If You Thought The Patriots/Giants Game From Yesterday Was Gross, Just Wait For Tonight's Showdown Between The Pistons And Wizards
Yesterday in the NFL we were treated to one of the most disgusting displays of football many of of have ever seen. With the 2-8 Patriots slated to face off against the 3-8 Giants, it was every bit as gross as you probably imagined heading into the game. One of those matchups where whoever won the game did more harm than good when factoring in the draft ramifications.
It was a matchup so terrible, Clem rightfully dubbed it the Sucker Bowl I
Well, what if I were to tell you we're about to get something tonight in the NBA that has all the makings of something even more disgusting to watch? As brutal as you may think watching bad football can be, I would argue being subjected to watching disgusting basketball is equally as tough.
If you had to think of the worst teams in the NBA right now, who comes to mind? The Spurs are 3-14 and have lost 12 straight, but at least they have Wemby so it makes watching their games somewhat worth it. Sure they'll never win, but he still does cool shit on the floor. The Grizzlies are 3-13 and 0-8 at home, but 90% of their team is either injured or suspended so what can you expect? That leaves us two teams and the entire reason for this blog.
We're getting our own Sucker Bowl tonight, but with an NBA twist.
In one corner, we have the 2-14 Detroit Pistons, losers of 13 straight games. In the other corner, we have the 2-14 Washington Wizards, losers of 9 straight games. Unfortunately for one of these teams, someone has to win. If you're looking for basketball futility, it's harder to find a better example than these two teams.
Offense:
DET: 26th
WSH: 23rd
Defense:
DET: 23rd
WSH: 30th
Net Rating:
DET: 25th
WSH: 29th
The fact that the Pistons (L13) and the Wizards (L9) are in this spot shouldn't be all that surprising. In fact, just last season we saw the Wizards lose 10 straight and the Pistons have two separate 11-game losing streaks. A really impressive run of being terrible. It made sense at the time though considering Wembanyama was the light at the end of the tunnel (SA lost 11 straight and 16 straight and got him). The problem this year is there's no real generational prospect that franchises are lining up to tank for. Unfortunately, both of these teams just flat out stink.
I'll admit, I keep taking the Pistons bait every offseason. I convince my brain that this is the year they finally make some sort of progress. Intriguing young talent, a new head coach who has a history of turning things around, I was in. As it turns out, nope, they just stink. The Wizards I think we all knew what was coming, and the more you watch them the more you get the sense that they are actively throwing games. Between how Jordan Poole plays and the decision making of Kyle Kuzma at the end of these games recently, they are a full on disaster.
Maybe this is just because I'm a sicko, but I cannot wait to see what it looks like when these two teams face off against each other. It might be a full 48 minutes of Shaqtin-A-Fool moments for all we know. We're either going to see a 92-86 game because neither of these teams can score, or we're going to get a 130-126 shootout because neither team can figure out how to get a stop. There's potential for it to be awful and awesome all at the same time.
My gut says the Pistons finally snap their 13 game losing streak, mostly because I can't get past the fact that the Wizards give up 125 points a night. That is such an insane number, I don't care how inept you are offensively, going up against a swiss cheese defense like that will help bust anyone out of their slump.