Detroit looks to hammer home defense-first mindset ahead of 2025-26 NBA season
Last season, one of the galvanizing forces behind the Detroit Pistons return to the postseason was the improvement of the team’s defense, physicality and aggressiveness as the year progressed.
As a relatively weak defensive squad the season prior, Detroit made significant strides on the shot-stopping end of the court, particularly after the All-Star break. With center Jalen Duren anchoring the paint and then-rookie forward Ausar Thompson crashing the boards, the Pistons were a top 10 team in points per game allowed (109.3), which is a marked turnaround from the year before. Additionally, Detroit also ranked in the top 10 for blocks and steals per game, which are metrics that underscore the team’s overall increased intensity and focus on defense.
Now, a defensive turnaround of the margin does not occur instantaneously. Instead, it is the product of a mindset shift, one that must come from the top down. Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff has a track record of focusing heavily on defensive cohesiveness within his system, and he’s elected assistant coach Vitaly Potapenko to help drive home the finer points of the defensive game.
In a recent media availability before training camp, Potapenko took some time to elaborate on the pillars of Bickerstaff’s perspective, particularly as it relates to the 2025-26 Pistons personnel.
“Our main goal for summer league, summer league practices and games is pretty much just our Pistons culture, for our Pistons culture to keep developing,” Potapenko said. “Our Pistons culture, which is a selfless basketball, always playing together offensively and defensively, we are a physical team. We want to bring physicality on the defensive end and this was coach J.B. Bickerstaff preaches, so I think this is just going to be another way for younger guys to implement and strengthen those beliefs and style of Pistons play.”
Potapenko, who is an 11-year NBA veteran in his own right, has seen the type of defense that helps carry a team deep into the postseason. And after a first-round exit last season, Potapenko would like to help Detroit reach its true potential under his defensive tutelage so that the young Pistons squad can use its playoff loss to the New York Knicks as a point of reference and knowledge as to what is necessary to challenge the Eastern Conference elite.
However, there will be a bit of roster turnover as Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr. are not returning this season after playing vital roles in 2024-25, so Potapenko will look to work in new players– or those returning such as Jaden Ivey– as he continues to integrate the defensive philosophies that served him well during his own lengthy NBA tenure as a player.
Historically, the Detroit Pistons have operated as a team that plays hard-nosed, physical basketball, so this all-out mindset shift is more of a return to form than anything else. As in the past, the Pistons are aiming to play a tough brand of basketball, one that hopefully leads Detroit to the playoffs once again.
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