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1 week remains Pistons faithful before we get to see a "gained 15lbs of muscle" Cade Cunningham, the promising new rookie Ausar Thompson, and the rest of the gang.

At the helm of this newest iteration of the team, is Monty Williams.

Head coaching record:

367-336 .522

In his latest stint as a head coach, he turned the 2018-19 19-63 Suns, into a 2020-21 51-21 Finals participant. Astounding results.

Phoenix Suns record:

194-115 .628

Monty Williams won the NBA coach of the year in 2022, and coached the ALL-STAR game that year as well. Next week, October 8th is not only the start of the(pre)season, but also Montys 52nd birthday.

WHERE Little Ceasars Areana

WHEN 3 P.M.

WHERE TO WATCH BALLY sports/NBA TV

Lots of questions will begin to be answered, so don't miss it!

*Edit*

For those of you who are Basketball junkies like myself, the first NBA preseason game is Thursday, October 5th Between the Mavericks/Timberwolves live from Abu Dhabi NBATV 12PM.

Taking my six year old to her first game for this one! Pretty excited and hoping she enjoys the experience.

I'm so glad this game is on TV
Kudos for those going to the game! You are the X-factor. Especially if its full. And loud Pistons fans! I haven't been to a game since they left The Palace, which was much closer/easier, but I never miss a play, and hope they televise the 3rd game.

MortSahlfan wrote:I'm so glad this game is on TV
Kudos for those going to the game! You are the X-factor. Especially if its full. And loud Pistons fans! I haven't been to a game since they left The Palace, which was much closer/easier, but I never miss a play, and hope they televise the 3rd game.

I feel like I'd probably get a 10 game plan every year and make the hour drive to Auburn Hills but I agree for me coming from mid-Michigan its maybe a once or twice a year thing to see them at LCA.

I'm calling it; we'll be a play-in team. I'm super pumped up for this season. I haven't been this excited since probably '05 or '06. It's absolutely insane to me that people want to trade this guy or trade that guy. We'll need to consolidate some roster spots, but man I really like our top 6 or 7 guys and just the overall mix. And I'm anxious as hell to see a coach with Monty's background & pedigree at the helm. This is going to be fun.

I was super bummed when we got the 5th pick but I'm actually also pretty excited for the season to start, if nothing else than for Cade being back because he is a joy to watch when he's rolling.

Cowology wrote:I'm calling it; we'll be a play-in team. I'm super pumped up for this season. I haven't been this excited since probably '05 or '06. It's absolutely insane to me that people want to trade this guy or trade that guy. We'll need to consolidate some roster spots, but man I really like our top 6 or 7 guys and just the overall mix. And I'm anxious as hell to see a coach with Monty's background & pedigree at the helm. This is going to be fun.

I think we win 30-32 games, which is a significant jump but also likely just short of the play-in games... could really be anywhere from 11th - 14th in the East depending on how things shape up a lot of teams might be between 30 and 35 wins. We are still super young but I'm expecting the Cade/Duren duo to give us a ton of hope for the future.

The upper limit is probably 38 wins and the 10 seed, but that’ll require health to all the key players, major development from most of the 22-and-under gang, and some luck. Not impossible, but not something I’m expecting.

As long as we win 30 and see real development from some guys, I’ll be satisfied.

If we have another 11-22 start I will lose all my hope and probably just quit untill we have a new GM, but I hope things go well with Cade and Duren dominating from the preseason games and improving during the season and carrying us to the playoffs.

bstein14 wrote:

Cowology wrote:I'm calling it; we'll be a play-in team. I'm super pumped up for this season. I haven't been this excited since probably '05 or '06. It's absolutely insane to me that people want to trade this guy or trade that guy. We'll need to consolidate some roster spots, but man I really like our top 6 or 7 guys and just the overall mix. And I'm anxious as hell to see a coach with Monty's background & pedigree at the helm. This is going to be fun.

I think we win 30-32 games, which is a significant jump but also likely just short of the play-in games... could really be anywhere from 11th - 14th in the East depending on how things shape up a lot of teams might be between 30 and 35 wins. We are still super young but I'm expecting the Cade/Duren duo to give us a ton of hope for the future.

I chose play-in as well. Having a healthy Cade back will make the difference. From what we saw this summer, he has a looking in AllStar form. That takes pressure off everyone else. Ready for the season to start!

vege wrote:If we have another 11-22 start I will lose all my hope and probably just quit untill we have a new GM, but I hope things go well with Cade and Duren dominating from the preseason games and improving during the season and carrying us to the playoffs.

Don't get down quickly if the team has a rough start. It is going to take some time for Monty to learn his players strengths, and weaknesses to tweek his system to fit, and get stable rotations down. This is not going to be easy, as he basically has one guy, that is absolutely going to start, in Cade Cunningham. (I know you can argue others, but in reality, Monty has a ton of options)

Also remember that the players have to figure out Montys system as well, and get comfortable with their new roles.

First 20 games are going to be tough, but look for bright spots.

Now, with all that said, could the players learn, and come together quickly? Sure, but this is an exceedingly young team, and as a reminder, if Ausar Thompson starts, the *Pistons starting lineup will be top 3 youngest starting 5, in NBA history, so even with Bojan in the starting group, not a ton of experience.

*I looked into young starting lineups, and its either the youngest ever, or in the conversation. Very frustrating search.

I'm the lone ping-pong vote because it's early where I am at and apparently I can't read. I estimated 32 wins which would be just-miss although ping pong is also technically accurate.

I originally came here wondering if anyone knew more about the Isaiah Livers injury. Ku's podcast said it was ankle-related and he could miss 6-8 weeks but that details were scant. Nothing else has been reported that I can find?

Invictus88 wrote:I originally came here wondering if anyone knew more about the Isaiah Livers injury. Ku's podcast said it was ankle-related and he could miss 6-8 weeks but that details were scant. Nothing else has been reported that I can find?

Seriously? I’ve heard nothing. That sucks - he can’t seem to get away from injuries.

I wanted to see if Livers made Monty's rotation, and really wanted to see the minutes (knowing its pre-season, but still).... Ugh.. I like him a lot. 2-way player, great guy, but ALWAYS injured.

I chose play-in a well, but fully acknowledge it's an unrealistically optimistic homer pick.

It would be a minor miracle if we made the play in. I think we are going to be much improved, but the 10th seed was 41-41 last year. I don't see any way this team plays 500 ball out of the gate. We'll have growing pains with a new coach and obviously the roster is still super young. And really, almost all the teams we are competing with for the slot have also improved this summer. It should be a very competitive league this year.

Invictus88 wrote:I originally came here wondering if anyone knew more about the Isaiah Livers injury. Ku's podcast said it was ankle-related and he could miss 6-8 weeks but that details were scant. Nothing else has been reported that I can find?

He's always injured, might be time to pull the plug and give someone else the chance to be a 8-10th player for us. It sucks because we really need someone with his skillset.

I don't see the Pistons making the playoffs. They're so young. We have a good base, but I still think they're a year away. Phoenix was still really bad with Booker for awhile. Young stars have to learn how to win in the league and it doesn't happen overnight. That said, this will be a fun team to watch. The Pistons have 4 young guys in Cade, Duren, Ivey, and Ausar who will be seeing a lot of playing time. Isaiah Stewart doesn't have the same ceiling, but he's young and improving too. Being bad with promising youth is so much better than the post-championship days of being bad with apathetic veterans.

vege wrote:

Invictus88 wrote:I originally came here wondering if anyone knew more about the Isaiah Livers injury. Ku's podcast said it was ankle-related and he could miss 6-8 weeks but that details were scant. Nothing else has been reported that I can find?

He's always injured, might be time to pull the plug and give someone else the chance to be a 8-10th player for us. It sucks because we really need someone with his skillset.

If we had a player in mind then I'd consider it. But we haven't sniffed a legitimate 4 in who knows how long. Besides Stew who's arguably an odd fit Livers might be the closest thing we have.