Game 45: Pistons (11-33) @ Jazz (29-16) - Jan. 21 9:00 PM EST

[edmunder_prc]

McGruder was 5-7 on 3s and is the 15th man on the team basically. He is a towel waiver. He played better than most of the team. And really - you cant ever blame anything on the 15th guy on the team.

If its to the point where the Pistons are desperately relying on McGruder for wins - blame the GM, not the 15th guy.

Cade looked pretty good but he needs to work on his body, speed, agility, all that. He got way too tired carrying the team but he needs to get used to that.

Pistons need more shooters. Look at Clarkson on Utah and Jordan Poole on GSW - they would be the 2nd best players on the Pistons and they are 6th or 7th guys for their teams. Bey is so hot and cold - with his poor defense he's a strange player. 5-14 from the the key guy getting Cade's passes is not going to cut it.

[Homelander87]

Fun game to watch, very competitive
I stand by my assertion the Pistons are going to win at a higher clip from now on. Young team, doesn't know how to close it out yet.

Get tight when it counts, and do silly crap with the ball.

Enjoyable loss.

Let’s hope not. We can’t be losing a shot at a top 3 draft pick

[Manocad]

McGruder was 5-7 on 3s and is the 15th man on the team basically. He is a towel waiver. He played better than most of the team. And really - you cant ever blame anything on the 15th guy on the team.

If its to the point where the Pistons are desperately relying on McGruder for wins - blame the GM, not the 15th guy.

Cade looked pretty good but he needs to work on his body, speed, agility, all that. He got way too tired carrying the team but he needs to get used to that.

Pistons need more shooters. Look at Clarkson on Utah and Jordan Poole on GSW - they would be the 2nd best players on the Pistons and they are 6th or 7th guys for their teams. Bey is so hot and cold - with his poor defense he's a strange player. 5-14 from the the key guy getting Cade's passes is not going to cut it.

The Pistons never should have signed that towel in the first place if they were just going to waive it. Or at least use it as filler in a trade for a comforter or an electric blanket.

I wouldn't classify the Pistons as "desperately relying on McGruder for wins." Hayes and Grant are out so minutes opened up and he's been playing well. Wins are obviously not a primary goal at this point. Sure, Cade has things he needs to work on; he's a rookie. And yes, the Pistons need more dependable shooters; they're in Year 2 of a total rebuild.

Point being I don't think there's any reason to watch this game then treat the loss as an indication of how the Pistons are making mistakes/doing things wrong in the rebuild process, which seems to be the tone of a fair number of posts. Kinda like you don't start a new guy on a job then tell him at the end of his second day, "You really need to work on your speed and skills." Yeah, no kidding, boss--it's my second day.

[Moses ShamMoses]

When is tank commander Jerami Grant coming back? I heard he was practicing with the G-league. This team is far too competitive without their ball-stopping tank commander mucking up the offense. Pistons could really use another top 5 pick

[Homelander87]

When I watch Cade the only position I see him excelling at long term is at PG. I know when we drafted him we thought we were getting a 6’8 thoroughbred but when I actually see him on the court compared to other players he’s only 6’6 and is much closer to 6’5 than 6’7. He’s not explosive enough to play anywhere else. In our draft we need to focus on getting a long and dynamite player that can man the 3 or 4. Somebody who’s a legit 6’8 or 6’9. Banchero would be my choice