The Detroit Pistons Are That Bad Again, Folks

In case you haven't been paying attention (and I don't blame you if you haven't), the Detroit Pistons are the NBA's worst team again.  That's through the first 15 games of the regular season.

Detroit is a league-worst 2-13 heading into Friday night's game against the Indiana Pacers on the road.  And looking at their upcoming schedule, more losses are coming.

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The Pistons have lost 12 straight games.  And with games against Indiana, the Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Milwaukee all before Christmas Day.  That streak could get to record proportions.

The NBA record for the longest regular-season losing streak is 28 straight losses.  Which the Philadelphia 76ers did at the end of the 2014-15 season and the start of the 2015-16 season.  If the Pistons don't beat 2-11 Washington at home next Monday night, they could threaten that record.  I'm not kidding.

So why are the Pistons so bad?  There are several reasons:

INJURIES

Even though some fans are sick of hearing it, this is legitimate.  Bojan Bogdanovic, Monte Morris, Jalen Duren, Isaiah Livers, and Joe Harris have all missed major time due to injuries.  They'd have a few more wins if they were all healthy.  Livers is back with the team now.  And Bojan (the team's best player last season) will be coming back soon.  But Morris is out until after the New Year.  Duren has been in and out of the lineup and Harris has produced nothing so far.  Which leads me to...

OVERHYPED PLAYERS

Former 1st round picks James Wiseman and Killian Hayes aren't nearly as good as their draft positioning says they are.  Wiseman (a former #2 overall pick) was beaten out in training camp by Marvin Bagley, III and is only playing because of the injuries.  Hayes (The 7th overall pick in 2020) hasn't developed the way the team thought he would.  But he's starting because of the injuries.  And 2022's 1st round pick, Jaden Ivey, is already reportedly butting heads with new head coach Monty Williams and hasn't scored in the last two games.

POOR DEFENSE

This continues to be an issue.  The Pistons are giving up 116 points a game while scoring 109.5 on average.  That's not the worst in the league.  But if they're going to improve, that must get better.  But you've heard that before.

4TH QUARTER PROBLEMS

It's a broken record.  They are the worst 4th quarter team in the NBA.  They blew the game against Portland at home on November 1st and it's been a downward spiral since then.  They can hang with most teams for three quarters, but can't finish games.

WHAT ABOUT CADE CUNNINGHAM?

The former #1 overall pick (pictured above) has played well this year (21.7 ppg, 7.3 apg) since missing most of last season with an injury.  And he's up for a contract extension after this season.  But with the team so bad, does he even want to be here longterm?

At least Cade admitted what we all know after the blowout loss last Sunday against Toronto:

"We've got to be realistic about the situation, It's hard to just be like, 'Oh we're good, we're good,' because we're bad. We've got to address that."

As you know, the first step towards eliminating any problem is admitting you have one in the first place.  At least they have that going for them.

But these are the Detroit Pistons, do you even care in the first place?