Love/hate for 7 key Detroit Pistons and Monty Williams

Monty Williams 

Love: ? 

Hate: Pretty much everything 

I was going to write that at least the Pistons haven’t quit on their coach but after that blowout to a replacement team in Memphis, I am not so sure. Taylor Jenkins had his backups and emergency players giving effort in a meaningless game, while the Pistons, who started three first-round picks, never showed up. 

But for the most part, the young Pistons haven’t tuned their coach out completely, which is something positive I suppose. 

But everything else has been a disaster, from Monty’s meddling in a potential Kilian Hayes trade, to his treatment of Ivey, to his absurd rotations, to his inability to adjust, figure out the Cade/Ivey dynamic or how to use Isaiah Stewart or Ausar Thompson. 

Part of this is due to injuries and being handled a horrible roster to work with, so I can cut Monty some slack on the wins and losses given that he wasn’t the one who assembled this team, but we didn’t see much development from young players (regression in some cases) and watched a coach who looked disinterested at times, fed up in others and there were real questions at one point whether he was trying to get fired. Not a great look. 

Again, I don’t put this all on Williams, as he can only coach the players he’s given and how about some accountability for them? These are adults, not children and the players themselves have to take some of the blame, as well as the GM who thought adding Joe Harris was enough to improve a team that won 17 games a year ago. 

But it’s fair to ask where the Pistons go from here, as Williams hasn’t been the positive force he was supposed to be and the improvement never came. Now we’re watching a team disintegrate at the end of the season and wondering if a new voice in the huddle will be necessary.