[Highlight] The Detroit Pistons players on the bench signal number 1 with their fingers, at the end of the game, as the The Pistons clinched #1 seed in the East for the first time since 2006-07 season.
That’s crazy considering where they were 2 years ago
I know Im a pistons fan but the fact we went from like 60+ losses to POSSIBLY 60 wins in 2 years is insane.
Quadrupled win total in 2 seasons
At this rate they’re gonna win 120 games in 2028!
Adam Silver really said teams can’t possibly tank a 120 game season
Adam Silver hasn’t seen the Colorado Rockies then
240*
Yeah, I messed up 😔
Pretty sure Special K was just saying on broadcast that’s never happened before too
2007 celtics to 2008 celtics was like a 40 win jump too
They added Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. Pistons added Duncan Robinson and JB Bickerstaff
And drafted Ron Holland!
Seen enough, Duncan Robinson > Ray Allen confirmed
Can’t wait to see Duncan kill it in “He Got Game 2: Jesus’ Revenge”
Subtracting Killian Hayes probably added 30 wins on its own
They have Tobias too. Basically the Heat and Sixers graveyard with young talent
So awesome to see the joy coming from Blaha and Kelser after having to navigate being the announcer tandem for a franchise that was an absolute joke for 15 seasons.
Cavs did reverse in one year when LeBron left the first time
I always thought the team was better than their record. Like people talked about them being one of the worst teams ever and I just didn’t see it when I’d watch them play. IIRC the Pistons lost a crazy amount of close games that year. Well deserved #1 seed and much of the core is the same.
A good chunk of it is cause Monty Williams is a basketball terrorist but also hot damn JB has already exceeded expectations in only 2 seasons.
I attribute that atrocity of a season to Monty.
Dude got the most insane bag just to be god awful. I remember he’d always be playing Killian Hayes ahead of Jaden Ivey, when Ivey just had a solid rookie season and Hayes was clearly a bust.
The 2023 Pistons were only 4th worst in point differential, despite having the worst record. With their terrible coach, they kept losing clutch games they had positioned themselves to win. A lot of losses were just a few points. It was also a very injury-riddled year (the Pistons have been quite healthy these past two seasons).
Yep. I never thought those Pistons were good but I do remember spotting a familiar script in many of those games, where they’d actually compete and/or hold a lead for a healthy portion of the contest before inevitably falling apart, over and over and over again. It was like clockwork.
I think the losing streak didn’t help either. Aside from the reputation of losing so often. by the 15th loss or so, I saw that teams were playing them like it was game 7 of the Finals and they looked worse for it.
idk what you being a fan has to do with that being insane, there’s no bias in that take lol. it’s a fucking incredible turn around and it’s so cool to see that it can happen
I don’t wanna seem like I’m glazing lol
brother be a peacock, this is your moment
Crazy and well deserved
The Duncan Robinson effect
What Javonte Green can do for a franchise
It’s basically the same team too, our team was just way too young a few years ago. Now all our players are growing into their prime at the same time. This is the biggest turnaround for a team in NBA history.
and r/nba was confidently saying JB Bickerstaff is one of the worst coaches in the league 2 years ago lmao
I used to think Monty was one of the best too for getting the bubble suns to the finals :x Bickerstaff maybe got lucky cause defense became valued again in the NBA.
I agree with your overall point, but the Suns made the Finals in 2021; the bubble year it was Lakers vs. Heat.
The post-bubble year was low-key more fraudulent than the bubble year. With only like 3 weeks of off-season to recover that was a challenging year for the health of the bubble playoff teams
They do this about most black coaches.
Teams like the pistons, spur, and the Thunder were all out of the playoffs in recent years but now are all contenders and in the Thunders case won a championship. Charlotte is another team that bad last year but are gonna at the very least make the play in this year.
Just need the wizards, Jazz, and pelicans to do something next year
Poor Kings
Sucks to say but those 3 teams are evidence tanking works and is probably inspiring to Jazz, Pelicans and Wiz lol
The fact that jb has a pretty good chance not to win coty for either of these historic turnaround seasons is pretty gross
This and the Michigan game right now has me doubting this is real life.
Might I add that it’s MOSTLY the same core players
Might just be words at this point, but we weren’t that bad to have that record.
Monty definitely made our lack of talent more apparent
it’s crazy considering where they were 20 years ago. you always think your team will be competitive, not take 20 years to make it back to the top.
Yep. As an older Pistons fan, it’s been pretty wild.
I remember when the Pistons won the Central in 2002 I had this huge sigh of relief where I felt like it had been forever since the Pistons had been competitive.
It’d been five years.
Even in the mid-90s, those felt like the dark times, but really it was maybe a decade of struggle. Maybe.
So to sit here now and realize it’s been 18 years since this team was actually any good is a pretty crazy concept. Tells you something about the passage of time, too.
https://youtu.be/BhkG_c3CMiI?si=J_wRiMUpRTGSy9NV
Immediately thought of this
I still think that record wasn’t indicative of their potential (besides Killian Hayes). If you watched the games EVERY team was trying their hardest not to lose to them which made for very entertaining games. That and I think Monty genuinely did not want to be there.
I remember arguing with people who were saying the league needed to instate relegation as a response to the pistons poor play
Two seasons ago they lost more games in a row than they’ll lose this entire season.
It was pretty obvious that DET was on the come up but they were derailed by injuries 2 years ago.
I clipped it for the Pistons fans.
Well-deserved.
thanks for the clip man
You’re welcome.
Good luck in the postseason.
The first basketball I ever watched was the ‘90 finals. I was 9, but I remember being super impressed by Clyde “The Glide” Drexler.
Thank you MrBuckBuck, loyally serving NBA fans for years on years and years to come
Based
Your contributions to this subreddit are appreciated. I don’t always get to watch the games but can always count on you to post highlights.
Thank you so much. I watched 90% of the game and missed this. So happy for my team
Thank you, MrBuckBuck.
Thank you
They’ve impressed me a lot. And to keep playing so well without cade tells you how well rounded they are. Jenkins been fantastic too
My jorts could not be more creamy
Downriver, Pure Michigan.
I always assume jorts are creamy
Jenkins is an absolute baller. Dude went UNDRAFTED and was a journeyman in college and is now lighting the league up. NBA be deep, man.
YKTPWA…PLAY THE SONG 🎶
orlando magic orlando magic…oh wait
Lolol
You Know The Pistons One Again
if you love basketball, you love this
Means more coming from a Bulls fan
Gotta apologize to Tobias Harris.
2 Years ago we crowned him the GOAT bag getter with his Pistons contract after his 6ers stint. Now here he is still giving meaningful minutes in year 14 & veteran mentorship to this Pistons squad
Sometimes the team is the problem, not the player.
He was just overpaid for a contract
He’s a huge guy who shoots and defends at an NBA starter level, he was that for the Sixers too. They just maxed him for some reason
Tbf they maxed him when he came off a bad clippers team scoring at 20 ppg and more importantly shooting above 40% from 3 for 3 back to back seasons.
It was a dumb max by the FO and his play didnt really regress too much except his 3pt percentage went below 40% on the Sixers. It was more how much the guy shrunk in big moments (which he’s not the only one on the Sixers to do). Embiid becomes a turnover machine in crunch time. Ben Simmons was well…we all know what he was. But Tobias throwing up 0 pts in his last playoff game was the nail on the coffin to cement his infamy in Philly.
He was never a max contract player. He moved the needle to such a small degree that the team would have been better off with the cap space over his production
Some games seem like he phoned it in. Put on some big Westbrick level performances in the playoffs
Tobias silent quit towards the end of his sixers tenure while on a max contract, glad him and bball Paul found spots in Detroit tho. Let’s not forget he never took a charge as a sixer and his last game put up 0 pts on 2!!! Attempts in a play off game.
Contract*
I wasn’t sure he was worth it until I read how he went and bought suits for all the new Pistons players and was giving solid life and financial advice to them too. It’s not always about the stats and numbers, although he does that too.
It hurts seing guys your age in their 14th year and being called veteran
Undisputed GOAT bag getter is Monty Williams bro
mb I forgot he’s still getting paid
Great mentoring is the reason I count him.as 2ndmost importent player in the team
Bickerstaff was given so much flak in Cleveland, good for him and Detroit
Cavs fans still love to drop in with strays from time to time. There’s a segment of that fan base that really loathes the guy.
Timberwolves fans did that to us for years with Thibs. Some fans just can’t wrap their mind around the concept that a coach or player not working out one place doesn’t mean they’re incapable of working out anywhere.
I think most Cavs fans all agreed he’s a good coach
It’s once your a 1 seed with playoff expectations that the view on him changes - but the fact that he can turn teams into legit top of the conference contenders shows how good he is. Also I’d imagine he’ll learn and improve over time so I’m excited to see how the pistons look in the playoffs
I mean… it was pretty justified lol (not the man, but the coach)
I understood it when he was first hired but we’re like 3 years removed from him coaching in Cleveland.
Would be like the Pistons fans base shitting on Rick Carlisle after replacing him with Larry Brown. It’s just awkward to me.
oh yeah if people are doing it like unprompted thats lame hah, he seems to have improved his offensive gameplan since the troubles
He’s no Monty
thats why you can’t trust fans opinions on coaches
He should be coach of the year.
Joe Mazzulla
Congrats to Detroit. They went through some rooooough years.
wingstop should’ve had a deal for free wings for once they lose a game during a longest win streak of theirs this season out of respect
Put the word out. Detroit Basketball is BACK!
JB Bickerstaff COTY
I know there’s a strong argument for Mazzulla but we’ve been missing our 1st and 3rd best player for large stretches of the season and we keep on rolling.
Not to mention the leap guys keep making on defense (particularly Cade and Duren), which is JB’s specialty.
Stew isn’t our third best player
Who is?
Ausar or Tobi
It’s Ausar with a bullet
I could see Ausar as third.
Nah its stew IMO
I feel like you could make an argument for 10 different players. This team is special.
Daniss when called upon
Ausar, then Tobias, stew, and Duncan, are all a tier below him and Jenkins/green/huerter/reed below them
I think it’s really between these two
It has to be. I’ll be a little salty if JB doesn’t win after being told last year that the ECF #1 deserved CotY just for it to be yanked away this year after achieving that himself.
But I wouldn’t be salty for Mazzulla winning it. He’s done a masterful job. To me, it’s 1A and 1B between them this season.
Yeah both are worthy especially the late push by JB with the cade injury and are 7-2 without him
Funny how both teams had opposites happen with Tatum coming back instead which probably hurts Muzzulas case almost. I think how he has reintegrated Tatum is also worthy of consideration and turning fucking Luka Garza into a rotational big
I saw Garza with the Pistons. That’s some black magic voodoo right there.
God I can remember using illegal streams to watch the rotating door of jahlil okafor, Marvin bagley and Kevin Knox suit up for these bums. Crazy how far we’ve come in like 20 months
And we’ve been 1st all season, no one predicted that. Celtics have title winners on their team
Lot of analyst and even Vegas didn’t even have us as a top 5 seed in the east at the start of the season.
Yet we’ve held 1st place out east since November, even went on a 14 game win streak where a lot of players came in and out of the lineup because of injuries.
I think Mazzulla has done great with Boston, I think the Spurs’ coach (I’m sorry I will remember his name within the next 5min and not forget it) has been phenomenal. I just gotta give it to JB cause he wasn’t even expected to do it last year either and did even better this year while the team didn’t make any significant roster additions.
Don’t worry, lots of pro betters still mention Bos, NYK, and Cle ahead of them. I can see Boston and maybe Cleveland, but the Knicks as capable of beating the Pistons is hilarious.
I can still very much see Boston or Cle in the playoffs but anyone saying the Knicks genuinely gotta be delusional given how even last playoffs we were basically a bad call away from taking the series lead last year and still almost took them to 7 that last game.
Vegas betting odds are about who people bet on, not what they actually think is going to happen.
I think them being this good without Cade has helped his case.
No disrespect Pistons bros and brosettes but that award belongs to Second Row Joe
Cade please be back and healthy. This team deserves a good run.
It’s so good to see Tobias getting some lip out to the crowd. They booed him all fucking night. He hasn’t been a sixer for 2 years. Let it fucking go.
There’s no better part of the basketball team life cycle than when they are on the rise achieving things for the first time.
Acknowledge them
Bickerstaff is the OTC
Tobi about to get out the second round before Embiid and Maxey
DEEEEETTTROOOOIIITTTT!!!!!
BASKETBAAAAAALL!!!!!!
That’s fuckin awesome. Happy for them!
Well deserved, they balled out and I’m happy for them.
Nah they are acknowledging Roman Reigns as he prepares for his world title match at Wrestlemania against CM Punk. live from Las Vegas, Nevada!
See you in the finals
Happy cake day
Y’all be sleeping on this Pistons team still, they just keep winning, even without Cade right now.
Good for them. Where the team was 2 years ago to now is super impressive. They had a great season and until he went down, Cade was my mvp
03-04 pistons one of my favorite teams ever and im a Celtics fan on the east coast
Shoutout to the city of Detroit and the Pistons fans they’ve been through some tough times the past 2 years for them to go from losing 60 games to 60 wins within a 2 year span is a remarkable achievement
I think Bickerstaff should defo be coach of the year
Was it two years ago that they were the worst team in the league?
Yes
Tobias harris over me?
Good for them. Awesome come up
Well deserved for the org and the fans
Pistons #1 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼
Started following them 2 years ago cause why wouldn’t you? Guess Im a fan now.
To think just 2 years ago they were a complete joke
I live near Detroit and it would cool to see them during the playoffs
Surely they win a home playoff game for the first time in 15+ years😭
They were acknowledging their tribal chief thats all lol
Kinda scary
Put your one’s up! 👆
Put your hands up for DETROIT!!
The Andre/JD convo 🥹
Happy for Tobias man
Shows what good coaching does
Rock city bitch
And it’s crazy cause like 2-3 years ago they had that horrible season and lost like 28 straight but from that point, they’ve just popped off. I feel like most teams would still be climbing back from that or end up floating in the middle of the rankings for a while. Glad to see it though, they’re killing it.
Redwings ass. Pistons good.
really thought theyd fall a bit after cades lung but i guess not
im happy to see them doing so well
I used to pray for times like this
Broke the record for consecutive losses two years ago, and now here they are. A historic turnaround.
Honestly it’s sick to see the pistons back. The nba is better when they’re relevant
Well deserved Detroit
I’m not a Pistons fan, but I’m really happy for y’all. Congrats.
Good for the Pistons man they were down bad for so long
This guy s good for the sport, man. The Pistons are one of the teams that have to be included in any telling of NBA history. Them being competitive just feels right.
Maybe Cade was the chosen one all along lol.
I don’t understand the disrespect the pistons get in the national media. Fantastic roster , franchise guy , good coach. They absolutely can come out of the east.
No one imagined this. Jb Coty, duren 2nd team all nba, and a few all defense teamers. If this were the 90s cade be mvp
Joel embiid over me? - Tobias Harris probably
Boy I sure hope I don’t live to regret seeing this
the real Tatum’s injury implication
67?
Bout fucking time, I’ve rebuilt this team for the past ten years on 2k the same way
Brings back memories. It seemed like they always finished first, 2000s Pistons were the Spurs of the east.
Man, is it still the 2 Wallace’s, Prince, Hamilton, and Billups with that year?
Just 1 Wallace. That allowed LeBron to completely crush them in the playoffs. That game where he scored 25 straight points to win the double OT against the Pistons still live rent-free in my brain.
Love to see then back.
OTC!
As an OG Spurs fan, the pistons were a menace back then. I’m talking some of the LOWEST scoring playoff games in history. Very physical defenses those two teams.
Good to see both back on top.
Hornets remaining schedule just got easier.
Detroit and maybe the Knicks will no longer be playing for anything.
Congrats… I still remember Cade saying “we’re not 22 loss streak bad” or something like that. Dude’s a real one.
Good for them
They deserve! Playoff journey next up
Tobias Harris redemption arc
Coach of the Year, and maybe Most Improved Player to Duren
Tanking does work.
The year we won 14 we were expecting 35 wins. The team was not tanking. They just had an incompetent FO and coach.
Okc in 4