Stan The Man

During the 2000’s, the Detroit Pistons were one of the top NBA franchises. In the decade, the Pistons would make the postseason in all but one year which included winning the NBA Championship in 2004. But that Pistons success eventually came to an end as the last six NBA seasons ended without a trip to the postseason in Motown.

In the spring of 2014, Stan Van Gundy was hired by the Pistons to be their new head coach and president of basketball operations. Prior to coming to Detroit, Van Gundy was the head coach of the Miami Heat and Orlando Magic. In 2009, Van Gundy would lead the Magic to the NBA Finals for just the second time in franchise history. And during Van Gundy’s time in Orlando and Miami, he never had a losing season.

Last year under Van Gundy, the Pistons suffered through their seventh consecutive losing season, but it was actually their best finish since 2009 as they managed to win 32 games. Van Gundy spent his first season with the Pistons finding players that would fit into his brand of basketball which included buying out power forward Josh Smith, allowing center Greg Monroe to leave as an unrestricted free agent last summer, and acquiring point guard Reggie Jackson.

Van Gundy’s moves have paid off for the Pistons as they began this NBA season with a record of 5-1. And even though that the Pistons have been an up and down team this season, they’ve been resilient which is a credit to Van Gundy.

After a February 21 home loss to the New Orleans Pelicans where the Pistons allowed power forward Anthony Davis to go off on them to the tune of 59 points, Detroit had a record of 27-29 as it marked the end of a stretch that saw them lose six of seven games. But the Pistons would follow that difficult stretch up by winning their next four games which included wins over the top two teams in the Eastern Conference in the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Toronto Raptors.

The Pistons would enter the month of March with a record of 31-29 as a playoff berth seemed believable for a franchise that was coming off of three straight 50-loss seasons.

Overall, Detroit would go 9-6 in the third calendar month of the year as they were able to get wins against the teams that they were expected to defeat. And after getting past the Washington Wizards this past Friday night, the Pistons now find themselves postseason bound which is a credit to the work and leadership of Van Gundy.

As most people are captivated by the scoring ability of teams such as the Golden State Warriors, Van Gundy’s coaching style is a throwback to a different era in the NBA when teams won with defense, along with a solid center and a point guard.

In 2012, the Pistons used the ninth overall pick of the NBA Draft on center Andre Drummond. Drummond only played one year of college basketball and he came to the league very raw. As a rookie, Drummond averaged 7.9 points and 4.8 rebounds. But in four years as a professional player, Drummond’s numbers have gone up in each season which is highlighted by him making his first NBA All-Star team this year as he is leading the league in rebounding with 14.8 per game. Drummond’s presence in the post as a scorer is improving due to the fact that he is a playing for a coach in Van Gundy that believes in the old-school fundamentals of playing the game of basketball from the inside-out.

Jackson was drafted by the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2011, and although that he is an explosive point guard, he was never going to beat out point guard Russell Westbrook there for playing time. Jackson was set to be a free agent last summer when he began to seek a new deal from the Thunder, but they were unwilling to give it to him. And as one man’s trash is another’s treasure, Van Gundy was more than happy to welcome a disgruntled player in Jackson to Detroit where he would be able to get a fresh start.

For the first time in Jackson’s NBA career, he has appeared in each game while he is also a starter. Like Drummond, Jackson is enjoying a career-high in points (18.8), while he is also averaging 6.2 assists which is also a career-high. Jackson’s emergence as a floor general allowed Van Gundy to trade point guard Brandon Jennings and forward Ersan Ilyasova to the Orlando Magic in exchange for forward Tobias Harris.

Van Gundy was familiar with Harris as he briefly coached him in Orlando. In 24 games with the Pistons, Harris is averaging 16.6 points per game and he has provided Van Gundy with another solid scoring option; namely as a versatile scorer who can produce on both the interior and perimeter.

However as Van Gundy has brought in players to fit his system, his biggest accolade is that he has changed the culture in Detroit. In the past few years, losing was simply accepted by the Pistons until Van Gundy arrived. Last year, the Pistons were able to compete and now they’ve once again become winners as you can make the argument that this is Van Gundy’s best coaching job during his NBA career

When the NBA Playoffs begin, the Pistons will be meeting either the Cavaliers who were their opponents in their last trip to the postseason, or the Raptors. The Cavs have an experience advantage over the Pistons as they are the defending Eastern Conference Champions, and they are primed for another deep postseason run. The Raptors are looking to make the Eastern Conference Semifinals for the first time since 2001, but the Pistons do have a size advantage with Drummond and Harris which could spell trouble for Toronto. But either way in the mode of Van Gundy, I don’t expect the Pistons to be a pushover as they will make their opponent pack a lunch for the entire series, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them advance which would be a shock only to the people outside of their locker room.

Source: Basketball-reference.com