Pistons news: Ivey hard to guard, the Wiseman curse and no teal

The Detroit Pistons lost their 17th game in 18 tries last night, this one to the NBA leading Milwaukee Bucks.

The Bucks were without Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday but still have a cast of professional veterans who always seemed to hit a big shot every time the Pistons made a run.

Jaden Ivey had arguably his best game as a professional, dropping a career-high 32 points to go with eight rebounds and eight assists. It wasn’t just the efficient scoring, as Ivey went 9-of-19, but it was the way he controlled the game, managed his own pace and got wherever he wanted to on the floor.

He made some nice reads out of the pick-and-roll, hit both mid-range and long-range jumpers and chose his spots to try and get to the rim, where he was able to draw fouls and get to the line 12 times.

Ivey is trying to finish strong to earn his way onto the All-Rookie 1st team and games like last night will help his cause. Ivey’s growth this season has been obvious, especially when it comes to passing and defense, two areas that were question marks coming into the season:

"“We know Jaden is going to be able to score the ball, but I’m happy with all the other things he’s doing,” Pistons coach Dwane Casey said. “He’s growing as a player, especially on the defensive end.”"

Fellow rookie Jalen Duren  also had a big night, often looking like the best big man on the floor even though he’s the league’s youngest player. It’s still baffling as to why he’s not starting, as he is clearly better than James Wiseman at this point in their careers and his passing ability makes him a better fit with another big man. Duren racked up 18 points, 10 rebounds and three assists off the bench including one beauty to a cutting Marvin Bagley III for an easy dunk.

Duren is the center of the future, but it appears for now that he will continue to come off the bench even though the Wiseman/Bagley III pairing has been awful.

Detroit Pistons: The James Wiseman curse and No Teal

James Wiseman hasn’t gotten to enjoy many wins since being traded to the Detroit Pistons. The team is just 1-16 since acquiring him. This is obviously not his fault, as the team is tanking and trying things that they might not if they were actually trying to win.

That includes the pairing of him and MBIII, which is awful on offense (104.2 rating), even worse on defense (131.5 rating) and rebounding. They were out-rebounded again last night, and it has been particularly bad on the defensive glass. According to ESPN:

"“…the Pistons were only successful on 69% of their defensive rebounding chances, marking the ninth time in 10 games they have been under 75%.”"

If you are wondering, that is not good, as the best teams are upwards of 80 percent. The Pistons’ horrible defense is also five points worse when Wiseman is on the floor. I am not trying to pick on the guy, as it’s pretty clear Detroit is trying to get him as many minutes as possible as a starter, but Duren is the center of the future.

On a lighter note, announcer George Blaha continued his assault on the teal uniforms last night. It cracks me up the way never misses a chance to rip on the teal. His son and grandson were in the crowd last night and Greg Kessler remarked that his young grandson was wearing a Pistons’ shirt.

Blaha responded, “No teal. Not if he belongs to me.”

The Pistons will start a three-game road trip on Wednesday when they visit the OKC Thunder in a matchup of two of the NBA’s youngest teams.