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They also need to figure out whether the pitching injuries are bad luck or whether they are doing something wrong.

Tigers are 5-1 since Harris was signed.

Here's my preview and my predictions for the Pistons this season. Please post any predictions you have for players, overall record, or even general NBA predictions (or just feel free to poke holes in my predictions). It'll be fun to look back at the end of the season and see how close (or far) we were from the truth. Last Season's Record (with some interesting slices): Overall Record: 23-59, 28% - 3rd worst in NBA Since January 1st: 18-31, 37% After All-Star: 10-14, 42% With Cade since January 1st: 15-24, 39% Without Grant Overall: 12-23, 34% Without Grant since Jan 1st: 11-15, 42% 2022-23 Projected Lineup Projected Starters: Cunningham, Ivey, Bey, Bogdanovic, Stewart Primary Reserves: Hayes, Burks, Livers, Bagley, Noel (slowly giving way to Duren) Situational Players: Diallo, McGruder, Joseph, Knox Notable Departures Jerami Grant: Addition by subtraction. The Pistons had a better record without Grant in the lineup and both Cade and Bey had better numbers and percentages without him as well. Jerami was a solid player, but he was playing above his level, taking a lot of inefficient shots, and rarely engaged defensively or on the boards. Kelly Olynyk: Kelly had one of the worst statistical seasons of his recent career, and one that was plagued with injuries/illnesses. Addition by subtraction here as well. Frank Jackson: A gamble that didn't work out. Frank returned to his norm (31% from three) and proved that his previous season's 40% from 3 was not sustainable, even though he still took the third most threes per game (5.3) on the team. Other than his 2000's era long shorts and his mustache, he won't be missed. Notable Additions Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren: As excited as I am to watch them, we don't know what these kids will bring in their rookie years. The only thing I'll say is that the team addressed a huge need in the offseason by getting what could be the 2 most gifted athletes in the entire draft. Alec Burks: Proven shooter who can score in bunches. Scored nearly 12 ppg last season on 40% from three and also added in 5 rebounds and 3 assists to just 1 turnover. Clear and proven upgrade over Frank Jackson. He'll add some much needed spacing to this team and probably play a lot of 4th quarter minutes for Casey. Nerlens Noel: Veteran shot blocker and paint defender (with terrible hands on offense). He'll play early in the season as Duren gets his feet under him, but I expect his minutes to dwindle due to injury, trade, or simply to make room for Duren as the season progresses. Nice depth piece with veteran experience, solid defense, and verticality. Bojan Bogdanovic: An absolute steal of a trade from Weaver. Underrated player who will slot in next to Bey at the other Forward spot and provides exactly what this team needs on offense - more spacing. He's flown under the radar, but Bojan averaged 18 ppg, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.7 assists on 45.5% FG, 38.7% 3PT, and 60 TS%. He was a dependable 30 mpg starter on a high caliber Western Conference playoff team, and he's done it for years. He'll be a clear offensive upgrade over Grant, with much higher efficiency and provide better spacing. The defense is mediocre, but I've read that he plays hard and is a better defender than most think - either way, we weren't getting much from Grant on D last year either. Using History to Project the 2022-23 Record Since Jan 1, 2022 the Pistons were 37% overall, but they were up to 42% in certain slices (for instance, without Grant). That would put them at 30 to 34 wins if all things remained equal. However, I believe this team got better: -The spacing is better with Bojan and Burks, alongside any 3pt shooting improvements from Cade, Bey, and Stew -The athleticism is much improved with Ivey and Duren -I expect that Cade, Bey, and Stew (and maybe Hayes?) will have continued to improve overall -The big-man situation isn't the train wreck it was for most of last year before they got Bagley But, then again: -They're still super young and historically young teams struggle in the NBA -The East is absolutely brutal this year And Finally, My Prediction... 35-47, 11th in the East: I expect the floor to be 30 wins and the ceiling to be 39, so I went with 35 wins and a 11th place finish in the East over Orlando, Indiana, Charlotte, and Washington. This is about 5 wins higher than what I would have predicted if you asked me before the Bojan trade came in. I expect the Knicks to be around the 40 win mark to get them into the 10th seed play-in game. I don't expect the Pistons to get to 40+ wins and a play-in spot unless Ivey comes out looking like rookie Dwayne Wade and Cade comes out looking like second year Luka (but we can hope).

And see here's where my issue would be... I'd bet $10, win $5 and think: "Man...if I'd have bet $100 I would have won $50!" and so next week I'd be tempted to bet a lot more. Self-control in areas like this are NOT my forte, so I do my best to not get started.

i'm much more worried about the injuries than i am about a last second loss to the vikings on the road. next week is the real test. they should win that game. and last year the seahawks bitch slapped them. are they a different team? lets see.

This was a 3 win team last year. Last year in Minnesota they basically trailed the whole game until late. This time they were the better team for almost the entire game. They've lost their two games by a total of 7 points to good teams. The team is getting there.

You realize you can be both in praise of someone and then later critical of a decision or multiple decisions beings made. This isn't a zero sum game with only one acceptable solution or opinion. I thought Campbell was smart and aggressive earlier in the game going for it. Guess what, I still believe that. He had this team in a good position during the first half, maybe even 3 full quarters. I thought he made several mistakes though down the stretch including the field goal and the decision to call the time out during their final drive. Those decisions down the stretch cost this team the game and for that I am going to be critical. Believe it or not, you can have both viewpoints because a game is fluid not static, things change, and a coaches decision making changes throughout the course of a game too. I know you have a narrative you want to tell of everyone jumping off the bandwagon, but that isn't happening. No one in mass is calling for Holmes or Campbell to be fired. Not here, not on 97.1, not on Twitter as far as I can tell. Calling out mistakes that cost your team a game isn't jumping off the bandwagon. The Lions as an organizaion and Dan Campbell aren't supreme beings who deserve absolute loyalty at all times.

Headline: Detroit area hospitals flooded with ankle injuries from people bailing on the Lions bandwagon.

Which keeps in line with my thinking Rogue One is the best film they've done since Empire.

Much more mature than the very disappointing dumbed down Boba Fett. That one could have been so much better but they turned it into an 8yr old's idea of what a gangster boss should be like.

seems a bit like the third episode of Andor.

4-2. winner winner chicken dinner.

Sure but when you're up by 10 midway through the 4th with the ball, you should expect to win every time. I get that there is a bigger picture thing and the Lions are still a ways off from being a good team but it doesn't make the frustration any less when they completely self destruct in a very winnable game.

We knocked the Jerk Sox out of the playoffs!!!

A sweep. They sent 30,000 plus Sox fans home shaking their heads in dismay three games in a row. Ending the season right now on a high note would be good. Close the book, the good guys win, they rescue the damsels in distress, and money falls from the sky like autumn leaves. Drinks are on me!

One mistake? Wasting timeouts AGAIN, going for the field goal from a mile away, went to the well too many times with 4th down calls, no creativity in the run game when they had the lead, going deep on a 3rd and 1 up by 10, Williams to the outside on 4th down. A few others as well. Just like the Eagles game, too many head scratching decisions.

I haven't had anywhere near enough of Riley Greene in CF, though. I want many, many years of it.

This is for any retail loyalty program that uses a phone number as identification to give a discount. If you don't want to sign up yourself then use 867-5309 with your local area code and it will supposedly almost always work. People sign up with fake numbers and the most famous fake number ever is 867-5309. Enjoy your 7 cents per gallon discount on gas.

Watching my daughter's marching band. I'm biased, sure. But this band is really good and a very popular activity for kids to be involved in (140-150 kids out of about 1,000 total high school). And after helping chaperone for a couple of football games and being at the game from that perspective and knowing their summer and daily after school practice schedules (Mon-Thurs including a week of two a days in the summer), it just opened my eyes to all of the work that goes into it.