The Knee Jerks Podcast - April 20, 2026

Detroit sports podcasters Greg Eno, Big Al Beaton, and Nick Milanovich are The Knee Jerks!

With the NBA Playoffs in full swing, our NBA stats guru Siddy Hall joins us to talk all things Detroit Pistons and the postseason. 

The #1-seed Pistons dropped game one to the #8-seed Magic, 112-101. They came out sloppy and slow, gave the Magic life, and were forced to play from behind the entire game.

PANIC IN MOTOWN? To say a fan base that hasn’t witnessed a home playoff game win in over a generation isn’t taking the loss well is an understatement. 

The Magic out-Pistoned the Pistons in game one, beating them physically and in the paint. The Pistons’ inside game, specifically Jalen Duren, was nonexistent. Duren was also a non-entity on defense, playing passively.

After a disturbingly slow start, a very efficient Cade Cunningham was the entire offense with 39 points (48/37/91). Tobias Harris was the only other Piston in double digits, scoring an inefficient 15 points (5-15).

DPOY finalist Ausar Thompson played only 9 minutes in the 2nd half, as JBB went with the offensively oriented Daniss Jenkins. Was it the right call? 

What changes could we see for game two? JB Bickerstaff used 11 players in game one, nine of them playing 11 minutes or more. Time to reduce the rotation? Who should or shouldn’t receive playoff minutes?

Awards season: Bickerstaff is a finalist for COTY, Duren MIP, and Thompson DPOY. Cunningham and Duren are in play for the All-NBA team.

In the second half of the show, our topics include: 

Year seven of the Yzerplan featured another season-ending collapse. The Detroit Red Wings’ playoff drought has reached an NHL-leading ten years.

GMSY traded away the Wings’ first-round draft pick in the Justin Faulk deal. The FA crop is underwhelming, with few, if any, difference makers on the open market. The rebuild is stuck between a rock and a hard place. 

As the trope goes, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. This has been the fourth consecutive season where the team choked away a playoff spot in March. The team can’t run things back again, both roster-wise and in the front office.  

Is it time to blow up the rebuild? Do you trade the still-in-their-prime but aging Dylan Larkin and Alex Debrincat? Is it time to move on from 37-year-old Patrick Kane, who is a FA? Should the Wings now focus the rebuild around the younger Seider and Raymond? Or do you keep the core four together, swing for the playoff fences, and try to deal your heavily promoted prospects for immediate help? 

The Detroit Tigers recovered from their 4-9 start. After being swept by the Twins, the Tigers have gone 8-2, only ½ GB of the Guardians in the Central. 

Rookie SS/3B Kevin McGonigle has been all that and a bag of chips. He’s hitting .317/.411/.488, leading the team with 1.4 bWAR.

The NFL Draft begins Thursday. If you know what Detroit Lions GM Brad Holmes is going to do, you’re a smarter man than us. 

Soon-to-retire Lions president Rod Wood spoke during a pre-NFL Draft event at the Detroit Economic Club. He said the team hopes to sign all four of its top 2023 draft picks (Gibbs, Campbell, LaPorta, Branch) to extensions this offseason. The season-ending injuries to LaPorta (herniated disc) and Branch (torn achilles) will not change their plans.

As always, we play Greg's Birthday game and name our respective Jerk of the Week!

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