The Detroit Pistons have an incredible history between the Bad Boys and Goin to Work Pistons. Here’s a poem about the history of the Pistons.
Why don’t we take a trip back, I’ll tell the story
Before any of it all
Before anyone would scream in glory
These two simple words, Detroit Basketball.
At first they brought no pain
They weren’t known to be gritty
Played in a town called Fort Wayne
Where it’s nothing like the Motor City.
During a time where basketball wasn’t a big thing
The Pistons of the 70’s had a couple nice players,
Led by Bob Lanier and Dave Bing
Who went on to become the mayor.
Quickly came the end of that decade
Wherein a new one must start.
The number 2 pick who seemed unafraid
It wasn’t ignorance, he just knew he had heart.
The early 80’s was very fast paced
With Zeke and Tripuka running the show
They gave the rest of the league a taste
Offensively they made you say “Whoa.”
Though it seemed something was missing
So they decided to make a switch
Their head coach is who they were dismissing
Replacing him with Chuck Daly or “Daddy Rich.”
Along the way they brought in the Microwave and Laimbeer
But their defense just wasn’t firm
Nothing about them screamed fear
So they decided to draft a Spider and a Worm.
Now comes 87 and they were finally being heard
They were two wins from playing the Lakers
But Zeke’s pass got stolen by Larry Bird
The Pistons met their makers.
They promised next year wouldn’t be the same
The Bad Boys would start to brawl
1988 Finals in the sixth game
They’d lose on a Laimbeer phantom call.
1989 was sure to be full of thrills
Perhaps the best team Detroit ever had.
They even started playing at the Palace of Auburn Hills
They were great, but most of all, they were Bad.
A nice trade, Dantley for Aguirre
A move to help them gel
Nothing more did they need to acquire
Once, Mark was here, The Bad Boys started to excel.
That year, there was nothing tragic
The boys got their rematch
And in 4 games, finally defeated Magic
Now they were champions, there was no catch.
The next year was more of the same
There was really no one to fear
Back to back champs they became
Giving the people of Detroit something to cheer.
The next year ended at the hands of Mike
Jordan and his Bulls were too much to defend.
The Pistons walked off, much to the world’s dislike
The Bad Boys had officially come to an end.
Zeke retired as well as Bill
Joe D stuck around
Just in time to play with G-Hill
The teal era came and left, either loved, or clowned.
Joe D retired but joined the team again
Not as a player, but as a GM.
It came as a shock, but he traded Grant for Big Ben
And from that, the Goin’ to Work era began.
With Ben and Stackhouse it wasn’t quite heaven
So Dumars made a move
But not before Stack dropped 57
They traded for Rip surely to improve
Added Chauncey, drafted Tayshaun
Can’t forget about Mason and the fire intros.
They had Rick Carlisle but he was there and he was gone
Something was starting to happen, in the crowd you could see the fro’s
There was still a piece they needed
Something was missing in Chauncey, Rip, Tayshaun, and The Fro.
So Joe D went and proceeded
And with the 2nd overall pick, he drafted Darko.
Back then, no one really had a frown
Melo, Wade, and Bosh all still sound better
But I suppose Joe made up for it by hiring Larry Brown.
Darko has an apple farm, maybe I’ll write him a letter
Soon Joe D realized Darko isn’t what they need
So he got on many many different phones
And he finally knew what he wanted, Sheed.
Slowly this team resembled that one with the skull and crossbones
Now this team was finally a killer
They made it to the third round
That’s when Tay had that block on Reggie Miller
Now matched up with the Lakers no one made a sound.
The world thought the Lakers would win by far
Even when LA lost game 1, people were still asleep
They don’t care when you say they had no star
We still refer to that series as a 5-game sweep.
In 2005 I wish they got the glory
But sadly Manu was on the baseline
And Sheed doubled off Robert Horry
A brilliant Popovich play design.
The next few years went pretty much the same
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Other than Ben gone we still had Chauncey and Rip
Ben left for money and it was a shame
And he wasn’t too fond of our new head coach Flip.
It started to look as if it was time to move on
Until Joe D made a panic trade
And he traded Chauncey for Iverson.
Now all the success was starting to fade
Sweep after sweep, draft bust after draft bust
It brings us to where we are now.
In Ed Stefanski we trust
Hopefully soon we’ll have a team that makes us say “wow.”
Whether you decide to support or hate, it’s completely your call
But at the end of the day, I’ll always be there chanting
Detroit Basketball.