Ron Holland will be entering his third NBA season with the Detroit Pistons, and he is doing it on a team that just went 60-22 and claimed the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Holland came off the bench all of last season and is likely to open this one in the same spot. If Detroit is going to sit at the top of the East again, that bench role has to carry more weight.
Ron Hollandβs Second Season Set the Baseline
Holland played in 78 games last season with the Pistons. He averaged 8.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.3 blocks in 19.9 minutes per game, according to ESPN. He is only 21 years old and has a lot of room for improvement. Is there a chance that he could be playing 25-30 minutes per game this season for the Pistons?
Ron Holland Could Earn 25-30 Minutes a Night
Brett Alberts of Pistons on SI wrote about three Pistons who could take major leaps this season, and Holland is one of them. Alberts said:
βStanding at 6-8, 206 pounds, Holland provides great size along with defense to go with Ausar Thompson, and that could create nightmares for the offense.
If he can play in longer spurts of the game and provide great defense and energy for head coach JB Bickerstaff, then he will be able to turn into a great role player.β
The Pistons bench would benefit if Holland could play 25-30 minutes a game and lift his scoring and rebounding with it. He is already a solid defender in that second unit. The gap he has to close is trust in the games that matter: DSN noted he logged just 58 minutes across Detroitβs playoff run last spring.
