Getting Detroit's Bad Back

Any long-time basketball fan associates Detroit with one thing: toughness. Selfless, team basketball. Everyone works hard, sacrifices their body and they grind out every last second to win.

The late eighties 'Bad Boys' won two back-to-back titles and stopped MJ from getting a title his first six seasons, and they based their play style on the city they lived in. Detroit was motor-city, most of the population clocking a unionized nine to five at a GM or Ford plant, making just enough money to pay their mortgage and put a little food on the table. Every day the city got up, put their hard hats on and went out and earned what was theirs. Those Pistons played the same way, coming to every game prepared and ready to work their asses off. Just like the rest of the city, they weren't the most talented or skilled workers, but no one ever out worked them.

This same mentality came along thirteen years later when Larry Brown arrived in town, molding together what is most likely the least talented team to hoist the Larry O'Brien. A team without a single all-star the year before comes together to post a ridiculous 84.3 points per game against that season. (This was the year before the hand check rules changed, and you can bet that they abused it.) They played a deliberate pace, working hard on both ends to do the best they could. Just like the Bad Boys before them, they put the city on their backs and won a title.

So what the hell happened this year?

Well, champions can't be champions forever. Even the best fall off the top spot, but this is something different. Joe Dumars went out this summer and decided the players most deserving of Detroit's cap space were Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva. Not exactly getting flashbacks to the days of Dennis Rodman and Ben Wallace are we?

Detroit's problems can't be accounted only to Gordon and Villanueva. The team has had two rookie coaches in two years with Curry and Kuester, and two players who no longer fit in with the new, young crowd with Hamilton and Prince. The team is in limbo a bit right now, but with a few draft picks and trades the team could be built for today's faster NBA game.

The point here isn't whether or not the Pistons will become a better team or not, it's the demeanor of the team. Detroit just won't be the same team without that 'never say die' attitude. Detroit needs to be the team that picks the fight and does the dirty work. They need to be more like this:


Joe Dumars needs to bring in quality players who will dedicate themselves to a system, and a coaching staff who will keep the players fiery and focused. Hopefully is this happens, so we can see the toughness that Detroit is starting to sorely miss.