I keep thinking the Detroit Pistons have hit rock bottom, but then they miraculously manage to find a new low.
Last night’s loss to the Raptors was an evisceration I’d rather forget, a game the Pistons never led, a game they never had a chance to win, a game in which they were down by 40 points at one stage.
The Raptors not only shot 54 percent on their way to 142 points, but took 19 more shots than the Pistons and had a team-record 44 assists. They moved the ball well and Detroit stood there and mostly watched them take wide-open shots like it was a shoot-around.
Detroit’s own offense was somehow even worse than the defense, as they mostly stood around (a theme here) watching Cade Cunningham dribble the ball. There was no discernable strategy at all, and I’ve seen more chemistry at pick-up games full of strangers.
Which some of these players were, to be fair, as the Pistons grabbed Kevin Knox off the street and have already put him in the starting lineup. It’s wild that a player who wasn’t even on the roster at the beginning of the season is good enough to be in the starting five in the 14th game of the season. Troy Weaver wasted $20 million on Joe Harris when he could have just had Kevin Knox for practically nothing from the beginning.
The Pistons’ Restoration vs. the 76ers’ Process
If you want to know how bad it is for Detroit, this is now their 3rd 11-game losing streak of the calendar year. They’ve won exactly two games since Troy Weaver’s famous letter to the fans and have a net rating that is among the worst in NBA history. Since 2019, the Pistons are 82-233 a .260 winning percentage that is by far the worst in the league, 27 games worse than the Rockets during that time.
The Pistons would need to win 14 games to pass The Process-era 76ers (widely regarded as the worst teams in NBA history) and avoid having the worst four-year stretch in the modern NBA.
Even The Process Philly team won 28 games in the 4th year, the Pistons are currently on pace to win 10 in year four. In case you think I’m just picking on Troy Weaver’s roster, it’s not just him, as the Pistons are 446-745 over the last 15 years, worst in the NBA, and the last time they won a playoff game, some guy called George W. Bush was president. If you are counting, it’s been three presidents since the Pistons won a playoff game.
This is taking its toll, not just on fans who are already tapping out in droves, but on the players, and even coach Monty Williams, who is probably starting to look at his contract as a well-paid sentence.
Cade Cunningham says the Detroit Pistons are “bad”
By the end of last night’s beating, Cade Cunningham and the rest of the Pistons’ starters were sitting on the bench with a collective look on their faces like they’d just watched the team puppy run over by a steamroller.
There were blank stares, no talking, no joy and that was just me. The players looked like they had given up. Keep in mind that this was the 14th game of the season. Usually, you don’t see the “thousand yard stare” until well after Christmas.
Cade Cunningham, who has been the consummate optimist over this span, finally told it like it is after the game.
Here’s the meat of it:
"“We’ve got to be realistic about the situation. “It’s hard to be like, “We’re good, we’re good,” you know what I’m saying? Because we’re bad. We had to address that. We have to address what we’re not good at. Address it with not only our words, but on the court.”"
I’m glad to finally hear someone say it, as maybe facing reality will force some changes, as right now, it’s hard to see the way out of this. For the first time in memory, I was actually hoping the Raptors would run it up and win by 60 so that something might happen.
Though some fans think they have the solution.
It’s not just injuries for the Pistons
There is a very vocal group of fans that won’t let you talk about the team without first mentioning all of the injuries, so here is your disclaimer:
THE PISTONS HAVE A LOT OF INJURIES AND THAT HAS AFFECTED THEM.
That being said, could you really watch that game last night and tell me that Bojan Bogdanovic, Isaiah Livers and Monte Morris are going to bridge the giant gap between being good and being the worst team in the NBA?
Yes, they will help, but I find it hilarious that one of those guys has literally never played a game for the Pistons, one (Livers) has barely played and not been very good when he has, and the other is a 34-year-old who has been out since last season.
This trio may help the Pistons win a few more games, but they aren’t going to make up the huge gap that exists between Detroit and the good teams, they just aren’t. The other teams near them in the standings (Hornets and Wizards) are the two worst franchises in NBA history, which is now what the Pistons are being measured against.
The good news is that this will likely force Troy Weaver to do something other than count down the days until he gets another top-5 draft pick, but you have to wonder if this hole is too deep for him to dig his way out of and keep his job.
The Pistons are back at it tonight against the Denver Nuggets, so who knows, maybe that humiliating beat down they just took will inspire them, if not, we’re bound to see more sad faces on the bench and in front of TVs in what has become the norm.