Detroit Pistons – The News Desk

NBA Pre-Postseason Player Tiers 1 and 2: Wembanyama quickly rising; Giannis, Jokić steady at top

13Apr

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NBA Pre-Postseason Player Tiers 1 and 2: Wembanyama quickly rising; Giannis, Jokić steady at top

Yesterday, I largely focused on setting the table for the updated NBA Pre-Postseason Players Tiers before revealing Tier 3 (players between the 24th and 42nd spot) and Tier 4 (Nos. 43-80).Today, I’m going to get a little more into some of the more interesting and/or challenging placements, as well as note a few overall trends.For starters, a consistent bit of feedback — and one I’ve gotten from multiple sources since the release of Tiers 3 and 4 — is the always difficult evaluation of which player is more valuable between an elite role player and a good-but-not-great primary or secondary creator. A senior analytics staffer within the league went so far as to argue they would prefer essentially the entirety of Tier 4A, largely made up of elite role players or connectors, over Tier 3B, whic...

New scene at NBA games: Fans screaming at players about their losing bets

4Apr

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New scene at NBA games: Fans screaming at players about their losing bets

NBA players have always gotten an earful from fans, whether at home or on the road. It comes with the job.But this season, it’s getting darker.The recent surge in legalized gambling in every pro league, and throughout college athletics, has impacted American sports in ways thought unimaginable just a few years ago. But along with the potential good that hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenues bring to the NBA and other leagues, something new and ominous has arrived: verbal abuse directed at players and coaches based solely on fans’ wagers.GO DEEPERTrotter: With legalized betting, could society be the big loser?Fans can now bet in real-time on their smartphones, on all aspects of the game, including minutiae such as how many rebounds one player might get in the first half, and how ...

Longest losing streaks in sports history: What pantheon of ineptitude could Pistons be joining?

27Dec

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Longest losing streaks in sports history: What pantheon of ineptitude could Pistons be joining?

The Detroit Pistons will knock on the door of historic ineptitude Tuesday night. Losers of 26 straight games, the Pistons are one loss away from having their name etched in record books as the sole owners of the longest single-season losing streak in NBA history.Detroit will take its last swing at preventing infamy as it hosts the Brooklyn Nets at Little Caesars Arena, mere miles from where the franchise hoisted Larry O’Brien trophies in three straight decades. While those tough-nosed teams earned the right to be circled on opponents’ calendars, the 2023-24 Pistons’ calendar has looked far different — the team hasn’t won a game since Oct. 28.But Detroit hasn’t been an innovator of incredible incompetence. With tonight’s loss, they would join a pantheon of legendary losers from around the ...

Dunking hurts: Why players hate — and love — the NBA’s greatest feat

23Dec

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Dunking hurts: Why players hate — and love — the NBA’s greatest feat

The dunk is basketball’s most lionized play. The most iconic ones are canonized, referenced fondly and often, debated for their merits and significance. The sport’s language has created so many names for it: jam, yam, slam, poster, stuff, hammer. It’s a unique club that only few on this world can join. It’s marvelous.And it hurts like hell.“Can you think of any other concept where your hand swings at something metal?” 11-year NBA veteran Austin Rivers asks. “It’ll probably hurt, yeah?”When asked, players catalog the pain dunking has caused: broken nails; bent fingers; recent bruises; lasting scars; midair collisions; twisted necks; dangerous landings. Injuries that cost them games or even seasons.Derrick Jones Jr., a former NBA All-Star Weekend dunk contest winner now with the Dallas Mave...

40 years later, inside the highest-scoring game in NBA history

15Dec

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40 years later, inside the highest-scoring game in NBA history

Forty years, and a lifetime later, Kiki VanDeWeghe is still pissed.“Oh, yeah. Very much so,” VanDeWeghe said, calmly but firmly. “It still bugs me today. People say, ‘Well you scored a lot of points.’ OK … but, so?“We lost the game.”VanDeWeghe was a classic small forward in the 1980s, a quick midrange shooter able to score with either hand. He did so in abundance the night of Dec. 13, 1983 — as did nearly everyone who played that night. It was a night when his Denver Nuggets and the visiting Detroit Pistons shredded the NBA’s record book, combining for 370 points during a 186-184 Pistons victory in triple overtime — and it’s still the highest-scoring game in the league’s 78 seasons.Considering the NBA’s history of prolific individual scorers and high-octane teams, the fact that this game ...

The Detroit Pistons have lost 20 straight games. How did they get here?

14Dec

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The Detroit Pistons have lost 20 straight games. How did they get here?

DETROIT — Some faces were defeated, others in shock. Some eyes peered down at the floor, others gazed into the abyss. The only noise heard was that of players taking off their shoes. The spirit of a young, vibrant Detroit Pistons basketball team heard just hours earlier was sucked out of each and everybody and now lying next to the dirty laundry in the locker room.It was Nov. 1, and the respectable 2-2 Pistons — who had only lost to last year’s Eastern Conference champions, the Miami Heat, and the Oklahoma City Thunder, the current No. 2 seed in the Western Conference — were welcoming the Portland Trail Blazers. On that night, the Pistons had a commanding 15-point lead seconds into the third quarter. They had dominated in every facet. For yet another 24 minutes, the Pistons showed they w...

2023-24 NBA City Edition Jerseys: Every Nike uniform ranked from worst to first

12Nov

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2023-24 NBA City Edition Jerseys: Every Nike uniform ranked from worst to first

The 2023-24 Nike NBA City Edition uniforms were unveiled last Thursday. NBA fans will be treated to another season where alternate uniforms, according to Nike, continue to “represent the stories, history and heritage that make each franchise unique.”The uniforms are now in their seventh season with the NBA, and they have been a big hit in the past. Home teams will wear the uniforms throughout the NBA In-Season Tournament, which tipped off last Friday and will run until Dec. 9.The big question: How does this year’s collection of uniforms look? The 30 Nike NBA City Edition jerseys for the 2023-24 season.The unveiling gave The Athletic’s team of Jason Jones, James Edwards III and Kelly Iko an opportunity to discuss the jerseys in depth. The trio conferred about all 30 City Editi...

Bold predictions for the NBA season, including Wembanyama the All-Star and a Celtics title

22Oct

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Bold predictions for the NBA season, including Wembanyama the All-Star and a Celtics title

What time is it? That’s right … it’s time to make some outlandish statements that people will look back on next spring and cackle hysterically.OK, that’s not actually the goal, but it is certainly an occupational hazard. Prognostication makes fools of us all; there are just too many things we can’t possibly have seen coming. Thank goodness for that, actually, as sports would be pretty boring otherwise.That won’t stop me from trying, though. With the regular season starting next week, now is the time to gaze into my extremely hazy crystal ball and make some calls for what will happen in the coming months. In particular, the goal is to make some calls that might go against the tide and are actually, y’know … bold. For instance, “Nikola Jokić will make the All-Star team” is a defensible pre...

NBA’s sudden change of heart on load management is odd, but better late than never

15Oct

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NBA’s sudden change of heart on load management is odd, but better late than never

The NBA’s 180 on load management is giving me whiplash.Five seconds ago, every available piece of science the NBA told us it had in its possession from its teams said – screamed – the same thing: players not only needed more time off but that the league would be derelict in its partnership with its players if it didn’t align with teams, whose data said: rest.The league cut way back on back-to-back games. Many teams eliminated morning shootarounds, as they were viewed as disruptive to players’ sleep patterns. Every team had a “Director of Very Important Sports Science and Cutting Edge MahnaMahna” and scores of eager data collectors. Wearables tracked every waking moment of every player, what they ate, and when. Cameras high above each arena tracked every movement of every player on the cou...