Detroit Pistons: Being patient starting to pay off this season
By Jack Ozark
After a strong start and established identity, this Detroit Pistons team finally has the pieces to become something special.
Coming into the seasdon I tried my best to be optimistic about the Detroit Pistons. It was tough to get through last year, as the team deeply disappointed.
But now, though still early, I have no doubts about this team. Sure, they won’t be a championship contender this season, or maybe even next season, but they are in the right direction. We’re seeing a defensive push, along with a team that actually looks like they are having fun is amazing.
Adding Avery Bradley and bringing back Anthony Tolliver may have been the keys in all this. Both of these veterans bring a lot of leadership to the team. Mainly on the defensive end. Bradley was obviously going to do this. It’s what he’s been doing on the Celtics for years. But Tolliver has been shocking to everybody, probably even Coach Stan Van Gundy.
Tolliver isn’t the best player in the NBA, heck he’s barely even a role player on the Pistons. But he is a perfect role model. His attitude and ability to come into the game at any time with the same level of production is a key. It’s the “doing my job” mentality that this team desperately needed.
Having these two in the locker room is a key component to the culture shift of the team. Players like Stanley Johnson and Andre Drummond have started the season looked reborn defensively. Both of these players were looking like they were going to become odd men out, but now they look like the building blocks of this team again.
This new attitude isn’t just going to help the team today though, but in the future as well. This play style is going to lead to a lot more growth than the team has had over the past few seasons.
Next: Bold predictions for Pistons' 2017-18 season
Even if the Pistons somehow don’t make the playoffs again, there’s no way they are a worse team than last season. Unlike last year, this team has promise again, and I’m ready to see where it takes them.