Pistons to Daye: Please Don't Take the Ball to the Basket The Detroit Pistons have one of the worst offenses in the N.B.A.; the ball never seems to get to the players it should, the shots seem to go up before a quality opening is actually created, and the team as a whole stumbles into an alarming number of miscues. It's no trick of scheduling that lost Detroit 12 of their first 15 games, as the inability to score in any kind of efficient or consistent manner has been a big problem -- and sadly, a big problem among many -- for the Pistons thus far. Yet team statesman Ben Wallace identified one very frustrating -- and correctable -- element of Detroit's dismal offensive performance worthy of addressing directly: the overextension of third-year forward Austin Daye. Wallace was so annoyed by Daye's overambitious on-court efforts that he reportedly sought out his teammate for a chat following a recent road loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News had the story: "He's not doing what we know he can do," Wallace said of Daye's extended shooting slump. He's one of the best shooters we have. He needs to get his head out of his (butt) and shoot the ball. It wasn't a harsh conversation but it was very direct, Wallace said. He was tired of seeing Daye pass up open shots in the effort to make plays. Daye is shooting 20 percent from the field and has missed all 13 of his 3-point attempts. "He's a shoot-first guy," Wallace said. He's struggling with his shot a little bit, he's trying to put the ball on the floor, playing in traffic. We don't want that...Like every young player that's come into the league and played this game, when you're struggling with your shot, the first thing you think is, "I gotta go to the basket." That's not what we want him to do. It's definitely a strange situation; how often does a veteran take issue with a young teammate driving inside rather than shooting passively from the perimeter? Putting the ball on the floor to counter a defense scrambling to contest his shot is theoretically a smart move by Daye, as his height and handle would -- again, theoretically -- allow him to finish inside with ease or throw passes over the top of his defender. That hasn't been the case; although Daye does have some play-making skill, his decision to give up looks on the perimeter to get into the paint has resulted in an 18.6 turnover rate -- a shockingly high mark for a wing player, and particularly so for one who posted just a 10.2 turnover rate last season. The 6-11 Daye -- who made 40 percent of his 3-point attempts last year -- should be able to rise and fire against anything other than a hard closeout from a quick-footed big man or a long-armed wing player. Instead, he's putting the ball on the floor, and often wasting a potentially efficient opportunity: As odd as it is on the surface for Wallace to chide his teammate for trying to take the ball to the basket, his prescription is actually correct. You can almost see Daye over-think his way into turnover after turnover in those clips, despite the fact that a very reasonable 3-point look was previously in his sights. Furthermore, Daye's 3-point shooting is especially valuable to Detroit given the lineup configurations that Lawrence Frank typically employs. Daye often sees court action as one of only two long-range options on the floor; Detroit plays so many lineups involving Greg Monroe, Ben Wallace, Jason Maxiell, Rodney Stuckey (shooting a decent 35 percent this season, but has shot 27 percent for his career), and Jonas Jerebko (who is a bit stretchier than Detroit's other bigs, but is still a below-average 3-point shooter), that Daye's reluctance to shoot from distance is doing a legitimate disservice to the Pistons" spacing. He's far from the only problem, but Daye certainly contributes to the fact that Detroit ranks 26th in three-point shooting rate -- the percentage of the team's total field goal attempts used on 3-pointers -- despite being the 11th best team in the league in three-point shooting percentage. Ben Gordon, Brandon Knight, and Tayshaun Prince have all been very accurate from the perimeter this season, but the Pistons haven't quite figured out how to best use their - and Daye's, based on his non-slump shooting marks -- focused long-range strengths to the team's advantage. Considering just how miserable the Pistons are in almost every area of offensive performance, the inability to get more attempts for their best perimeter shooters represents the squandering of a potential strength. Though some of that stems from Detroit's inability to create quality shots in general, Wallace is right to be frustrated with Daye for willingly giving up those much-needed high-percentage looks so easily, however well-intended his drives to the basket may be.