The Detroit Pistons’ 2017 season gets underway Wednesday at 7:00 at the Palace of Auburn Hills, excuse me, I mean the Dough Joe, no, it’s Little Caesars Arena (LCA). Yessir, yessir, the greatest sport (sorry, not sorry football) is back in business! The round ball. The alley-oop. The no-look pass. Ninety-four feet of heaven. Ninety-four feet of hell. Showtime. BAD BOYS.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_lvkrXULXE
Full House beats a Pair.
You get the idea.
This current crop of Detroit Pistons are hoping last year’s hiccup was just that, and head coach Stan Van Gundy hopes they can build on their young talent and make a playoff run for the second time in three years. Detroit will have some new faces to go along with their new digs. They added some much-needed shooting in the draft, grabbing Luke Kennard out of Duke with the 12th pick. Kennard averaged 19.5 points and 5.1 rebounds his sophomore year under Coach Mike Krzyzewski, including hitting 44% of his 3-point shots.
They shipped out Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and brought in former Celtics’ shooting guard Avery Bradley, essentially getting rid of a lock-down defender who can sometimes shoot, for a lock-down defender who can sometimes shoot. Marcus Morris went as part of the Bradley deal, giving Tobias Harris the starting power forward position all to himself, and giving Stanley Johnson the reigns at small forward. Reggie Jackson handles the point, while Andre Drummond controls the paint.
Detroit (37-45 in 2016-17) begins the season at home against the Charlotte Hornets (36-46 in 2016-17). The Hornets, like the Pistons, are coming off a disappointing year following a playoff run in the 2015-16 season and hope to turn things around in 2017. They’re led by ever-improving point guard Kemba Walker, and newly-acquired center Dwight Howard. Nic Batum, the Hornets’ starting shooting guard/small forward will miss the first 15-20 games with a torn ligament in his left elbow, giving that spot to Jeremy Lamb, reuniting the backcourt of the 2011 National Champion UConn Huskies.
The seasons begins tonight at 7:00 at LCA. It’s time to go to work. It’s time for Deeeeetroit Basketbaaaaaall.
