Detroit Pistons: 3 takeaways from Bucks game
Three Takeaways in Detroit Pistons loss to Milwaukee Bucks
The Detroit Pistons and the Milwaukee Bucks faced off for the third time in five games with a similar result, a 110-101 victory for the Milwaukee Bucks.
In the closest game between two teams this year, Jerami Grant once again led the Pistons in scoring, making it 10 times in a row he has been lead scorer. Center Mason Plumlee grabbed 13 rebounds, second most in a game as a Piston, and Delon Wright had seven assists which made both players led the Pistons in their respective categories.
After going down 21 points, the Pistons once again battled back to only lose by nine points.
Detroit Pistons: This Team Shows Promise
The Pistons are practically the ideal tanking team at the moment. Detroit is playing the young guys enough to develop, but still making them earn their playing time, they are coming back from large deficits, and they are showing effort, passion and hustle.
If you take a look at Wednesday’s game, the Bucks shot 44% from three, Giannis Antetokounmpo (who they actually played good defense on) had a triple-double, and the Bucks held a 23-point lead at one point, yet the Pistons scratched and clawed to a nine-point loss.
Looking more into Wednesday night’s game, we saw great performances from the young guys, and yet another over 20-point game from Jerami Grant.
Grant led all scorers once again with 22 points, technically a bad game based on his 25.1 points per game average (which is 11th best in the league). Firmly in the race for the most improved player in the association this season, Grant is showing flashes of being a legitimate first option on an NBA franchise. After being mocked for the size and length of his contract, general manager Troy Weaver and the Pistons might have just gotten a bargain on an all-star.
For the rookies and Svi Mykhailiuk, they played very well.
Svi, had as many points as minutes, 18, while, as the Fox Sports Detroit broadcast kept saying “did more than just the three.” He made four two-point shots, something that he rarely does, showing the versatility and expansion of his offensive game.
Isaiah Stewart is quickly turning his draft day doubters (including myself) into his biggest fans with his effort, passion, and offensive rebounding. While scoring a career-high nine points, “Stew” also grabbed seven boards, one off of his career high, and, like usual, 4 of the 7 were on the offensive glass. Saddiq Bey had an alright performance scoring 10 on 3-for-8 shooting.
Finally, Saben Lee played his second career game matching his point total of four from his first game. This time he scored his 4 points on 2-4 shooting opposed to the 1-5 shooting in his NBA debut. With the Pistons opting out of the G-League this season, it’s always nice to see him get minutes for the team.
Detroit Pistons Will Get a Top Prospect
With yet another loss tonight, the Pistons find themselves with the worst record in the NBA at 2-9. With the new lottery rules, the worst team in the NBA guarantees themselves a top five pick. The odds are as follows, 14% for pick one, 13.4% for pick two, 12.7% for pick three, 12% for pick four, and 47.9% for pick five. For reference, the Warriors ended up with the second pick last year as the worst record. But, as we saw with how horrific the lottery odds are in the city of Detroit have been, and continue to be, with the Pistons not moving up and the Red Wings having the worst record and falling to pick four, we can’t expect much.
In what is widely touted as one of the best draft class’s in the last few years, securing a top five pick would significantly speed up the rebuild. \
Players like Cade Cunningham and Evan Mobley look to be can’t miss prospects, Jalen Suggs and Jalen Johnson are starting to fly up draft boards, and Jalen Green and Johnathan Kuminga are yet to play for their G-League team this season. The Pistons are quite likely to get one of these players, with the fan base locking their sights on Cade Cunningham.
Detroit Pistons Can Follow the Bucks Blueprint to Success
Remember only a few seasons ago when the Milwaukee Bucks were one of the NBA’s forgotten franchises? If you look at the Bucks before Giannis broke onto the scene in the 2016-17 NBA season, they only made the playoffs nine times in the last 25 seasons, and they lost in the first round eight out of those nine times.
Since Giannis’ breakout year, the Bucks have made the playoffs all four years and were the Eastern Conference regular season champions last year.
If you look around the league, the most common path to success is drafting a star, getting them a running mate, and then getting a cast of role players to surround your top two players. When looking at what the Bucks have done, they drafted Giannis, developed Khris Middleton (after Detroit drafted him) into a legit second option then got players like Eric Bledsoe and Brook Lopez to fill out the roster.
After failing in the playoffs the last few years, they went all in to get a third star in Jrue Holiday and signed solid players like Bobby Portis, D.J. Augustin, and Bryn Forbes. In just four seasons, the Bucks went from the laughingstock of the NBA to a title favorite.
The Pistons are in a great position to follow that blueprint. With their pick this year, Sekou Doumbouya, and Killian Hayes, one of the three is likely to develop into a star and lead the Pistons.
Next. Detroit Pistons: 3 things we’d like to see against the Bucks. dark
Jerami Grant is looking like he could be a legitimate second option having a borderline all-star season, and shooters like Svi Mykhailiuk, and Saddiq Bey give the Pistons the foundation to build a real contender on.