Resilient Wins A New Look For The Pistons?
By Adam McGee
With all of the recent Detroit Pistons news, many different reasons have been suggested for the team’s improved turn of form. Josh Smith‘s departure, improved chemistry, and greater understanding of Stan Van Gundy’s system have all been proposed as factors, yet there could be something a little bit deeper in play too.
As an example, the Pistons traveled to San Antonio and the AT&T Center on Tuesday night to face the Spurs, with the general consensus around the NBA being that this would see an end to their good play.
Then even for those who may have not felt that way at the start, with 10.8 seconds left and the Pistons trailing by three, not many would have been brave enough to back Detroit to come out on top.
The players, the people who matter the most, did though, and Brandon Jennings capped off a great night for the Pistons by going the full length of the court before making the game winner with only 0.1 seconds remaining.
This was a Detroit team who were not only different to the one that Josh Smith was a part of, but also different to any Pistons team from the past few years. This was a display of grit, resilience and self-belief.
Stan Van Gundy’s post-game comments, reported by Raul Dominguez of the Associated Press, show that he understands that too, and it’s possible that it pleased him more than any other aspect of Tuesdaynight’s win:
“We are getting better. If you stay in there, sometimes you get a break. We had a very good break at the end. We got lucky at the end. Our resolve to stay in the game right down to the last few seconds was huge.”
If this proves not just to be a one-off, as suggested by another great Pistons win over the Dallas Mavericks last night, it could turn out to to be a really significant moment in the team’s development. Only a couple of weeks ago, the players’ confidence could only have been at an all-time low, while two weeks later, they’ve had a complete reversal of fortune.
As a result, not only are the Pistons a confident team, but a team with a growing character. After the game against the Spurs, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press spoke to an ecstatic Brandon Jennings:
“It feels good. I’ve never been on a six-game winning streak in my career, so this is something new, but we’re still taking it one game at a time.”
Even with that streak since having been extended to seven games, perhaps what was most telling is the way in which Ellis described the backdrop to the interview though. Ellis referred to the Pistons’ locker room as “jubilant – yet measured”.
These are adjectives that we aren’t used to associating with the Pistons, but maybe a greater maturity has finally set in in the Motor City. Whether that’s the influence of NBA veterans like Caron Butler and Joel Anthony, or if it’s even just Van Gundy’s influence starting to get through, it’s cause for excitement for Detroit fans.
With a tough stretch of games continuing with match-ups against Atlanta and Toronto in their next three games, it still seems likely that the streak could get cut short sooner rather than later. One way or another though, the confidence and character it has helped to instill should have a more lasting impact on the Detroit Pistons’ season.