Even if Monty Williams does not want to play the injury card to explain the Pistons’ bad run, we cannot rule out this problem, as the absences weigh heavily on the series of nine defeats that the franchise is going through.
Not only are the players stuck in the infirmary missing, but the coach must then rely on the same elements, Cade Cunningham in the lead. The pressure is on the playmaker’s shoulders, defenses target him and suffocate him, even more so since Jalen Duren has also been absent for two matches.
The Pistons, who are nevertheless competitive during the meetings, experience major slackness and end up losing. “That’s the story of our bad streak right now. We play well in sequences, then we have absences, which are fatal. We are then going too far”summarizes the first choice of the 2021 Draft for the Free Press.
Five lost balls per match
The latter symbolizes these weak times very well because no player has lost more balls since the start of the season: 60 in total and an average of 5 per match. He lost 6 against Atlanta alone, including three in three minutes in the third quarter. This is obviously way too much and it weighs down the whole team.
“Defenses jump on me and I have to trust my teammates,” notes Cade Cunningham, who is averaging 9.5 points and 27% shooting success over the last two games. “The defenses try to put pressure on him, to take him in two,” continues Marvin Bagley III. “It’s up to us to make his life easier.” I’m trying to make better screens for him. »
The possessions wasted by Cade Cunningham are of various kinds: there are careless mistakes, with one foot on the touchline for example, poorly assured passes in pick-and-roll situations or to serve a big, or pressure imposed by one or two defenders, who manage to steal the ball from him.
“We have to understand how precious the ball is”declares the coach. “We move the ball around and we play the right way. We have to recognize these moments and make sure we play fair and execute our game well, cleanly, to get a good shot. »
He has already reached his total of matches from last season
The Detroit player is not just lonely. Already, he has recently been ill. “He hasn’t been in shape for over a week and he’s making the effort. He didn’t say anything, but we know it.”recounted his coach last week for the Michigan Live.
Then he gets tired. However, Monty Williams recently assured that it was not necessary “put too much pressure on players with long stretches of minutes”. But Cade Cunningham plays 36 minutes on average, the sixth-most playing time in the league, while he is coming off an almost blank season.
As a reminder, last season, he had only played 12 matches and 400 minutes at the time of his shin injury in mid-November. In this 2023/24 financial year, he has already played 12 matches and 434 minutes.
| Cade Cunningham | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2021-22 | DET | 64 | 33 | 41.6 | 31.4 | 84.5 | 0.9 | 4.6 | 5.5 | 5.6 | 3.1 | 1.2 | 3.7 | 0.7 | 17.4 |
| 2022-23 | DET | 12 | 33 | 41.5 | 27.9 | 83.7 | 1.0 | 5.2 | 6.2 | 6.0 | 2.8 | 0.8 | 3.3 | 0.6 | 19.9 |
| 2023-24 | DET | 11 | 36 | 40.9 | 29.6 | 87.5 | 0.5 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 6.9 | 3.4 | 0.6 | 4.9 | 0.3 | 22.5 |
| Total | 87 | 33 | 41.5 | 30.7 | 84.9 | 0.9 | 4.5 | 5.4 | 5.8 | 3.1 | 1.1 | 3.8 | 0.6 | 18.4 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
