The NBA All-Star break is upon us, and it couldn’t get here fast enough for the Detroit Pistons, who look like they could use some time off. I know I could.
After a couple of fun games in which the Pistons looked like an actual team, they were promptly wiped out in two straight games in which they barely bothered to show up.
Couple that with Monty Williams’ inexplicable use of his bench and we have a team that “turned around” 360 degrees to end up right back where they started.
I don’t expect much to change between now and next week when they play their next game, but there is still enough season left to salvage those “good vibes” we were feeling for about five minutes.
What we need to see from the Detroit Pistons in the rest of the season
Pre-injury Cade Cunningham
Cade Cunningham was cooking before suffering a knee injury and having to miss eight games.
He hasn’t looked quite right since, and recent comments have raised concerns about his injury:
Cunningham said he has good days and bad days with his leg. Credited the training staff for how they've worked with him. "They have an answer for everything."
— James L. Edwards III (@JLEdwardsIII) February 15, 2024
Said he's trying to make sure he's good for the long haul.
His scoring numbers are down, and he looks more tentative, we’ve seen the return of the triple pump fake, though his assists have been up and his turnovers down. Hopefully, getting some time off will get him fully healthy and able to have a strong finish to the season.
A shortened rotation for the Detroit Pistons
Enough is enough already.
Monty Williams is still trotting out 13 players every night as if this is the preseason. Yes, the Pistons overhauled their roster over the last weeks, so there are new players, but most of them are on expiring deals that the Pistons are not going to renew.
Williams needs to choose 10 guys and stick with them for the rest of the season so the team can at least start building something and try to salvage some chemistry out of a lost season that is better forgotten otherwise.
I’d suggest Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Simone Fontecchio, Ausar Thompson, Jalen Duren, Isaiah Stewart, Quentin Grimes, Marcus Sasser, Troy Brown Jr and Mike Muscala.
This rotation not only gives the Pistons the best chance to win games but features mostly players who are under contract for next season. Just do it already, this isn’t that hard.
Some heart
I have to say, after playing three spirited games in a row, two of which were wins, the Pistons have been disappointing.
It was a tough road trip, and they weren’t given any favors by whoever made the schedule, but they were lifeless in the last two games, which were complete blowouts with little hope.
I do put part of this on Monty Williams, who has a knack for allowing the game to get out of hand before the first quarter is even over by putting in all bench units that have gotten killed all season.
But the players didn’t put up much resistance, show any heart or show that they were ready to build on the positive things that had happened in the previous three games.
They should be embarrassed by the effort. This is a young team, so the tired legs excuse doesn’t fly, especially when veteran Mike Muscala is out there diving on the floor when he wasn’t glued to the bench.
Losses come with the territory this season, but I’d rather see losses like the recent one to the LA Clippers than the last two, which just looked like a team trying to limp into the break.
The staggering of Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey
Does Monty Williams realize that staggering his starters is a legal strategy for an NBA coach? Just curious.
He yanked Cunningham early last night and I thought that we’d at least get to see Jaden Ivey run the point for a few minutes. But Ivey wasn’t far behind and before long, Williams had used 10 players before the 1st quarter was even over and the Pistons were down by 12 after an 11-2 run with an all bench unit against a team that has Kevin Durant.
One of Cunningham or Ivey should be on the floor at all times, as they are the engines that make this offense go in the times when it has. Ivey is one of the top isolation scorers in the NBA this season, but doesn’t get as many chances with Cade running the point, so why not get him some minutes as the primary guy?
Some kind of plan
We are 54 games into the season, and I still have no idea what the Detroit Pistons are doing.
Are they trying to win games? Are they trying to develop their players? Are they trying out guys for next season?
At least last year we knew the team had given up winning in favor of player development. We saw the young guys out there taking their lumps, learning and getting better.
It’s like the Pistons haven’t noticed that their offseason propaganda campaign which insisted they would be competitive didn’t come to fruition. This season is over, long over, so it’s time to pivot towards development again, time to look to the future.
That means playing the starters as much as possible, trimming the bench to the guys who might be part of the future and stopping this nonsense of playing 13 guys even in blowouts.
They have 28 games to try and salvage something positive from this season, but it won’t happen until Monty Williams and the Pistons accept the reality, start playing with some heart and give minutes to the players who might be here again next season.