Back in 2009, Stan Van Gundy and Dwight Howard led an Orlando Magic team to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in five games.
What made that team special was the roster – aside from Howard, the team lacked a real star. A few of the bigger names included Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu, and Jameer Nelson. Lewis and Turkoglu are no longer in the league, and Nelson is now just a bench player.
When speaking about the 2008-09 Magic, the focus is often on the talent on the roster. On paper, it seemed unlikely that the Magic would make it to the NBA Finals, and many chalked it up to Howard’s ability single-handedly dragging the team to the Finals. However, the more astute NBA minds know that it was SVG’s gameplan that really helped unlock the team’s true potential.
SVG has always favoured a four-out, one-in offense – it started in Orlando with Dwight, and it is now being carried over to the Detroit Pistons and Andre Drummond. By surrounding the dominating big man with shooters, SVG would give his center more room to operate in the middle, where he could score easily in the paint.
After a tumultuous debut season, the Pistons are finally starting to look like SVG’s team. Gone are the days of the clogged lanes and spacing-starved offense, with the Pistons’ offense possessing a better balance to it now that Josh Smith and Greg Monroe are gone.
The shift in the focus of the offense has also helped Drummond’s growth as a player. Drummond has logged a double-double in all three games he’s played, including a 20-point, 20-rebound game against the Chicago Bulls – a team that is known for their frontcourt depth.
By removing Smith and Monroe, the Drummond-Reggie Jackson pick-and-roll is now a scary combination. Jackson, for his faults, is a perceptive ball handler, and can find his way into the paint against even the elite defenders. And while Drummond isn’t quite the pick-and-roll finisher that Howard once was, he has a career field goal percentage of 64.9 percent at the rim – among the best in the league.
Many of the Pistons’ offseason moves were ridiculed – they acquired Ersan Ilyasova, Marcus Morris, Aron Baynes, Reggie Bullock; and signed Jackson to a five-year, $80 million contract.
None of those names really inspire, but the moves made sense when you take into account SVG’s plan. Ilyasova and Morris are good shooters at their size, Baynes is a good, reliable backup for Drummond, and Jackson was a necessary piece.
The 3-0 start to the season has already resulted in a few outlandish predictions for the Pistons’ season. Unfortunately, many of them will not come true. They could still make the playoffs as one of the lower seeds, but the team still has a very volatile feeling to it.
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The wing rotation is still quite weak, especially if one of the starters suffers an injury; and an injury to Drummond would render Pistons’ basketball unwatchable. Still, SVG’s version of the Pistons is a much more refreshing and easier on the eyes than the Pistons from the last two seasons.