Although their core group are young and learning – headlined by rising star guard Cade Cunningham – big things were expected of Detroit under new management this season and beyond, but they’ve got off to an unsettling start. That much was emphasised by their head coach’s comments after a 14th straight regular season defeat: against a struggling Washington Wizards team.
Something’s got to give in Detroit
- Monty Williams’ postgame presser after 126-107 home loss to fellow East strugglers: “That wasn’t fight on the floor, wasn’t Pistons basketball by any stretch of the imagination. We have to have people that honour the organisation and jersey by competing at a high level every night, not talking about executing, just competing. That wasn’t it and that’s on me.”
- Kyle Kuzma had 32 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists in helping Washington snap their nine-game losing streak as many critics believe these are key signs of a rebuild regressing after showing initial promise in spurts when Cunningham was healthy, as well as their other draft assets
- Fourth-year big man Isaiah Stewart stressed no-one is pointing blame at anyone specific: “We’re still a family and together, we know we’re going through a test right now. I know we will get over this hump – it looks bad, just stuff we can fix ourselves – we know the answers, just gotta go do it.”
This was supposed to be the season that, finally, Detroit made some steps towards play-in contention. They haven’t won more than 23 regular season games since 2018-19 where they seemingly eeked out the last of Blake Griffin’s maturing renaissance to reach the postseason – albeit briefly – and have languished after.
Although an undeniable talent getting better before our eyes, 2021’s top draft pick in point guard Cade Cunningham has been hamstrung by persistent injuries and the franchise haven’t established a clear #2 behind him in the pecking order.
Couple that with the uncertain futures of two high draft selections in big man Marvin Bagley III (#2, 2018) and guard Killian Hayes (#7, 2020), it merely fuels the fire for those who believe they should make wholesale changes now and give their highly-renumerated head coach an opportunity to build the template for his own roster.
Sharpshooting veteran small forward Bojan Bogdanovic has attracted leaguewide interest since averaging new career-highs in points (21.6), assists (2.6) and just short of his career-best FG% (49.7, he managed 48.8) last term but been sidelined by a calf injury so far this season and that notable absence only hinders their progress further.
With the experienced trio of him, Monte Morris (quad) and sharpshooter Joe Harris (shoulder) all out, their rotations are unclear while the James Wiseman experiment was well-intentioned but perhaps came at the wrong time for the franchise.
Elsewhere, the headline players from their young core; Cunningham (2001), shooting guard Jaden Ivey (2002), small forward Ausar Thompson and big man Jalen Duren (2003) need an opportunity to spread their wings collectively while maintaining defensive discipline to limit opposition teams, a task easier said than implemented.
Monty won’t panic just yet, having known the size of the assignment at his door when he agreed a lucrative six-year contract (with an option to extend), but the fact they had a players-only meeting prior and still went onto lose by a double-digit margin against their struggling counterparts is something that shouldn’t be ignored.
Picture source: Getty Images
Mo and Sports 