Detroit Pistons: 3 reasons to be thankful

2. Dwane Casey’s presence

For years, the Pistons have been without a great presence at the head coaching spot. After the Toronto Raptors felt the Dwane Casey era had run its course, the Pistons pounced to bring in a coach of Casey’s caliber.

His presence has yet to truly be felt on a raw stats level, but they have already improved in late-game situations, most noticeably in their late upset of Casey’s former team. Former coach Stan Van Gundy was a good coach during his prime, but struggled in recent years.

While we haven’t seen the offense or defense take revolutionary strides yet, we’ve seen Casey be open to changes that Van Gundy never was. For his career, Andre Drummond had never shot more than 11 3-pointers for an entire season. Through 15 games, he has already taken 14 of them. Casey has also experimented with his younger players like Bruce Brown Jr. and others getting major minutes early on.

The presence of a great coach is something that doesn’t always show up quickly, but cream does ultimately rise to the top. Casey’s late-game adjustments will win them those close games down the stretch of the season that they had lost in the past. Pistons fans can be thankful to know a good coach is calling the shots.