The Detroit Pistons have proven to be better than expected this season, and it’s time to take a look at which Pistons have stood out.
The Detroit Pistons were widely predicted to finish with a win total in the high-30’s, somewhere in the 36-39 win range. Writers and observers across the basketball world, including most of us here at Piston Powered, saw this as a reasonable ceiling for the Pistons to have, assuming all went well and no injuries or similar chaos occurred.
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After 42 games, however, the Pistons have proven themselves to be full of surprises. They are on pace for 45 wins, and it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to anybody but the most pessimistic observers if the Pistons broke 50 wins. Even more impressive and important, the Pistons are sixth in the surprisingly tough Eastern Conference, and if the season ended today they would face the third place Atlanta Hawks. The Pistons have already defeated the Hawks on the road this season, and are only 2.5 games behind Atlanta at this point.
Not only have the Pistons beaten the Hawks, but they have also beaten the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Chicago Bulls, the Miami Heat, the Boston Celtics, the Golden State Warriors, and put big scares into both the Los Angeles Clippers and Memphis Grizzlies in spite of being swept in the season series’ against those last two teams. These Pistons can jump up and bite anybody on any given night.
This past offseason, the Pistons were roundly criticized for a spending spree in the form of a five-year $80 million extension for Reggie Jackson. The contract extension was frowned upon by none other than All-Star point guard John Wall, among fans and pundits alike but Jackson has turned that extension into a virtual bargain in comparison to the kind of money he could command if he had waited to sign until this coming offseason.
Andre Drummond got off to a tremendous start to the season, particularly in the first ten games, and has coasted to some degree on his early season numbers while having historic issues from the free throw line, but he’s been the single biggest difference maker for the Pistons through 42 games.
The Pistons have been able to count on the performances of their primary stars, but they’ve gotten some help beyond the expected fine performances from their top end guys. We’re going to grade the team, player by player. Use the comments section to grade the key players as you see fit as well.
Next: Lowe on Pistons' all-star merits and positional versatility