4 Biggest disappointments for the Detroit Pistons up until this point

#4: Stunted growth of the Core Four

Once it became clear that the Pistons weren't going to be competing for anything but lottery position again, the focus should have immediately turned to their alleged "Core Four."

But for a "Core," they don't see the floor together much, as they have only played 159 total minutes as a group, just 5th-most among four-player combinations.

Consider that a four-man group featuring both Killian Hayes and Ausar Thompson (two players who can't shoot) has played nearly 100 more minutes than the "Core Four."

If you are building your team around these four guys, shouldn't they play together as much as possible? There are questions about whether this group can work together and the Pistons aren't any closer to answering them, as they have played together sporadically for an average of just over eight minutes in their 18 appearances together.

When your team is bad, the future is all you have to look forward to, and the Pistons have managed to take that away by jerking their young players around and not focusing on their development individually or as a group.

They've taken a step back defensively and have a coach who still doesn't have a preferred rotation with just 28 games remaining in the season.

That all adds up to the most disappointing year in my memory, a lost season in which the team didn't get better, nor develop their young talent.

Let's hope they can start to turn things around in the home stretch.