The Detroit Pistons are failing on both fronts

Ausar Thompson

Of all the crimes Monty Williams has committed against his young players, this might be the worst. Thompson has not shot well from 3-point range, but we knew that coming into the season.

But he's still their best defender and a versatile player who can get buckets in other ways. The Pistons have barely tried to use Thompson on the ball even though he's very good at getting to the rim. They rarely get him the ball on the move and instead have stuck him in the corner most of the time where he is ineffective.

When your team is letting up 154 points, you have no business with your best defender on the bench for most of the game. Thompson can create space with his cutting and playmaking abilities in ways that Livers can't, and it's not like Livers is making shots anyway!

Can we just see the Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Bojan Bogdanovic, Ausar Thompson, Jalen Duren starting lineup already? It's been infuriating watching Thompson go from one of the top rookies, a guy who was doing amazing things on defense and the boards, relegated to 11 minutes per game and no visible role.

If you didn't know any better you'd think Livers was the top-5 pick the Pistons were trying to develop, not Thompson. Again, if the Pistons were winning, you could justify it, but they aren't and Livers stinks.

Marcus Sasser

Sasser has his flaws. He's up and down defensively and has some issues with shot selection. But he's also shooting 42.9 percent from long range on the season and hasn't gotten much run of late.

Considering Killian Hayes is on an expiring deal and Sasser isn't, why not give Sasser those minutes? He can at least give the Pistons a spark offensively and they traded up to get the guy, so why not get a better understanding of what you have?

Monty Williams is still playing this season as if the Pistons are winning, as if certain guys are playing well when they aren't. So Detroit is not only losing at an epic pace but not developing the young players they claim are the future of the team.