Detroit Pistons NBA Preview

Best Case Scenario

The best case scenario is around 50 wins for the Pistons. Normally, a prediction like this for a team that won 29 games in the previous year would seem ludicrous, but the Pistons are a unique case.

Anybody who watched the Pistons or checked out some of the lineup statistics on NBA.com probably noticed the poor play of the Pistons when Smith, Monroe and Drummond were on the court together. It was painful. Fortunately, with Stan Van Gundy already shooting down the possibility of those three consistently playing together, the fear that we may all be stuck watching Smith fire up a massive amount of outside shots and Monroe trying to play his below the rim game with the paint packed has dissipated.

SVG has already coached a player like Drummond (although, far more likable than Dwight). SVG has also been known to coach up some below average defenders; this could change the way we think about Brandon Jennings and Jodie Meeks. We should also see some consistent play while defending the pick and roll. Honestly, the list of ways that the Pistons were poorly coached last year is too long to mention here, but if even half of them are fixed, the Pistons should look like a completely different team.

Barring major injuries, the Pistons should have a well-balanced, 10-deep rotation. We very well could see a very “Spursian” balance of a team built around none of its players averaging over 30 minutes/game.

With that depth, Stan Van will play players in their rightful positions removing the painfully obvious issues with the majority of the Pistons’ lineups last season (Seriously, it’s like they were committed to losing). The Pistons actually had a lineup that ranked in the top 5 in net rating, minimum 75 minutes. All of the lineups (minus Detroit’s) in the top 10 in net rating came from championship caliber teams.

This isn’t saying that Detroit will be competing for a championship this season, but even during a demoralizing season, those intelligent lineups managed to produce at a high level. It’s not irrational to think that the success of some of those lineups could be replicated this season.

Last season, Las Vegas had the Pistons projected to win around 40 games. Detroit has a much better team, and they’ve moved from a bottom five coach to a top five coach. The Pistons’ players aren’t worse than what we thought they were; it’s just that they’re terrible when playing out of position, and without that occurring, it’s not unreasonable to see this team win 50 games, earn a two or three seed, and find their way into the Eastern Conference Finals.

• James Makula