Detroit Pistons broadcasters appear stuck in the denial stage of grief

The Detroit Pistons are bad and have been for a long time. Now, in the middle of a 20-game losing streak, someone should consider sending help for their broadcasters.

Monday night, with the Pistons destined for their 20th straight loss, studio hosts Mickey York and Tim McCormick were handed the difficult task of convincing the audience to stick around for the postgame show on Bally Sports Detroit. Instead of sharing Charles Barkley’s portrayed disgust with the team, York and McCormick took a much different approach and praised the team because moral victories are more important than actual wins.

Checking in on the Detroit Pistons. Losers of 20 straight
h/t @tyler_sawa pic.twitter.com/VmtFk5251L

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 12, 2023

“I saw great spacing, 57 percent from the field,” McCormick said, putting a positive spin on the 129-114 deficit the Pistons found themselves in. “But most important, Mick, and we’ll talk about it in the postgame, I saw fun, high fives, transition basketball, high-flying action, that’s when these guys can play their best ball.”

“Yeah, a lot of really interesting and positive individual experiences and performances here tonight,” York chimed in. “We’ll work through them all after the game.”

Don’t threaten me with a good time! Fun, high-fives  and high-flying action? This is great news for Monty Williams, who spent the last few seasons enduring championship aspirations while coaching Devin Booker and Kevin Durant on the Phoenix Suns.

When you look at the win-loss records of the Suns and Pistons, one might assume the move to Detroit has been a regrettable one for Williams, but not when you consider the number of high-fives the Pistons have compiled. Surely, Pistons fans don’t care about the fact that this team is amidst a 20-game losing streak and hasn’t won a playoff series since George W. Bush was president.

Maybe the Pistons broadcast crew has been implored by someone above to put a positive spin on the organization’s current state. Perhaps they’re eternal optimists, or maybe they’re in denial.

It’s entirely possible that Pistons broadcasters have attempted to put the team on blast to no avail, so they’re trying a different approach now. But marred by a 20-game losing streak and decades of losing basketball, the last thing fans want to see is someone applauding the team for high fives.

There are lulls and down periods in franchise history, and then there are stretches of ineptitude so bad that it should force a once proud franchise to consider contraction. Although not really in danger of contraction, the Pistons are that level of bad right now, and have been for far too long. It takes effort for a franchise to have just one season with a win-loss record above .500 in 16 years. And this is coming from a Knicks fan who’s watched far too much bad basketball, but apparently, not enough high fives.

[Bally Sports Detroit]