Detroit Pistons Still on Hot Seat Despite Snapping Losing Streak
By Mike Dallas
Christmas came early for the Detroit Pistons. It looked like Santa Clause got the only thing on Detroit’s wish list, a win. On Friday, the Detroit Pistons defeated the Phoenix Suns, 105-103, and improved to 4-19, snapping a month-long 13-game losing streak.
For the moment, fans can stop pulling out their hair and shouting at the television.
One win and the return of one player do not magically solve all of Detroit’s problems. The win helps the Pistons avoid tying their longest losing streak I franchise history. Detroit is still one of the worst teams in the league and has a long way to go in order to reach the playoffs, or get to .500.
However, for the first time in a very long time, Detroit’s offense looked good. A few blunders late, but for the most part Jodi Meeks gave the Pistons the spark that’s been missing, virtually all season. His career
Could it be that the return of Jodi Meeks was the only thing keeping the Pistons from being great? No. This team still has a ton of things to correct but, Meeks was a breath of fresh air in his Pistons debut. Meeks connected on four of his 10 shots in 22 minutes off the bench to score 12.
“It’ll take us some time to build a package, but we’ve been saying he’s a guy we can run offense through.” Van Gundy told the Detroit News. “He gives us a chance to make some plays. He reads defenses really well.”
It’s been sort of a Murphy’s Law season for Detroit. The shooters are not shooting it well (last in the league in field goal percentage); scoring has been hard to come by (29th in scoring). Pretty much anything negative, basketball wise, you can think of, the Pistons have thrived in this year. Entering the season, nobody saw this coming, especially with an accomplished coach like Stan Van Gundy running the show.
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Rotations still need to be figured out and something has to be done about Josh Smith and his number of shots and shot selection. Along with the consistently inconsistent play of Brandon Jennings who has become a pro at making fans shake their heads.
The win over Phoenix does not take Detroit off the hot seat. The team is still hard to watch and does not wonder if they should consider partaking in the dreaded “T” word, tanking. A lot of basketball is left to be played but, if the Pistons continue playing the way they have over the past month, tanking will be the best thing for them.