Detroit Pistons rising to Prominence

The Detroit Pistons have been insufferable the past five years. They haven’t finished better than 4th in their division, and as this season went on it became well noticed after a 5-23 start this team was destined once again to mediocrity they experienced under Joe Dumars.

The Pistons waived Josh Smith on December 22nd, the move was questioned by some, but the move was undoubtedly what the Pistons truly needed. Detroit needed a spark, something to get the mood up in the locker room and to be brutally honest, Josh Smith put up more bricks than a brick layer.

Josh Smith’s departure opened the door for Detroit, and they went on a seven game winning streak, beating teams like Cleveland, San Antonio and Dallas. The move worked, and most importantly the trigger was pulled at the right time. Josh Smith being waived wasn’t a surprise, if you’ve watched this Pistons teams patience was growing thin, you knew someone would be gone by mid-season however most weren’t sure Smith was going to be the one moved. Obviously the trade market wasn’t liking the fact trading for Josh Smith so it was Greg Monroe involved in trade talks, but Van Gundy thought change was necessary.

"“So it’s part of the plan not only for the future but it’s part of the plan to get better now and not because Josh was a problem, but because I think we can accelerate the improvement of some other guys.”Van Gundy went on to say “I didn’t make a decision that Josh couldn’t help us, that wasn’t the decision at all.”"

Van Gundy was being nice, Smith was a colossal train wreck from his selfish play to his boneheaded shots. Smith was the total package, last year he shot 26.4 percent from 3 point range just barely eclipsing the worst ever held by Antoine Walker in 1999-2000.

The signing of Smith wasn’t misleading it was a bad signing from the start, recently fired Joe Dumars botched on the free agent signing of Smith just like he did in 2003 drafting Darko Milicic instead of NBA stars like Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and even Carmelo Anthony.

Dumars did win a Championship, but for the last 6 years while in Detroit, there has been 5 different head coaches who have roamed the sidelines from Curry to Loyer. Dumars proved he officially lost his mind when signing Smith, It’s not that Smith was a terrible player he threw a ton of money to a guy who wasn’t wanted by his former team in Atlanta.

The Dumars era, started with promise and ended in disappointment and shock, Van Gundy is changing the team to what he wants and finally competitive basketball is back at the Palace Of Auburn Hills.

Players to lean on: 

Andre Drummond:

Andre Drummond is a rising NBA star, he has the talent and the supervision of Stan Van Gundy the same guy who coached another big man in Dwight Howard is only going to help, Drummond moving forward.

Greg Monroe:

There hasn’t been someone who has proved more people wrong than Greg Monroe ringing in 329 total rebounds, along with the good comes the bad. Monroe leads the Pistons in turnovers, but with that has scored the most total points of any Piston player.

Next Up For The Pistons: Toronto Raptors  7:30 tonight