Bring Balance to the Force

Last night I witnessed something I thought I wouldn’t get to see. It was something that started off on the right track, but quickly went the other direction.

The Detroit Pistons won in New York.

It was 56-40 at half time. Sadly, I thought my prediction of a 98-91 loss was coming true. The Pistons had not defended the perimeter well, and showed signs of another game of inconsistent shooting. This was all about to change.

The Pistons opened the second half with an 8-0 run. They ended the third quarter down just 71-73. With 4.9 seconds left, Chauncey Billups grabbed a rebound, and ran down court, without any consideration of giving Larry Brown a timeout to setup the final play. "It was just instinct, and you can't control instinct. He (Brown) told me I made a great play, a smart play," Billups said. "If I didn't catch it on the run, I probably would have called a timeout. But I caught it with so much momentum, I just wanted to attack." Billups was fouled with 2.6 seconds left, and made both shots, giving the Pistons a game winning 94-93 lead over the Knicks.

I am glad to finally see some offense, and defense mixed into the same game. Unfortunately, I have yet to see them both in an entire game. The Pistons’ woes will continue if they don’t find a way to balance this out, and play at this level for 48 minutes.

I think three things need to happen. Chauncey Billups needs to get more consistent from the perimeter, the Bench needs to contribute more points, and they need to shift a little bit of the defensive intensity to the offense.

If Billups can regain the strong perimeter shooting that we witness in the playoffs each year, this could add 5-10 points to each game. There are times in each game where the Pistons charge down the court, setup an outside shot, and come up empty. They repeat this for two to three minutes, and then go back inside. They simply cannot afford two and three minute droughts.

Behind Billups’ outside shots, there needs to be a healthy rotation of strong bench players. McDyess, Delfino, Dupree, and Hunter are key to this rotation.

Antonio McDyess looks as if he’s starting to get back into things, and starting to play at a level we once witnessed. When, not if, he gets consistent again, this should fuel the bench, and give the Pistons a true sixth man.

Carlos Delfino also needs to get healthy, and stay healthy. Whenever Delfino starts to get into a groove, and play well on a consistent basis, he ends up on the injured list. Delfino could be good for 10 to 12 points per game. That could have an impact on any game.

Although Ronald Dupree is nearly the 11th man on the bench (don’t worry, Darko is still 12th), he must try and achieve some of the success that Delfino has seen. Dupree will be filling in for Delfino while he is out. If Dupree can come in, and work up to six to eight points per game, it would give the Pistons another option, even with or without Delfino.

The last key piece to the bench is Lindsey Hunter. Hunter is averaging just 5.0 points per game in 17.5 minutes. His career history tells us he should be scoring twice that. Hunter must find a niche out there, and focus on coming in and picking up some points. He should put that focus on the perimeter with shooting, and setting up plays. His assists per game are nearly a full point below his career average.

All of this can be achieved by taking an ever so slight bit of that defensive intensity, and shifting it to the offense. It is said that offense wins games, defense wins championships. Yes, that is true, but, the offense behind the defense is still there. We saw this last year in the finals against the Lakers. Detroit not only held the Lakers to a low roar, they also scored points, putting each game out of reach.

There are some ways to adjust for this that mainly focus on the defensive end. Protect the perimeter, and force the ball inside.

Force the ball inside?

Absolutely. By taking away the outside shooting, you force the ball inside where you have the likes of Ben and Rasheed Wallace. Both of them are excellent shot blockers, and excellent rebounders. When you talk about going to work, and playing defense the right way, you need to rely on your engine to drive that defense. That engine is Ben Wallace. This gives Rip and Chauncey the chance to take care of the guards, and Tayshuan the chance to use his long arm span to shut down some of the perimeter shooting.

Last night I saw a well shooting Knicks team expose this flaw. Detroit would swarm to the inner part of the arch, and allow the Knicks to setup three point and long field goal shots. Virtually unchallenged at their best game, the Knicks took advantage, and scored 56 points in the first half. The single most important adjustment I saw was the defending of the perimeter in the second half that allowed the Pistons to come back and win the game.

This type of adjustment will keep the Pistons more balanced. It will take the pressure off of everyone fighting inside, where most of the fatiguing battles take place, and spread the team out, giving them the ability to setup fast breaks, and generate more turnovers. You simply cannot allow 10-19 three point shooting if you want to win many basketball games.

The Pistons play a very good Cleveland Cavaliers team tonight in Detroit. This is a first place Cleveland team with a lot of offense, and a smart defense. They are capable of playing a strong running game, and a strong inside game. Their perimeter shooting is also strengthening each game. The Pistons must be strong on the inside, and defend the perimeter. Simple defending, it’s often easy to break up a long three point shot. Pressure often accounts for a lot, creating rushed shots that come up short.

I’m not asking for an increase in scoring to 110 points per game. All I’m suggesting is that they shift 5% of that defensive energy to the offense. We’ll then have a second straight win tonight, and a team that can score enough points to win effectively.

-Dan Joseph