The Detroit Pistons have gotten off to a 1-5 start, which was not completely unexpected.
They are a young team with several key players out with injuries, and the first 10 games of their schedule are brutal and include three back-to-backs.
But they haven’t even gotten to the tough part of the early schedule (that starts tonight against the Warriors) and have played one of the weakest schedules in the NBA so far, so this start isn’t ideal, even for a team that wasn’t supposed to be very good this year.
Detroit’s success this season won’t necessarily be measured in wins and losses, as they are trying to develop players like Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren, which is by far the most important part of this season.
But when you look around the league, you see teams that are just as young and just as injured performing better than Detroit, which begs the question of whether the Pistons should be better than they are.
Detroit Pistons: Age is not an excuse for everything
Winning isn’t everything for a rebuilding team like the Detroit Pistons, but there do need to be signs of progress and so far, there haven’t been many.
Detroit currently has the worst defensive efficiency in the NBA and are 24th in offensive efficiency, as well as points per game, while giving up the most points of any team.
They have reduced their turnovers slightly, which is nice, but they are getting killed on points in the paint, giving up the 4th-most in the NBA. A quick look at just about any stat will show the Pistons near the bottom of the league.
And even these numbers don’t tell the whole tale, as Detroit has looked disinterested at times, completely out of sync on offense and lost on defense.
Part of this is their youth, inexperience, injuries, and the fact that they are still getting to know each other, but none of those accounts for a team that doesn’t always hustle back on defense and keeps making mistakes that even players this young shouldn’t make.
Then you have the fact that several of the other “bad” teams are playing well, including the 5-2 Utah Jazz, the 4-2 Spurs, the 3-3 Thunder and the 3-4 Pacers, who have already beaten the Pistons in this young season.
All of these teams have the same issues of youth and talent, but are playing better basketball and getting some wins. I don’t think anyone expected the Pistons to jump out to a 6-0 start by any means, but they got blown out by the Knicks, Pacers and Wizards, not exactly the elite of the Eastern Conference.
Yes, it is early, and very likely that these bad teams will eventually start losing more. It’s also inevitable that teams like the 76ers, Nets, Heat and Warriors will be back at the top of their respective divisions before long after they have gotten off to slow starts. It’s too early to panic and Detroit could turn things around and actually be a good team by the end of the season, especially considering they haven’t even had their full complement of players yet.
But it’s hard not to look around the league and see teams with the same or even less talent than the Pistons not only ahead of them in the standings, but playing more disciplined, enthusiastic and entertaining games.
Coach Dwane Casey is going to be given a long leash, but I do think Troy Weaver was hoping this team would turn the corner this season and at least be competitive, and so far, they haven’t been.
Wins and losses won’t determine Casey’s fate, but if this team doesn’t start playing better and with more energy, he’s going to be on the hot seat before long, as some of these “bad” teams are making the Pistons look like their rebuild is now lagging behind.