Detroit Pistons 2018

OMG.  What a shitty team.  Seriously, these dudes are garbage.  What happened?  Just what happened?

Things started off well enough.  They rushed out of the gates early, quickly establishing themselves as the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference.  They had good chemistry.  In particular, Tobias Harris was shooting the lights out.  Heck, they even beat the defending champion Golden State Warriors on the road on a night when the Warriors big names had big games.  Everything was good.  They were the talk of the league.

Now then, those of us who are fans knew this momentum wouldn't last.  They wouldn't be able to stay ahead of teams like the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers forever.  That was just the reality of the situation.  However, none of us knew how bad it was going to get.

The team had a 14-6 record, then went on to lose seven straight.  Now sitting at 14-13, they managed to save the season (or so us fans thought) as they fought their way to a 22-18 record.  We all breathed a sigh of relief.  The Pistons could still make the playoffs.  Then, came an eight-game losing streak.  Whatever they were doing before, it was no longer working.  Andre Drummond (my personal fave) was playing his ass off (including a ludicrous 30 point, 24 rebound game against Utah Jazz in a loss), but it wasn't good enough.

Just when it seemed the season was lost (and all hope with it), GM/coach Stan Van Gundy made a ballsy move; he acquired Blake Griffin.  The toll wasn't light.  It cost them Tobias Harris (their leading scorer), Avery Bradley (their best perimeter defender), and Boban Marjanovic (a talent backup center).  While it did suck to see Tobias go, Blake was the star this team needed for future success.  At least, that's what us fans thought.

Much like the beginning of the season, things started off well.  Drummond had another ridiculous game (21 points, 22 rebounds) as the Pistons pulled off a shocking victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Then, Griffin arrived against the Memphis Grizzlies and the Pistons added another four victories, crawling back to a .500 record.  Hope was alive again.

Then, they remembered they were the Detroit Pistons and started to suck.  The suffered loss after embarrassing loss.  The most telling game of the season, however was an embarrassing win (you read right).  They almost blew a 30-point lead against a short-handed Atlanta Hawks (who are garbage when healthy), but held on to win.  Yes, they won, yet still somehow proved they suck.  They limped into the All-star break on that performance.

Don't let the "W" fool you.  While technically a win, this was a loss all the way.

After that, they just went out and got embarrassed on a nightly basis.  Can't beat the Atlanta Hawks.  Can't beat the Brooklyn Nets.  Can't be the Memphis Grizzlies.  Can't beat the Charlotte Hornets.  Can't beat the Orlando freaking Magic.  Just loss after head-scratching loss to the trashiest teams in the league.  At this point, you'd almost think they were a high school JV team.

Then, Reggie Jackson came back and they managed to string together some wins, but by then it was too late.  They put themselves in a position where they weren't going to make the playoff, even if they won the last ten games straight (they were 7-3 during that stretch by the way).  Some would argue that missing the playoffs was better than barely making it, then getting steamrolled by the Toronto Raptors or the Boston Celtics in the first round.  Personally, this writer isn't so sure about that.

The whole season wasn't trash, though.  They picked up some nice victories over some of the contenders.  This included a win early in the season over the Golden State Warriors (the defending champions, mind you) in their gym in a game where their big names (Curry, Thompson, Durant) had big games and having to come back from 14 points down to boot.  How the heck is that even possible?  They also score an improbable victory over the seemingly unstoppable Houston Rockets (dat James Harden, though). Going 7-3 in the final 10 games was nice, too.

The game that gave us hope early in the season and...

...the prove the Warriors didn't just lay down and take it.

In a nutshell, the season was a turd, but there is hope for the future.  What if Reggie Jackson hadn't gotten hurt?  What if they got Blake Griffin earlier in the season?  What if they hadn't lost to so many bad teams?  These are all questions that could be asked by fans, but it's pointless now.  Well, as we Piston fans have gotten used to saying, "There's always next season."

Until next time...

Scores courtesy of Pistons.com.  Stats courtesy of Warriors.com.