The injury bug has arguably cost the Detroit Pistons the season the last two years. Heading into the hardest stretch of the season, it’s possible again.
The injury bug seems to be peaking at the worst time for the Detroit Pistons.
Luke Kennard had finally returned to a team starving for some three burgers to be served up. For a team ranked near the top in three point attempts, but near the bottom in percent made, it seemed like an early Christmas gift.
Then, Reggie Bullock sprained his ankle. No, not Reggie Jackson. Thank God.
The other Reggie got hit with an ankle injury, causing him to miss the Milwaukee Bucks blow out and have Langston Galloway fill in for the starting lineup. Maybe the Reggie’s should think about changing their names.
It’s almost as if the ankle God’s have it out for the name Reggie.
With Kennard not a 100 percent yet, Bullock going down is one of the worst things to happen. The Pistons are rumored to be in the market for a shooter because, well, they need a shooter.
Having their two best shooters go down before getting said shooter in the shopping market is like having your car break down on the way to the market.
Blake Griffin can only do so much, and losing even more shooting makes it even more attractive for teams to double Griffin when he’s inside the three point line.
Along with this, the Pistons may have another point guard issue.
No, once again, Reggie Jackson is okay everybody.
This time, it’s Ish Smith.
En route to getting dusted off the floor by Eric Bledsoe, Smith pulled his groin during the loss to the Bucks.
Now, this could mean several things.
This could lead to more minutes for Jackson. But, that could lead to Jackson winding down and possibly getting hurt again.
That option gets thrown out the window.
The next option is to allow Jose Calderon to fill in for Smith and serve as the backup.
Along with throwing terrible lobs to players, Calderon has not shot the ball any better than I have.
Calderon is shooting 21 percent from the field and 15 percent from downtown. That is good for a spectacular 29 true shooting percentage.
That is remarkable.
While I’d love to see how much lower he could possibly get that true shooting percentage, I don’t think others would find as much satisfaction in that.
So, that option is now out of consideration.
Lastly, the only other option I can think of (outside of running “bully ball” and putting three wings out there and letting Blake run point) is to give the Bruce Brown at point guard a much too early look.
Oh, and this is all happening while the Pistons are on a two-game, blowout losing streak and in the midst of the worst Christmas gift known to man.
The Pistons play the 76ers and the Hornets twice, Pelicans, Celtics, Bucks, Timberwolves, all before Christmas.
This team was going to need to give everything they had to survive this stretch without whatever is left of this fan base turning on them.
Now, they have to do it shorthanded. Happy holidays, Detroit Pistons fans.