#13 - Pistons@Bucks - 8pm ET

[MortSahlfan]

The first thing I thought of when I woke up.... So damn close to 5-6

[Billl]

Sucks to lose a game on 2 missed FT's, but what are you going to do. A rookie choked. Playing back to back on the road with a depleted rosters and we put forth a really nice effort. It's a learning process for the young guys.

[NYPiston]

Tough loss but man I am thoroughly enjoying this team. It sucks that they blew a big lead again last night but these boys battle and they battled last night on the second of a back to back on the road with a lot of guys missing after a grueling OT the night before against a desperate team right until the end. They just need to not let losses like this deflate them and let the season spin out of control but it's been a breath of fresh air watching this squad after years/over a decade of a seemingly bottomless pit of hopelessness.

[NYPiston]

it's actually kind of crazy that in our last 5 games, 2 have been decided by 1 point, 2 have been decided by 2 points and the game yesterday was decided by 7 but it went into OT...

i'd gladly watch competitive basketball (even in losses) over the dumpster fire we've watched the last few years. i think some fans are losing that perspective.

Yeah they are losing that perspective. Lots of negative posts in the thread as I read back which I understand on some level because it was a winnable game but to put it in proper perspective, this was a game where the deck was heavily stacked against the Pistons because of scheduling, injuries and a desperate underachieving opponent and they gave the Bucks hell for most of the game. Hard to not take at least some positives out of that. The perspective is... look at where this team was just last season compared to this, it's almost night and day especially in terms of effort so that, to me, is a victory in itself.

[Billl]

Also, stew really screwed us this game. It's pretty obvious the game plan was to rotate bigs against giannis and stay at home on their shooters. That was a great plan with dame out because they really don't have secondary creators. It was really working well until Stew got tossed. He was scoring a ton, but the rest of the bucks were just spectators. Duren wasn't going to be able to do that the whole second half without fouling out, so we had to start giving help. And then their role players started getting open 3's.

I love stews physicality, but he's not nearly as smart as marhorn or rodman or lambier was about it. Those guys were the antagonists. They took all the little chip shots, but the intent was to make the opposition be the one to lose their cool and overreact. With Stew, he's often the one letting his emotions get the best of him.

[Drwho17]

Holland, a top 5 draft pick missing both free-throws where just one would have gave us the W is pretty pitiful.

I personally did not like Holland as a pick at 5, and I wanted Bennedict over Ausar in the previous draft. If these kids cannot develop a shot, they will be rotational pieces at best. Hope they get there, but i wanted shooters in the draft these last few years and we certainly did not get that.

Benedict Mathurin was not in the Ausar draft, he was #6 behind Ivey in the 2022 draft. Holland was the right pick, and has been pretty good, other than choking last night.

[Fennis Dembo]

My inclination is to forgive the 19 year old for choking at the line in a moment like that. You hate to see it, but I don't really view it as a worrying sign at this stage.

Stewart on the other hand...

Stewart is the heart of this team. I'm ok with him throwing Giannas to the ground. That's the grit we need on this team. If Holland makes 1 out of 2 of those FTs, the game is over with.

Grabbing someone's jersey from behind and pulling them to the ground isn't grit, it's just dirty. And stupid.

[JennetteMcCurdy]

Holland, a top 5 draft pick missing both free-throws where just one would have gave us the W is pretty pitiful.

I personally did not like Holland as a pick at 5, and I wanted Bennedict over Ausar in the previous draft. If these kids cannot develop a shot, they will be rotational pieces at best. Hope they get there, but i wanted shooters in the draft these last few years and we certainly did not get that.

I wonder if Jared McCain makes one of those free throws

[JennetteMcCurdy]

My inclination is to forgive the 19 year old for choking at the line in a moment like that. You hate to see it, but I don't really view it as a worrying sign at this stage.

Stewart on the other hand...

Stewart is the heart of this team. I'm ok with him throwing Giannas to the ground. That's the grit we need on this team. If Holland makes 1 out of 2 of those FTs, the game is over with.

The Heart of our team is overpaid by thirty million and has a ten cent head

[JennetteMcCurdy]

this was a game where the deck was heavily stacked against the Pistons because of scheduling, injuries and a desperate underachieving opponent and they gave the Bucks hell for most of the game

The Bucks played last night and were missing two All-Stars. Not so sure about the deck being stacked against the Pistons.

Criticism on this thread shows some signs of expectations, which is a welcome change from last year’s total dumpster fire.

This upcoming stretch could be very defining - six of next seven games against non-playoff teams from last season. And the seventh missing their best player.

[MrBigShot]

Imo Holland was a reach and we should've taken Clingan.

But the free throws are whatever, it happens.

[Kalamazoo317]

If Stew doesn't do an incredibly bone-headed thing for no reason, we win this one.
If Giannis' jumper doesn't get absurdly hot, we win this one.
If Holland makes either free throw, we win this one.
Good effort all things considered. We're winning more, losing close, and staying alive in the Flagg conversation. About the best balance we could hope for this year.

[pistons4ever]

I did Not saw the bucks Game ...but Giannis with "only" 22 pts with 1!!!!!! Free throw....

So the Hornets with a frontcourt of miller , Bridges and Grant Williams as starter and 6-9 Diabete are the Giannis Stopper????

Or did our comments about His 17 FTs against us work

[Kalamazoo317]

In this game, Giannis hit almost every free throw, hit every jumper he took, and even hit a 3-pointer. No one is stopping Giannis when he plays like that. No idea how he played against the Hornets, but bet he wasn't doing all of that.

[pistons4ever]

But 1 FT??????