Detroit Pistons: Killian Hayes wasn’t the only one who stunk in Paris

The Detroit Pistons were soundly eviscerated by the Chicago Bulls yesterday in Paris in what was meant to be a happy homecoming for Killian Hayes.

I was hoping Hayes would have a huge game in front of his family and friends, but that wasn’t the case, as he was just 2-of-13 from the floor and had as many turnovers (4) as points.

The game could be symbolized by one of the final plays of the game, as Hayes was stripped by Alex Caruso before chasing him down and ending up tangled in the TV camera wires after attempting a block.

It was an ugly game for Killian Hayes, and both his haters and Stans were out in full force afterwards, reminding us that he is either “Trash” or “Elite” depending on how deep into either rabbit hole you happen to go.

I made a harmless joke about Hayes on Twitter that got plenty of responses from both camps, who are both wrong, and both right, depending on the night.

Last night wasn’t his, but Killian Hayes certainly wasn’t the only member of the Detroit Pistons who stunk up the City of Love.

Detroit Pistons: This was a team effort, not just Killian Hayes

The Detroit Pistons are on pace for their worst defense in franchise history and it showed last night, as they put little to no effort in on the defensive end, making the Bulls looking like the Harlem Globetrotters playing the Washington Generals.

The Bulls shot 54 percent as a team and every guy in their starting five scored in double-digits. I lost track of how many lobs and dunks they had, but it seemed like Derrick Jones Jr. was putting together his highlight reel for the dunk contest.

Detroit started hustling with about 5-6 minutes left in the game, but by then it was far too late.

The Pistons shot 23 percent from 3-point range, which doesn’t even tell how bad it really was, as they hit a few in the waning minutes after the game was already decided just to get them up to that mark.

Isaiah Stewart, Killian Hayes, Jaden Ivey and Alec Burks were a combined 1-of-18 from long range, as the Detroit Pistons continued to chuck them even though they weren’t falling. The Pistons weren’t able to beat anyone off the dribble and the Bulls were more than happy to let them fire away from 3-point range.

Jalen Duren and Hamidou Diallo (who both played pretty well) were the only Pistons that weren’t negatives in the net ratings but they only played 18 and 21 minutes, respectively.

Killian was getting dragged for his poor shooting performance, but Alec Burks (1-8), Isaiah Stewart  (1-10) and Saddiq Bey (6-17) were broke as well. This isn’t letting Killian off the hook, but he did have eight assists that could have been a lot more if anyone had been able to knock down a shot.

But he also played lackadaisically at times, at one point getting called for an eight second violation when he failed to get the ball over half court when he wasn’t really even being defended, which is inexcusable.

It’s just one game, but I do think fans have the right to be frustrated, as it was a big one for Detroit as far as exposure and they played like they were jet lagged or had spent the night before in a Paris club. Hayes doesn’t deserve all of the blame by any means, but he also doesn’t deserve a free pass when he stinks. It was a team effort last night.

Even the broadcast was a shambles, as the TV scoreboard was off all night and still said it was the 1st quarter as the game was nearly over, flashed the wrong score half the night and had incorrect stats for the players. Well done!

There is a big, healthy middle ground between hate and elite, and we are in it with Hayes, who has certainly improved this season, but obviously still has a long way to go.