The Pistons briefly consider playing defense, but decide against it. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Fedyck-USPRESSWIRE

Look, I just… ugh.

February and March has been arguably the worst stretch of basketball I’ve ever seen from the Detroit Pistons. This isn’t the paralyzing sub-mediocrity we’ve seen the past couple of seasons, or the malaise of the Teal Era. This is genuine worst-team-in-the-league caliber play from the Pistons, who got absolutely embarrassed (again) by double digits (again) at home (something, something, again).

This time, however, the team laying the smack down was the Minnesota Timberwolves — a team that, coming into tonight, was a mere game and a half better than Detroit. Granted, the T-Wolves had Andrei Kirilenko back, which allowed Minnesota to limit Mickael Gelabale to mop-up minutes. But let’s be real, Kirilenko’s presence or Gelabale’s absence didn’t decide this game.

The details aren’t especially important here, mainly because they’re the same details we’ve seen for the past month or so. Greg Monroe and Jose Calderon were solid, Jason Maxiell and Kyle Singler were complete non-factors, Brandon Knight and Rodney Stuckey chucked, Jonas Jerebko didn’t get enough minutes, Khris Middleton and Kim English looked like they might maybe be rotation players — cut, paste, rinse, repeat. This isn’t tanking, it’s a freaking blitzkrieg, or maybe an Abrams tank speeding across the desert.

I’ve gone on the record as supporting a tank job to end the season, and I stand by that. The Pistons have nothing left to play for and nobody’s showing up to the games anyway, so what does winning actually accomplish? Still, this is a bridge too far. Losing by 20+ at home on a consistent basis is embarrassing, and it belies a complete lack of effort. There’s a smart way to tank — play the young guys, figure out which pieces you like, experiment with different lineups — and that’s not what we’re seeing from the Pistons. Middleton has been the only healthy Pistons rookie to see consistent playing time, Jerebko is still an afterthought, and Jason Maxiell is still playing 25-30 minutes a night. It’s going to take one hell of an off-season to justify this travesty, and Joe Dumars simply can’t be trusted to deliver anymore.

Like last season with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit will play a home-and-away set of games to open the preseason, this time against the Toronto Raptors. Much like the Pistons, the Raptors feature a relatively young roster (four rookies and no one with more than seven years of NBA experience).Toronto’s 2011 top five pick Jonas Valanciunas will finally join the team after a drawn-out contract dispute with his former team, Lietuvos Rytas. Considered one of the top prospects in that draft, adding the Lithuanian should move former #1 pick Andrea Bargnani over to his more natural position of power forward.

Next up for the Pistons is the Milwaukee Bucks. Through a handful of trades and draft picks, the Bucks drastically reshaped their roster this past season. With Andrew Bogut sidelined with a broken arm, the team shipped the former #1 pick to the Golden State Warriors along with Stephen Jackson (who had fallen out of favor with head coach Scott Skiles) for Monta Ellis, Ekpe Udoh and Kwame Brown. Combining Ellis and scoring guard Brandon Jennings had mixed results, as both need the basketball to be effective. To balance the roster with some defense, the Bucks added defensive-minded centers Samuel Dalembert and Joel Pryzbilla, while drafting lanky John Henson from North Carolina.

Orlando comes to the Palace for the Pistons’ fourth preseason matchup, playing without Dwight Howard for the first time in eight seasons. The Magic traded away their former franchise center for six players – including former Piston Arron Afflalo – and five total future draft picks. Through that trade and the draft, the Magic redid essentially their entire roster, leaving them with just six players from last season’s team. Afflalo, J.J. Redick, Jameer Nelson and Glen Davis are now the team’s leaders, but rookies Moe Harkless, Andrew Nicholson and Kyle O’Quinn will get plenty of playing time to prove their future worth.

Detroit heads to Miami next to face off against the LeBron James and Dwyane Wade-led Heat, who added sharpshooters Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis in the offseason. Other than Chris Bosh, the team still lacks a reliable inside presence, but they did bolster their frontcourt by adding five first- or second-year big men that are all taller than 6’9”. The team’s ‘Big Three’ will continue to get their points, rebounds and assists, but it’s the team’s complementary pieces, including Mario Chalmers, Norris Cole and Shane Battier, that will help the team repeat as champions.

After finishing last year with the worst winning percentage in NBA history, the Bobcats will look to rebound this season despite a lackluster roster. Former Piston Ben Gordon will play his first game back in Detroit after being traded to Charlotte in the offseason and his backcourt mate Kemba Walker will have another season under his belt and plenty of expectations after a pedestrian rookie campaign. 2012 draftee Michael Kidd-Gilchrist will help the team’s defense immensely, but his offense is a work in progress; he’ll still get minutes because of the lack of talent on this team.

Kevin Love and the Timberwolves host the Pistons next, and much like the Bobcats, they’ll look to improve on a disappointing 26-40 record in 2011-12. Unlike Charlotte, though, this team has legitimate players and should prove more competitive. Barring injury, Love will be his usual consistent self, averaging double digits in both point and rebounds while also providing three-point shooting. Ricky Rubio is recovering from a torn ACL that ended his rookie season early, but all signs pointed to him being an exciting point guard pre-injury. General manager David Kahn also took chances on two former All-Stars – Andrei Kirilenko and previously-retired Brandon Roy – signing both to two-year deals; if either moves work and the team improves, the perpetually-criticized GM can prove doubters wrong.

Just five days before the regular season begins, the Pistons end the preseason against the now-Joe Johnson-less Atlanta Hawks. Al Horford and Josh Smith are now the team’s leaders, and with mostly bench players forming the rest of the roster, they’ll be needed. Third-year guard Jeff Teague emerged as the team’s future point guard as he averaged career highs in nearly every single statistical category; in fact, he started more than six times more games last seeason (66) than he had in his first two seasons (10).   Newly-hired GM Danny Ferry also added two more scoring options – Louis Williams and Kyle Korver – to help spread the floor.

Preseason records are irrelevant once the regular season starts, but building chemistry, especially with a young roster, is extremely crucial. If the Pistons can do that in the eight games leading up to their home opener against Houston, Detroit fans should be even more optimistic.