Van Gundy sees Pistons backsliding on defense
Auburn Hills — The inability of the Pistons to put together a 48-minute performance has drawn the ire of coach Stan Van Gundy.
But as they slide closer to .500 and further down the Eastern Conference standings, the offense hasn’t been an issue.
Entering Monday’s game against the Toronto Raptors, the Pistons were averaging 104.7 points — slightly above their season average of 102.2 — the past six games.
Rather, a glaring problem has been the defense, which has allowed at least 100 points in six straight games, including 105 to the Knicks and 100 to the Nets, who rank 23rd and 28th, respectively, in the NBA in scoring.
During that six-game span, the Pistons defense has surrendered an average of 107.3 points, roughly six points more than its season average of 100.9. They also allowed the Cavaliers, Pacers, Knicks and Raptors to shoot at least 29 free throws.
“I think guys are trying hard to get out of it but we’ve really struggled,” Van Gundy said. “We’ve started to foul more, which has not been a good thing. Weak-side help hasn’t been very good and just some little energy things. I don’t think we’ve done a good job of contesting shots, pressuring passes. We’ve definitely dropped.”
Van Gundy added the defensive woes aren’t limited to the 2-4 stretch. Instead, he said there’s been a slight decline from the first 25 games.
“From my standpoint, we haven’t been able to find the answers and that’s a frustrating thing,” he said. “The positive part of it is we have done it. It’s not like we’re a team that has proven itself incapable of defending. We’ve been able to defend well against really good teams. We just have to get back to it.”
The lackluster defensive showings also have frustrated forward Marcus Morris.
“I think it’s just the want to (that’s missing),” Morris said. “When we’re willing to defend and when we’re willing to do what we have to do win a game, it’s there when we got big games. But then there’s some games when it’s not there. If our will is like it is every big game and we treat that like every game, we’d have a lot more wins than we do now.”
Morris said one issue is that the team has been playing “soft.”
“I’ve been on a lot of teams and I really don’t want to say that but ... we need to turn it around,” Morris said. “I don’t think we’ve physically imposed our will on anybody to the point where they can feel us before we step into the game and during the game. Good teams you can feel where they’re at and how focused they are before the game.”
Injury update
According to Van Gundy, guard Spencer Dinwiddie returned from the D-league after spraining his ankle last weekend.
“They had two more games before the break and were heading out on the road today and he wasn’t going to be able to play in either one of them,” Van Gundy said. “We wanted our doctors to see him so he’ll be back here. ... Then we’ll decide where to go from there.”
Van Gundy said the Pistons canceled their morning shoot-around Monday and opted for a walk-through before the game because forward Reggie Bullock fractured his nose during practice last weekend and had to get fitted for a mask, and center Andre Drummond was ailing from a hard fall he took against the Knicks. Bullock and Drummond were available Monday.
Fisher surprise
Derek Fisher became the latest coach fired when the Knicks changed leadership midway through his second season. The news came as a shock to Van Gundy.
“This one I think surprised everybody,” Van Gundy said. “I’m not usually surprised but that one surprised me, it really did because they’ve improved. Derek was sort of Phil Jackson’s hand-picked guy so that one came out of the blue.”
Van Gundy also gave the Knicks credit since Fisher didn’t have to deal with a swirl of rumors leading up to his dismissal.
“If you’re going to do something like that, that’s the way it should be done,” Van Gundy said. “You go about your business as a united organization and when you make a change, you make a change. It’s not the couple weeks with the hot seat thing going back and forth.”
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