Race to the bottom: Who's our biggest competition?

[ducler]

So... Luka Doncic is listed as doubtful for tonight's game... Kinda boring to play teams without their stars while we try to lose...
Our last 4 games including this one: SAS without DeRozan, IND without Sabonis and Turner, ATL without Young, and now DAL without both Doncic and Finney-Smith.

[zeebneeb]

Yeah, I was never one to really sweat where the Pistons finish since they can't control what other teams do. Obviously any GM has a Plan B, Plan C, Plan D, etc. in place anyway and I never bought into the doom and gloom idea that if the Pistons don't get a top 3 pick in this draft their championship hopes go down the drain. Whatever happens happens, make the best of it and move on.

I know your acting cool, sippin' on some Pappy, smoking a cigar surrounded by your massive gun collection(typical Manocad)but deep down even you are sweating this draft.

You know it to be true.

False. Even I won’t spend the jack required to land some Pappy.

Now, a Barrett M82A1? Yeah buddy.

Good man. See, I knew there was something I liked about you.

[Manocad]

I know your acting cool, sippin' on some Pappy, smoking a cigar surrounded by your massive gun collection(typical Manocad)but deep down even you are sweating this draft.

You know it to be true.

False. Even I won’t spend the jack required to land some Pappy.

Now, a Barrett M82A1? Yeah buddy.

Good man. See, I knew there was something I liked about you.

At roughly eight or nine stacks of high life to acquire it, that will be the final piece and yes, admittedly that's simply a "collector" gun, i.e. just cool to have. Assuming it's still legal. That ridiculous HR 127 bill proposal would make it not only illegal but even being caught with the AMMO would get you a mandatory 10 years in prison.

Because that's how you cut down gun crime. Get rid of all those guys running around committing crimes and shooting up schools with their expensive as all get out 35 lb .50BMG rifles at $5.50 a round.

[Manocad]

Come on, Thunder! Pull out tonight’s superfecta!

[Canadafan]

Perfectttt. Now just be smart and order Casey to completely lose ever game from here.stay in that bottom 3 Pistons

[bstein14]

And with that 4 game Minny win streak we're entering the month of May with the 2nd worst record in the NBA, with just 9 games left to play on the season and with us consistently resting the vets every other game. That means 5 more games with the vets and 4 more with all the young guys.

All the sky is falling we're a stupid franchise for not tanking properly talk has mostly come to pause.

We're about to enter our most important tank stretch of the year though, as we have a lot of sub .500 teams still remaining on our last 9 game stretch, as well as a lot of home games. 3-6 down the stretch is probably the most realistic outcome. We've got just two road games remaining to our 7 remaining home games, and we've got essentially 6 teams left that are playing .500 or below ball. This is exactly the type of schedule you would want to see if you were trying to make a playoff push. We need to hope that those last two games are still meaningful for Denver and Miami and they are just in full rest mode for the playoffs at that point.

May 1 @ Charlotte (30-32)
May 3 vs Orlando (19-43)
May 4 vs Charlotte (30-32)
May 6 vs Memphis (31-30, 5-5 their last 10)
May 8 @ Philly (41-21)
May 9 vs Chicago (26-36)
May 11 vs Minny (20-44)
May 14 vs Nuggets (42-21)
May 16 vs Miami (33-30)

[zeebneeb]

So now the Pistons have put themselves in the catbird seat. If they lose out(9 games)they will be in sole possession of the 2nd worst record, and a slim chance to have the worst.(Rockets dependant but I wouldn't count on it.) That would mean the lowest they can go is 6th, which has 20% odds, and have a a better then 50% collective chance at hitting a top 4 pick, which is what all of us want.(27.8% chance at hitting 5) A top 3 pick would ensure the best possible player.(Suggs is the 4th pick)

This is a top 4+1 draft, and getting a top 4 pick, would be a perfect end to what Weaver has done thus far.

[440BB]

I am amazed the Timberwolves are almost playing themselves out of their top three protection of that pick. They have more at stake than anybody else.

In these last weeks of the season, things sure can change in a minute. I doubt anybody here thought the Pistons could end up second worst today. Time for the Diallo+Sirvydis show, and doesn't Stewart need a few days of rest?

Fingers crossed they find a way to lose every one of these games. If they do, I'm buying 3D Chess for Dummies.

[DCintheD]

Casey needs to sit these last 9 games along with the vets.

[Snakebites]

So now the Pistons have put themselves in the catbird seat. If they lose out(9 games)they will be in sole possession of the 2nd worst record, and a slim chance to have the worst.(Rockets dependant but I wouldn't count on it.) That would mean the lowest they can go is 6th, which has 20% odds, and have a a better then 50% collective chance at hitting a top 4 pick, which is what all of us want.(27.8% chance at hitting 5) A top 3 pick would ensure the best possible player.(Suggs is the 4th pick)

This is a top 4+1 draft, and getting a top 4 pick, would be a perfect end to what Weaver has done thus far.

If we were interested in that sort of full-on tanking we’d have started it by now.

We’ll see more of this wishy - washy partial tanking business. Still beats previous years where we’d go full on right to the end and beat teams not trying.

The play-in tournament helps us too. The Mavs wanted it more because they needed it. Hopefully our games will matter to Charlotte too.

Plus our young core is good enough to win at least a couple more even if we sit the vets.

[edmunder_prc]

So now the Pistons have put themselves in the catbird seat. If they lose out(9 games)they will be in sole possession of the 2nd worst record

Detroit is clutch at grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory. Let's see how it plays out.

[DBC10]

KPJ with a 50 piece to lead the Rockets over Milwaukee and Minnesota actually having a win streak that they'll no doubt try to keep at this rate

Can we actually hold on to this or is this another mirage. This is literally the gift we needed. Play Sirvydis 40 minutes come Orlando

[440BB]

Will the league let us play 4 on 5? How about 3 on 5?

Yeah, I wanna bottom out right now.

[NYPiston]

And with that 4 game Minny win streak we're entering the month of May with the 2nd worst record in the NBA, with just 9 games left to play on the season and with us consistently resting the vets every other game. That means 5 more games with the vets and 4 more with all the young guys.

All the sky is falling we're a stupid franchise for not tanking properly talk has mostly come to pause.

We're about to enter our most important tank stretch of the year though, as we have a lot of sub .500 teams still remaining on our last 9 game stretch, as well as a lot of home games. 3-6 down the stretch is probably the most realistic outcome. We've got just two road games remaining to our 7 remaining home games, and we've got essentially 6 teams left that are playing .500 or below ball. This is exactly the type of schedule you would want to see if you were trying to make a playoff push. We need to hope that those last two games are still meaningful for Denver and Miami and they are just in full rest mode for the playoffs at that point.

May 1 @ Charlotte (30-32)
May 3 vs Orlando (19-43)
May 4 vs Charlotte (30-32)
May 6 vs Memphis (31-30, 5-5 their last 10)
May 8 @ Philly (41-21)
May 9 vs Chicago (26-36)
May 11 vs Minny (20-44)
May 14 vs Nuggets (42-21)
May 16 vs Miami (33-30)

I actually think it's a good thing that they are playing some of those sub .500 teams. Charlotte, Memphis and Chicago are playing meaningful games so they need to play all their guys (LaMelo might be back for both games too). In a way, I'd rather have a schedule with bubble teams than top teams who might just rest players. Little concerned about the last two games because of this.

[Snakebites]

I’m fine with anywhere in the bottom 4. I don’t care too much where we land 5-8 and the odds of top 4 are identical for all bottom 3 teams, with only a very slight drop off at 4.

5 has enough of a difference to be noticeable, and 6 is where it starts to kinda suck. Better than 6 used to be but still not fabulous.

I’m not sure I’m ready for the wailing that will occur on this board if we reach the bottom 3 and still don’t get at top 4 pick, which there’d still be a 48 percent chance of.

People need to accept that from where we are at this moment there’s a less than 50 percent chance of landing a top 4 pick, and losing can only get us to 52 percent at best.

The universe is cold, indifferent, and governed by chance. We are insignificant and our ability to control events is limited, where it exists at all. Which is sad but also oddly comforting.

[vege]

And with that 4 game Minny win streak we're entering the month of May with the 2nd worst record in the NBA, with just 9 games left to play on the season and with us consistently resting the vets every other game. That means 5 more games with the vets and 4 more with all the young guys.

All the sky is falling we're a stupid franchise for not tanking properly talk has mostly come to pause.

We're about to enter our most important tank stretch of the year though, as we have a lot of sub .500 teams still remaining on our last 9 game stretch, as well as a lot of home games. 3-6 down the stretch is probably the most realistic outcome. We've got just two road games remaining to our 7 remaining home games, and we've got essentially 6 teams left that are playing .500 or below ball. This is exactly the type of schedule you would want to see if you were trying to make a playoff push. We need to hope that those last two games are still meaningful for Denver and Miami and they are just in full rest mode for the playoffs at that point.

May 1 @ Charlotte (30-32)
May 3 vs Orlando (19-43)
May 4 vs Charlotte (30-32)
May 6 vs Memphis (31-30, 5-5 their last 10)
May 8 @ Philly (41-21)
May 9 vs Chicago (26-36)
May 11 vs Minny (20-44)
May 14 vs Nuggets (42-21)
May 16 vs Miami (33-30)

This is uggly. At least a few of those teams are going to be fighting for something, like Charlotte and Miami, so hopefully that's 3 losses to go with losses against Philly and Denver. If we finish 4-5 in that stretch I won't be unhappy.

[Invictus88]

So am I the only one who thinks that the Pistons players would be okay if Weaver and/or Casey went to the guys and said:

"Look. We have 9 games left. Under normal circumstances we'd be doing anything we could to win basketball games, but at this point we really need to be realistic and think about the future. Getting a few W's might feel good immediately but it might be a better use of our time to use this time to try out various scenarios in order to teach or evaluate where we want to go this offseason. If you get put into the game your job is still to play as hard as you can, but don't be surprised to see your minutes change from what you're used to. This is especially true for you veteran players."

We're deep enough to where we still get wins using this philosophy but it would enable Casey to try out things like obvious mismatches for the purposes of "learning".

The reason I started this train of thought was just watching the vets and other players in street clothes on the bench. They were in good spirits (i.e. not tense or upset not to be playing)

To be honest it's likely this discussion has already taken place...

[Laimbeer]

With the exception of Minny, we're showing more life than the five teams we're battling it out with. The Cavs are coming on.

[DetroitSho]

So am I the only one who thinks that the Pistons players would be okay if Weaver and/or Casey went to the guys and said:

"Look. We have 9 games left. Under normal circumstances we'd be doing anything we could to win basketball games, but at this point we really need to be realistic and think about the future. Getting a few W's might feel good immediately but it might be a better use of our time to use this time to try out various scenarios in order to teach or evaluate where we want to go this offseason. If you get put into the game your job is still to play as hard as you can, but don't be surprised to see your minutes change from what you're used to. This is especially true for you veteran players."

We're deep enough to where we still get wins using this philosophy but it would enable Casey to try out things like obvious mismatches for the purposes of "learning".

The reason I started this train of thought was just watching the vets and other players in street clothes on the bench. They were in good spirits (i.e. not tense or upset not to be playing)

To be honest it's likely this discussion has already taken place...

This discussion was had probably in January.

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[edmunder_prc]

Hayes, Diallo, Josh Jackson, Sekou, Cook.

New starting 5.

Saben Lee, Frank Jackson, Syverdis, Okafor.

9 man team - lets tank.