I have posted this because I cannot understand The Paquete Habana case, Holmes’ next opinion.. Maybe I have COVID brain fog.

The oddly mesmerizing Detroit Pistons

The pencil here is long-time cogno Dan Wetzel. 

I’ve been watching a lot of Detroit Pistons basketball of late. Everyone should. 

I have been following a lot of Detroit "Piston" basketball, more than God intended me to, due to the wrong turn given me by James L. Edwards III.

...You always want to see something new in sports, so what’s better than the emergence of the worst team in the 77-year history of the National Basketball Association?

I don't want to hear that. Look, I allow that I did follow the "Pistons" initially to see just how big a chump Edwards III was; then out of my fetish for schadenfreude. But that has given way to a big and bigger tumorous lump of sadness growing to grief. I take no pleasure in the pain of the young "Pistons" players.

...It’s like they all just showed up at the park one day.

It is oddly mesmerizing. The lack of defense. The dribbling into traffic. The jacking up of 3-pointers by players with no proven ability to hit 3-pointers. Turnovers galore. The players wear glazed looks on their faces, like a school kid embarrassed to be in the holiday concert, just lip syncing until it's over. They appear almost sheepish in warmups, especially on the road. It’s the G League Plus.

That is terrible. Sadism. It is sadistic to find that "mesmerizing".

...

...Rubbernecking a car wreck is a primal instinct.

They are also a young team with a new head coach, Monty Williams, who is respected around the league, especially by the media, so criticism is fairly muted.

It shouldn’t be.

No, criticism of Williams should not be muted.

Williams looks like a coach who never wanted the job and only took it because Pistons owner Tom Gores kept calling back with more and more money — $78.5 million over six years. Eventually Williams couldn’t say no. Then he got to town and realized he really didn’t want to be there. ...

This is a horrendous fit. Williams led Phoenix to the 2021 NBA Finals, but around the league he is not known for his developmental skills or ability to work with young players, and the Pistons are really young. ...

...Sources told Yahoo Sports that Gores became obsessed with Williams, locked in and wouldn’t consider anyone else.

Lord, then Gores, ne Tewfig Georgious, is culpable in this train wreck.

...

General manager Troy Weaver has actually made some good individual selections, yet somehow constructed a horrific team. None of it works together....

Almost everyone is 22 or under [10 of the 18 are over 22 yrs old] and a first-round pick, [14 were first round picks] often in the high lottery [11 were lottery picks, an astounding number] either by Detroit or someone else. It’s a fantasy team. Unfortunately, the games are real.