Pistons Digest: Williams honors the Pistons’ tenacity in the face of hardship.
Though the Pistons lost for a second straight week, Monty Williams’ comment that the quantity of young players he manages didn’t make it a miserable week at least lifts his spirits.
“Our guys, look, it’s human nature,” he remarked following the Pistons’ 26-game losing run on Saturday, which tied the NBA record for the longest losing streak in a single season. “Everyone gets depressed after losing, especially after losing so many straight games.
People should have the freedom to embrace their humanity. I’m astounded, though, by how they return the next day. Not many teams that I’ve worked with have that kind of resilience.
Our boys return each day with determination, focus, and tenacity; they don’t want to be a part of any kind of losing streak. Nevertheless, the locker room can be a depressing place after every defeat.
When the Pistons lost to Utah at Little Caesars Arena last week to extend the skid to 25, Cade Cunningham, who was used to scoring and leading during his time at Montverde Prep and in USA Basketball, expressed obvious sadness.
He remarked, “We had a chance to take it, but it just wasn’t solid enough in the end.” Personally, I turned the ball over six times. kills us. As a team, we scored 20 and gave up 27 points.
That killed us. Today, I didn’t keep anyone in front of me. That killed us. At the moment, I am experiencing a mild case of the common cold; therefore, that must improve. Right now, I’m unwell.
After being limited to only 12 games the previous season due to a stress fracture in his shin that required surgery, Cunningham, one of the few Pistons who hasn’t missed time due to injury, has played all 29 games so far.
He averages 22.4 points and 7.1 assists per game while playing nba team-high 34.8 minutes.
Aside from his six turnovers against Utah, Cunningham has significantly reduced his turnover rate as of late, averaging 2.9 in 10 games in December compared to 4.5 through the last week of November.
Cunningham is making every effort to reverse the momentum in the interim. In December, he increased his true hitting percentage to 56.3 percent and attempted 4.9 free throws on average per game.
The Pistons anticipate having Jalen Duren back soon. He has missed 15 games due to ankle sprains, missing the last eight after hurting his left foot in the team’s loss to Memphis on December 6. Williams wants to see his young players take individual strides toward winning games.
“We’re attempting to create something that is sustainable because that is history that no one wants to be a part of,” he stated. Thus, I do believe we can make a difference.
Not in terms of the system we’re using or anything like that, but simply in terms of carrying out our game plans, guarding the ball, and keeping men in front of you, I think we can play a lot better type of basketball than we are right now. Not related to the system. Those are the participants. We must improve in that area.