On one hand, the more lottery balls the Pistons close the season with, the better. On the other hand, the Detroit Pistons have no business losing to the Charlotte Bobcats. Things may be difficult in Detroit, but Charlotte has it harder than most fans could imagine. This Bobcats team is having the worst season in the history of the 3-point era, winning only 12.5% of their games. There's no basement deeper than this.
(and it couldn't happen to a nicer guy)
Game Tips at 7:30P.M. EST
Charlotte Bobcats: 4 - 28 (2 - 16 road)
Detroit Pistons: 11 - 25 (8 - 11 home)
The Situation:
Think about that stat above. Since the 3-point shot was introduced to the league (before most of us were born), no team has ever played worse than these Charlotte Bobcats. That's not easy. A performance like this could give the Washington Generals a run for their money. There have to be so many bad things happening at once to force a team to lose like this. How is Charlotte doing it?
It's pretty simple-- they don't score and they don't stop the other team from scoring. They sport the league's widest negative point margin at -14.3, meaning their opposition outscores them by that number on average. That's nearly double the margin the Pistons give up, so an easy way to understand it is to assume that the Bobcats suck double-worse than the Pistons do. Ouch.
One amazing thing is that the Bobcats slightly out-rebound the Pistons, but their team leader averages 5.5 rebounds per game. That same guy, Boris Diaw, actually out-passes every Detroit Piston, dishing out 4.4 assists per game. It's that kind of stat that should give Pistons fans pause before we (and be we, I mean I) criticize...
Keys to the Game:
Feed the Moose: While you're at it, Feed the Swede. Last time the Pistons faced the Bobcats, this handsome duo combined for 41 points, 18 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks. Here's an idea, bring Prince off the bench and start Jerebko at the 3. It's not a new idea, but it's a good one.
Defend Charlotte's only effective play: The only thing Charlotte is remotely good at is isolation plays. So stick on your man-- and so long as Biyombo is outside of the paint, don't worry about him on offense, hosers.
Post-ups and Pick-and-Rolls: Tonight's game is one to win in the paint. Yes, Biyombo's got blocks, but pick-and-rolls and post-up plays are very effective against this team.
Question of the Game:
Will Charlotte's full season go down as the worst in league history since the 3-point line was added? All they need to do is continue on this pace.