The Detroit Pistons have an easy win, a horrific loss, and a run-of-the-mill loss under their belt three games through the preseason. With the regular season right around the corner, a lot of NBA fans are asking themselves how their hopes and dreams of offseason fantasy are clashing with the brutal, real-world reality of actual games with actual members of their teams.
For their part, Pistons fans weren’t much interested in the record, and even though the preseason has seen the complete absence of No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham and injuries to prospective starters Killian Hayes and Saddiq Bey, they still think the same about the Pistons as they did in the offseason.
This makes them a bit of an outlier, as if you canvas NBA-wide, the plurality of fans (47%) are actually feeling better about their teams now compared to the preseason. That compares to those, like the 86% of Pistons fans surveyed and 44% of NBA fans overall who feel about the same as their favorite team.
Only 10% of voters feel worse about their favorite teams, and it’s unclear if all 10% reside in Philadelphia or not. I’ll keep you posted.
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The Pistons have one more preseason game to boost our spirits before the season kicks off against the potential juggernaut offense of the Chicago Bulls. In fact, the Pistons schedule features a home-and-home against the Bulls, then the Hawks, Sixers, Magic, Nets, Bucks, Sixers and Nets.
One misstep, and the Pistons could be staring an 0-9 start to the season square in the face. That might shake some confidence. Then again, this is still a rebuild, the team is still focusing on developing young talent, so wins and losses are not the most important metric right now.
In the land of quality basketball, we can discuss the WNBA Finals, which is a 1-1 series between the Phoenix Mercury and the Chicago Sky. According to survey respondents, Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner’s Mercury hold the slight edge over Kahleah Cooper and Allie Quigly’s Sky.
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Game 3 will be Friday night at 9 p.m. on ESPN2.
How are you feeling about the Pistons? What would be a sign things are headed in the right direction, and what would make you feel like things were headed in the wrong direction?
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