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The Detroit Pistons still haven't gotten their turnover problem under control

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The Detroit Pistons still haven't gotten their turnover problem under control

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Over the course of an 82-game season, teams will have bad nights. Friday was a bad night for the Detroit Pistons.

They trailed the New York Knicks by 26 points at the end of the first quarter after failing in almost every facet from the start. They had seven turnovers and six made field goals in the opening period as the Knicks fired off three points at Little Caesars Arena and never recovered from the 128-98 loss.

The Pistons (1-5) had their first win, picking up one on the road from the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday. They were competitive despite the poor record: of their last four defeats, only one was by double digits.

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But they still face the same problems, such as: B. the frequent turnovers, which also occurred in the last two seasons, in which they only won 31 of 164 games. They finished Friday with 22 turnovers, from which the Knicks scored 30 points.

“We just had a bad night,” first-year head coach JB Bickerstaff said. “I know our boys, what means something to them and what is important to them. But for some reason we didn’t have it tonight.”

The aim now is to ensure that Friday's defeat remains just a bad evening and not a harbinger. They will soon have two opportunities to bounce back from the loss by visiting the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday and hosting the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday.

“It was our level of competition, there’s no doubt about that,” Bickerstaff said. “We didn’t approach the game maturely tonight. For us, all of these things are things we are constantly learning, and sometimes you have to get your ass kicked to learn the hard way. The message to the boys is that people give you a different level of respect because we were so competitive in those games. They will do their best to start the game.”

The Pistons currently lead the NBA with 107 turnovers. The second-place team, Memphis, has 99. Only twelve teams have scored more than 80.

Even on Wednesday they almost gave up their only away win early, losing eight possessions in the first 15 minutes of the game.

“(The Knicks) made us pay, that's the main thing,” said Cade Cunningham, who led the Pistons with 22 points on Friday. “We just gave them too much leeway on offense. If they were moving the ball like that, we should have at least fouled them or thrown them into the bonus or something because they were moving too freely. We just weren’t physical enough and didn’t commit to the game plan enough.”

Opposing teams have scored 133 points off the Pistons' turnovers so far, the third-highest point total in the league. What is the solution?

“It’s a group effort,” Cunningham said. “We just give each other space, be sharp with our passes, make sure we give whoever is passing good chances to be strong, stop guys to catch the ball, things like that.” And ourselves then to create better passing angles and not play in the crowd. That's something I've done a lot this year, playing in front of an audience too often. All of these things are part of it.

“At the same time, it's a game where you have to take risks and move the ball. I think if you don't have multiple passes in one possession, the defense can make you smaller and you're easier to guard. It will be extremely important for us to move the ball more and watch film.”

The team has maintained its confidence. After last season, there is an understanding of how bad things can get and how quickly it can happen.

Six games is a small sample size, but the turnovers are a warning sign. It's something they need to get right once again to add more wins to their tally.

“We’ve been solid, it’s still early,” Cunningham said. “I’m still very positive about this group and this season. We've had a tough start, but there's still a lot of basketball left to play. We have two games ahead of us in which we can react.”

Contact Omari Sankofa II at [email protected]. Follow him @omarisankofa.

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