When it comes to the Detroit Pistons winning a title this season, the only question that remains is, “why not?”
That was the opinion put forth on a recent episode of the Zach Lowe Show, where the host and Rob Mahoney discussed whether the Pistons are legit title contenders.
Both came to the same conclusion: They are.
Because the Pistons won just 14 games two seasons ago, and this group still hasn’t won a playoff series, there is some understandable concern that they are not yet ready to make a run to the Finals.
But they have an elite net rating, a superstar and one of the best defenses in the league. Their physicality is a weapon, and we’ve seen this blueprint work recently with the OKC Thunder.
Last season the Thunder overwhelmed opponents with waves of defense and energy. Every guy on the roster bought into that culture and gave max energy each and every night.
Sound familiar?
The Thunder had great role players last season, an elite defense and a superstar to make it all go. Again, sound like anyone you know?
The Pistons do have flaws, but so does everyone in the Eastern Conference, and they may have just enough intangibles to make up for it.
The Pistons have aura that can overcome a lot of problems
Yes, the Pistons are a flawed team. They don’t have enough 3-point shooting. They turn the ball over too much, but they do have ways to make up for it.
As Lowe points out, the Pistons are demons on the offensive glass and get themselves a lot of extra attempts and easy buckets because of it. They lead the league in dunks for the second year in a row.
The Pistons may not make a lot of 3-point shots, but they also don’t rely on them, so it’s not a disaster if they aren’t falling. That’s not true of every team, especially ones like Boston that live and die by the 3-pointer.
If the Pistons are hitting their shots, they are practically unbeatable this season, and when they aren’t, they still usually win. To me, this is a better recipe for playoff basketball than teams that launch a ton of 3’s and have nothing else to fall back on, but we will see.
Basketball is the ultimate team sport and even though this can be overstated at times, chemistry does matter. These Pistons like each other, fight for each other and have something special going that goes beyond talent. Call it chemistry, call it aura, whatever, but they’ve got it.
What makes this run extra special is that they are doing it playing Detroit basketball, which is the style Pistons fans want to see. If you are a Pistons fan, how can you not get behind a team built around elite defense, toughness and a superstar point guard? It’s a blueprint etched into every basketball court in Detroit.
It’s time to stop nitpicking flaws and looking for reasons why this team will come up short and just enjoy the ride, which could end in places no one expected.