The Detroit Pistons have finally done it!
After battling for the last four seasons to break the franchise record for consecutive losses, the Pistons finally broke through with their 15th straight defeat.
Congratulations to Troy Weaver, who managed to do the impossible and put together a roster that is even worse than the one that won 17 games last season. He's now compiled four of the longest losing streaks in franchise history over the last four seasons, a feat that the Process-era 76ers couldn't even accomplish. And he's done all of this while still collecting second-round picks and massive trade assets like Joe Harris. How does he do it? The man is simply magic.
But Weaver can't take all of the credit. It takes more than one man to create 15 years of complete failure, to compile the longest playoff drought in the league, to hold the longest playoff losing streak in professional sports, to turn a once proud franchise into the laughing stock of the NBA. This was a team effort from ownership on down, as everyone had to buy into this culture of losing and give full effort towards it to get us here.
But the Pistons won't be satisfied with just the franchise record losing streak, not this team! Though it's a long shot, the all-time NBA losing streak (single season) of 26 games is in their sights. You can never count this team out when it comes to losing, as you don't become the worst sports franchise in North America without perseverance and heart, without embracing and then ignoring the adversity.
Monty Williams throws the Detroit Pistons under the bus
Monty Williams is probably wondering why he didn't just take that Suns' buyout money and hit the beach.
After begrudgingly being lured out of retirement by a Brinks truck filled with cash, Monty Williams said all the right things about restoring the culture and building around this joyful bunch of talented youth, who all work hard, dive after loose balls in practice and fit the team's impressive culture.
It could have been Michael Curry, John Kuester, Lawrence Frank, Maurice Cheeks, John Loyer, Stan Van Gundy or Dwane Casey (remember how this was all HIS fault?) standing at the podium with the same beleaguered look on his face. In fact, I'm not sure this isn't a Black Mirror episode where some poor schmuck gets doomed to live out the same fate in a different body, reincarnated into recycled hope with a different face only to have to watch it all disappear again and again.
This is part of what coach Williams Van Loyer Cheeks had to say after last night's walk-through loss against the Lakers:
Monty Williams: "I think this group struggles with adversity."
— Kory E. Woods (@KoryEWoods) November 30, 2023
Hahahah, ya think?
Williams is only 18 games into the seven-year contract he signed to turn this franchise around and is already calling out his team's lack of heart, which should be a great confidence boost for a young roster that has none and looks like someone ran over their puppy every time something goes wrong.
Williams is not wrong of course, but should probably consider that he is part of that adversity, as he has sat young players for no discernable reason, made no changes to his approach and the team's defense has somehow gotten worse, which I didn't think was possible. They have allowed 131.7 points per game over the last three and Monty's solution was to bench Marvin Bagley III in favor of James Wiseman, who is the worst defender in the NBA. No really, Wiseman looks like he is on a seven-second tape delay on defense.
Here's a great film breakdown of the Pistons' defense with plenty of yelling and Williams slander.
Adversity comes when you refuse to put a shooter in the starting lineup around your franchise point guard, it comes when you bench your second-best scorer in favor of Killian Hayes and his elite defense and when you pigeon-hole a center into power forward.
Of course, this isn't all Monty Williams' fault, as he didn't build this roster, or have anything to do with the players on it (a point he may be trying to drive home with the Wiseman minutes), but I do find it troubling that he is already throwing his team under the bus when he's been part of the issue too.
Fans don't often get to live through history, so enjoy this Detroit, and remember where you were when the legacy of the Detroit Pistons was assassinated.
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