Jalen Duren, Daniss Jenkins, and Making Adjustments | The Weekly Drive
The Pistons didn't get a haymaker to the face, but Orlando peppered them with blows in Game 1.
Good morning Pistons fans, and welcome back to the Weekly Drive. It’s been a hot minute since the last article, but I thought it made sense to check back in amidst a stressful moment in the season.
Detroit was shocked at home in Game 1 against the Orlando Magic, a team that had incredibly poor vibes for the last two weeks as they slumped into the Play-In Tournament. The Pistons never led at any point in the game, getting as close as 65-65 in the third quarter. It was a disappointing loss, and it highlighted the reasons the national media raised an eyebrow at Detroit making a deep playoff run.
Let’s be clear, this is a flawed basketball team. The lack of secondary playmakers and scoring options was on full display, as Cade Cunningham led the team with 39 points while everyone else put up 62 combined. But its the other issues popping up that are even more discouraging, as they were mostly not seen throughout the regular season.
What Happened to Jalen Duren?
The second-best player on the Pistons needs more shot attempts, plain and simple. Cunningham will take the most, and he should, but Duren took just four of them. That is less than Ausar Thompson and Daniss Jenkins, and eight fewer than his average per game post All-Star Break. Incorporating Duren into the bully ball offense is an essential component to how the Pistons pulverized opponents in the regular season. Detroit cannot abandon what has made them, and Duren, so good this season.
Wendell Carter Jr. outplayed Duren to the tune of 17 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. The Magic were a +20 when he was on the floor, and that backs up the eye test. The Pistons were a -21 in Duren’s minutes, which also aligns with what we saw in Game 1. That level of disparity is not sustainable if the Pistons want escape the first round for the first time since the Bush Administration.
More paint touches for Duren is the minimum at this point, and ideally that gets him going on both ends of the floor. Orlando attacked the paint and generated about half of their points from that area in Game 1. The Magic are not a very good offensive team in general, but they are happy to attack the paint and generate free throw attempts.
The Pistons need more out Duren, bottom line.
Relying on Daniss Jenkins
No doubt that the emergence of Jenkins as the team’s backup point guard has been a godsend for the Pistons. Coming into the season it seemed like they were going to use LeVert, Marcus Sasser, and Jaden Ivey as its potential backup ball handlers. We had our worries about that in our season preview edition of the Palace of Pistons Podcast, but Jenkins is a good development for the long term. It’s the short term that is troubling.
Jenkins played pretty poorly in Game 1, going 1-7 from the floor and he was a team-worst -11 in his 22 minutes. He looked outmatched, in part because Orlando’s backcourt defense was very active all night. Nevertheless, the Pistons will need a better game from Jenkins in Game 2. It is fair to wonder if the moment is too big for him at this juncture of his career and if the coaching staff has a shorter leash. But this gets to one of those scary realties of this Pistons team.
Relying on Jenkins to this degree is a risky gamble. He is a good story, and by all means a good player, but the playoffs are a different animal. The alternatives are not too enticing, but they may opt to give the veteran LeVert a few extra minutes if Jenkins starts off poorly again. J.B. Bickerstaff has also toyed with LeVert as a point guard from their time in Cleveland, and there is already an established level of trust. There is risk there too, a pick-your-poison type of decision, and certainly something worth monitoring in Game 2 and beyond.
Tighten the Rotations
Speaking of Bickerstaff, he played an 11-man rotation in Game 1, a puzzling decision to say the least. Typically, playoff rotations shorten to eight or nine players to keep the best guys out there as much as possible. There is nothing to say that Bickerstaff won’t make that adjustment for Game 2, but as someone who also covered the Cleveland Cavaliers, I have seen this story play out.
LeVert and Javonte Green had four minutes of court time each, and were largely doing cardio out there. Ron Holland had 10 ineffective minutes. There needs to be a little tightening of the rotations, with a few more minutes going to Huerter and Stewart. Those guys have tangible value both with and without the ball in their hands, and their size and physicality will be necessary against an Orlando team that is up for a fight.
Stewart’s 18 minutes in Game 1 is exactly four below is season average. Taking Green’s minutes and giving them to the energetic Stewart makes plenty of sense. Holland may also see his court time reduced after his Game 1 showing, and giving them to Huerter provides the offense a little more room to breathe. You lose Holland’s defensive energy and athleticism, but it may be worth the risk to space the offense out. Neither team shot the ball well from deep in Game 1, but every advantage counts.
Bickerstaff’s rotations are not all to blame for the loss, but I think it does need a tweak to get the best players more touches and court time. This isn’t the regular season, the playoffs are all about adjustments and matchups. It is time to adjust.