4 Ingredients to building a great Detroit Pistons team

4. DEFENSE! DEFENSE! DEFENSE!!!!

This cannot be emphasized enough: DETROIT IS A DEFENSIVE MINDED ORGANIZATION! Being a blue-collar city, a great Pistons team thrives on hard work, and that pays off most on the defensive end of the floor, where many of the all-time top rated defenses ae occupied by Detroit teams. The Pistons have historically had strong perimeter play, can get under the skin of their opponent, and chases them into the middle of the floor with a strong shot blocker or interior presence.

Detroit's top all-time defensive players are a who's who among the NBA. Ben Wallace, a 4-time Defensive Player of the Year who made the Hall-of-Fame because of his defense, led the 2004 Pistons squad to a Championship. Dennis Rodman, 2-time DPoY, fellow Hall-of-Famer, and back-to-back Champion with Detroit, was among the most relentless defenders of the 1980s and 1990s who became arguably the greatest all-time rebounder. Joe Dumars, a perennial All-NBA Defensive Team member who was usually the point of attack defender on the lead guard. Tayshaun Prince, Chauncey Billups, Rasheed, Rick Mahorn... Detroit is built on the defensive side of the ball.

The Pistons are years removed from their last contending team, but the team has an internal blueprint in how to win that includes defense, toughness, hard work, and hustle. This is the recipe for success in Detroit and one they need to get back to.