Jose Calderon, Pistons get Blown Out by Knicks

The present isn’t the brightest, but the future looks good.

That was ugly, so we are taking an alternative route instead of giving out a bunch of low grades. In exciting news, Jose Calderon got on the court. Then, he proceeded to do Jose Calderon things that were exciting. That was one bright thing. I also liked Stuckey’s energy in attacking the rim. His numbers weren’t the greatest, but it was much more improved than the rest of the year has been. I also like the idea of the new potential Pistons small ball lineup featuring Stuckey, Knight, and Calderon. Jerekbo played, and played well, which was probably the last bright spot. As for the rest of the game, not a whole lot of positives to go around.

This game was reflective on the year. The Pistons are 7-21 against teams over .500, showing how inferior they are to better teams. Despite the record, I would argue this team is better than last year’s team. At the very least, the future looks much brighter. So, in a way I would kind of look at this Pistons team like the first iPod. If you remember, the first iPod wasn’t all that practical compared to the modern day models. They were cool, (Drummond, and other young guys, but mostly Drummond) but they couldn’t sync on Windows. They only connected through the Firewire cable, which was way less common than USB. The scroll wheel was nothing like the modern day one, and finally the screen didn’t light up. So yeah, it was really cool, but it only charged on Mac’s (at the time way less common to Windows computers) and you had to squint in the day time to read anything on it. Forget about reading that thing at night.

Sort of like how this Pistons team loses. Sure, watching Drummond catch an alley-oop from Will Bynum is an amazing thing that consistently happens. Yes, of course Greg Monroe is like clock work in the post and on the box score. Definitely Kyle Singler is someone who’s grit and grind is to root for, but I mean, your still squinting at the screen. Wondering how this really cool team could be 18-31.

Now the iPod obviously has evolved, and it has become a technological mainstay instead of a new age cool. Whoever doesn’t have an iPhone or other smart phone has an iPod. Some people have both, like me. Now there are touch screens, cameras, memory sizes, and powerful batteries that would have been pretty difficult to predict in 2001. If you look at that picture of the 1st generation iPod, there is no way you could predict that the future could be that bright. You could perhaps believe that there would be some improvement. At the time Game Boy had already put a lighted screen in the Game Boy Light, and I’m sure some people could assume that the iPod would follow. (I was 9. I don’t think I knew the iPod existed, so I couldn’t) I’m sure they had hoped that the iPod would become compatible with Windows, which it did the very next generation.

See, this is all comparable to the Pistons. They have some sleek features in Drummond and Monroe. They have a couple of features to improve or completely rework in Knight and Singler. They just have some part they needed to just get away from like Maxiell and Charlie V. Over the next couple years it will be exciting what new features the Pistons could add. They could add a young, but experienced, free agent. Like how the iPod made use of the trusty USB port. They could go after a younger free agent like Brandon Jennings. Comparable to the fact the iPod picked up on the Game Boy colored screen. They could also hit big on the draft and completely groom a budding, young star. Sort of like how the iPod brought in the trusty Click Wheel that dominated for a long time. Will the Pistons ever get to the NBA equivalent of the iPod? No clue, but  Drummond is the fact you can have all your CD’s in one place. He brings a coolness and awe to what the Pistons could be. They will at least be able to build on that piece of bright technology. So hopefully the management finds all the other right pieces to fit along, so the Pistons can be the iPod of the NBA.