The Detroit Pistons have lost 11 consecutive games after a somewhat promising 2-1 start to the season, most recently getting demolished by the Raptors, 142-113 on Sunday in Toronto.
The loss to the Raptors was, by far, the most lopsided during the losing streak and added to the frustration building in Detroit. For much of their winless streak, the Pistons have been somewhat competitive with six losses by single digits. That allows you to believe you’re on the precipice of shaking free of a skid, but Sunday’s performance in Toronto laid bare how far the Pistons have to go.
After the game, star guard Cade Cunningham offered up his assessment of where the Pistons are, saying bluntly “we’re bad,” and says the team has to be able to address that and be honest in identifying the areas they’re struggling so they can make requisite improvements, via James L. Edwards III of The Athletic.
“We got to be realistic about the situation,” Cade Cunningham said. “It’s hard to just be like, ‘We’re good, we’re good,’ you know what I’m saying? Because we’re bad. We have to address that. We have to address what we’re not good at. Address it with not only our words but on the court, in the huddles.”
It’s good the Pistons have a young leader like Cunningham who is willing to take this kind of honest approach. As Edwards explains, Cunningham and Isaiah Stewart have taken the leadership roles in the Pistons locker room and have kept them together during their losing streak, but are also not afraid to challenge their teammates. Cunningham went on to call the effort level in Toronto “unacceptable” for a young team that should be hungry and scrapping every night. A young team needs that kind of accountability, but they also have to respond to it and we’ll see if the Pistons can find a way to do that sooner than later (getting healthier would, of course, help the cause considerably).
Things won’t get much easier for the Pistons in the immediate as they are on a back-to-back against the Nuggets back in Detroit on Monday night, but at the least we’ll see if they can pick up their intensity and attentiveness with the defending champs in town.