Pistons: Turnovers Continue to Hamper Detroit’s Success
A quarter of the way into the season, it is safe to say the Detroit Pistons have underperformed. It is a small, but growing sample size. Sure, injuries continue to factor in, but there are some avoidable reasons as well. Possibly none has been more apparent than the number of costly turnovers.
Turnovers are never good for a team’s lasting success. A turnover at the wrong time can take the momentum out of a decisive run at best. Even worse, it could rob points from one possession and gift them to the opponent. Obviously, limiting turnovers is in a team’s best interests. This year, the Detroit Pistons have been one of the worst teams in that department.
Take the two-point loss to the Pacers on October 28. The Pistons turned over the ball 20 times to Indiana’s 7. Or the blowout loss in Washington a week later: Pistons 19 TOs, Wizards 11. The devastating buzzer-beater in Charlotte two weeks ago? The Pistons could win that game without a -9 turnover ratio. These are all potentially winnable games but for a handful of possessions, and the season is riddled with them.
The Pistons turn over the ball a little over 17 times per game. Only the Atlanta Hawks and the Miami Heat are turning it over more. Extrapolated a bit further, the Pistons are 29th in the league in terms of turnovers per 100 possessions. At roughly 300 turnovers in seventeen games, this is an increase of over 25% from last season, according to Basketball-Reference. This has led to a staggering 20.5 points off turnovers every game. This is not a good trend.
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What has caused such a drastic shift? This is due in part to new additions, Derrick Rose and Markieff Morris, who are averaging 3.1 and 1.8 turnovers per game, respectively. In particular, Rose essentially replaced Ish Smith as the first point guard off the bench. Just that individual substitution alone makes up two extra turnovers a game. Bruce Brown has caused a lot more turnovers as well, simply because he has been in the position of the primary ballhandler.
The biggest culprit this year, however, has been Andre Drummond. At nearly four turnovers per game, he leads not only the team but all centers in the NBA. This is largely due to his passing. While his assists have been on the rise the past few seasons, he already has 21 bad passes in 2019. Last year, he had 39 bad passes, total. For this offense to work, Drummond needs to be the recipient of passes, not the originator.
Like many other issues this season, the Pistons can also blame the elevated turnovers on poor injury luck, and honestly reasonable excuse. The reason Bruce Brown has been forced into the role of primary ballhandler is because the Pistons are dangerously thin at point guard.
Rose, Reggie Jackson, and Tim Frazier, ostensibly the team’s first three-point guards, have all missed time for a combined 27 games. Instead, relying on Brown and Langston Galloway to make up the minutes at point guard when they are more commonly an off guard, this naturally leads to more turnovers.
As mentioned earlier, only the Hawks and the Heat are averaging more turnovers per game than the Pistons. How can it be, then, that the Hawks are 4-13, while the Heat are 12-4—and the Pistons are somewhere in the middle? Of course, turnovers go both ways. The Heat also create a lot of turnovers, and they capitalize with some of the most points off turnovers in the league. The Pistons do not have this same luxury.
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The past week has seen some slight improvements, and the Detroit Pistons have earned some wins as a result. They have to limit turnovers, though, if they want to compete this season.