I had an eerie feeling watching the Detroit Pistons play their first game against the Indiana Pacers, a bit of deja vu from last season.
The Pistons were flying around in their opener against Miami last year and for a brief moment, the fanbase was excited. We finally had hope! The Pistons lost the game of course and went on to have a historically awful season.
Game one this season was much of the same, as the Pistons looked good at times against the Pacers, Cade Cunningham went off in the 3rd quarter and everyone was happy. We finally have hope! The Pistons lost the game of course and...
How that sentence is finished is yet to be determined, but the fanbase won't be content with "competitive" losers for long.
We have to hope the Pistons have more than moral victories this season, but when you look at the schedule, fans are being set up for an emotional ride.
An overreaction from Pistons fans is coming one way or another
I am Homer #1 and predicted that the Pistons would win 30+ games this season, which I am standing behind with some trepidation, especially given the upcoming schedule.
Detroit has a back-to-back tonight and tomorrow against the Cavaliers on the road and the Celtics at home.
They’ll then have an off day before playing Miami on the road, going to Philly and ending this awful stretch with a home game against the Knicks.
There is no such thing as a “must-win” game in October, but that Pacers game was close, as it could have prevented the Pistons from going 0-6 to start the season, which is a distinct possibility.
Even if the Pistons are competitive in those games, an 0-6 start is going to set off a chain overreaction in the fanbase and you can’t blame us, as we’re still traumatized from a 28-game losing streak that started around this time last year.
There is the chance that the Pistons pull off a win or two, in which case the overreaction will go the other way, as it will surely be a sign that Detroit can hang with the best teams in the Eastern Conference and maybe even make the play-in!
Both reactions would be premature, as the Pistons probably will lose most, if not all of these games, which doesn’t mean their season is over, nor does winning a few mean they are headed to the playoffs.
But we are being set up for this scenario one way or another, let’s just hope we come out of this stretch with outrageous optimism as fans and not the sinking feeling that it’s happening again.