The Detroit Pistons appeared to be rife with discord last season both on court and off. There may have been more to it than meets the eye, according to Stanley Johnson.
At a glance last year, the Detroit Pistons appeared to be a team riddled with discord and disharmony. On the court they were out of sync, unable to get on the same page. Rotations made no sense and were either aborted too soon or stuck with for too long. Off the court, there was an infamous players-only meeting which was largely targeted at just one player.
In spite of all appearances, there may have been more than meets the eye to the lack of unity. Instead of being a team that disliked playing together, perhaps it was a young team with a lack of veteran leadership manifesting itself in a logical fashion.
To hear Stanley Johnson tell it, there’s reason to believe that public perception how the team coexisted last season may have been off-base.
He spoke about the topic on Monday at the team’s media day.
“I feel like last year we were too into feelings and didn’t want to step on anybody’s toes, but this year we’re all men here, nothing personal, everybody likes everybody. Everybody’s liked everybody since I’ve been here, but I think last year there was a fear of stepping on people’s toes.”
The Pistons certainly had a dearth of veteran leadership last season with no “team dad” who had been through the wars of a long NBA season. That showed through when the wheels fell off late in the season in the thick of an ill-fated playoff run.
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With veterans like Anthony Tolliver, Langston Galloway and Avery Bradley now on the roster, the Detroit Pistons should be much better positioned to handle such adversity.