The Pistons dropped their third straight in a loss to the Pelicans. What worked, what didn’t, what changed?

So this game was a disaster.

I mean, it wasn’t good as far as the end results, but there was actually some really encouraging stuff. The biggest problem is that the Pistons struggled to hit open shots and the Pelicans didn’t, also, of course, the Pistons didn’t help anything by giving up a ton of open shots.

In the end, though, this was the third game in four nights and second of a back to back against a team that loves to run in transition. The Pistons are not the first team that was unrested that got ran to death by the Pelicans this year and they will not be the last.

So what are these adjustments then?

The first is that they got Reggie Bullock more directly involved in the offense.

Stan Van Gundy lamented that the Pistons have struggled to find Bullock in the second half of games, especially after scoring 18 in the first half against the Hawks only to go unnoticed in the second half, and they put their money where their mouth is.

The overall results were a bit mixed as Bullock finished with 14 points on 15 shot equivalents which are well below his efficiency but it is still something worth exploring.

Essentially the Pistons never really ran plays for Bullock, they have used him almost exclusively as an off-ball player. So in a lot of first halves defenses would lose him and he’d get shots up, but then defenses would be more watchful which would keep him from getting open and thusly shots up. In this game the Pistons got him involved early and often by putting the ball in his hands, often in dribble handoffs.

The Pistons ran those dribble handoffs to Bullock a lot in this game, essentially giving him the exact same offensive load that they had put on Avery Bradley previously and it got better results. On that play Bullock misses but the lane is clear for Drummond to get a put-back.

You can see that because of his shooting Jrue Holiday has to follow him over the screen instead of under it, and once you have that then Drummond is rolling free to the hoop and good things will happen. He did a nice job of deciding when to pull up for jumpers, when to pass, and when to go to the hoop.

Even on plays where he did not end up being overly involved a handoff to him is a great way to start a possession.

That play is not anything crazy, but defenses are wary of Bullock now and they respond to him. His initial action gets the defense moving and out of position just a little bit, which ends up being enough for Ish Smith to get into the lane and create something.

Bullock will need to hit more shots than he did last night in order to make it a worthwhile investment, but he has earned the right to get more opportunities in the offense. I don’t know for sure if it will end up being a good option, it may well be that he is better suited to a purely off-ball complimentary role, but it’s worth investigating for the Pistons, especially until Reggie Jackson comes back.

What about Blake Griffin?

Both Griffin and Stan Van Gundy said that Griffin has to be closer to the hoop more often after the last two games saw him taking too many jumpers. Part of that was Griffin being too willing to settle, and part of it was Van Gundy not running stuff to get Griffin closer to the hoop. Both guys made good on that talk and the end result was a better outing from Griffin.

The thing that had been killer was that Griffin was consistently getting isolations out by the three-point line, which made it very taxing for Griffin to get into the lane and then invited more jumpers. The Pistons did a better job of getting him the ball in closer in this game by running some stuff to lead into the post-ups and isolations.

On both of those plays, the Pistons did not do anything revolutionary but it has a real impact. Just running a pick and roll or a dribble handoff and having Griffin then roll into position got him the ball at or below the free throw line with a lot more regularity.

Griffin is more comfortable there whether by shooting the ball or bullying his way into the paint. Essentially when he starts outside he can’t really be a triple threat because no one is all that worried about his jumper from there.

Get him inside like this and you have to respect it and he becomes a lot more dangerous. There is also the fact that Griffin doesn’t need to work quite so hard for his looks this way which is good.

That said, they are not all the way there yet. It will probably be at least after the all-star break before we see more specific sets beyond just a pick and roll or dribble handoff to get Griffin good looks but they clearly made an effort to cut out the bad isolations far from the hoop.

Griffin now needs to get comfortable enough to where he is doing the right things more often instead of things like this play:

On that play, Griffin is coming up after a rebound and runs to the free throw line where Drummond sets a pick. This is where him and Drummond should be trying to run a two-man game for all the same reasons why you want Griffin posting up closer to the hoop, but Griffin instead opts to take the ball back outside which neuters the potency of the pick and roll and results in him jacking a three with plenty of time on the clock.

That one isn’t a scheme problem or a coaching problem, that is a Blake Griffin problem. It is to be expected that he is making these mistakes, its ok, but it is something that he will have to work through and hopefully fast.

You’ve complained about his defense lately, did that improve?

Nope. It was worse if anything. He really has struggled to chase shooters and plays like this played a big part in Nikola Mirotic’s 21 point night.

Griffin just loses his man and doesn’t really even make an attempt to fix it. To be clear, it usually was not this obvious but after three straight games, it is a trend that needs to end.

Did the Pistons really miss that many good shots?

Langston Galloway went one for six on shots like this.

That’s just kind of unacceptable. Galloway, Nelson, and Bullock combined to go three for sixteen from deep. Those guys are all really good shooters, they just missed. If Nikola Mirotic didn’t miss the wide open shots given to him, and the Pistons shooters did.

So what was really the difference?

I think it was mostly fatigue for the Pistons. The second night of a back to back, the third game in four nights. They looked a step slow on defense and had tired legs shooting threes so they lost. But I like the adjustments they made. If guys had hit a few more shots then Griffin could’ve easily had ten assists on the night and we are all talking a lot differently about his game.

One thing that should never happen again? An Anthony Tolliver post up. I never want to see this again.

Where is the eye bleach?

How can you be so positive? They are falling back apart??

I mean it isn’t good, but this was going to be ugly for a bit.

Tobias Harris and Avery Bradley took nearly 40 of their 96.3 possessions per game and brought in a new guy who is the centerpiece of the offense. It is really hard to make that adjustment on the fly in the best of situations, and the Pistons have to do it with a backup point guard.

On top of that, I think Griffin is exhausted. He’s having to work too hard for his points, and he had his entire life uprooted on no notice like a week ago. Remember that these guys are humans and there is a good chance that the dude is mentally spent to an extent.

My guess is that the Pistons will come back from the break with more cohesion in the offense and Reggie Jackson’s return will fix a lot of stuff. If it is after the break and Jackson are back playing and the offense is still this much of a mess then it is time to really worry. This is mostly still just growing pains.