DETROIT, MICHIGAN – OCTOBER 29: Paolo Banchero #5 of the Orlando Magic takes a foul on the way to the basket by Tobias Harris #12 of the Detroit Pistons during the first half at Little Caesars Arena on October 29, 2025 in Detroit, Michigan. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
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As the great philosopher Rust Cohle once told us, “time is a flat circle.” History always repeats itself, and everything that has happened will happen once more.
In the early 1990s, the NBA adjusted its rules in a way that negatively impacted the Bad Boys Detroit Pistons. Then, again, they revised their bylaws in a way that had a similar effect on the mid-2000s iteration of the team. Now, here we are in 2025-26, and the Pistons are facing the same challenges that their predecessors once had to deal with.
The NBA Is Allowing Less Physicality This Season
Toward the end of the 2023-24 NBA season, the league decided that offensive efficiency had increased too much and that they needed to help give defense a boost. To do this, they started calling fewer fouls and allowing more physicality on that side of the ball.
This initiative continued throughout the 2024-25 season. However, this year, it seems like the league is taking its foot off the gas a bit. Last year, the league average free throw/field goal attempt ratio was .189 (per Basketball Reference). This year, 26 of the 30 teams are allowing a higher rate than that mark.
How This Hurts The Detroit Pistons
This disproportionately impacts the Pistons because a great deal of their success on defense came from taking advantage of the increased physicality the league allowed.
Detroit didn’t surrender threes to send extra bodies in the paint. They were physical at the point of the attack and trusted their guys to keep the ball in front of them. Last season, they allowed the sixth-highest percentage of midrange shots (per Cleaning the Glass), which means that they weren’t overhelping and were forcing teams to beat them off the dribble.
They still fouled a lot – the Pistons were 27th in ft/fga rate – but it was okay because their on-ball defense and turnover creation (9th in opponent turnover rate) more than made up for it. This year, the Pistons are getting called for way more fouls (their ft/fga rate has ballooned up from .214 to .315), and their turnover rate is down (13th), so the math ain’t math-ing for them the way that it once was.
As a result, the Pistons haven’t been as good on defense as they need to be to withstand all their offensive decline (they have gone from 16th to 20th in offensive rating).
After January 1 (when Ausar Thompson was fully integrated into the lineup), the Pistons ranked fifth in the NBA in defensive rating. Now, they are only ninth, despite allocating more minutes to defense-first players like Thompson, Ron Holland II, and Javonte Green.
“The league needs to take a look at what’s going on. It’s not just us; fouls are up across the league. Last year, there was more physicality allowed on the defensive end of the floor. That was one of the points of emphasis, and our guys adjusted to that,” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff told available media after the Pistons’ win over the Orlando Magic. “Now, we’re just at an in-between point where we are trying to figure out where the physicality lies.”
What Are The Pistons Going To Do To Adapt
Sports are not that different than the animal kingdom. There is no room to sit there and feel sorry for yourself. It’s adapt or die. The Pistons realize this, and while they wait for the league to decide what direction they want to commit to, they are making small adjustments to their defensive philosophy.
“If you’re not going to be as physical, there are always ways to put more of a crowd on the ball so that our guys can get back in front of their man. Not really traps, but a little more aggressive to the ball. That way, you allow your guys to get back in front of the ball and avoid letting them get downhill,” Bickerstaff explained.
One way the Pistons are doing this is by turning to more aggressive pick-and-roll coverages. Against the Magic, they started hedging more ballscreens instead of switching or dropping and having the on-ball defender navigate over top of the screen. By doing this, like Bickerstaff pointed out, point-of-attack defenders didn’t need to use as much physicality to stay attached to their man (like this).
The Pistons were already facing a steep climb, trying to build upon the newfound success they experienced last season. And this latest revelation only further serves to daunt this task. Fortunately, this group is nothing if not resilient, and they seem more than ready for the challenge.