I'm not a Rob Parker fan, but I tend to agree with him on this.


PistonsNationBlog.com » Blog Archive » He's right you know


Now, I'm not trying to be a holier than thou Pistons fan but I do think that there's a lot of fans that have been spoiled by this run. Of course we should expect a title every year but that's a tad unrealistic. It seems like every time we don't win it's time to blow up the team.

I think it'll be a case of the Pistons having to experience some lean years for some fans to really appreciate this group.

Its not about ripping on former Pistons, and there has been a lot of ripping going on from the Dumars camp over the years so its not about that.

Overall we do have a great team to follow. I was trying to present the other side of the argument as to why some fans are not as interested as they would like given the context in which this thread was created.

I don't think our fans (including the forum posters here) are jaded. I think the feeling is that this team played to 100% of its potential in the playoff runs in '04 and '05, and has underachieved in the two playoff runs since, largely because of mediocre coaching. The core players are not getting any younger, and so this has lead to some justifiable fan frustration. The fan criticism about regular season games (including rotations, substitutions and offensive sets), even in the face of a very good won-loss record, is tied into this feeling. I think that much of the day-to-day criticism of the team is constructive, and is thinking ahead to the playoffs and how this team can excel in the playoffs. One has to plan for playoff competition in the regular season, and the '05-'06 season is proof that maximizing wins during the regular season is not the way to prepare for a successful playoff run, and, indeed, that one's won-loss record in the regular season is not a very good predictor of playoff success.

There has been post season under achieving, no question. But I just think this team doesn't get enough credit for what they've been able to do.

There's fans in other cities that would kill for the opportunity to call a team like the Pistons their own.

In sports it is a what have you done for me lately attitude. The players on the Pistons seem to live off of their press clippings from the past. They often site silly phrases like " If it aint rough it aint right" or they always site how they have been in this postion before or how they have had their backs against the wall and suceeded. That happened in the past. Every instance is different. You can't let teams back into games or a playoff series. You can't underestimate the hunger of a team. Great teams do not let up. They smack their opponents in the face and stomp out their spirit.

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FIRE CURRY!!!!!!!!

Personally I disagree w you. Players have responsibility too and those aren't rookies. You just can't force players to get "hungry". This is not a consentration camp, where bosse can force everything. In NBA from coaches perspective it is almost impossible to force something: players can always demand a trade as a result. Larry Brown mentioned repeatedly that nowadays players do not listen coach as they used to. Many of those young millionares become so full of themselves that they think that they know everything they need to know.

For me it still starts from from players: they inside of themselves must feel that hunger not that somebody(coach ) has to say it to them from outside. And when you do not feel it inside then orders from outside are useless.

One could probably sum it all up in one word "Underachieving". Its not that people do not appreciate the wins and playoff success. Things like letting a team like the Bulls last year, Cavs in 06 back into a playoff series is the maddening thing of it all.

Seriously, in all honesty. How far would they have gotten if the conference was tougher as in the West? Would they have still been good enough to get to the Conf Finals if the 2nd round opponent was Phx, Dallas, or SanAntonio?

Well this year is different though. At least there seems to be something different about it so we will see. The switch games are becomming fewer and further in-between and the team is more committed to defense than any other group other than 03/04.

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We hope here that starting5 is burning inside(i.e they want it) and not b/c they are forced to play well b/c bench is actually better than year or two before.

I would add to your list, "Getting beaten decisively in the 2006 ECF by a Miami team that featured two stars (one of whom was already in decline) and not much else, and that has utterly disintegrated since then."

The Tigers are far more exciting than the Pistons even when you take AJ and Stuckey into account and this is coming from a guy who is a basketball fan first and baseball second.

This Tigers team will have maybe as many as half a dozen future hall of fame players.

It seems to me that anyone who can't pay attention to this Tigers team regardless of what month of the year it is, is not a serious baseball fan.