The Detroit Pistons’ season has been a disappointment thus far, but things have been looking better lately.  They have won 4 of their last 5 games, including a 92-86 victory over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday.  One of the few consistent players for the Pistons has been Charlie Villanueva, who is a key reason why they have been winning some games lately.  In the past 5 games, Villanueva is averaging 18.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks on 47% shooting.  At 6′11″, 235 lbs and with the ability to work both the inside and outside game, Villanueva can be a matchup nightmare.  He is only averaging 27 minutes per game on the season, but in the past 5 games he has been averaging 32 minutes per game, so the Pistons should continue to give him some more playing time.

27-year old Will Bynum has really established himself as a decent NBA player this year. He has played in 27 games (0 starts) for the Pistons this season and he is averaging 27.3 minutes, 12.1 points, 3.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. Bynum has been one of the very few bright spots for the Pistons this season who are having their worst season in a very, very long time.

Center Bill Laimbeer was one of the meanest, nastiest players in the NBA and the Pistons loved him for it. He played in 937 games for the Pistons and he averaged 32.7 minutes, 13.5 points, 10.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Laimbeer was #3 all-time in games played for the Pistons (937) and he is #3 in minutes played in Pistons’ history with 30,602. Laimbeer is the all-time leading rebounder in franchise history with 9,430 and no one is even close to him. He is also #5 in Pistons’ history in points (12,665), #9 in steals (632) and #4 in blocked shots (857). The Pistons really could use a player with Laimbeer’s skill set right now but they don’t have anyone like him on the team.

F/C Kwame Brown is still only 27 years old so maybe the lightbulb above his head will flick on at some point in his career. But, as of right now he is a huge bust. Brown has played in 27 games (0 starts) for the Pistons this season and he is averaging 14.0 minutes, 3.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. He has now played in 489 games (216 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 22.4 minutes, 6.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. Brown needs to step it up soon or he is going to be known as one of the biggest first overall pick of the NBA Draft busts of all-time.

Forwards Jonas Jerebko, Austin Daye and DaJuan Summers have all been decent this season and their playing time will likely increase if the Pistons keep losing at the rate they are right now. Jonas Jerebko has been the best of this bunch so far this season without a doubt. He has played in 31 games (30 starts) for the Pistons this season and he is averaging 27.8 minutes, 8.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. Austin Daye has been decent when he has gotten on the floor this season. He has played in 30 games (1 start) for the Pistons this season and he is averaging 18.6 minutes, 4.6 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. Daye has a very similar body style to that of Tayshaun Prince and the Pistons can only hope that he will be at least as good as Prince. Summers has played in 19 games (0 starts) this season and he is averaging 9.1 minutes, 2.7 rebounds, 1.0 rebound and 0.3 assists per game. It’s important to the future success of the Pistons that these three players continue to improve.

Former Detroit Pistons forward Antonio McDyess returned to Detroit tonight as a member of the San Antonio Spurs, where the Spurs won 112-92 to hand Detroit their 11th straight loss.  McDyess was with the Pistons for 5 years and he said the Pistons’ current situation “is sad.”  McDyess, along with most, blame it on the November 4, 2008 trade that sent Chauncey Billups to Denver for the past-his-prime, shoot-first Allen Iverson.  With Billups as their team leader the Pistons had great chemistry and won the 2004 NBA Championship.  They also made it six straight Eastern Conference Finals, winning it twice.  For some odd reason, Pistons’ team president Joe Dumars thought that the Pistons needed to rebuild, despite their success, and the Pistons have been going downhill ever since.  They lost all of their chemistry and their winning ways, with McDyess speculating that he and Rasheed Wallace would probably still be Pistons if Billups had never been traded.  Their current 11-game winning streak is the worst since the 1993-94 season.

The Pistons were smart to bring back 35-year old Ben Wallace as he can still rebound and play defense. Wallace has played in 32 games (all starts) for the Pistons this season and he is averaging 29.7 minutes, 4.3 points, 9.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.0 blocked shot per game. Wallace might not help much on offense but he is doing just what the Pistons wanted from him this year so far.

The Pistons gave Charlie Villanueva a nice contract as a free agent over the summer but he has the look of a bust so far. He has played in 31 games (16 starts) for the Pistons this season and he is averaging 27.1 minutes, 13.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Despite being a big guy Villanueva is about as soft as a roll of charmin as he plays with little heart. This was a big mistake giving Villanueva a lot of money as GM Joe Dumars could have got a better player for that kind of cash.