What's Wrong With Those Pistons?

The world lost two legends yesterday. Rest in peace to both Sonny Elliot and the Twinkie.

“The horn sounds as the Pistons drop another to the (insert team name here).” Whether it’s George Blaha or Mark Champion saying it, the fact is they are saying the same thing. The Pistons now check in at a cool 1-9 on the early season. They are off to a worse start than Howard Dean’s Presidential campaign. If you don’t care about the Pistons, now would be a good time to check your e-mail or do something else on the Internet. But if you are like me, then watching the Pistons is quickly becoming as frustrating as receiving the elusive “K.” text.

Okay maybe it isn’t THAT frustrating. That text normally makes me want to chuck the iPhone across the room, hoping it will shatter into pieces and Apple will reward my momentary loss of temper with a crisp new iPhone 5. That too seems over the top, but its 3:06 in the morning and I’m working, so you’ll have to bear with me. Anyway, back to the Pistons.

Seven years ago, the Pistons were on top of the basketball universe. After three straight trips to the Eastern Conference finals, the Pistons finally clipped the New Jersey Nets, punching a ticket to the NBA Finals. Waiting for them: Bryant, O’Neal, Malone, Payton, and the rest of the Phil Jackson led Los Angeles Lakers. What happened next shocked everyone who was not wearing a Detroit uniform. Sure, you might have thought the Pistons could beat the Lakers. But beat them…no, dominate them, in five games? Don’t lie to yourself. Needless to say, every Piston fan was ecstatic. A return trip to the finals the following year left every Detroit basketball fan in Piston mania, even despite a heartbreaking seven game loss to the Spurs. Joe Dumars built a winner. He then destroyed a winner.

It’s not Joe’s fault that Ben Wallace, the ultimate prodigal son, bolted to the Bulls for a few extra bucks. How’d that work out? Exactly. It is Joe’s fault that he traded the best leader/player combo the franchise had seen since, well, Dumars himself. Maybe he wanted to retain that title for himself, but probably not. He probably figured, like almost everybody else at the time, that Rodney Stuckey would assume the role as heir apparent to the beloved Chauncey Billups, Allen Iverson would rediscover himself in the Piston red, white, and blue, and Detroit would remain relevant in the Eastern Conference playoff picture for years to come. Instead this dude named LeBron burst onto the scene, shifting the power in the east before, you know, taking his talents to South Beach.

That’s how it typically goes the NBA, maybe even sports. You lose for a while at the highest level, get to the top and win (hopefully a few), and someone else comes along and does the same thing. In my lifetime it started with the Pistons (in the late ‘80s) losing to Earvin Johnson and those “Showtime” Lakers, after finally getting past those great Celtic teams. Then Michael came along, and took the reins right out of the Bad Boys’ grip. After Jordan retired for the second time, Kobe and Shaq decided it was their turn, until the Pistons took it back from them. Mix in a stiff helping of the San Antonio Spurs and Boston Celtics and you’re pretty much covered. And now finally, LeBron has the NBA at his disposal.

All of that aside, what is the deal with these Detroit Pistons? A 1-9 record is not indicative of the overall product; it hardly ever is. With that said, this team is a far cry from “good.” That makes this next prediction rather difficult to comprehend, but never fear…I will explain myself. The 2012-2013 Detroit Pistons will make the playoffs. You can read it again, but it will say the same thing. I know, how the hell can I say that? Well, it certainly is not from their record, nor from their inability to close out games. But when you look at this Pistons roster, one thing jumps out at you, maybe more so than any other: they are mighty young. The Pistons average age is 24.85 years old. The stars-in-the-making on this team are all three years or less removed from college, with all of them sans a degree. The NBA makes it so difficult to remember that players are sometimes too young to know what goes on and how to win. I think (and hope) that seems to be the issue with this installment of Pistons players. It’s never one thing; it’s not as simple as “if they were older they’d be better.” But I have watched every Pistons game to this point. The team competes most every night. Relax, I said most every. That’s not acceptable for a playoff team, I know. The idea would be to compete every night. But even a great team is going to get bombed every once in a while.

Ten games is too small a sample size to really evaluate how this team is going to perform. So my prediction may be better suited as a hunch. I have no facts to back it up. I have only what I see, and what I see is promising. It seems like this team blows a double-digit lead every time it gets one, en route to another bone crunching loss. Again, challenging traditional thinking, that is a good sign. Here’s why: they are getting double-digit leads against the likes of OKC, Houston, and Orlando. Those three teams represent all spectrums of the NBA. The Thunder will challenge for a title this year. The Rockets are a middle-of-the-road team that could very well make the playoffs in the tough Western Conference. And the Magic…well the Magic aren’t very good.

Greg Monroe (left) and Brandon Knight (right) photo credit: solecollector.com

The Pistons can play with anyone. Now they have to learn how to beat anyone. It doesn’t happen over night. But it could happen this season. I think it will happen this season. Next time you swear out loud at Greg Monroe or Brandon Knight or Andre Drummond remember this: none of them can legally rent a car. Knight and Drummond can’t even (legally) have a drink. Kyle Singler doesn’t look like he can have a drink. The Pistons are very young. After all, their coach is seventeen days into no shave November, and only now is he approaching Alex Avila’s five o’clock shadow. They’ll get there eventually. Be patient. After all, it is a virtue.