The Detroit Pistons came out firing against the Dallas Mavericks, but then Jerami Grant got into foul trouble and it was pretty much over for Detroit.
The Pistons were fresh off one of their better wins of the season against the Cavaliers, a game where their rookies and young players carried the team.
That was short-lived, as Dwane Casey went back to his veterans for big minutes on the first night of a back-to-back against quality teams from the Western Conference.
I was hoping to see Killian Hayes go up against Luka Doncic but he was held out as the Pistons try to ease him back from the hip injury that forced him to miss most of the season.
While most tanking teams pull their veterans in an effort to lose games, the Pistons play theirs, as right now, the rookies are playing better and give them a better chance to win the game.
The loss wasn’t surprising, as the Mavericks are very good, but we were able to learn some things about the Detroit Pistons.
Detroit Pistons: The Pistons have a long way to go
Fans have rightfully been excited about the Pistons’ future. They have four rookies contributing and a chance at another top-five pick, so the Pistons’ rebuild is going very well.
Troy Weaver has been outstanding in his first season as GM, completely rebuilding the roster after being handed a team with little talent or assets.
But the Pistons are still a ways from actually being good. At the beginning of the season, the Pistons were only beating the NBA’s best teams, which was predictably an anomaly, but since then? It’s gotten rough.
The Pistons have not beaten a team with a winning record since they beat the Boston Celtics on February 12th. All of their wins since then have come against the bottom feeders.
Detroit has proven themselves to be one of the better “bad” teams this season, but they are still a few guys away from being an actual good team.
They are on their way but let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. (I’m mostly talking to myself here, as I am the biggest homer of them all.)
Detroit Pistons: Dwane Casey is sticking with his veterans
Casey has nothing but positive things to say about his young players this season, but that doesn’t mean he is just going to hand them minutes.
After seven players (mostly veterans) sat out against Cleveland, which forced Casey to go with three rookies in the starting five, the veterans returned against Dallas and they were all back in the starting lineup.
I was hoping to see Saben Lee get a start with Hayes out but Casey opted to got with Cory Joseph. After three outstanding games in a row, it seemed like Isaiah Stewart had earned himself a start, but Casey went back to Mason Plumlee.
Joseph and Plumlee played a combined 68 minutes while Tyler Cook, Stewart, Lee and Sekou Doumbouya played a combined 34 minutes in the loss.
I think Casey has done a good job this season, as just about every player has improved, and it is possible that he is just holding some guys out knowing they have a back-to-back, but it would be nice to see these minutes distributed a little more equally, especially when it comes to Beef Stew and Saben Lee.
I’m not going to get too upset, as like I said, they have a back-to-back, so we should see more of the young guys tonight against the Spurs.
But Cory Joseph is not going to be on the team next season, so can we see more of the guys who are?
Detroit Pistons: Hamidou Diallo has disappeared
Yesterday I asked if the Pistons should be concerned about the play of Hamidou Diallo.
He started off hot in his first five games with the Pistons but has since disappeared. He’s been struggling with a nagging injury that has had him in and out of the rotation, but even when he’s been in there, he hasn’t been good.
Diallo only played 17 minutes against the Mavericks and managed to miss all six of his shots, finishing the game with just two points overall.
He has only played in eight of the last ten games and is averaging just 7.4 points, way down from his 11 point average for the season.
It looked like Diallo was going to be a steal for the Pistons, and that still might be the case, as he has a high ceiling as a defender, but it has to be somewhat concerning that he has fallen off so dramatically over the last ten games.
This will be something to watch as the season winds down, as the Detroit Pistons will have to make a decision on what to do with restricted free agent Diallo.
Will this poor stretch affect his future contract?
It is definitely something to watch.
The Detroit Pistons are sticking to their guns and losing competitively as they have done all season but let’s hope we see more minutes for the young guys and better play from Diallo down the stretch.