Please let it end. Last night, the Pistons lost to a dreadful team (Charlotte) in an empty Palace. To make matters worse, the organization gave away **free** tickets, and still nobody showed up. True, there was a snowstorm earlier in the day, but I have no doubt that - if the Lions, Tigers, or Wings gave away free tickets - twenty feet of snow couldn't keep people away. There's just no excitement with this team. After performances like last night, it's easy to see why.
They often give decent effort, on offense at least. Tracy McGrady runs the team fairly well. But, for some reason, the Pistons go through a stretch every game when the opposition just cuts them up like a hot knife through butter. The Pistons will carry a 6 or 8 point lead, and then BOOM. The other team will blitz them for 20, turning the game into a rout. Last night was the perfect example. Playing a road-weary Bobcats team, the rested Pistons came out of the gate shooting 39%. For the defense-challenged Pistons, that's not a recipe for success. Regardless, they were only down 3 at the break. In the 3rd, the Pistons looked to seize control of the game, running out to an 8 point lead. Yet, one particular play seemed to sway the momentum. Ben Gordon pounced on a loose-ball. He raced toward the opponent's basket. Instead of dunking or trying for a layup, he dished it off to Prince on the wing, with the defense barreling down on them. Prince had no option but to hold up and work an off-balance shot from the half-court. Charlotte responded by scoring on 8 straight possessions.
The Pistons 8 point lead morphed into an 18 point deficit, as Charlotte went on a 36-10 run.
It was ugly. Stephen Jackson finished the night with a season-high 39 points. Ex-Piston Kwame Brown, apparently feeling slighted by the Pistons for not giving him more minutes, displayed energy and determination on his way to a double-double. My guess is he'll quickly find his way back to the bench. Kwame might hold a grudge against Detroit, but he's got a selective memory. He had plenty of chances to win minutes the past two seasons, but he only seemed to bring his A-game against his former employers. Apparently that hasn't changed.
Still, it's quite an indictment on the Piston frontcourt that even Kwame Brown is having career games against them. Greg Monroe, for all the goodwill he's brought to the team, can't do it alone. Chris Wilcox notched only a handful of somewhat effective minutes. But the bench brigade of Ben Wallace and Charlie V got torched. And T-Mac struggled containing Stephen Jackson. In fact, the entire team struggled against that dude. As Justin Rogers pointed out on mLive, even career 40% shooters can thrash you if they're faced with no defensive pressure.
So what's it gonna take with this team? The Era of Good Feelings lasted about two weeks. It's clear that simply benching Rip is not the answer. The team still sucks. The Bobcats were headed the same direction earlier this season until head coach Larry Brown "resigned." Under new head coach Paul Silas, they're 12-8. Perhaps Dumars took note of that.
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