Tourney Game 1: DET vs. PHI - Friday 7 PM EST

[MortSahlfan]

I rather see Duren sit, no matter how many guys we have out. Had he rested an extra week, he wouldn't be in and out.

No other team has as many guys out as we do... What sucks (besides watching this unfold on TV) is that our season hasn't really started yet. Our leading scorer hasn't played a game, and 5 other guys are out, too. Once everyone is back, then we can "start".

OKC and Portland are looking to replace Adams and Williams, who are out for the year. I know they can't be dumb to want Bagley or Wiseman, can they? Presti has a million picks. Make something happen. When everyone comes back, there won't be enough minutes to go around.

Cade seemed to have played better as a rookie. I always thought he was a smart player, but he's making half-assed plays, but I think he is "the guy", but it's hard to judge his talent with 6 guys out. I just hope this adversity helps us in the long run, but I think it hurts the chemistry too much.

Not enough ball movement. When we did, we played great. It's so obvious. Monty needs to put his foot down and point this. The guys are just playing, so the coach has to manage this. I think a reason Monty will always play Killian minutes is because he makes the offense a little more fluid, and he needs to take even more mid-range shots. Forget the 3, take one dribble, take the shot you know. Just like Cade, who was so short on that last one, which he always makes. I'm sure he's tired. He missed the first few weeks of his rookie season, then all of his sophmore season except the first few weeks, and know he's the focus with little help. But we can only judge what we see, but I was already feeling sick when I started this game.

[7r5ur]

This was the Pistons 10th game. Only other team to play 10 games already is Utah. Pretty horrible timing to have so many injuries.

[Kalamazoo317]

They zoned in, we zoned out.

We had no answers for their defense once they started playing it in the second half.

I'm starting to think we may not win this tournament ....

[Kalamazoo317]

I like Killian. I continue to root for him and think he's worth playing minutes. And I like how he's stepped up more and more lately. But we're in a lot of trouble as a team if he's going to be our best player every night. Cade needs to rediscover his three, that was falling the first few games. It opens up the rest of his offense, which is pretty mediocre when his outside shot isn't falling. He needs to tighten the handle and improve the decision-making. Killian's got that 5:1 assist to turnover ratio. If Cade's going to be on ball, he needs to get a lot closer to that.

[kierkegaard]

I like Killian. I continue to root for him and think he's worth playing minutes. And I like how he's stepped up more and more lately. But we're in a lot of trouble as a team if he's going to be our best player every night. Cade needs to rediscover his three, that was falling the first few games. It opens up the rest of his offense, which is pretty mediocre when his outside shot isn't falling. He needs to tighten the handle and improve the decision-making. Killian's got that 5:1 assist to turnover ratio. If Cade's going to be on ball, he needs to get a lot closer to that.

I agree. Though I will say that while Killian has that 5:1 ratio partly because he sees the floor well and is a very good, crisp passer, he also has that ratio partly because he's never double teamed or swarmed, unlike Cade. He doesn't put pressure on the defense like Cade. So I think Cade's TO numbers will always be considerably higher than Killian's.

[Snakebites]

Feeling pretty rough about the team.

You can find positives here and there but there’s simply no denying how brutal the start has been.

Yeah, you can say “we expected this” but I don’t think there’s much comfort to be found in the fact that the team has met its jaded fan base’s low expectations.

[joedumars1]

Duren injuries concern me a little and it sucks because if he stays healthy he is a freak walking 15-15 1-2blk 1-2steal player

[Absolutia]

As this season's start neared, I began to feel a mild dread simply beacause I expected to have to sit through a lot of rough patches that I just didn't have the stomach for. That dread was unfounded at first due to our competitive and entertaining start, but it soon returned as we relapsed into some listless and unprofessional performances.

We've since returned to something like a professional looking team, but with our injuries we are really up agianst it. Common sense says we will surely get much better. My problem is that I just don't want to sit through it anymore

[Kalamazoo317]

I like Killian. I continue to root for him and think he's worth playing minutes. And I like how he's stepped up more and more lately. But we're in a lot of trouble as a team if he's going to be our best player every night. Cade needs to rediscover his three, that was falling the first few games. It opens up the rest of his offense, which is pretty mediocre when his outside shot isn't falling. He needs to tighten the handle and improve the decision-making. Killian's got that 5:1 assist to turnover ratio. If Cade's going to be on ball, he needs to get a lot closer to that.

I agree. Though I will say that while Killian has that 5:1 ratio partly because he sees the floor well and is a very good, crisp passer, he also has that ratio partly because he's never double teamed or swarmed, unlike Cade. He doesn't put pressure on the defense like Cade. So I think Cade's TO numbers will always be considerably higher than Killian's.

Yeah, I totally get that Cade's always going to have some turnovers. It's the completely unforced ones (seems like there's 2-3 a game) that are killer.

[kierkegaard]

I like Killian. I continue to root for him and think he's worth playing minutes. And I like how he's stepped up more and more lately. But we're in a lot of trouble as a team if he's going to be our best player every night. Cade needs to rediscover his three, that was falling the first few games. It opens up the rest of his offense, which is pretty mediocre when his outside shot isn't falling. He needs to tighten the handle and improve the decision-making. Killian's got that 5:1 assist to turnover ratio. If Cade's going to be on ball, he needs to get a lot closer to that.

I agree. Though I will say that while Killian has that 5:1 ratio partly because he sees the floor well and is a very good, crisp passer, he also has that ratio partly because he's never double teamed or swarmed, unlike Cade. He doesn't put pressure on the defense like Cade. So I think Cade's TO numbers will always be considerably higher than Killian's.

Yeah, I totally get that Cade's always going to have some turnovers. It's the completely unforced ones (seems like there's 2-3 a game) that are killer.

Absolutely. Our perceptions of him would be so different were it not for those 2-3 inexplicable ones.

Another thing I noticed in this game in particular, which has to do with the team as a whole, is the number of forced passes to cutters that clearly were not open. Eliminate half of those and the game might have looked quite different.

I wonder if trying to learn Monty's system doesn't have players forcing passes to a certain degree.

[Kalamazoo317]

I think Cade forces more than most. He seems to really be trying to make something out of nothing a bit too often. He probably gets blocked at the rim more than any player on our team as well.
He also seemed hesitant to shoot the three last game, like he wasn't very confident in it for some reason. He needs to be hoisting those with confidence (and, honestly, making them at a high rate) if he's going to level up and be what we think he can be.

[440BB]

The shorthanded situation may end up hurting our best young players for the long haul or at least this season. Duren trying to play on an injured ankle may create a longer term injury, while Cade, coming off a missed season shouldn't be playing anything near 40 minutes at this stage. Cade's already showing signs of burnout and I wouldn't be surprised to see injuries cropping up for him and Stewart as well.

By the time we have most of the team available, a couple key players may be less than 100% for an extended time. I know the Williams has limited options but watching his tired key players repeatedly taking a beating in the fourth quarter, he should know better. That's when injuries as well as mistakes happen.

[vege]

I know the Williams has limited options but watching his tired key players repeatedly taking a beating in the fourth quarter, he should know better. That's when injuries as well as mistakes happen.

The funny thing is, he has been talking about this in several post game interviews. He's been saying he's playing Cade too many minutes and too many consecutive minutes, but he continue to do that.

[Kalamazoo317]

That’s because he (and the team) want to win and we can’t do that giving big minutes to the Rodans and Wisemans.

[Sort]

I totally disliked the Harris move this summer, and really, Pistons blew a ton of cap space on him and quite frankly, he's lost so much mobility you can't play him meaningful minutes, and if it wasn't for his contract, I don't think he would be on any team.

Just as much as I disliked Harris, i really thought Monte Morris would provide a lot to the Pistons. Control, outside shooting, smart defense. Pistons needed some vets to withstand runs by other teams. Morris, Burks, and Bogan all could have handled those moments, even if all three have limitations.

With just two of those three guys, I think the Pistons might be at 500 right now, which was the dream with this tough schedule.

[Kalamazoo317]

The on/off numbers on Burks were crazy. Just having one reliable scoring vet in the rotation was huge for us.

[Mr Peanut]

Feels like a perfect storm for us to start the season 2-8. Injuries to multiple key players, tough schedule, questionable reffing with significant FT disparity etc. But good teams overcome some of those issues, and clearly we aren't a good team yet.

Ausar played well as he seems to be consistently doing. Killian had another good game and seems to be growing in confidence.

Cade started out well but once again inefficiency and turnovers started to creep in. Sasser had a bit of a come down to earth kind of game.

Duren is likely out for the next few games which will be tough. Bagley has looked OK to start the season but is clearly not starting material. At least he'll have more time on the court with Cade which will be good as they seem to complement each other well. And we'll see much more Wiseman which may be hard to watch.

[Canadafan]

I totally disliked the Harris move this summer, and really, Pistons blew a ton of cap space on him and quite frankly, he's lost so much mobility you can't play him meaningful minutes, and if it wasn't for his contract, I don't think he would be on any team.

Just as much as I disliked Harris, i really thought Monte Morris would provide a lot to the Pistons. Control, outside shooting, smart defense. Pistons needed some vets to withstand runs by other teams. Morris, Burks, and Bogan all could have handled those moments, even if all three have limitations.

With just two of those three guys, I think the Pistons might be at 500 right now, which was the dream with this tough schedule.

Agreed. If we had our wily vets we would be looking so much more promising. Which makes me hopeful this season will turn around shortly. Burks at the start if season was proving his worth. Bojan and Morris are better players than Burks so with those 3 coming online soon there's still hope for the play-in babyyyy