Detroit Pistons: 3 promising signs in the loss to 76ers

For one fleeting half, fans of the Detroit Pistons finally got some watchable basketball.

The Pistons exploded for 66 points in the first half against the Philadelphia 76ers and showed some signs of growth and promise.

But let’s not get it twisted, there are no moral victories in the NBA and the Pistons still lost the game and showcased many of the same glaring flaws.

The shooting was still atrocious, even though hitting 30 percent from long range was actually an improvement. The Pistons continue to miss wide-open shots and their numbers on such attempts are actually mind blowing.

The Pistons are still laying enough bricks to build a new Palace, but there were good things as well. Isaiah Stewart did an admirable job on Joel Embiid and held him in check for most of the game.

The Pistons reduced their turnovers, didn’t get killed on the boards and won the free-throw battle handily.

Once this shooting finally comes back to normal (please tell me it will), the Pistons are doing enough else to win games, and there were some promising signs that the offense will get there soon.

Detroit Pistons: A short glimpse into the future

The Detroit Pistons played their best half of basketball last night, scoring 66 points in the first half and giving us a glimpse of what this team will look like in the future. Let’s ignore the fact that they only scored 32 points in the entire second half.

The Pistons shot the ball well, got out in transition, made the extra pass and looked really good at times in the first half. Cade, Killian and Jerami Grant were breaking down the defense, the ball was moving a lot more on offense and the Pistons finally got some easy buckets.

If you squinted hard enough you could see what this team can be in a year or two when these players have some more experience. People forget that most players don’t really show who they are until their 3rd or 4th year in the league and the Pistons start three 20-year-olds, so this is a work in progress.

But I was so happy to see some signs of life last night and finally get a glimpse of the bright future we’re waiting for.

Detroit Pistons: Killian Hayes is starting to shoot

There are some fans who seem to enjoy watching the young players fail so that they can say, “see, I told you, he’s a bust!”

These are the people who are ready to declare Killian Hayes’ career a failure because he’s not an All-Star at age 20 having played less than half a season in the NBA.

Hayes is starting to shut these people up, as he probably had the best quarter of his career last night. In the first quarter he looked really good running the offense, took shots without hesitation and got to the rim a few times.

He obviously still has a lot of work to do but it was great to see him more aggressive and even better to see him knock down a couple of 3-point shots off the catch.

Defenses are currently collapsing every time a Piston gets into the lane and just daring the shooters to take the open shots from the perimeter. Hayes was able to stroke a corner three off a Grant kickout in the first half and if he can do that consistently, defenses will have to adjust, which should open things up for Detroit’s dribble penetration.

You can see Killian’s confidence growing with each game and I think we are going to see a very different player by the end of this season.

Detroit Pistons: Cade Cunningham is getting comfortable

Social media has made some sports fans insufferable, as they live and die with every second, every Tweet and forget that the NBA has a long season that is not defined by each and every game.

These were the “fans” who were ready to call Cade Cunningham a bust after just two games where he was coming off an injury, hadn’t played in weeks and was clearly still trying to get his game legs.

Cade still didn’t shoot the ball well last night but you can see it coming. He was getting to the rim for floaters and post-ups, and even though he didn’t make many of them, the defense had no answer. This is something I’d like to see more of as he continues to get his legs under him, as he looks pretty much unstoppable from that level.

He also hit his first 3-point shot for the season (though only one for the game) and showed some Stephen Curry-like range in the process:

He ended the game with an 18 point/10 rebound double-double and I think it’s promising that he was able to impact the game all night even though his shot was still not falling.

Cade Cunningham is healthy, but he’s still not 100 percent, as ankle injures take the life out of your legs, so I expect these shots to start falling soon.

I was excited by what I saw from Cade last night and I expect him to have a breakout shooting night soon, so get ready Pistons’ fans, things are turning around.