Why has our defense sucked so far?

pistontr · Post #1 » by **pistontr** » Sun Nov 10, 2013 6:11 pm

any idea?

ImHeisenberg · Post #2 » by **ImHeisenberg** » Sun Nov 10, 2013 6:35 pm

Pistons defense hasn't really sucked. They're above the league average in this early season. It's the offense that's killing the team.

DBC10 · Post #3 » by **DBC10** » Sun Nov 10, 2013 6:42 pm

We're actually a strong presence defensively because nobody can actually drive with 3 bigmen down there. It's our perimeter defense (or lack thereof) that's been killing us, high TOs, and lack of sync on Offensive sets/plays. Chauncey can sort of defend, Stuckey showed flashes well, and Bynum is laughable. Jennings mostly just gambles on the defensive end.

It honestly boils down to our team having chemistry. I have no doubt we'll build it up.

pistontr · Post #4 » by **pistontr** » Sun Nov 10, 2013 7:01 pm

Opponents Field Goal Percentage: Pistons is 25th.
http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/team/ ... rder/false

MrBigShot · Post #5 » by **MrBigShot** » Sun Nov 10, 2013 7:12 pm

DBC10 wrote:We're actually a strong presence defensively because nobody can actually drive with 3 bigmen down there. It's our perimeter defense (or lack thereof) that's been killing us, high TOs, and lack of sync on Offensive sets/plays. Chauncey can sort of defend, Stuckey showed flashes well, and Bynum is laughable. Jennings mostly just gambles on the defensive end.

It honestly boils down to our team having chemistry. I have no doubt we'll build it up.

Bingo. Pay close attention to the way we defend the pick and roll, in particular. Or rather, the way we -don't- defend the pick and roll. Our team chemistry right now in terms of playing together, helping one another and knowing defensive rotations is not where it should be. We need to be more disciplined, we need more effort, and most importantly we need better execution.

ComboGuardCity · Post #6 » by **ComboGuardCity** » Sun Nov 10, 2013 7:13 pm

Turnovers

sc8581 · Post #7 » by **sc8581** » Sun Nov 10, 2013 10:44 pm

pistontr wrote:Opponents Field Goal Percentage: Pistons is 25th.
http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/team/ ... rder/false

We have a center playing PF, a PF playing SF, a SG playing PG(Bynum), multiple PGs playing SG and our future defensive anchor is still only 20 years old. Chemistry will help down the line but it will probably take a while, KCP playing would also help.

Warspite · Post #8 » by **Warspite** » Mon Nov 11, 2013 1:19 am

pistontr wrote:Opponents Field Goal Percentage: Pistons is 25th.
http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/team/ ... rder/false

Thats a horrible stat to use to compare defenses.

pistontr · Post #9 » by **pistontr** » Mon Nov 11, 2013 1:25 am

Warspite wrote:
pistontr wrote:Opponents Field Goal Percentage: Pistons is 25th.
http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/team/ ... rder/false

Thats a horrible stat to use to compare defenses.

why?

Clarity · Post #10 » by **Clarity** » Mon Nov 11, 2013 2:37 am

Change the thread title to "Why has my TV been broken so far"

Warspite · Post #11 » by **Warspite** » Mon Nov 11, 2013 2:58 am

pistontr wrote:
Warspite wrote:
pistontr wrote:Opponents Field Goal Percentage: Pistons is 25th.
http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/team/ ... rder/false

Thats a horrible stat to use to compare defenses.

why?

The object of the game is to score pts not have a high FG%.

If you shoot 50% on 20FGA and I shoot 33% on 30FGA you lose.
I you shoot 45% and shoot only 2s and I shoot 35% and shoot only 3s you lose.

FG% is a stat that tells me about defense but it doesnt define it.

sc8581 · Post #12 » by **sc8581** » Mon Nov 11, 2013 4:44 am

Would you prefer afg%, they're 25th in that also and 29th in pps. They're not allowing a lot of offensive rebounds but that's about the only thing they are doing well.

Post #13 » by **Snakebites** » Mon Nov 11, 2013 4:56 pm

In terms of overall defensive efficiency rating we're 18th (defensive efficiency is the number of points allowed per 100 possessions, which allows pace to be taken into account). That's subpar but not as bad as conventional statistics would suggest.

sc8581 · Post #14 » by **sc8581** » Mon Nov 11, 2013 5:48 pm

Snakebites wrote:In terms of overall defensive efficiency rating we're 18th (defensive efficiency is the number of points allowed per 100 possessions, which allows pace to be taken into account). That's subpar but not as bad as conventional statistics would suggest.

We've also played mostly teams that are defense oriented for whatever that's worth.

Post #15 » by **Snakebites** » Mon Nov 11, 2013 6:09 pm

^In terms of offensive efficiency, we have played teams ranked 10th, 11th, 12th, 17th, and 25th.

Overall, if you look at the entire sample and take an average, we have played average offensive teams (average rank is 15).

I'm not going to sit here and pretend our defense has been good or what we were hoping for. But the panic about it is unwarranted.

vic · Post #16 » by **vic** » Mon Nov 11, 2013 6:43 pm

Just from watching the games you can see most of the torching has come from breakdowns on the wings, such as 3 pointers and the defense getting broken down...

That comes from playing an SF that is not used to playing full time wing defense, but he's used to gambling on the wings from the PF position.
Also comes from our small guard lineup... they don't play a shooting guard, they play 4 point guards... one is 5'11 and one is 37 years old.

When Stuckey and KCP played 1-2, they dominated one of the best teams in the league.

BJ/Stuckey
KCP/Chauncey
Smith/Singler
Monroe/Smith/Datome
Drummond/Monroe

That would be my preferred lineup to shore up the defense.

DetroitPistons · Post #17 » by **DetroitPistons** » Mon Nov 11, 2013 7:07 pm

vic wrote:Just from watching the games you can see most of the torching has come from breakdowns on the wings, such as 3 pointers and the defense getting broken down...

That comes from playing an SF that is not used to playing full time wing defense, but he's used to gambling on the wings from the PF position.
Also comes from our small guard lineup... they don't play a shooting guard, they play 4 point guards... one is 5'11 and one is 37 years old.

When Stuckey and KCP played 1-2, they dominated one of the best teams in the league.

BJ/Stuckey
KCP/Chauncey
Smith/Singler
Monroe/Smith/Datome
Drummond/Monroe

That would be my preferred lineup to shore up the defense.

Yup, pretty much this. The defense plummets when Cheeks go with small ball lineups with guys like Singler and JJ at the 4. The Thunder torched us in the paint and got offensive rebounds easily when we had that lineup out there. The biggest reason, by far, why the Thunder put up 119 points was because Cheeks kept Drummond out of the game and played small ball. Small ball is complete garbage and should rarely be used, especially if our calling card is size, defense, rebounding, and just all around paint dominance. I hope Cheeks learned his lesson from last game but I'm not holding my breath.

DBC10 · Post #18 » by **DBC10** » Mon Nov 11, 2013 7:16 pm

I honestly think we need to stop playing the 4 PG rotation and put our actual SG to some use out there. Bynum and Billups are getting blown by most PGs and SGs since they're too slow laterally to react.

Either Billups or Bynum need to sit for prolonged periods for the next few games, and we should be better off defensively on the perimeter.

tmorgan · Post #19 » by **tmorgan** » Tue Nov 12, 2013 1:30 am

DBC10 wrote: Bynum and Billups are getting blown by most PGs and SGs since they're too slow laterally to react..

This needs another BY -- but I laughed, so I'm And 1'ing you anyway.

OneBadMutha · Post #20 » by **OneBadMutha** » Tue Nov 12, 2013 4:10 am

Jennings, Bynum and Chauncy can't defend.

I still contend that a backcourt that starts Knight would've led to more wins (if he was healthy) because Detroit would be among the best teams defensively. Can't stand Jennings. Still the loser, shot chucker, empty stats guy he's always been. With Jennings and Smith at the 3, this team will continue to struggle.

Mo was advertised as an average coach. Think he was being over-rated. Roster is still a mess, still no true point guard, two really good plus defenders somehow start on a below average defensive team, and another draft pick that will rot on the bench in Detroit.

Dumars better have trades lined up or last offseason is his last. This roster is more interesting but won't make the playoffs.