There’s no doubt that nobody saw this coming, but as the Detroit Pistons are demonstrating, it’s amazing how quickly a season can turn in the Eastern Conference. The Pistons have gone from being a genuine no-hoper, to a potential playoff dark horse in the space of two weeks.
Fueled by a five-game winning streak since the franchise’s decision to waive Josh Smith, the Pistons now find themselves only two games off the ninth spot, and only four games back of the Miami Heat and the East’s final playoff spot. The irony to all of this is, although they will be delighted to have seen the team improve, in many ways it’s a tougher spot to be in.
As a result, Detroit is in a spot where they are going to have to reassess their goals for the remainder of the season. After having nothing to really play for so recently, it’s strange to say it, but the Pistons have a realistic shot at making the playoffs again. If that’s the route they choose to take.
The problem is, what does Detroit really have to gain by making a charge towards the playoffs? It’s unrealistic to say that they have a chance of being seeded any higher than seventh or eighth, with even that being a challenge, but if that were to transpire, what chance would they have of beating Atlanta, Toronto, Chicago or Washington over seven games? My guess would be “very little.”
In other words, the Pistons’ priority still has to be to continue their rebuilding project. A top quality drat pick still has to be the prize. As president of basketball operations, as well as head coach, Stan Van Gundy will understand that better than most. In fact, during the team’s recent trip to New York, David Mayo of MLive.com reports that Van Gundy even spoke as such:
"“I’m far from a wild-eyed optimist. But I honestly think the future is pretty good, and where we’re going, in terms of what we have — cap space and everything else, and the progress some of our guys are making.In the present, it’s difficult. But I think in the future, we have a chance to build this up over the next couple of years and become a good basketball team.”"
That’s the type of perspective that it’s vital for Pistons fans to maintain too, because there’s still a long way to go in terms of bringing the team back on to the right path.
The fact that the team has started to win some games is undoubtedly a positive though. No matter what the end goal for this season is, Detroit’s current five-game win streak shows that the team are starting to understand what Stan Van Gundy wants from them, and are buying in to his system.
That’s an important sign in the team’s development process, particularly as they approach a summer of uncertainty. With Greg Monroe an unrestricted free agent this summer, it seems more likely than not that he will move on, but if the Pistons do want to retain him these early flashes of potential from Van Gundy’s team can do no harm.
The Detroit Pistons are nowhere near ready to make a mark on the East again, but these early signs of Stan Van Gundy making progress are refreshing. As a team, it now seems fair to expect Detroit to win many more games this season, but it’s still in their best interest that they don’t win too many though.