Detroit Pistons: John Collins Altered Pre-Game Routine Before Starting At Center

Last night, the Detroit Pistons made an important tweak to the starting five before their 122-111 win over the Washington Wizards, which came on the tail end of a back-to-back and put them at 7-3 on the year. 

Despite the short rest, Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff made the decision to shift John Collins to the center spot and move Daniss Jenkins into the starting lineup at the same time. Effectively, Duncan Robinson would operate on the wing, leaving Ausar Thompson to pick up the slack as an on-ball defender with glass-crashing responsibility on one end while pushing the pace in transition on the other. 

The Pistons had flexed to this lineup in-game multiple times during the regular season already, but it provided Detroit with a jolt right off the bat. In the first quarter, Collins finished several big lobs to get the Pistons going as the appetizer for his productive night. Along the way, Collins put up 24 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, dished out three assists, had three stocks and hit a pair of triples. That’s a lot of action in just 28 minutes, but Collins made his time on the court count against the Wizards.

”I tried to change my pre-game shooting a little bit,” Collins said after the game. “I knew I was going to be starting at the five tonight, so a few things changed and gotta keep rolling, gotta keep being able to be versatile and change. Just happy I was able to get it going.”

While Collins has had a turbulent start to his Detroit tenure with some outstanding performances and a few quieter games, the big man found himself in a rhythm last night, though some credit should go to the Pistons’ ball movement. In the 11-point win, Detroit had 31 assists on 43 made baskets, which shows that the Pistons are working to set their teammates up for quality looks, a hallmark token of team-first offense. 

Over the weekend, the Pistons released an update on Jalen Duren’s strained right hamstring since the All-Star big man has been out for a couple weeks now. According to the team, Duren has resumed on-court activities, which is a step in the right direction, but he will continue rehabbing his injury for another two weeks before he is reevaluated for a return. 

Given that timeline, the Pistons seem comfortable with the proposition of rotating between Collins and Reed until Duren is healthy, although Tolu Smith is still ready to go as a depth option when called upon. Last night, both Collins and Reed grabbed 10 rebounds apiece, so the Pistons were crashing the boards hard from the frontcourt, but the Wizards still developed a slight edge in the rebounding battle. 

Right now, the Pistons have two days off before squaring off against the Wizards once again, this time in their building for a 7 pm tip-off on Thursday, Nov. 12.