The Detroit Pistons hold some sleeper team appeal heading into the 2016-17 season, but head coach Stan Van Gundy isn’t quite convinced they’re there yet.
In an interview with Keith Langlois of NBA.com on Wednesday, Van Gundy said that the team needs to do a lot of improving on the offensive end.
“We’ve got so much improvement to make,” Van Gundy said. “Offensively, our ball movement, our execution in terms of screening and things, have to get a lot, lot, lot better. We’ve got some major challenges because we’ve played out of nothing but Reggie [Jackson]’s pick and rolls, pretty much. Now we’re going to have to rely on getting more ball movement.”
The Pistons have only managed 87.5 points per game in their first two preseason contests, and they’re going through something of an identity crisis with Jackson sidelined for at least the first month of the season. They were tied for 14th in the NBA in offensive efficiency last season and are trying to find a new groove after adding Ish Smith, Jon Leuer, Boban Marjanovic, and Ray McCallum in free agency and with Tobias Harris entering his first full season with the team.
Van Gundy may already have his defensive principles down, but reinventing a Pistons offense that had the second-most pick-and-roll possessions in the league in 2015-16 could be a much tougher task.
H/T theScore
*Stats courtesy of NBA.com*
