Stewart’s defense has been more than worthy but does not meet the games/minutes threshold to qualify
The Detroit Pistons are currently enjoying a storybook season, but part of that tale will not include Isaiah Stewart being named to the all-defense team. Beef Stew, as he is affectionately known in Detroit, has blossomed this year as a key reserve protecting the paint for Detroit.
With his play, Stewart certainly made the case that he belongs on the all-defense team. Unfortunately, recently implemented league threshold rules make that impossible for Stewart.
ESPN’s Kevin Pelton highlighted the issue, noting players must play at least 63 games of 20+ minutes on the floor. Stewart has only reached that threshold 24 times this season with 16 games remaining. Even if he played 20+ minutes the rest of the season, he would only reach 40 qualifying games.
Stewart’s emergence comes after spending his first few seasons as a starter, including an ill-fated attempt to turn him into a stretch power forward last season. Now, JBB Bickerstaff is asking him to play center exclusively, and do the kinds of things centers do — rebound, block shots, cut off driving lanes. Luckily, those are also the things Stewart loves to do and the things at which he excels.
Stewart has embraced the coaching philosophy and scheme of Bickerstaff, and Beef Stew is one of the important factors in the Pistons’ defense ranking 9th this season after ranking 26th last season.
This season, he is blocking a career-high 3.3 shots per 100 possessions, and players a shooting 5% worse than expected when guarded by Stewart. Of the 55 players who have defended at least four shots per game at the rim, Stewart ranks second in field goal percentage allowed. Opponents only hit 45.5% at the rim against Stewart, which trails only Chet Holmgren.
While defensive stats can be a bit tricky to rely on, defense at the rim is relatively reliable in separating the wheat from the chaff. The bottom ranks of that list of 55 players include some unsurprising names, including Nikola Jokic, Nikola Vucevic, Mark Williams, Kyle Filipowski, and Karl-Anthony Towns, who all allow just over 69% at the rim.
Pelton notes that in the past decade, six players who were named to the All-Defense team wouldn’t qualify under today’s rules. That includes Andrew Bogut in 2015, Tony Allen and Danny Green in 2017, Dejounte Murray in 2018, Matisse Thybulle in 2022, and Alex Caruso in 2023.
I’m sure nobody within the organization would have had this season play out any differently. Stewart is more interested in ending his team’s playoff drought than qualifying for awards consideration. Still, it’s a bummer that Stewart can’t even be in the conversation for an honor that would duly recognize his level of play this season.