The Detroit Pistons are coming close to making the worst kind of history possible. After their 25th consecutive loss, they’re now one loss away from tying the longest single-season losing streak. The team has come under fire, but last season’s center Nerlens Noel has defended the young group of players, eluding to poor treatment from the front office and coaching as the reason behind their struggles.
“Good group of players – the front office and coaches were hurting them boys last year. No BS.”
Noel is an NBA veteran who has been in the NBA since 2013, finding himself without a contract this season. He started the 22-23 season as a member of the Pistons after the Knicks traded him to the franchise in the offseason. He played just 14 games in Detroit but was on the franchise until he reached a contract buyout on February 28 and was waived.
Similar to what John Wall had to say about the Rockets during their years of tanking, it seems the coaching and the front office have inculcated some bad habits. They fell to the bottom of the NBA last season with a record of 17-65 and took a big shit in the Draft when they fell to No. 4 and missed out on Victor Wembanyama. The tanking habits haven’t been shaken, even with a new coach like Monty Williams.
The Pistons face the Nets next and will hope they can leave that game without another loss to make their name enter the record books for the longest single-season losing streak, with the potential of breaking even more losing records. If the streak extends to 29 losses, it’ll be the longest losing streak in NBA history.
The Pistons Didn’t Intend To Be This Bad
If the Pistons lose to the Brooklyn Nets on 23 December, they’ll join the 2013-14 Philadelphia 76ers and the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers as the team tied for the most consecutive losses in a season. The difference between Detroit and the other two franchises is that they intentionally bottomed out to maximize their draft odds.
The 2014 76ers were in ‘the process’ and ended up drafting Joel Embiid in the 2014 Draft, who transformed their future, as Embiid has made them a contender for over half a decade now.
The 2011 Cavaliers just lost LeBron James and already had a pitiful supporting cast around him. Without James, the team completely fell apart and couldn’t win a game to save their lives. Tanking that year didn’t get them the No. 1 overall pick, as their pick fell to No. 3 and they drafted future champion Tristan Thompson. But they got the draft rights to No. 1 overall pick Kyrie Irving due to owning the Clippers’ pick. That set them up to lure LeBron back to the franchise and win their first-ever title in 2016.
The Pistons wanted to be competitive, as indicated by their refusal to trade Bojan Bogdanovic and signing Monty Williams. Unfortunately, it seems the energy across the roster is down and the franchise will need to make sweeping changes. They’ve tanked to the bottom without trying already, with the hope that a mid-season miracle could save their season.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
