Reggie Jackson gives the Detroit Pistons an offensive boost
For 22 games, the Detroit Pistons have been without their starting point guard, Reggie Jackson, putting together a modest 11-11 record. Injuries are a part to any team’s season and it’s the good ones that find ways to pull through them, but even the greatest of groups stumble without their stars. Which is why it’s impressive that Detroit managed to hang near .500 without such an important player.
Last season, it was a subject worth debating whether Andre Drummond or Jackson was Detroit’s best player. Drummond had a superior net rating, but Jackson was the key to a deadly pick-and-roll offense that helped build Detroit into a fairly dangerous team come playoff time. Watching the Pistons struggle to stay competitive without Jackson at the beginning of this season certainly strengthens his case.
The record may be less than impressive, but right now Detroit has a top five defense. They only give up 101.4 points per 100 possessions, but their offense is in the middle of the pack scoring 103.5 points per 100. Last season, Detroit finished in the middle of the pack in both offense and defense so it’s been surprising to lose a player such as Jackson and then improve on the defensive end. Much credit has to go to Stan Van Gundy and his system for taking the roster they’ve put together and putting it in a position to succeed. However, now that the Pistons have survived it’s time for their attention to shift past .500 basketball and towards the top of the Eastern Conference playoff race.
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The Pistons are simply a better team with Jackson — kind of obvious since he’s very good and Ish Smith is his backup. But this extends beyond the simply talent difference and into style of play. Last season, Jackson shot a career high 35 percent from 3-point range. This is likely an effect of the system Van Gundy is running which creates space for him to shoot the ball, but much of the credit has to go to the pick-and-roll combo that he’s formed with Drummond. These two are deadly in the pick-and-roll leaving defenses lot of bad decisions to make in a very short amount of time.
Going under the screen might be the best way to keep both Jackson and Drummond out of the lane, but that’s what creates room for Jackson to make his 3-pointers. Defenses can choose to force Jackson to drive towards the rim, but Drummond is an incredible rim runner and one of the best offensive rebounders in the NBA. Even if a play is well defended and Jackson takes a tough floater, Drummond’s work on the offensive glass often makes something out of nothing. As a result many teams will choose to stick to Drummond which gives a free lane for Jackson to get to the rim. Defenses would rather take their chances on a miss and defensive rebound with Drummond boxed out vs. a lob or offensive putback from Drummond.
The alternative to this is to force Jackson to shoot, and while 35 percent is respectable nobody is going to call it lights out. The problem with this is, if you’re going to stop Drummond’s path to the rim and force Jackson to shoot, this might lead to open 3-pointers around the perimeter as other defenders try to help on Jackson. A system like Van Gundy’s thrives on a player like Drummond sucking in the attention, and Jackson is incredible at finding the guys that get open in the chaos. Currently, the Pistons lineup that has played the most minutes is shooting 41 percent from 3-point range. Add in a player of Jackson’s caliber to that group and this Pistons group is going to look very scary, very soon.
The tough part is over. Jackson is returning in the middle of the Pistons playing some very good basketball. There are gonna be some rough patches like last night’s loss to the Orlando Magic, but once Jackson has shaken off any rust from the injury this group is going to be terrorizing defenses. Many of the teams that Detroit is gonna be fighting with for seeding are coming up on Detroit’s schedule, followed by a soft spot, and then some tough games to finish out 2016. This is a great opportunity for the Pistons to win some games, earn some tiebreakers, and possibly set themselves up on a run for a high seed in May.