Shades of '08?

Very discouraging loss by the Pistons last night. Perhaps the worst loss since Utah. The Pistons were up by 13 at the half and seemed in total control. Then they reverted to Curry-esque offensive sets allowing New Orleans back into the game.

The game was incredibly reminiscent of last year. The Stones would play well for 40 minutes and then fade at the end.

I'll start with the good news. Even without Rip Hamilton (out again with a hamstring pull), the Pistons manhandled the Hornets in the first half. Swarming defense caused over ten turnovers and led to easy baskets. They continued to rotate the ball on offense and work it inside. Even Chucky Atkins caught fire, hitting three straight shots. The Hornets were lucky to be only down 13 at the break. Greg Kelser astutely said before the break, "With the way the Hornets are playing, the Pistons should be upset they're not leading by more." Too true.

Despite scoring 28 and 27 in the first two quarters, the Stones only managed 18 and 14 in the final two. The offense just hit a wall. Chris Paul, who was shockingly scoreless in the first half, scored 16, but it was David West who was the difference maker. No Piston could slow him down. The big man scored 32, hitting an astounding 15 of 22 shots. On the other end of the court, the Pistons did just about everything wrong. They repeatedly turned it over (12 in the second half, mostly Stuckey and Bynum) and stopped attacking the basket. In crunch time, the offense consisted of either Stuckey or Bynum dribbling at the top of the key and then hoisting a contested jumper. I could've sworn I saw these guys on the sideline.

This was a bad, bad loss. The Hornets have a great player in Chris Paul, but they are not a great team. And yet they still beat the Pistons while sleepwalking through an entire half. Going back to their win over Golden State, this is three poor showings by the Pistons. They next travel to Oklahoma City to battle Kevin Durant. OkC already beat the Stones once this year. I do not have high hopes.

For what it's worth, Austin Daye's playing time has slowly increased. The silky shooter got 25 minutes last night, scoring 9. It's not a harbinger of greatness, but it does show Kuester's confidence in him. Daye continues to struggle with rotation defense, but he's quite a handful on the offensive end. For a 6'11 forward, he's a solid ballhandler who can score in a variety of ways. Teams know they have to respect his jumpshot, so they tend to swarm him, forcing him into a rookie mistake (traveling, stepping out of bounds, forced shot, etc). If Daye can improve his ability to find the open man, he'll be quite a handful.