Detroit Pistons rant: Cade Cunningham, defense, refs and coaching

The Detroit Pistons were blown out in the second half by the Atlanta Hawks, spoiling a special night from Cade Cunningham.

Cade was unstoppable in the first half, putting up 27 points on his way to 35 overall to go along with nine rebounds, eight assists and only one turnover. Fans finally got what they’ve been asking for which is for Cade Cunningham to take over a game, assert himself and be the best player on the floor, which he was for most of the game.

Any concerns that Cade has been playing “too passive” were alleviated last night, as he had it going from the paint and mid-range, showing off the whole bag inside the arc. Cade apparently liked the Teal because he looked like an All-NBA player wearing it last night in the throwback’s debut.

But his night was spoiled by a combination of terrible defense, refereeing and coaching, so forgive me, dear reader, as I am about to go on a rant.

Detroit Pistons: The defense was atrocious

You aren’t going to win many games when you allow 136 points, so it’s not surprising the Pistons were eventually blown out in this one even though they got a superstar performance from Cade Cunningham.

The Pistons were a step behind all night, and the Hawks were red-hot, which is not a good combination, as it led to them shooting 56.7 percent overall and 41.4 percent from long range.

On some of those shots, you just have to tip your cap to the Hawks, who couldn’t miss last night, but the Pistons were also lazy in transition defense, got smoked in the paint again and did little to stop it.

There were also plays where they just looked out of place and lost, like this gem in which Young throws a pass over the entire Pistons’ defense while they stand around looking at each other, leading to a wide-open 3-pointer.

Whether through effort, positioning or scheme, Detroit’s defense was bad all night. But it wasn’t the only thing that was bad.