Analysis: Pistons still searching for answers

NEW YORK -- Around 10:45 a.m., as bleary-eyed New Yorkers slowly prepare for a lazy Sunday and about 75 minutes before the day's noon start, Rasheed Wallace held court in front of his locker at Madison Square Garden and sipped from a tiny cup of coffee.

Turns out that cup wouldn't be big enough to get Sheed or the Pistons going. After letting the Knicks score the game's first 10 points and falling behind by as many as 29 en route to a 104-92 loss, it's clear the Pistons needed a venti. The loss left the Pistons at 11-8 on the season, 7-8 with Allen Iverson in the lineup and 0-5 on Sundays.

On second thought, make it a triple venti with a red-eye shot.

After another slow start, Pistons forward and Beijing gold medalist Tayshaun Prince said the onus is on the starters to start well.

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	The Pistons try and mount a comeback after the break but Al Harrington and the Knicks were too much. Play 2:12

"We need to figure out better things to get us going early," Prince said. "It's for us to figure out, not the staff because they've been doing a good job of figuring out what we need to do for us to get it done."

When the deal for Allen Iverson went down, the biggest question was how the Pistons would fit one of the greatest one-on-one talents onto a squad that often played as one. It turns out the Pistons have questions on the defensive end as well.

NBA.com's John Schuhmann noted that the Pistons finished last season fourth in defensive efficiency per 100 possessions. This year they're 20th. If you watched the Knicks slice-and-dice, pick-and-roll and drive-and-kick the Pistons up and down the Garden floor to the tune of 65 points in the first half, you may have guessed the Pistons were 30th.

Iverson -- who has defended the passing lanes as well as any NBA player in history -- isn't a lockdown defender and because of his size has a hard time getting through pick-and-rolls. On Sunday, the Knicks consistently exploited this weakness on screens early and often. No play epitomized this better than the one that gave New York its biggest lead of the day.

Chris Duhon, who had game highs with 25 points and nine assists, turned the corner into the lane off a great screen from David Lee. As the Pistons' post players sagged to stop the drive, Al Harrington circled from the wing to the spot Duhon and Lee vacated at the top of the key. Duhon turned and whipped a pass to Harrington, who caught it in rhythm and calmly drained a three to give the Knicks a 58-29 lead.

Chris Duhon and the Knicks had little trouble adding to the Pistons' Sunday misery this season. Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images

"I thought we allowed them to get the middle," Pistons coach Michael Curry said. "When they get the middle, it's easier for them to drive and kick and get threes. That's how they got most of their threes in the first half."

Reserve guard Arron Afflalo said the Pistons can't continue to dig big holes and try to climb out of them.

"There's no excuse for getting down that much so early," Afflalo said. "That's the entire team's fault, both the first unit and the second unit.

"We don't have that mental focus."

Part of that lack of confusion comes from who initiates the offense. For the past six-and-a-half years, the Pistons, their fans and opponents knew the offense would start -- and on occasion end -- with Chauncey Billups. Now, the Pistons sometimes use Iverson, sometimes Prince. Do they pick-and-roll with Sheed? Do they let Iverson work his one-on-one magic? How does Richard Hamilton, who used to run defenders into dust, fit in? The Pistons, 15 games after Iverson's arrival, are still searching for an answer on how to incorporate The Answer on offense.

Pistons coach Michael Curry may have found a solution in the second half. Curry sat big man Kwame Brown and inserted Rodney Stuckey at the point guard spot, moving Iverson to two, Hamiton to three, Prince to four and Wallace to center. After the Pistons held the Knicks to 16 third-quarter points, it's an option Curry may continue to use.

"I thought in the second half we did a really good job," Curry said. "We didn't play with the level of effort, focus and intensity we need to start games with.

"Afflalo and Walter Herrmann ... and Stuck have been playing well. I don't know about bringing in Stuckey and playing him with Rip and AI and push Tay down to the four or put someone else in."

One thing that should help shore up the Pistons' D may arrive this week in the form of Antonio McDyess. He went to Denver with Billups in the trade for Iverson, but was bought out by the Nuggets. McDyess is eligible to re-sign with the Pistons, who have said a deal may happen as early as this week. Curry said he'd continue to bring McDyess in off the bench with the second unit.

And while McDyess may represent a one-man cavalry, Prince noted that the Pistons still on the roster need to be more consistent than they have been.

"The thing about it is when you play against the Lakers and shoot at a high percentage, play great defense and get a win there," Prince said. "Then you go home and take a couple bad losses. Then you go to San Antonio and get a good win. Then you leave there and get some bad losses.

"It just shows you a lot of inconsistency. It [also] shows you how good we can be."

The Pistons know it. Now, they just need to show it.