The Detroit Pistons are not off to a fast start, but is it because they are tanking for another season … or are they just bad? The playing time of reserve point guard Cory Joseph may hold the key to finding out.
Last season, there was no question the Detroit Pistons were trying to win games at the start of the season. With big names like Blake Griffin and Derrick Rose, losing on purpose was not going to fly.
But as the Pistons fell in the standings, Rose and Griffin left, and not having a very good record suddenly, was not a bad thing. For the last 15 games, Detroit’s lineup was mostly youngsters, with top players like Jerami Grant and Wayne Ellington suddenly ‘injured’.
What was happening was obvious, the ‘tank’ was on. It worked out, as for the first time in 50 years, the Pistons got the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft.
Detroit has again gotten off to a bad start. They have lost five of its first six games and, unlike last year, a lot of those games have not been close.
The poor start has brought questioning among some fans about how serious the organization is about winning this season. Basically, if they were trying to lose, they are doing a really good job.
Pistons schedule has been a bear
Now, it’s not like Detroit has been losing to a bunch of bums.
They have played Chicago (twice), Atlanta, Philadelphia and Brooklyn, all teams who should be in the playoffs, and possible title contenders.
The one not-so-hot team they have played, the Orlando Magic, fell to the Pistons. Of course, that is also the only game No. 1 pick Cade Cunningham has played due to an ankle injury, which helps.
One reason some fans have pointed to the team tanking is all the playing time Cory Joseph has been getting.
Joseph has indeed struggled at the start, so to play him, for conspiracy theorists, is a way for Detroit to lose without the appearance of tanking. In the opener against Chicago, which went down to the wire, coach Dwane Casey went with Joseph in the fourth quarter at the point, rather than starter Killian Hayes (not that Hayes was doing so hot, either).
Joseph is a 30-year-old veteran with a ring (2014 San Antonio), so the opposite is more likely.
Detroit Pistons are trying to win by playing Cory Joseph
Joseph is averaging 21.4 minutes, which is just the seventh most on the team (Hayes plays 2.5 minutes more). So he is not exactly being an Ironman.
His shooting has been off, just 37-percent from the field, 28.6-percent from three, but, with a long track record, he should eventually go back to his mean and start canning more shots.
Joseph is in the game because he is a canny vet who has been part of championship programs. If he is in the game in the fourth quarrter, that is a signal coach Casey is going for a ‘W’.
If they were simply tanking, second-year point guard Saben Lee would be playing a ton. Instead, he is being moved to the Motor City Cruise. In terms of the future, Detroit would be better off playing Lee than Joseph.
So the reason Cory Joseph is playing, however poorly at the moment, is because the Pistons are trying to win. When Joseph starts sitting out games with ‘injuries’, then you know the tank is on.