Beef has to be in consideration for the All-Defensive team. His defensive # at the rim is incredible especially at 6’8". Elite rim protector who can switch.
1 Like
So while Detroit was having some fun near the west coast, Bucks and Pacers have gone on 3 and 4 game losing streaks, and lo and behold with Detroit’s beatdown of Washington last night, the standings are now this:
Tied for 4th and 5th place (Though those 2 teams have played 2 fewer games), still 5.5 games clear of the play in. Piston’s remaining schedule is mixed with great and bad teams but if they can beat all the bad ones & steal a few wins from the great ones, they could hit that 4th seed.
2 Likes
Pistons end the year with back to back against the Bucks.
For now I don’t think the 3 seed will be in play even if Brunson sits the rest of the regular season cause dating back to last season, New York has been a tough outing no matter the injury woes
I mean, it’s not really based on the Pistons beating the Knicks head to head, it’s based on the knicks needing to be 5 games worse than the Pistons over 16 games without their 32 usage guy
Obviously, it’s a longshot given the lead the Knicks have, but I think it’s definitely a possibility.
I do think that there is a meaningful value in getting to 5 or 4 just because I think a full strength Knicks team is a substantial upgrade in difficulty to the Bucks and Pacers
It was pointed out to me that the Pistons own the tiebreaker over Atlanta so it’s more like 6 game lead over them.
Per the simulations:
0.6% 3rd place
20.2% 4th place
31.8% 5th place
44.2% 6th place
1.9% 7th place
0.7% 8th place
45-37 projected record
1 Like
So they are projecting that we go 8-8 the rest of the way, with 6 games vs. sub-.500 teams remaining. That seems a little pessimistic. I feel like 10-6 or at least 9-7 is a pretty safe bet, so long as we don’t get any more injuries.
Given the last few years, no matter what the thing is being discussed, I’d bet on Detroit getting the 5th thing.
3 Likes
It’s not a “they”, it’s one of those “we simulate the season 10,000 times every morning” things. Just eye-balling the schedule, it seems like it makes sense
you’d think they’d lose:
OKC, Cavs, @OKC, @Minnesota
you’d think they’d win:
Wizards, Spurs, Pelicans, @Pelicans, I guess @mavs
Which leaves the 2 games against the Bucks, @Raptors, @Heat as tossups
Both the Raptors and Pelicans have been playing much better as they get some players back, so tough to really tell there. I don’t think either game is a pushover. Maybe @Pelicans should be a tossup
so maybe its 1 game too pessimistic by my estimation but obviously we’re entering silly season in terms of player participation (for instance, those last two vs the bucks could be both teams going all out for a seed or playing their GLeague teams) so hard to tell
2 Likes
I’ve been saying this since his rookie year despite his many detractors.
Zion has it humming right now, tough time to get the Pellies twice. Hopefully I eat my words but I am feeling a split there. Would rather go @Miami than @Pels right now
1 Like
Granted they haven’t played OKC yet but the Pistons are 12-9 against the West for a .571 winning %.
They’re .556 against the East.
Zion is prone to load-management as I’ve personally experienced on my fantasy basketball team. Especially after the injury which kept him out a good chunk of this season. I’m assuming the Pelicans will be very careful deploying Zion each game considering their record.
Do you think Chauncey is going to win coach of the year with the Pistons??
https://x.com/awfulannouncing/status/1899680917540704346?t=ANs2QlYExiJR_KDng1ePBg&s=19
The Eastern Conference battle for the 4th seed is going to be a bloodbath between Indiana, Milwaukee and the Pistons. Should make for a great storyline for the Central division.
1 Like
I would say “Tell me you don’t watch the Pistons without telling me you don’t watch the Pistons.” line but he went on to say that he doesn’t watch the Pistons.
He’s not exactly one who takes his job that seriously.
1 Like
Chuck and Shaq do not watch basketball. They’re also haters so they’re contributing to the negative aspect of basketball media which bleeds into fans. Look at the difference between the TV coverage between the NFL and NBA. NFL is more positive yet realistic and does go into scheme where the NBA is negative and hot takez.
Throw in the limited availability of NBA games and constant ads on top of it, people wonder why the NBA is struggling. Adam Silver has done a bad job of being a commish which would’ve been unthinkable a decade ago.
1 Like
Yeah, you’re trying to get people interested and care about your product, but you have Shaq saying he doesn’t even watch certain teams and doesn’t even know who the Pistons coach is. If a man who is literally paid to talk about the NBA isn’t watching the games, why should a random non-NBA fan tune in? Why does Shaq have that job if he doesn’t even want to do his homework? How is it helpful to the league if he bad mouths a team and then says he actually doesn’t even watch them?
4 Likes