Pistons Lose Role Player for Game Against Portland

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Ron Holland is averaging 8.4 points per game through 25 games this season.

The Detroit Pistons will not have role player Ron Holland tonight against the Portland Trailblazers.

Holland is suffering from left knee soreness and the team decided to sit him out. This is the first game that Holland has missed this season.

In his second year, Holland has seen significant play time for the Pistons. He’s appeared in every game and has made five starts. Holland is averaging 8.4 points and 3.8 rebounds.

The 20-year-old also leads the team in steals per game at 1.5. It’s uncertain when Holland will return and his presence will be missed as the Pistons battle the Trailblazers.

Ron Holland, Key Player Off The Bench

Coming off a rookie season where he played in 81 of 82 games, Holland has quickly developed into a prominent role player for Detroit.

Holland was ready to get back on the court for his second season. He showed tremendous improvement during Summer League and the organization was pleased with his performance.

During Summer League, Keith Langlois, Web Editor for the Pistons at NBA.com, spoke with Holland about his performance.

“Come into the game and if we need that spark, being that spark,” Holland said about the impact he plans to make. “And if we’ve got that spark already, being able to continue that spark. I definitely want to come in with a defensive mindset and then being able to knock down shots when it’s my turn to knock down shots. My mentality going into games is just do whatever the team needs at that exact moment every single night.”

Holland also talked about his head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and what it’s like to play for him.“He’s competitive,” Holland said of Bickerstaff. “If you’ve seen him on the sidelines, you can just see it. It definitely shows. To just go out there and compete and have a coach that’s just as competitive as you are, it definitely helps out there. I think it’s definitely easy to play for him.”

The fifth overall pick of the 2024 NBA draft capitalized on his Summer League performance and has added value to Detroit this season.

Trajan Langdon, president of basketball operations for Detroit, was high on Holland during the draft process. “The one thing we liked about Ron when we took him was the competitive nature, the work ethic he has,” said Langdon. “He wants to be the greatest player he can be and he puts the time in. He puts the work in. He’s a great teammate. The thing we thought he was going to be, he’s been. All the things we thought about him have shown to be true about the basketball player and the person. It’s been great watching his development.”

Ron Holland’s First Missed Game Due to Injury

GettyRon Holland will miss his first game of the season due to an injury.

This will be Holland’s first game he’s missed because of injury since his time in the league. Last season he missed one game, but that was due to a suspension. Before the game against Portland, Holland and Javonte Green were the only two players to appear in all 28 games for the Pistons.

Detroit’s match up against Portland will be the first of a five-game road trip which will span over the course of nine days. The Pistons’next opponent will be the Sacramento Kings and that will be Holland’s next opportunity to suit up.

Kevin Moore Kevin Moore is an NBA Contributing Writer at Heavy. His previous work has appeared in the York Daily Record, MLBBro.com, MLB.com, and The Detroit News. Moore is an avid Detroit sports fan and his favorite sports memories are the Detroit Pistons winning the 2004 NBA Finals and interviewing NBA Hall of Famer Chris Webber. More about Kevin Moore