A year in review: Detroit Pistons have year filled with change

The Detroit Pistons had a roller coaster ride of a year in 2018. Here’s the year in review and everything to expect going into 2019.

The Detroit Pistons played their final game of the 2018 year on Sunday, December 30th against the Orlando Magic. Evan Fournier played the villain as he hit the game-winning jumper for Orlando as they defeated Detroit, 109-107.

It’s not the way you want to end the year if you’re the Pistons. They were in need of that win against a team who is below .500 in the east.

It was even more important after coming off that miserable loss to the Pacers.

2018 was a year in which the Pistons saw a lot of changes, especially to the coaching staff. With Dwane Casey now leading the pack, the Pistons could start to move in a different direction.

From the coaching changes, to the draft picks and the free agent pickups, there’s been one question. Are the Pistons at a place where they want to be to end the 2018 year?

Let’s be real here, Detroit currently has a 16-18 record and are sitting in the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference. The Magic are now only a half game back.

I would have to say that Detroit is not where they wanted to be going into the new year.  With the addition of Dwane Casey and a healthy Blake Griffin, Detroit should at least be sitting in the sixth spot with an above .500 record in the east.

Detroit is certainly a better team than Miami and Charlotte. Even though Detroit has yet to win a game against Charlotte this year (0-3 against them), I still believe they are the better team.  Looking at Miami, the Pistons have only played the Heat once and lost a tough one in overtime 120-115, but I still believe Detroit is the better team.

Through 34 games in the 2018-2019 season Detroit is two games under .500 with a 16-18 record, why don’t we look at how the team got to this point.

A Look at 2018

Where to start?

How about we start at the end of the ’17-’18 season. Detroit finished with a 19-28 record in 2018.  On the bright note they did win the final game of the season defeating Chicago 119-87 to finish the season 39-43.

Detroit finished in the 9th spot, four games behind the Washington Wizards. The Pistons missed the playoffs and started to look for off-season moves. First thing’s first, they let go of Stan Van Gundy in May of 2018.

Now that leaves Detroit without a head coach and President of basketball operations.

June 2018

As June rolls around, the 2018 NBA Draft is swiftly approaching and Detroit fans are still wondering who the next coach will be. About a week until the draft, the Pistons have an announcement to make.

Dwane Casey, who was fired by the Toronto Raptors a month before, is now the head coach of the Pistons. Detroit was certainly moving in the right direction with this hire.

Now that the Pistons have their coach, the draft is here and Detroit took two wing guards in the second round.  Khyri Thomas from Creighton and Bruce Brown from Miami (FL) were the newest additions to the Pistons.

July 2018

When July came, Detroit was not done making additions to the team. The team announced the free agent signings of Glenn Robinson III, Zaza Pachulia and Jose Calderon. Adding some youth and veteran players to the roster.

With these new additions and having a healthy Blake for the upcoming season, Detroit fans had something to look forward to.

2018-2019 Season

The new season is finally among us and we’re eager and excited to see what the Detroit Pistons will bring to their fans.

The Pistons started the new season on a hot start, winning their first four games of the season.  But just like that they lost their next five, a quick turnaround right? The Pistons really have not been consistent this season.

They have shown glimpses of good basketball and glimpses of some bad basketball. The highlight of this early season was the five-game winning streak that the Pistons went on in late December, defeating the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors in that span.

Just like they did in the beginning of the season, the Detroit Pistons go on a losing streak of six games right after that five-game winning streak. Shall I say it again, INCONSISTENT.

You do have to factor in that the Pistons have caught the injury bug.  With players like Reggie Bullock, who missed some time as well as Glenn Robinson III and Ish Smith who are both still out. That can hurt any team missing that many key contributors.

Here we are now

So here we are now, about to go into the year of 2019.

2018 gave us some good times and some bad ones, let’s just say that. But one thing is for certain, 2019 will be a better one than 2018 was.

Detroit will get their act together on the court and Dwane Casey will make sure that he does what he needs to do to get his guys on the right page.

Looking forward to what 2019 will bring the Pistons.