DETROIT – Pistons fans are better than me.
If this were my team, I wouldn't have gone to Little Caesars Arena on Thursday night to watch my team potentially lose its 25th game in a row. However, Detroit fans did. Almost every seat had a butt in it. Four days before Christmas, I wouldn't have paid for a ticket, the $50 for parking, gas, food and all the other expenses it costs to see a ballgame in person these days. The money could be used for gifts or a nice dinner. However, Pistons fans decided it was more important to do their part to prevent history from being made.
I would have left in the first quarter when I checked the score and saw that Detroit had seven turnovers against an already stinking Utah Jazz team that didn't have a handful of starters/rotation players. Instead, Pistons fans grew louder as the game went on. At least I would have left in the middle of the fourth quarter, the moment the team, two losses shy of the worst losing streak in NBA history, began to break down again, hoping to maybe outrun traffic. Pistons fans remained. They cheered. They thought. They hoped.
They don't deserve that.
A 119-111 loss to the Jazz seemed like rock bottom for a Detroit team that thought it couldn't fall any further. Forget the players Utah left out. The Jazz played in Cleveland the night before. The game against the Pistons was their third game in four days. Still, Utah was a total of 50 points behind on turnovers and second-chance points. Detroit had 28. Those are hectic stats. To put it more bluntly: “I want it more than you” statistic.
Think about it.
The team that had every reason to accept defeat, pack up and get back on a plane to Salt Lake City came to Detroit as if winning was a matter of life and death. And the team found itself in the midst of a 24-game losing streak, just a few games away from being on the wrong side of history, and with a packed arena that had every reason not to be there, crumbling, collapsing and laid down.
“This is incredibly difficult to understand,” Pistons coach Monty Williams said.
The Pistons drew 18,122 fans to see them play the Jazz on Thursday. (Rick Osentoski/USA Today)
Fans love this basketball team. How should I know? Go back to the 2000s, when Detroit's old arena, the Palace of Auburn Hills, drew the NBA's largest attendance year after year. If you put together a good product, people will come. You won't want to leave.
I also interact with these people every day, both online and in person. Your frustrations arise from love. Nobody is angry about something they don't care about.
These fans come out to support this team more often than you might think – believe it or not: 2-26 Detroit, which hasn't won a game in 54 days, ranks 15th in the NBA in total attendance. They appear proud, with a smile and optimism. Jerseys. Hooded Pullover. Hats. Whatever they can get their hands on that has the Pistons logo on it, they'll wear it. If they show up at this point with brown paper bags over their heads – like in 2008 when the Lions lost 16-0. This is so bad because it doesn't look like it's going to get better any time soon.
Some change has to take place. It can not go on like this. No matter how many times players say, “We are all we have,” or, “No one is going to save us,” or, “We can change this,” it is now very clear that this is not the case. That does not work. The spirit of this team is shattered.
Detroit doesn't have to mortgage its future to find a quick fix. That wouldn't be wise. However, a change had to take place yesterday. This group has fallen too far into the abyss. A new face, a new perspective or something, anything else seems to be the only way for this organization to reward its fan base with anything other than a win every two months.
Everyone is to blame for this. Players turn the ball over too often. They miss open shots. The coaching staff continues to rely on a bench that hasn't played well since the World Series began. The treatment of certain players may have caused this group to become spiritless. The front office has placed too much on the shoulders of players who should still be in college. The squad lacks reliable wingers. The owners may have been more interested in winning the press conference than ensuring that the coach was actually the best person for the job at this stage of the rebuild.
It's all connected. All of this is why the Pistons are where they are today, on pace to become arguably the worst team in NBA history.
This is a historic franchise that loses its luster with each passing season. Detroit hasn't won a playoff game since 2008. The Pistons have only made the playoffs three times since then. One of the most decorated organizations in NBA history has been living in the basement for nearly two decades. This doesn't even feel right.
A reset is required. Even though Detroit started over just a few years ago, it may need to start over again.
It can not go on like this. Something has to change. Because the fans don't deserve this.
(Top photo of Bojan Bogdanovic and Cade Cunningham: Brian Sevald / NBAE via Getty Images)