NYLion

But it also took Paolo being Superman to keep those guys in the game. It evened out between the two. Regardless, I wouldn't say that this win inspired much confidence since Duren was still largely a no show and the bench still isn't bringing much but they're alive still so we'll take it.

The last two games went down to the wire despite that but, yeah, Orlando has clearly been the better team.

I know he has no help but Cade is overrated guys. He's not a true star, very good player but not a star that takes over games. For this reason, you have to let go of Duren and Ausar because he needs a lot of help and neither of these two is it. Good thing that the playoffs exposed this before they did something foolish like max Duren which they might still do but it would be a big mistake.

I said it on deadline day that it was a missed opportunity for Langdon not making a play for Dosunmu, a guy who would have been a perfect fit at a reasonable cost.

Yep, that spurt in the 4th just masked the issues that this team has. They've outplayed Orlando 2 out of 12 quarters roughly, it's just not good enough.

Makes no sense and he inserted Reed when it was too late really. The positive to take this series is that you absolutely cannot pay Duren anywhere near max money. If they do that and marry themselves to a Cade, Duren and Ausar core they will never get close to winning a Championship.

Orlando is clearly the better team and the Pistons are clearly not nearly as good as their record indicates. We kind of knew that this roster had big flaws and it's manifesting itself now in the games that really count.

The only reason it looks questionable in hindsight is because of the injury, that doesn't mean it was a mistake to extend him because how could they possibly know that he'd get injured. Based on his performance, it was a no brainer to extend him.

What? That's some serious hindsight right here. Alim was trending to be a top 5 defensive tackle just entering his prime, how could the Lions staff have possibly known that he would get seriously injured? I guarantee that you weren't saying at the time that they shouldn't extend him. Philly isn't improving, they're replacing guys they lost.

How do you know that they would have been there at their original pick? Because of scouting grades? It always drives me nuts when fans say this as if a smart GM like Holmes doesn't have an inkling or some intel that his guy might get taken earlier.

I feel similar about the Miller and Moore. I like them, I get the picks, they filled big needs which is the important thing but I feel like some upside was left on the table. It seems like Brad has changed his approach a bit of swinging for upside by playing it safe which is actually fine since the Lions should be in win now mode and could use some high floor prospects that are Day 1 starters. Lets say I'm whelmed, content might be the right word but not excited.

That was more like Pistons basketball fueled by a defensive barrage in the 3rd but still so many concerns. Duren can show up anytime now and the bench outside of Stew (who I consider a 6th starter anyway) was invisible again. Not sure why Sasser and BBall Paul aren't getting any minutes when others are struggling but I digress. Anyway, much needed win and now off to Disney World.

I actually think the biggest issue was that the Magic beat the Pistons at their own game, they were tougher and dominated the paint. I think we all knew that the Pistons half court offense would be a chore but if they had simply played their game, not whatever that abomination was last night, they probably win this game. That's the most disappointing part to me, that the Pistons weren't ready for the fight. If the Pistons don't excel at what they're good at and impose their will with their style of play, they have no chance to beat anybody in a playoff series and certainly not a team as talented as Orlando that is finally healthy. They just don't have the horses to win any other way.

Well...yikes. Our worst fears of what could plague this team come playoff time came true. Where does the offense come from when the game tightens up? Duren is not even close to a #2 option, I don't know how anybody can justify paying this guy max money and, really, they just don't have much talent offensively. If you look at a HEALTHY Orlando team on paper compared to the Pistons roster and didn't look at the records, you'd be shocked that this was a 1 vs. matchup, it's more of a 4/5. Obviously the series is far from over but I think it's apparent that this isn't a Championship contender and also illustrates how pointless NBA regular season is.

Pistons are playing great ball. Playoff intensity is way different so maybe they choke but based on the eye test, these guys look primed to make a deep run. No real passengers on this team outside of Lavert on occasion but even he has pieced together some nice games.

Well, they did already in Detroit so now it's the Pistons turn to rest guys. This is what the NBA is now, the regular season is virtually meaningless because you never see full rosters. The most meaningless regular seasons of any major sport and I don't think it's close.

Huerter has been really good in limited minutes and now with more opportunity recently. I like him quite a bit more than Levert even though Levert provides a bigger need with shot creation. Hopefully this trend continues of more Huerter and less Levert.

Jenkins seems to play better when he gets more minutes, it makes me wonder how he'd look alongside Cade in clutch moments. Hate him all you want and it seems like some folks are looking for reasons to not like him but he's probably the second best shot creator on this team believe it or not so Cade having another guy like that in crunch time could be beneficial. Just a thought

They won 9 in a row with some of those wins against good teams and you literally said it was a rough matchup earlier in the thread. Sure they're probably overrated but I don't know why the Pistons don't get credit for beating them without two of their best players, nobody was saying that the Pistons "should" have won this game. In fact, a lot of people were writing the Pistons obituary the moment the Cade injury news came out and they're showing that they're a lot more than just Cade.

They should have beat a healthy Lakers team? Lets give them some credit

It's not an easy schedule by any means but these are the Celtics playoff/play opponents... Minny, OKC, Atlanta, Charlotte, Atlanta, Miami, Toronto, Charlotte, Knicks and Orlando. Of their final 12, they play 9 of 12 against play in or playoff teams and the play in teams in the east this season are pretty strong. If the Pistons go, lets say, 7-7, the Celtics would have to go 10-2 as I believe the Pistons win the tiebreaker. That's a tall task for the Celtics even with the Pistons not having Cade and it's not like the Pistons have been junk without Cade this season.

The Pistons have played reasonably well without Cade, the schedule doesn't look that daunting. 3.5 games is a lot of ground to make up with only 12-13 games left. I don't think this is a death blow to the season. Assuming that this is a 4-6 week thing for Cade to get fully up to speed, they'll likely have to navigate Round 1 without a fully functional Cade. It'll be tough but it's doable.

Too early to tell obviously and Ratledge was a nice pick but they only have one surefire starter from that draft and ideally you want 2-3 starters. Tyliek was more of a rotational guy which is fine for a 1st season so we'll see on him, they traded an extra 3rd rounder for a #3 WR who I like but for a team that was going to lose guys due to cap restraints wasting an extra 3rd on a luxury pick looks like a mistake IMO. The rest of the guys are projects which is fine for lower round guys, Frazier could turn out to be something. There's some guys with upside there, I'm a big Teslaa fan, but the returns are modest thus far one season in which is all we can really judge now. Time will tell...

Have to say that I agree. Two questionable drafts in a row although early to give a final judgment, no FA acquisitions of note and what looks like it could be a dud in Reed, no trades of note outside of Carlton Davis who they let go to sign what looks to be a worse player in Reed. I will say in his defense that the catastrophic amount of injuries and Ragnow's retirement late in the offseason kind of started this spiral downwards which was out of his control but he hasn't done a great job of plugging the holes partly due to poor draft decisions with the trade ups for project players.

You would think that Holmes sees all the holes on the roster and doesn't think that the draft can fix even most of them. I didn't expect any big splashes but at least some guys that can plug in as a starter or at least a high quality backup. We're talking about a downgrade at RB, no starting tackle opposite of Sewell, no edge rushers to speak of, thinned out depth in the interior of the defensive line, lost quality depth at linebacker, less depth at CB and one healthy safety currently in Izien. They improved at center but downgraded in a lot of other areas. We'll see what happens the rest of free agency and at the draft but this is the worst roster the Lions have had in quite some time. The core guys are mostly still here but the depth has been decimated.