Category Archives: NBA

Detroit Pistons, NBA

Born Under a (Good?) Sign

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Been down since I began to crawl
If it wasn’t for bad luck
You know, I wouldn’t have no luck at all

-Born Under a Bad Sign by Albert King, made famous by Cream

Pistons may want to think about this as a fight song.

During the 3rd quarter of an already lovely game against his old team on Saturday night, Brandon Jennings had one of those moments you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy. A non-contact, cringe-worthy collapse and what we would learn is a fully ruptured Achilles tendon.

Jennings has been a major part of this monster turnaround the Pistons were mounting, so this one feels like the air going out of a balloon that just took off. The 25 year old whose development has fast-tracked lately was playing some good ball. His improved shot selection and court vision had him looking like a top tier PG, as evidenced by that nice 3.02 Assist/Turnover ratio. Make no mistake, this injury will likely keep the Pistons out of the playoffs even in the Division II Eastern Conference. Without a spark-plug at the point, the bulky offense will grind to a cringing, earsplitting halt. Think Smart Bus at a yellow light. So yeah, optimism for this season has collapsed in a heap. Further down the road though, that’s up for debate. However sick and twisted, some say this horrible injury was just what the team needs. Huh?

Pistons Fan1.25.15

Many have already pointed to Jennings’ injury as a reason to tank – to give away games like monster truck tickets. Would you go so far to say that a catastrophic injury will be blessing in disguise? A little inhumane right, but in the Machiavellian world of pro sports, is it plausible that this gets the Pistons closer a title? Check back on Tuesday for a blistering critique on tanking and what the NBA needs to do about it.

Detroit Pistons, Detroit Tigers, NBA

Daily Rev: Fair Weather and the NBA

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Be honest. How long since you watched a Pistons game? Made the trip to the Palace? Knew where SVG’s team stands in the East? If you’re like me, you have almost completely lost interest in the same team that brought Detroit a World Championship in 2004. When you see 5-23 on Christmas day, you pretty much wouldn’t care if they moved to Toledo. In the next 29 days, the ‘Stons had a mini-renaissance after cutting Josh Smith. Let’s give them their due. On a blistering 12-3 stretch, Craig Monroe and Andre Drummond are trampling guys on the boards. Jennings and these other dudes (for now) don’t look like the Auburn Hills dumpster fire we’ve grown used to.

Sure, it’s been a while since this team has been a contender, but that title came 11 years ago. The much-celebrated Tigers won their last World Series way back in ’84, 3 banners ago for the Pistons (’89, ’90, and ’04). Why has Detroit left the Pistons for dead? Easy answer: they have been horrifying. They’ve won 36% of their games in the past 6 seasons, including this year. The Tigers did have that nightmarish ’02-’03 stretch of .300 baseball. Not a batting average, a win percentage. Sure the Tigs have squeeked out pennants in the last few years, but have not really come close to winning a World Series Championship. The Pistons very easily could have gone back-to-back in 2005, but dropped a Game 7 to the Spurs in the finals. So Pistons – 3, almost 4 titles since ’84, Tigers – 1.

Granted, the Pistons have not exactly been a model franchise the past 6 years. Countless head coaches underscored by an ownership change has led to an all-out nosedive at times. But let’s be fair as fans, the less-than-fair weather might soon subside. Stan Van Gundy’s brave move in paying a bad player to walk away has this team going in the right direction.  It’s time to take a look at the Pistons.