3 Takeaways From J.B Bickerstaff Press Conference After Suns Win

As you would expect from a first preseason game, the Detroit Pistons have a lot to work on moving forward.

This comes despite a 109-107 win over the Phoenix Suns on Monday night to open their exhibition series, ahead of the regular-season tip-off on October 20 against the Boston Celtics.

However, while the victory in this environment isn’t considered the most important statistic, more so the fine-tuning of the squad, head coach J.B. Bickerstaff witnessed good things along with the tweaks needed.

Offensive execution was off-par

In preseason, this is expected, and it showed throughout the game, especially in the first half against the Suns.

Bickerstaff has introduced new schemes on both sides of the ball, which, against opposition, will not always be executed correctly, leading to broken offenses, turnovers, and bad-looking shots.

“We weren't very good offensively, to be honest with you,” Bickerstaff admitted. “We didn't execute a lot of the things that we've been working on. It's some new stuff.

“So it's to be expected, like, once you're playing a different opponent and things start to ramp up, you get to see where you are. And so I thought playing them, it was a good physical defensive team, they gave us a good test of where we are, and it just proves to us that we got more work to do.

“The great thing is, we've got time. I know our guys’ skill set and talent. So, it'll give us an opportunity to watch it on film, break it down with the guys. And then go out and replicate it on the court.”

Wanting to get Ausar Thompson more comfortable with the ball in his hands

One thing that was obvious in the win over Phoenix was that Ausar Thompson was involved a lot in the offense. In 18 minutes on the floor, he went 5-for-8 from the floor and had 10 points.

Defensively, Thompson didn’t skip a beat; he nabbed three steals in his haul, as the Pistons will no doubt look to get him more of the ball as preseason continues before the opener against the Celtics.

“We're trying to experiment with different things; we obviously want Ausar to have the ball in his hands,” Bickerstaff said.

“We believe, like, if he takes a jump, our team is going to take a jump. In order to do that, he's got to get that exposure. So, trying to find the right lineups to play out there with him and around him.

“I think that group had a lot of space, a lot of shooting, with good size as well. But I just felt like we need to give him more of those opportunities to kind of be the lead out there with the ball in his hands, so that he can continue to take those steps. But I thought he did a great job of it.”

John Collins set the tone

John Collins had 10 points on 5-for-7 shooting, with four of those points coming in the first quarter, showed intent and got into a scuffle with Dillon Brooks.

He has immediately settled into life as a Piston.

“We're working through some of these things and just trying to figure out lineups, positionally,” Bickerdtaff explained.

“But [Collins]'s ability to play the four or the five, his ability to stretch the floor, he's been an elite roller through his career also. So he knows how to play the pick-and-roll if he's at the five.

“With those guards again, defensively, his ability to switch on the perimeter is all good things for us. I love his toughness to get into it; seven and a half minutes to go in the first quarter of a preseason game is right up the Pistons’ alley.”

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