The Pistons have been somewhat of a curious case this season, showing flashes of potential every so often. They’ll look like a top-4 team in the Eastern Conference one week, then manage to screw things up so badly that they look like a team made to miss the postseason the next week.
Their inconsistency is certainly a cause for concern within Detroit, with fans having high optimism entering into the season on this team. Through 29 games, the Pistons are an underwhelming 14-15. If the Playoffs started tomorrow, Detroit, at ninth place, would be on the outside looking in.
They’ve dropped three straight games, all of which were double-digit losses, including a 105-90 defeat at the hands of the Pacers Saturday night. With their struggles reaching a new high, some players decided it was time to take matters into their own hands.
From Vincent Ellis of the Detroit Free Press:
And after a long session when he said his team is starting to creep into the bad habit of worrying more about touches than winning, the media was greeted by a closed locker room where the players conducted a team meeting.
The meeting was the idea of center Aron Baynes, but Marcus Morris did most of the talking.
And he challenged his teammates.
“I did a lot of the talking, I said at the end of the meeting that we have to make a decision,” Morris said. “Everybody go home tonight and decide on what you want to do. Do you want to be a winning team or do you want to continue to get embarrassed? Are you going to play for the next man beside you or are you going to play for yourself?”
Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy believes the team’s struggles stem from lack of effort. He clarified, explaining how frustrations at one end of the court are affecting the overall product (via Vincent Ellis):
“Our offensive frustration is affecting us at the defensive end and we’re losing heart a little bit,” Van Gundy said. “That’s concerning. The offense has not been moving the way it should. The ball is not moving. I got to look at play calls and the whole thing.
“We went through stretches where Reggie (Jackson) made some plays in the third quarter and we were scoring, but again, what happens is, we’re scoring, but we’re trading baskets. Part of it is, we got guys upset they’re not touching the ball and everything else so they’re not as engaged in the game on the defensive end of the floor.”
The Pistons, who are currently competing for the final Playoff seed in the East with Atlanta and Indiana, must pick up the slack while they can. Should they begin executing closer towards the All-Star break in February, rather than addressing their issues now, hopes of making the Playoffs could be met with a sudden disappointment.
