Pistons Fans: The Dancing Van Gundys
By Rod Berger
Pistons fans, define what a coach is. Define what role coaches play in an organization and on the sideline. Define what a coach means to a fan base. Can fans recognize when they have the coach?
The players have become entities unto themselves. So much so that coaches are often relegated to supporting characters.
The Pistons though have a coach whom everybody knows. When Tom Gores hired Stan Van Gundy many wondered about the price in both dollars and organizational chart hierarchy. Was Van Gundy too much money? Did Van Gundy have too much control? Fair questions from a fan base who could have started a trading card company with all of the former head skippers.
The revolving door moved with such pace that one might have wondered what a good coach looked like for these Pistons. Those of us whose Pistons roots sprouted with Chuck Daly a.k.a. “Daddy Rich” know the value of having a steady and influential hand at the helm who could dance with the media.
Could we be on the verge of a similar relationship with Stan Van Gundy? Could he be the one to instill pride in the Pistons community?
Larry Brown was a rental and always felt that way. Sure, the Pistons came within one-quarter of being back-to-back champions but Brown always acted as if he were just visiting. Ask yourself this question, when was the last time you thought of the 2004 championship and included thoughts of Larry Brown?
Now ask yourself the same question regarding the Bad Boys. I bet you couldn’t think of the latter without recollections of Daly’s talk on the Jordan Rules or being on the verge of a championship heading into Game 5 in Portland. He had a swagger and Detroit loved it.
Stan Van Gundy has myself thinking back to the Daly era. Van Gundy’s dance between sheer honesty and front office deception reveals a man comfortable in his own skin who isn’t swayed by popular media or fans.
And at first blush, the decision to give the keys to Van Gundy and his dance partner, Jeff Bower, have started to reap rewards.
The fans have a coach who grabs national headlines and not for doing the fox trot with Cleveland (i.e., Larry Brown), a rookie (Stanley Johnson) that was selected against popular convention who’s now praised, and an overall reshuffling of the decks (see Piston transactions under Karen Davidson era) that finally has this ship pointed in a direction fans can cheer and support.
Stan Van Gundy deserves a lot of credit. One only hopes we hear about a contract extension before five years is up. It would be tough sledding for the franchise to tease fans for five years only to revert to the John Keuster and Michael Curry’s of the basketball world.
Van Gundy is a multifaceted leader with some great dance moves. More importantly, he’s bringing fun back to the Palace and to a game and team that PistonPowered readers can cheer. The heavy lifting has taken place at 6 Championship Drive, the music is playing and it’s our turn, as fans to join the dance party.
The pity party is over. These Pistons are becoming something. Those wearing teal uniforms with horses on fire need not apply for entry. Just knock and use the code word: Stan!
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