Playing for Pride

Drew Sharp wrote an interesting piece today in the Detroit News about what this weekend (Celtics on Friday, Cavs on Sunday) means for the Pistons. Basically, Sharp wrote that this weekend means nothing, since the Pistons have no shot at a title this year (which I agree with) and are already ramping up for a revival in 2010. On the surface, this isn't a terribly earth-shattering statement, but take it a step further, and Drew Sharp seems to be advocating giving up on the rest of the season. He is saying that, if success is measured by championships, then this season is already a failure (again, I can't argue) and as a result, the results of the rest of the season don't matter. If the Pistons are going to make the playoffs and lose in the first couple of rounds, who cares if they are a 4-seed or an 8-seed? My answer: The players...I hope. One of the most important, yet oft overlooked factors in team success is pride, and the rest of the Pistons' season is all about pride.

Take a look at the 2008 Boston Celtics. They didn't win the title last year because of the play of Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce. They won the title because of the play of Kendrick Perkins, Rajon Rondo, James Posey, and the rest of their supporting cast. They won because Perkins went from bust to beast in the span of one season, Rondo tapped his potential to be Tony Parker on offense and Tim Hardaway on defense, and Posey latched on to the opposition's best offensive player every night like a rabid bulldog. Why did these players suddenly take their games to the next level? Pride. Garnett instilled an attitude that anything less than your best on every play was unacceptable. The whole team embraced this attitude for the entire season, bringing the same effort against the T'Wolves as they brought against the Lakers. Perkins and Garnett defended the rim relentlessly, swatting away opponent's shots even after the whistle blew.

Why am I bringing this up? The Celtics' example is the reason why the Pistons cannot tank the rest of this season. Bad habits die hard and there is no worse habit in sports than giving less than 100% effort. More than anything, I am worried about Rodney Stuckey. No matter who the Pistons acquire in the summer of 2010, Stuckey is going to be the foundation of this team for the next 10 years. If he learns that it's ok to stop showing up for every game this year when the Pistons aren't so good, why would he magically start playing his balls off every night in 2010 when the Pistons become contenders again?

Editor's Note: Just to clarify, I have no reason to think that Stuckey will stop showing up for every game, I'm just painting a picture of the worst-case scenario.

Need another example? Look at the 2003/2004 Pistons, that team was fueled by pride and a commitment to leave everything on the floor, every night. After they won the title, the Pistons collectively throttled back and lost some of that pride; that's why they have turned into the NBA version of the Philadelphia Eagles, looking great in the regular season and flaming out in the conference finals. They thought they could "flip the switch" and only bring their best effort on nights when they really needed it. The hard truth is, the "switch" only works in one direction. Once you turn it off, no matter how many times you flick it back on, that light is never going to burn as brightly as it once did. Maybe they need to lose a pick-up game to some kids in South-Central LA, ala Team USA in D2: The Mighty Ducks, but whatever it takes, if this Pistons team has any hope for being successful in the future, they need find a way to restore the pride they had in 2004.

Still Misfiring

The results of last few games have made it patently clear that the Pistons are far from finished with the much-needed overhaul of their franchise. Another thing that seems to be patently clear is that nobody not named LeBron is going lead a team to the Eastern conference title in the next couple of years. The Pistons’ window is closed for now, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t reopen in a couple of years if some necessary changes are made. This offseason, Joe Dumars needs to let Rasheed Wallace, Allen Iverson, Walter Hermann, and Kwame Brown go, freeing up just under $41 million in salary cap room (which I will discuss in a later post) as well as giving the coach the opportunity to retake control of the team’s psyche. Will Michael Curry be that coach? That all depends on his relationship with one player: Rodney Stuckey. As the point guard and the team’s best player (if he isn’t already, he definitely will be next year), Stuckey will be the de facto floor leader of the 2009-2010 Detroit Pistons. Successful NBA coaches from Phil Jackson to Doc Rivers have shown that the most important quality in a head coach is the ability to earn the respect of his stars and keep them happy. Stuckey is a star in the making and if Curry can build a healthy relationship with him while showing any kind of a talent for X’s and O’s, he would earn my full endorsement. Let’s see what he can do.

The Pistons are Misfiring

In his weekly NBA Power Rankings on espn.com, Mark Stein absolutely nailed the problems that are plaguing this year’s Pistons. Stein writes, “Blame it all on Iverson's arrival if you wish. Our theory is that the Pistons know management has its eye on the future and have caved as a result. Either way, they're just not firing. Too often, Detroit no longer brings it.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. In my immediate praise of the forward-thinking Iverson trade, I neglected to consider the fragile psyche of this team. I don’t blame guys like Rip Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace for easing off of the throttle; honestly, that’s exactly what I would expect them to do. There’ nothing wrong with them, they just aren’t exactly self-motivated guys. This is the forgotten factor that Chauncey Billups brought to the table, his ability to keep the combined craziness of Rip Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace in check. Though he was often criticized for being too calm and cool in trying times, Billups always kept the team focused and prevented Wallace and Hamilton’s insanity from infecting the rest of the squad. Now that he’s gone, the Pistons are ruled by headcases. Nothing against Allen Iverson, he is a great leader, but he isn’t the type of leader that Billups was. Iverson leads by example, by pouring his soul out on to the floor every night, but he isn’t the type of leader that will pull his teammates aside and rip them a new one when they act like a 6 year-olds with stubbed toes. The Pistons need at least one vocal leader who commands the respect of his teammates, most notably Rasheed Wallace. Ideally, there would be both a player and coach who can gain Wallace’s respect. This was the case with Billups and Larry Brown when the Pistons won the 2004 title. Even during the last few seasons, when Flip Saunders was Rasheed’s personal doormat, Billups still kept his mates on task. Michael Curry was supposed to be the respected father figure for this year’s team. Unfortunately, he has turned out to be more like a fun uncle, afraid to deal with his nephews’ tantrums, and content to let them run the show. He has completely failed as a leader.

Lately, Curry has been undeservedly credited for taking Rip Hamilton out of the starting lineup. Michael Curry didn’t force Rip to come off the bench, the Pistons’ 5-game losing streak did. Curry was afraid to piss Hamilton off, and refused to send him to the bench, even in the face of tremendous statistical and physical evidence. Curry was only able to alter his starting five after Rip himself realized that the 3-guard lineup wasn’t going to work. If not for those losses, the Pistons would still be starting three players out of position.

In addition to his inability to handle egos and his paralyzing fear of alienating players, Curry has struggled as a tactician. Almost halfway through the season, Curry seems light years away from settling on a concrete rotation. All 12 Pistons average more than 8 minutes per game, but Amir Johnson, Kwame Brown, Walter Hermann and Will Bynum have all piled up at least 5 DNPCD’s. There is some talent on the Piston bench, but there is no team in the NBA that can successfully go 12 men deep. In Curry’s defense, he is in a tough situation with 3 guards who demand 30-plus minutes per game, but that does not excuse the debacle over which he currently presides. He hasn’t found a rotation that works, but even if he did stumble onto something successful, he doesn’t seem willing to stick to anything. With the acquisition of Iverson and a rotation that is constantly in flux, the Pistons have absolutely no semblance on continuity on either end of the floor. Without a consistent rotation, Curry cannot maintain any kind of a strategic direction. He sends out three guard lineups, but then plays a man-to-man defense rife with mismatches and refuses to use his quickness advantage to run a fast-breaking offense. He insists on playing Rodney Stuckey and Allen Iverson at the same time, when it would make more sense to separate his slashers and surround each with catch-and-shoot players like Hamilton and Arron Afflalo.

This is only one example of the Pistons’ coach dropping the ball, but at this point, there’s really no reason to chronicle each of Curry numerous tactical blunders. After all, he is a rookie coach and I understand that he might be struggling to develop a system that best suits his fairly eclectic roster. But that does not excuse the complete lack of effort put forth by the Pistons in their last two nationally televised embarrassments. Curry has lost this team and I don’t think he is going to get it back. Since this season is already a lost cause, I do not advocate firing Curry at this point and actually, I am not 100% sure that I would advocate firing Curry even after the season. More on this tomorrow…