Detroit Pistons head coach Monty Williams has emphasized all season the need to find a consistent rotation he can rely on. In the midst of a 110-100 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday, the Pistons ran into the same issue with their bench rotation.
Williams has been persistent in playing all bench lineups throughout 2023-24, which has hurt the Pistons. After battling back from a slow start in the first quarter Friday, Williams subbed in another full lineup of reserves featuring Simone Fontecchio, Quentin Grimes, James Wiseman, Evan Fournier, and Malachi Flynn.
The second unit surrendered a 9-0 run to the Cavaliers, which put the Pistons behind by 13. Detroit played the majority of the contest trying to come back from a double-digit lead that grew as big as 26 points.
Detroit's bench has a net rating of -11.1 when they've taken the floor this year. Monty Williams addressed the struggles from the reserves and how he needs to find a rotation that works for the Pistons during the postgame press conference.
“I gotta figure out a combination of that second unit that can play the way we want to play,” Williams shared with Natalie Kerwin of Bally Sports Detroit. “We just dug ourselves a hole. I think we were down 26 and it felt like 56 because we just weren't playing the kind of basketball that we had been playing in all the games leading to this particular game. I gotta figure out a better combination of the second unit.”
Monty Williams was also asked about the possibility of staggering the starting guards Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey with the reserves. He shared how the team has talked about staggering the guards but how it could also present the issue of Detroit playing smaller guards. Williams also stated how he wants a defensive anchor available to play with the bench and how much that was missed against the Cavaliers.
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