It’s been a tumultuous season so far for the Detroit Pistons. When Reggie Jackson was ruled out for the first 15-20 games of the season due to knee tendinitis in the preseason, it was understood that the Pistons would struggle out of the gate. After all, Ish Smith was brought to Detroit to be a capable backup, not to run things, as he would have to in Jackson’s prolonged absence.
Smith proved to be essentially what the scouting report indicated: a lightning-quick facilitator who could generously be described as a streaky shooter and more accurately described as scoring-challenged.