That 2004 Pistons defence is thrilling. The energy, the timing, the effort, the skill do disrupt the plays while being physical enough to do it but without fouling, are all elite. But I will say this (without taking anything away from it because that D is the gold standard in nba history): they had to deal with a different kind of offence. It was a lot of entry passes, cuts and post ups. The perimeter game and 3pt shot wasn't as prevalent as these days, so the floor was "smaller", which helps defences. That's one of the reasons that level of defence will be extremely difficult to replicate, by any team.
To give an idea of what I mean (numbers are for the whole season):
2004 finalists:
Pistons: 3PA 946, 3P% .344
Lakers: 3PA 1115, 3P% .327
2021 finalists;
Suns: 3PA 2490, 3P% .378
Bucks; 3PA 2669, 3P% .389
Defensives schemes had to be completely overhauled to deal with this change. The floor is extremely outstretched now by comparison, that Pistons defence is crystallized and won't be replicated, unless that era and style of ball comes back. That said, I believe our defence will be one of the best in the league, and if any can approach the '04 pistons gold standard, is us.
My main point though, is as a much I'd like to believe, it's very difficult to actually win games consistently in this era with just that kind of approach (disrupting lanes, forcing turnovers, generating your offence from your defence, transition etc..). I mean, all that stuff is KEY, but if that's all you're doing, you're threading water.
I like that we have the length, the passing the cutting all that is awesome, but now that Lowry is gone this team will absolutely need someone other than Flynn to run a proper pick roll and direct off-ball screens to create space when the opposing defence is hunkered down. If I'm the coach i'm having Siakam and Barnes work on that right away. A Siakam-Barnes pick and roll alternating between handler/roller would be HUGE for this team. I'm excited overall though, because we got the pieces to be a really good team
To give an idea of what I mean (numbers are for the whole season):
2004 finalists:
Pistons: 3PA 946, 3P% .344
Lakers: 3PA 1115, 3P% .327
2021 finalists;
Suns: 3PA 2490, 3P% .378
Bucks; 3PA 2669, 3P% .389
Defensives schemes had to be completely overhauled to deal with this change. The floor is extremely outstretched now by comparison, that Pistons defence is crystallized and won't be replicated, unless that era and style of ball comes back. That said, I believe our defence will be one of the best in the league, and if any can approach the '04 pistons gold standard, is us.
My main point though, is as a much I'd like to believe, it's very difficult to actually win games consistently in this era with just that kind of approach (disrupting lanes, forcing turnovers, generating your offence from your defence, transition etc..). I mean, all that stuff is KEY, but if that's all you're doing, you're threading water.
I like that we have the length, the passing the cutting all that is awesome, but now that Lowry is gone this team will absolutely need someone other than Flynn to run a proper pick roll and direct off-ball screens to create space when the opposing defence is hunkered down. If I'm the coach i'm having Siakam and Barnes work on that right away. A Siakam-Barnes pick and roll alternating between handler/roller would be HUGE for this team. I'm excited overall though, because we got the pieces to be a really good team
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