Coach Rick Carlisle gathered the Pistons together Christmas evening with the intent of getting them back to basics defensively.

What he wanted the players to remember about the 0-5 West Coast trip was how well they played at times and still lost and how it felt to be blown out for the first time this season in the 28-point pummeling at Seattle in the final game.

"I'm not concerned about missing shots, I'm more concerned about giving up 60 percent field goal shooting and when your rebounding isn't there," Carlisle said as the Pistons began preparing for Thursday's game against New Jersey. "As long as we're getting good shots, I don't have a problem with our offense. But when missed shots affect who we are at the defensive end, then it becomes a problem."

Opponents are scoring 93 points per game against the Pistons and shooting 44.1 percent, numbers that have steadily increased since the season's first month. The Pistons also are minus-5.9 per game on the boards and are the worst offensive rebounding team in the league with 222, partly because they'd rather get back to defend possible fast breaks.