Optimism was sky high at the beginning of December for the Detroit Pistons. Thanks to valiant efforts from Ish Smith, they had weathered an early season stretch to go 11-10 without Reggie Jackson, who had been considered a fringe All Star point guard just a season ago.
His addition was expected to take a Pistons’ team over the top and catapult them back into the thick of the Eastern Conference standings. Somehow nothing has turned out quite as expected.
Since Jackson’s return the Pistons have languished, going just 5-10 and have dropped to an 11th-place tie with the Orlando Magic.