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Surprisingly, we only have 3 preseason games scheduled. I think teams have to have at least 4 so perhaps one more still to be added.

Preseason
Oct 6 vs San Antonio
Oct 11 @ Memphis
Oct 15 vs New York

Start to regular season

Oct 20 vs Chicago
Oct 23 @ Chicago
Oct 25 @ Atlanta
Oct 28 @ Philly
Oct 30 vs Orlando
Oct 31 @ Brooklyn
Nov 2 vs Milwaukee
Nov 4 vs Philly (Drummond back to Detroit after signing min deal with Philly)
Nov 5 vs Brooklyn
Nov 10 @ Houston

We get Brooklyn twice on back to backs early to start the season. Full schedule can be seen here: https://www.nba.com/pistons/schedule

Looks rough

Looks like we will have good tanking position from the get go.

bstein14 wrote:Surprisingly, we only have 3 preseason games scheduled. I think teams have to have at least 4 so perhaps one more still to be added.

Preseason
Oct 6 vs San Antonio
Oct 11 @ Memphis
Oct 15 vs New York

Start to regular season

Oct 20 vs Chicago
Oct 23 @ Chicago
Oct 25 @ Atlanta
Oct 28 @ Philly
Oct 30 vs Orlando
Oct 31 @ Brooklyn
Nov 2 vs Milwaukee
Nov 4 vs Philly (Drummond back to Detroit after signing min deal with Philly)
Nov 5 vs Brooklyn
Nov 10 @ Houston

We get Brooklyn twice on back to backs early to start the season. Full schedule can be seen here: https://www.nba.com/pistons/schedule

I'm bracing myself for a terrible start & for all the blame to go on one player

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surprised we didnt get more ESPN games

12 back to backs. Majority in the first 2/3 of season. If we get 8 wins by the first of the year that would be something. Last year this team played hard and fought on most non tank nights. I expect the same and probably getting some wins they “shouldn’t”. This is an in flux year that hopefully Casey can keep the young ones from losing confidence after a tough early schedule.

buzzkilloton wrote:Looks like we will have good tanking position from the get go.

The thought did cross my mind. Being that it starts off rough, we'll have a good idea where we stand early as to how good or bad we will be.

If we do bad, we can continue and grow the kids and get a good draft pick again. a win.

If we play upto our potential and do well, the second half will be much easier and we will be able to strive to improve our standing in the playoffs.

Some have broken things down into minutes... I tend to think in terms of points. What kind of point output would you expect?


Hayes - 5
Cade - 19 +-3 24
Bey - 16 +- 2 40
Grant - 20 +- 3 60
Olynyk = 15 +- 2 75
Stewart - 15 +- 3 90 +- 13

Bench play making up for the plus or minus. Our Defense will tell the tale. I think we'll be alright if we make it past the first part of the season.

Jaden Hardy here we come.

Schedule completely changes with a single injury to any player. This happens every year where teams look great but the truth is injuries are very common in the NBA and sometimes it changes the difficulty of the schedule drastically.

nba.com has a good schedule breakdown.

The Pistons have 12 back-to-back games, and all 12 of those the other team isn't on a back-to-back meaning they didn't play the night before. So they have 12 rest disadvantage games.

But the Pistons also player 17 games where they do have the day off before, and other teams are on back-to-backs. This is the most in the NBA. They get to play a lot of teams coming off back-to-backs while they are on a nights rest.

Doing a schedule analysis, it could be said that the Pistons have the most favorable schedule in the NBA.

In comparison, a team like Charlotte has to play 14 back to backs against rested teams, but only gets to play 11 rested games against teams on the 2nd night of a back to back.

Back to Back rest nights in comparison to other teams near us in the potential standings.

Detroit +5 (best in NBA)
Pacers +4
Hawks +4
Hornetts -3
TWolves -3
Magic -3
Spurs -4

Obviously most teams are going to be -1, even, or +1 on these the Pistons just happened to be the largest outlier in the league.

I'm a little surprised to see people thinking we are going to be horrible. We obviously aren't going to be a good team, but we had to go full tank and just "rest" everyone to lose that many games last year. We'll play a lot of young guys and they'll make a ton of mistakes, but if last year is any indication, the team will be playing hard. You generally have to be actively trying to lose to be one of the truly horrible teams, and I think we're going to try to win as many games as we can while playing the youngsters.

Billl wrote:I'm a little surprised to see people thinking we are going to be horrible. We obviously aren't going to be a good team, but we had to go full tank and just "rest" everyone to lose that many games last year. We'll play a lot of young guys and they'll make a ton of mistakes, but if last year is any indication, the team will be playing hard. You generally have to be actively trying to lose to be one of the truly horrible teams, and I think we're going to try to win as many games as we can while playing the youngsters.

I am of the same mindset. The Pistons next year are not going to be, by any stretch of the imagination, a force. That is for sure. With that said, if you look at last year, and how many close games, by my count they had 15 games lost by 7 points or less, with two double OT losses, they are going to win more games(percentage wise as there are 82 games again, and totals as well)and may slip into a play-in situation.

Saddiq Bey all rookie first team.
Isaiah Stewart all rookie second team.
Grant becoming a legit starter.
Addition of Kelly Olynyk.
Addition of Cade Cunningham.

Plus you add in internal growth of everyone involved.

Unless something wierd happens,(injuries, Cade is terrible, e.t.c) I don't see how they are anywhere near as bad as they were last year. I just think a lot of folks want the team to be as bad as last year, to add another top 3 pick. That's fine, but reality dictates that is only going to be happen due to some heavy luck.

The schedule to start looks brutal, but even before seeing the team play(I usually wait a few games to make predictions as this team is so new) I see a team thats going to be anywhere from 30-38 wins next year, with an outside chance of more if Cade hits the ground running, and is every bit the #1 pick.

Can I suffer thru another brutal season like last year? If the team is competitive, Cade looks great, and the team again losses a bunch of close games, yeah, no problem. Adding yet another super high pick would be amazing, but I just don't see it.

zeebneeb wrote:

Billl wrote:I'm a little surprised to see people thinking we are going to be horrible. We obviously aren't going to be a good team, but we had to go full tank and just "rest" everyone to lose that many games last year. We'll play a lot of young guys and they'll make a ton of mistakes, but if last year is any indication, the team will be playing hard. You generally have to be actively trying to lose to be one of the truly horrible teams, and I think we're going to try to win as many games as we can while playing the youngsters.

I am of the same mindset. The Pistons next year are not going to be, by any stretch of the imagination, a force. That is for sure. With that said, if you look at last year, and how many close games, by my count they had 15 games lost by 7 points or less, with two double OT losses, they are going to win more games(percentage wise as there are 82 games again, and totals as well)and may slip into a play-in situation.

Saddiq Bey all rookie first team.
Isaiah Stewart all rookie second team.
Grant becoming a legit starter.
Addition of Kelly Olynyk.
Addition of Cade Cunningham.

Plus you add in internal growth of everyone involved.

Unless something wierd happens,(injuries, Cade is terrible, e.t.c) I don't see how they are anywhere near as bad as they were last year. I just think a lot of folks want the team to be as bad as last year, to add another top 3 pick. That's fine, but reality dictates that is only going to be happen due to some heavy luck.

The schedule to start looks brutal, but even before seeing the team play(I usually wait a few games to make predictions as this team is so new) I see a team thats going to be anywhere from 30-38 wins next year, with an outside chance of more if Cade hits the ground running, and is every bit the #1 pick.

Can I suffer thru another brutal season like last year? If the team is competitive, Cade looks great, and the team again losses a bunch of close games, yeah, no problem. Adding yet another super high pick would be amazing, but I just don't see it.

Who is absolutely worse than us on paper?

Yes I'm aware the games aren't played on paper but I don't want you to get your hopes too high.



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I suspect this season Pistons will have nights they look legit playoff team and other nights filled with growing pains. Nobody should have too high of expectations. I mean, if they somehow turn out to be great, what fun would it have been if you had high expectations already for them?

Pharaoh wrote:

zeebneeb wrote:

Billl wrote:I'm a little surprised to see people thinking we are going to be horrible. We obviously aren't going to be a good team, but we had to go full tank and just "rest" everyone to lose that many games last year. We'll play a lot of young guys and they'll make a ton of mistakes, but if last year is any indication, the team will be playing hard. You generally have to be actively trying to lose to be one of the truly horrible teams, and I think we're going to try to win as many games as we can while playing the youngsters.

I am of the same mindset. The Pistons next year are not going to be, by any stretch of the imagination, a force. That is for sure. With that said, if you look at last year, and how many close games, by my count they had 15 games lost by 7 points or less, with two double OT losses, they are going to win more games(percentage wise as there are 82 games again, and totals as well)and may slip into a play-in situation.

Saddiq Bey all rookie first team.
Isaiah Stewart all rookie second team.
Grant becoming a legit starter.
Addition of Kelly Olynyk.
Addition of Cade Cunningham.

Plus you add in internal growth of everyone involved.

Unless something wierd happens,(injuries, Cade is terrible, e.t.c) I don't see how they are anywhere near as bad as they were last year. I just think a lot of folks want the team to be as bad as last year, to add another top 3 pick. That's fine, but reality dictates that is only going to be happen due to some heavy luck.

The schedule to start looks brutal, but even before seeing the team play(I usually wait a few games to make predictions as this team is so new) I see a team thats going to be anywhere from 30-38 wins next year, with an outside chance of more if Cade hits the ground running, and is every bit the #1 pick.

Can I suffer thru another brutal season like last year? If the team is competitive, Cade looks great, and the team again losses a bunch of close games, yeah, no problem. Adding yet another super high pick would be amazing, but I just don't see it.

Who is absolutely worse than us on paper?

Yes I'm aware the games aren't played on paper but I don't want you to get your hopes too high.



Sent from my SM-G781B using RealGM Forums mobile app

It's not about who is worse then the Pistons, it's about drawing a logical conclusion based off of last year's performance. I have tried to take everything into account, from the team starting with Blake and Rose, to ending with bench guys on the floor.

The team will win more games then last year, that is an absolute. How many more is the key point at hand here. A sizeable part of that determination is going to be how well Cade and Hayes play together to start the season, if Cade is worthy of the #1 pick, and if continued growth happens from Bey, Stewart, Hayes, Jackson, e.t.c.

If Cade is the #1 pick and player we all hope he is, and hits the ground runningthe top end is going to much higher then anyone thinks. If he struggles early, and often while still being great, its going to be the lower, but still decent. If Hayes sucks, and the team has to start Jackson, Cojo, whoever, that's going to lead to losses piling up as well.

The upcoming season is going to be Jekyll and Hyde for sure. I can't make a decent projection as this group has never played together, and certainly when bringing in a #1 pick, things could change wildly.

After the preseason, and at least 10 games, we'll all begin to see what this team may be capable of.

zeebneeb wrote:

Pharaoh wrote:

zeebneeb wrote:I am of the same mindset. The Pistons next year are not going to be, by any stretch of the imagination, a force. That is for sure. With that said, if you look at last year, and how many close games, by my count they had 15 games lost by 7 points or less, with two double OT losses, they are going to win more games(percentage wise as there are 82 games again, and totals as well)and may slip into a play-in situation.

Saddiq Bey all rookie first team.
Isaiah Stewart all rookie second team.
Grant becoming a legit starter.
Addition of Kelly Olynyk.
Addition of Cade Cunningham.

Plus you add in internal growth of everyone involved.

Unless something wierd happens,(injuries, Cade is terrible, e.t.c) I don't see how they are anywhere near as bad as they were last year. I just think a lot of folks want the team to be as bad as last year, to add another top 3 pick. That's fine, but reality dictates that is only going to be happen due to some heavy luck.

The schedule to start looks brutal, but even before seeing the team play(I usually wait a few games to make predictions as this team is so new) I see a team thats going to be anywhere from 30-38 wins next year, with an outside chance of more if Cade hits the ground running, and is every bit the #1 pick.

Can I suffer thru another brutal season like last year? If the team is competitive, Cade looks great, and the team again losses a bunch of close games, yeah, no problem. Adding yet another super high pick would be amazing, but I just don't see it.

Who is absolutely worse than us on paper?

Yes I'm aware the games aren't played on paper but I don't want you to get your hopes too high.



Sent from my SM-G781B using RealGM Forums mobile app

It's not about who is worse then the Pistons, it's about drawing a logical conclusion based off of last year's performance. I have tried to take everything into account, from the team starting with Blake and Rose, to ending with bench guys on the floor.

The team will win more games then last year, that is an absolute. How many more is the key point at hand here. A sizeable part of that determination is going to be how well Cade and Hayes play together to start the season, if Cade is worthy of the #1 pick, and if continued growth happens from Bey, Stewart, Hayes, Jackson, e.t.c.

If Cade is the #1 pick and player we all hope he is, and hits the ground runningthe top end is going to much higher then anyone thinks. If he struggles early, and often while still being great, its going to be the lower, but still decent. If Hayes sucks, and the team has to start Jackson, Cojo, whoever, that's going to lead to losses piling up as well.

The upcoming season is going to be Jekyll and Hyde for sure. I can't make a decent projection as this group has never played together, and certainly when bringing in a #1 pick, things could change wildly.

After the preseason, and at least 10 games, we'll all begin to see what this team may be capable of.

IMO it’s all about Cade. The difference between Hayes and anyone else isn’t that much, pretty much same level as Frank, CoJo, Diallo, Lee.

Cade will be replacing Josh Jackson’s role and that should be a big difference. Josh had way to big of a role last year (2nd in shot attempts and usage) and the team should be much better with Cade filling that role instead.

Our Batman and Robin Last year was Grant and Josh Jackson. This year should be Grant and Cade.

I’m guessing 28-35 wins depending if Cade has a rough year or not.

28-35 wins would be a significant improvement from last season.

The high end of that = playoffs & I just don't see it.

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Pharaoh wrote:28-35 wins would be a significant improvement from last season.

The high end of that = playoffs & I just don't see it.

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I'll jump into a gentleman's bet with you as well if you want. Bragging rights. If Cade performs, as expected out of a #1, I don't see how they don't at least make the play-in tournament.

I say that without having seen them play as a group yet. I'm pretty confident this team is going to outperform expectations.

zeebneeb wrote:

Pharaoh wrote:28-35 wins would be a significant improvement from last season.

The high end of that = playoffs & I just don't see it.

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I'll jump into a gentleman's bet with you as well if you want. Bragging rights. If Cade performs, as expected out of a #1, I don't see how they don't at least make the play-in tournament.

I say that without having seen them play as a group yet. I'm pretty confident this team is going to outperform expectations.

The hard thing is, a few of the teams who were possible to jump ahead of got better. Maybe Toronto jumps in on the tank or perhaps Washington moves Beal and bottoms out but overall it is hard to look at the East as pick 5 teams we'll be better than. Its easy to say we can be better than Cleveland and Orlando but beyond that we're going to have to be better than expected and we need a few other teams to be a bit worse than expected to end up top 10 in the East. Right now I feel like we most likely win between 30-32 and finish 12th in the East ahead of Orlando, Cleveland and one of Washington, Toronto, or Indiana. Indiana isn't likely unless they move on from Sabonis or the Rick Carlisle hiring goes horribly wrong with some of their young guys not liking his style.

bstein14 wrote:

zeebneeb wrote:

Pharaoh wrote:28-35 wins would be a significant improvement from last season.

The high end of that = playoffs & I just don't see it.

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I'll jump into a gentleman's bet with you as well if you want. Bragging rights. If Cade performs, as expected out of a #1, I don't see how they don't at least make the play-in tournament.

I say that without having seen them play as a group yet. I'm pretty confident this team is going to outperform expectations.

The hard thing is, a few of the teams who were possible to jump ahead of got better. Maybe Toronto jumps in on the tank or perhaps Washington moves Beal and bottoms out but overall it is hard to look at the East as pick 5 teams we'll be better than. Its easy to say we can be better than Cleveland and Orlando but beyond that we're going to have to be better than expected and we need a few other teams to be a bit worse than expected to end up top 10 in the East. Right now I feel like we most likely win between 30-32 and finish 12th in the East ahead of Orlando, Cleveland and one of Washington, Toronto, or Indiana. Indiana isn't likely unless they move on from Sabonis or the Rick Carlisle hiring goes horribly wrong with some of their young guys not liking his style.

All depends on Cade. The Pistons already have several promising players in Grant, Bey, and Stewart. If Cade plays well, this team will be vastly improved from the jump.

I know its hard for Piston fans to believe the team will be improved, or even good, but that's what the tank was for. To land that uber talent. If Cade is that talent, the team will be better, and because of the pieces already in place, perhaps better then anyone of us realized. Thats a lot to put on a rookie, but thats why he was the #1 pick.