If you haven’t heard by now, the Detroit Pistons have finally locked up a Playoff spot. After 6 seasons of stripping the organisation down and starting all over again, they’re back in the building and are ready to upset some people.
The Pistons have done their part in an Eastern Conference that has grown significantly since last season. All teams in the Playoff hunt have their positives and in my opinion, are all dangerous, it’s the same with the Pistons and their recent success is thanks to Stan Van Gundy.
”It’s a little more satisfying because it’s in a year where the East was a lot better,” coach Stan Van Gundy said. ”The last few years, it would have taken 37 or 38 wins to get in. We had to get to 43 with two games to go still to get in.”
”It’s huge for our organization,” Van Gundy said. ”We’ve said all along that we’ve got four starters in there who have never been, and this is huge for them.”
Van Gundy has been integral to the teams recent growth, but he’s put some trust in players like Reggie Jackson, who has been great since coming to the Motor City. After being behind Russell Westbrook’s shadow in OKC and competition from Brandon Jennings, Jackson has emerged. He’s Eric Bledsoe 2.0.
”I was the backup before, we were always clinching at around 60 games (with Oklahoma City) and we always knew that we would be there,” Jackson said. ”Right now we’re a young team, we’re growing together, we have a nice mixture of players who are very young and some older veterans who have been here. We’re just trying to figure this thing out.”
The Pistons have it all to do whether they face Toronto or Cleveland. But you never know.
