The Detroit Pistons lost four of their five games last week as the race to the bottom continues.
The Pistons are now four games “ahead” of Cleveland for the worst record in the East, but still lag a game “behind” the Timberwolves for the worst record overall.
There were some positives this week, particularly the play of the young point guards, who stepped up after Delon Wright went down with injury.
Both Dennis Smith Jr. and Saben Lee had decent weeks but it’s too early to say what they are doing is a trend, we need to see a bit more.
Smith Jr. was particularly impressive and will hopefully make the Knicks regret the Derrick Rose trade at some point in the future.
We’re not there yet, especially after the Knicks blew the Pistons out last night, much to the delight of their fans, who think being a game over .500 in the awful East is akin to winning a title.
I can’t blame them, as neither franchise has been even that good for so long it must feel like a parade is necessary. Have fun, New York.
So I’d put Lee, Smith Jr. in the “pending” category, as they look to be heading up but need another week of solid play. Same with Sekou Doumbouya, who hasn’t played well but I’m not ready to throw the 20-year-old into the “trending down” category just yet, as he still hasn’t played much, even with Blake Griffin gone.
Let’s start with two guys who are trending up, and considering they are both rookies, the Detroit Pistons have to be somewhat happy even though the week overall was filled with losses.