 21.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.1 assists in the Pistons’ jersey so far. The problem, however, is that the Power Forward only hits 40.6 percent out of the field and, at 6.3 threes per game, only every fourth roll finds its way into the basket. However, the lack of efficiency also has to do with the suboptimal Spacing of the pistons.
Due to the departure of Avery Bradley and Tobias Harris, a lot of firepower is missing on the wing. The hopes are mainly based on Bullock and Johnson, who have taken over the starting spots. Bullock has been hitting a strong 45.9 percent from outside since the Griffin Trade, well above his career average (39.4) and Johnson is hardly respected by the opposing defence, even though he has scored 36.0 percent of his attempts.
However, these figures will be subject to great fluctuations, which could also be seen against New Orleans, for example. This is extremely problematic for the pistons, regardless of the defensive advantages of the duo. Speaking of problems: According to NBA. com, as a team the pistons only hit 35 percent of their threesome when they are completely free.
Another problem could be the role of Drummond in the offensive when he is on the field with Griffin. Van Gundy was able to integrate the center as a playmaker at the perimeter before the season, which then rolled hard to the basket and limited itself to what he was best at – namely catching praise, darkening and using putbacks.
Recently Drummond is parked more in the post office. But there he tries too often to force his throws or doesn’t have the tools to put the ball in the basket. The center hits just 32 percent of its hook jets, which is absolutely underground and even worse than in the previous season (43.1 percent).
Nevertheless, the Big also benefits from Griffin’s presence. The four-five-pick’ n’ roll is a weapon that can hardly be defended. Because the opponent’s Bigs are involved in the action, only small players can help out under the basket, which is a found feeding ground for an elemental force like Drummond.
Van Gundy admitted that the vote didn’t really go well “When we traded for Reggie Jackson, we were already playing a lot of Pick’ n’ Roll. Only small adjustments had to be made. Blake is obviously a different type of player than Tobias. The offense is not yet a good fit. We tried to make a smooth transition, but it didn’t work. We will try to make better use of its strengths. We should have done this sooner.”
I’ve got a million ideas, but I have to find the best ones for our team,”Van Gundy explained. Whatever the experienced coach plans, he will certainly include Jackson in his considerations. It is still unclear when the Guard will intervene again after his ankle injury, but a comeback doesn’t seem to be far away.
Meanwhile, Griffin is optimistic that the Point Guard and he will harmonize well, even if they haven’t been together on the field for a minute.”Since he is a good pick’ n’ roll player, half the battle has already been won,” says Griffin.”He has now been able to observe our game and will have drawn his conclusions.
Jackson would also add another dimension to the pistons. Smith did his job properly, but he is not a long range shooter (25.6 percent at 0.8 tries per game) and thus hinders the already weak shooting. His opponents sink and make it even more difficult for the bigs. Jackson is not a sniper either, but he doesn’t refuse the open cast like Smith and must at least be respected.
But is Jackson the solution to the problems? The next few weeks will show it and have it in store with games against Boston, Charlotte, Toronto and Milwaukee. But the pistons looked very good against bigger calibers, as victories against Golden State, Boston, Minnesota (2x), San Antonio, Houston and OKC prove.
“We’re capable of beating everyone, but everyone can beat us,”says the coach,”We’re ready to beat everyone,” but now it’s all about winning against the smaller teams and annoying a top team from time to time.
This is the only way to have an extended honeymoon in April. For the time being, however, the relationship between Griffin and Detroit must first of all cope with the grey everyday life.