Kind of build on Jvanbusk's article on the offense running at 60%...
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If you watched the Pistons during their 1-3 trip West, you might think my assessment overly optimistic. It may be. But, at 6-4, with a new coach, new system, two new starters and a reconfigured bench, I think the Pistons are ahead of schedule.
Think about this: The Pistons under Rick Carlisle were a scripted team. After two years of running the same plays and playing the same style of defense, it became second nature, like muscle memory.
That's why their execution was so crisp, especially late in games. That's why they were so effective in the regular season. They played with an almost robotic efficiency.
The problem with being a scripted team, though, is that when you get into a playoff series, the opposition has the script memorized as well as you do. They beat you to your lines, so to speak, and force you to ad-lib. Well, the Pistons never had any ad-lib training. If a play broke down, the Pistons were often stymied and reduced to forcing up low percentage shots against a dying shot clock.
That's why they struggled to score in the postseason. That's also why Tayshaun Prince was so successful in the playoffs last year. He was an added wrinkle that teams hadn't rehearsed for.
Larry Brown has thrown out the script. He is steadily implementing his playbook, but the primary emphasis to this point has been on teaching them to play basketball.
Screen, cut, move, make the extra pass -- those have been his primary stage directions. He figures after two years under Carlisle, the Pistons know how to run plays. He's teaching them how to ad-lib.
And it's a tough lesson. Without a script, the Pistons have appeared lost at times, running into each other, suffering miscommunication on passes and taking ill-advised shots. They are not yet comfortable or confident in what Brown wants them to do.
"It's coming, man," said Chauncey Billups, the team's floor leader. "Even in those losses, I felt we've gotten better. We hung right in there with the top teams. All we can do is stay on this same path and while we learn, try to get some wins."
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Some points in the article:
Brown is making them ad-lib, so when they do go back to their bread and butter later in the season and the other team forces us to do something else we are more comfortable doing it.
McCoskey and Brown (probaly some of the players too) feel this is better for the team in the long run, because it will help them become a better playoff team.
Billups is making decisions for the offense instead of having set plays.
Plays are not being run for Rip much (I thought it was funny that we weren't running plays for him in the beginning of games). He forces him to find other ways to score, which should turn into a good thing. Hopefully in a couple years this will make him a more complete player where he'll be able to do things like take people off the dribble and the such.
Offense under Brown
DetBNyce
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