Detroit Pistons: What’s your confidence level in Stan Van Gundy?

The Detroit Pistons are in a bad place right now, losers of six straight games. However, a nice move at the trade deadline could, perhaps, change that. Before any moves are made, let’s take the temperature of Pistons’ Nation. What’s your confidence level in Stan Van Gundy?

The Detroit Pistons are losers of six straight. Moreover, the majority of Stan Van Gundy’s tenure as the Pistons’ President of Basketball Operations and Head Coach has been filled with losing. At best, there was that one mediocre season that the Pistons had where the team was the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.

To paint the picture in the way I have above is a bit misleading. Stan Van Gundy took a laughing stock of a franchise and had this team looking like the next great team at one point, though that has been largely destroyed by injuries, a few bad free agent signings, lack of development of young players, and a significant shift in the NBA landscape in the form of the Golden State Warriors.

The above information, paired with the typical overreaction that can follow a trade deadline move prompted me to ask you all the following questions: What is your confidence level in Stan Van Gundy?

I’ll go first.

My confidence level, right now, is at an all-time low.

The right move for this team, to me, is to shift the “win now” mentality that has not worked at all during the Van Gundy era, to a “position ourselves to win tomorrow” approach.

I think Van Gundy is a great basketball mind, but his lack of ideological shift with this team has proven to be troubling, and more importantly, crippling.

This team cannot win. It needs more talent and that usually only comes in four forms, and usually in a combination of these four forms: Development, NBA Draft, Trades, and Free Agency.

I would say the best, or most plausible, way to acquire the type of talent needed to get the Pistons into contention is through the draft or by making a big trade, particularly since the Pistons are not a free agent destination, nor does it have the cap space needed to sign a player of that caliber.

Van Gundy has had mixed results so far developing talent. Andre Drummond has come a long way. Credit Van Gundy (and Drummond) for that. Outside of Drummond, it’s hard to make many more arguments for Van Gundy as a developer of talent.

That leaves the Pistons with one option, which is to draft a quality player to change the franchise’s fortunes, and that usually happens at the top of the NBA draft, a place the Pistons have never found themselves in the Van Gundy era because of his inability to lead this team from a “position ourselves to win tomorrow” approach.

Until we start seeing this type of shift from Van Gundy, or until the team miraculously starts winning and becoming a contender, my confidence in Van Gundy will remain at this all-time low.

Next: Stan Van Gundy In-Game Decisions Continue To Be Frustrating

That’s my take, what’s yours?