Detroit Pistons: 3 things to watch vs. the Charlotte Hornets

The Detroit Pistons have seven games left in what has been a very weird season.

The Pistons are one of the worst teams in the NBA, yet fans are excited, entertained and dare I say, optimistic about the future for the first time in a long time.

Killian Hayes, Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart are all playing well and look like one of the best Pistons’ draft classes of all time.

They are getting production out of young players and are hopefully on their way to a top-five pick in a loaded draft class that could add another star to their roster.

Things are finally looking up in Detroit.

Here are three things to watch for as the Pistons take on LaMelo Ball and the Charlotte Hornets, another team whose future is starting to look very bright.

Detroit Pistons: How will the young players respond to Dwane Casey?

Dwane Casey deserves a lot of credit for what he’s done with this young team, as they play hard every night and all of them have improved under his tutelage.

He’s managed to do this without losing his temper much, which is pretty impressive when you think of how frustrating it must be to coach a young team that is mostly losing.

Last night he finally snapped a bit, scolding his young players after the loss to the Magic, saying:

"“I guess young guys think that you don’t have to come out and compete every night, we’re not talented enough across the board to not come out and play hard.”"

Casey has had his young team’s attention all season and they usually respond, so it will be interesting to see how they play against Charlotte on the second game of a back-to-back after getting called out by their coach.

I love that Casey is trying to keep his young team focused as the losses pile up, as the Detroit Pistons don’t want them getting complacent with losing.